Callisto 2.0, Susan English [i love reading .TXT] 📗

too. Hadley and I are making good headway. We spent most of last night working.” I looked at her. “How about you, Izumi? How are things going?”

“Good as always,” she replied, glancing away from me to adjust a strap. I peered at her more closely. Was she tense? Worried about something? “So, I wanted to talk to you.” She looked over at me, her expression open and relaxed. She was fine. It was just my overactive imagination.

“Sure. What’s up?”

“I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but we, or rather, the Foundation, is looking to hire another scientist to work here in the lab.”

“Oh, really? What specialty?”

“Terraforming.”

“My ex-girlfriend Olivia is finishing her postdoc in terraforming.”

“Yes, I know.” I stared at her, mouth agape. How did she know Olivia was my ex?

“Annie has done her thing,” said Izumi with a smile.

Ah, of course, Annie! Olivia and I hadn’t been shy about promulgating our relationship on social media.

“She’s come up with a few candidates for the position. Olivia is at the top of the list.

I wanted to speak with you first. I want an honest answer, and you might need time to think about it, and that’s fine, but how would you feel about working with her here on the station?”

I wiped the sweat from my face with my towel, stalling for time. Olivia? On the station? “I don’t know. I mean, we broke up so long ago, but we’re still good friends.

She is, well, she and Naomi, they are my best friends, and yeah.” I realized I was 135

babbling. I shut up, and wiped my face again, though it was perfectly dry. How did I feel? I loved Olivia, and what I had said was true, she was my best friend. Would it be awkward working with her, and living in such close proximity?

“Take your time and think about it. There are other outstanding candidates.”

“No, wait,” I blurted. “I don’t need to think about it. It would be incredible to have her here, and she’s really smart, and dedicated. She would be a great asset to the Foundation.”

Izumi studied my face. “Are you certain you don’t want to take some time to deliberate?”

“No,” I said, my voice strong. “It would be amazing. She’s amazing.”

Izumi smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. We’ll be contacting her later this afternoon. If you’d like, you’re welcome to break the news to her first.”

“Okay, sure, I’ll send her a message after breakfast, hopefully I can catch her and talk to her face to face.”

“Splendid. Now, tell me about the warp drive.”

We spent the next thirty minutes talking about the modifications to synchronize the oscillations of the prototype. After Izumi left, my thoughts turned to my life with Olivia: moving into our little apartment near the university, picking out decorations at the second-hand shop, fixing dinner together, making love on the mattress on the floor.

When my workout was over, I took a shower, and, stepping out of the shower tube, I noticed my hair felt stiff. So lost in thought, I had forgotten to rinse the soap out, so I stepped back in to finish the job. The possibility of Olivia here, on the station—it was completely unexpected. I dressed quickly and hurried to the dining room for breakfast, happy to see Naomi already there eating. I grabbed a bowl and filled it with food balls—

breakfast burritos, one of the many new meals created by Mei Xing and Fae—and headed over to her table.

“You seem distracted,” said Naomi. “Problems with the warp drive?”

“No.” I sat down and placed my bowl on the Velcro strip. “I just got some unbelievable news.”

“What is it?” She leaned toward me, eyes fixed on mine.

“My ex-girlfriend, remember, I told you about her? Olivia?”

“You mean your only long-term girlfriend from what, five years ago? Most certainly I remember her!”

“I just saw Izumi in the gym, and she told me the Foundation wants to hire her.”

“Hire Olivia? That is big news!”

“I know, it’s great, I mean, she’s my best friend. Well, you’re my best friend, but she is, too.”

Naomi laughed. “Oh, don’t you worry. I won’t be jealous.”

“That’s a relief.” I grinned at her.

“But seriously, how do you feel about this?”

“That’s exactly what Izumi asked me.”

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“She wants to make certain you’re comfortable. She’s all about a harmonious working atmosphere, she and Diana both.”

“Uh-huh. She said they could consider other candidates if ….”

“If you weren’t okay with it?”

“Yeah.”

“And what did you say?”

“I told her it was fine, I didn’t have a problem with Olivia coming here.”

“Okay,” Naomi raised her eyebrows, tilting her head, “do you have a problem?”

“No, I, I don’t think so. Oh, Naomi, I don’t know what to think.” I picked up a food ball with my chopsticks, then put it back into the bowl. “Olivia and I, we’re like family.

We were so young when we got together, well, not that young I guess, and later, when it didn’t work out, we became best friends. But the station is small, and it’s so intimate, and … and I haven’t seen her, except holochat, of course, but not in person, since we split up.”

“What’s worrying you?”

“Nothing. I … I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. I guess I don’t want to jeopardize our friendship.”

Naomi tapped her chin with her finger. “You don’t know what it will be like to live with her again, is that it? Living here, I mean.”

“I guess so. But I’m being weird. I’m sure it will be fine. It was just a shock, out of the blue. Threw me for a loop.” I took a bite of food. The more I thought about it, the more excited I felt.

“I think it will be brilliant if she takes the offer,” said Naomi.

“Yeah, you’re right. It’ll be great. I don’t know what I was thinking. She’s an incredible person.” I gave her a little smile. “Thanks. I guess I needed to talk it through.”

“Hey, that’s what your number-one best friend is for. Olivia will have to accept second place.”

I laughed. “What would do without you, Naomi?”

She smirked. “Oh, you would suffer tragically, I’m fairly certain.”

“No doubt about it.”

Wanting to contact Olivia right away, I made a detour to my cabin before going to the lab. I settled on my bed, touched my wrist computer to open a holochat window, and input Olivia’s information. I picked up a notebook while I waited, to do a little work on the schematic of the modified warp drive. My wrist computer chirped.

“Little Bear! How are you?” The holographic image of Olivia’s head and torso hovered above the tiny screen.

I put my notebook and pen on the bed beside me. “I’m good. What about you?”

“Oh, you know, the usual. Finishing up my postdoc, working on a paper. I expect it to be completed by mid-September.”

“How’s it going?”

“It’s good. I could submit it sooner, but I want to make sure everything is correct.”

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“That’s my girl, always the perfectionist.”

Olivia laughed. “You know me so well.”

“Any job prospects on the horizon?”

“There’ve been a few offers. I’m considering my options. There might be a position at the Smithsonian research facility in New York.”

“Not too shabby.”

“But I’m still open to possibilities.” Her face grew somber. “Hey, so Sherry and I split up.”

“Oh, Olivia, I’m sorry! Are you okay?” Olivia had started dating Sherry a few months before I began working for the Foundation, and had told me all about her during our last chat. In all honesty, I wasn’t surprised. Olivia’s relationships never lasted more than six months. I supposed I was her record, a whole year. She was definitely mine.

“I’m okay. We decided we weren’t compatible. She wanted to get married, have kids, the whole package.”

“Yikes!”

“I guess she didn’t understand I’m not the marrying type.”

“Maybe you never met the right woman.”

“I think I did meet her, but you know how it goes.” Olivia gave me a wry smile.

I wasn’t sure who she was referring to, there had been so many girlfriends it was hard to keep track. But, excited to tell her about the Foundation position, I changed the subject. “Hey, I have news!”

“Do tell.”

“I just found out from my boss, or rather, the director of the Foundation, they want to hire a geologist.”

“Yes? I’m waiting.”

“Someone who specializes in terraforming.”

Her eyes widened. “No!”

“And guess what? Your name is on the top of the list! It would be here, on the station.”

“You mean on the orbital lab?”

“Yes!”

“And we would be working together?”

“Yes!” Was she feeling the same uncertainty I had felt? The usual six-plus second Moon-Earth-Moon delay seemed to stretch out for a very long time.

“That would be so cool!” Olivia was beaming. “You just made my day. I might have to log off for a minute and run up and down the stairs a couple of times.”

I laughed. “It’s a great opportunity. You’ll love it here.”

“Okay, but I don’t want to get too excited. I still have the interview.”

“I don’t think so. They didn’t even need to interview me. They do a lot of research on the candidates. If they are interested in you, it means they’re ready to offer you a job.”

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“Oh okay, cool. So … do you think I should accept?” She furrowed her brow.

“You’d better accept! Otherwise, I’ll never forgive you!”

“No, what I’m asking is, is it a good place to work? You seem happy.”

“It’s incredible. You won’t believe it. They’ll be contacting you later today.”

“Great! We’ll talk soon. I have lots to think about.”

Charged up with energy and excitement, I sprinted to the lab, propelling myself