28. An Observation
TWENTY-EIGHT
AN OBSERVATION
Kess found Reyna in the corridor outside Engineering.
"Captain, can I borrow you for a moment?"
Reyna had seventeen things to do before third bell, but when Kess sought her out, she always made time. "Of course."
Kess fell into step beside her, her datapad tucked under her arm, cluing Reyna in that she'd already reviewed whatever was on it.
They walked in silence for thirty paces before Kess spoke, which was abnormally longer than Kess usually waited.
But she kept walking, kept her eyes forward, waiting it out.
"Your quarterly review is coming up," Kess remarked. Reyna nodded.
"Next week, yes."
Kess nodded in return before going quiet again. Reyna began to catalog possibilities, providing her with a short list, none of them good.
"I wanted to flag something ahead of schedule. Something I'm noticing." Reyna looked over at Kess and saw there was no worry in her expression, but that she had information needing to be shared.
"Flag away."
"Captain," Kess began, looking at Reyna with conviction. "Rey. Your stress markers continue to improve."
Reyna felt her heart rate increase. Uh oh.
"Your cortisol equivalent is down twenty-three percent from pre-arrival baseline. Your sleep architecture remains in its improved state with your inflammatory markers stable." Kess paused. "Your Skin Memory index registered an anomalous event two nights ago."
Reyna didn't move a muscle. "Define anomalous."
Kess sighed. "A localized activation event. Something brief but it was consistent with an external tactile input that your autonomic system classified as significant."
She heard what Kess was saying. Someone touched you, and it registered into the medical database.
"I adjusted a... thing, an audio thing. It went in my ear so I could listen to music," Reyna said, failing spectacularly at trying to explain. "Charlie was sharing a song with me, through the device she brought from Earth. It required physical placement."
Kess nodded. "Of course."
"It was incidental contact," Reyna continued.
"I would never suggest otherwise," Kess said.
Reyna looked into Kess's eyes, seeing a mirror there that could only come from two Kaelari women, each raised to the same discipline, each perfectly capable of reading what the other was not saying.
Reyna closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking at Kess again and trying for something true.
"I know you can see... hell, you can probably read it in their medical files...
but crew morale is exceptional," she said.
"At levels even I haven't seen in years.
Earth Night has become a genuine community institution.
Engineering output is up. The Aetherfin habitat is stable.
Maren's logs are the most thorough I've seen and Tavi's systems upgrades have improved operational efficiency by a number I'm sure is record breaking. "
"Fourteen percent," Kess stated.
Reyna indicated to Kess. "See?" She said, shrugging her shoulders. "The crew is thriving, Kess. All of them."
Reyna knew Kess had listened to every single word. But she looked at Reyna with eyes meant to find out the truth.
"And you? Are you thriving?"
Reyna deadpanned and said the first thing that came to mind. "I am performing at peak capacity," she said quickly. "Even you said so."
Kess stopped walking, and Reyna halted mid-step, turning to face her.
"Rey," Kess said softly. "That's not what I asked."
Reyna stared, wanting nothing more than to move past this conversation.
"Is there a medical concern, Doctor?"
"No," Kess said. "Just an observation."
The same words repeated. Reyna braced for more, for a pointed question, something underneath the clinical one. But it never came. Instead, Kess stood in the corridor and simply looked at her with nothing but patience.
Reyna understood that she was being let go.
"Then continue to observe, and let me know if it becomes a concern."
Kess held her gaze. Then she nodded, once, dismissing the conversation entirely. Yet Reyna knew there was more there. A note she had heard from this woman for thirteen years without ever once acknowledging it out loud. I'll be here when you need me.
"Captain."
"Doctor."
Kess turned down the corridor toward the Med Bay and began walking while Reyna turned toward the bridge. Neither of them looked back.
Reyna walked down that corridor. Eleven paces. Twelve.
She had said the crew was thriving, and every word of it was true. Kess had asked her something else entirely and knew it. But she'd stood there with Reyna's full scan under her arm, and she let it go.
Thirteen years Reyna had known Kess. Her quirks, her mannerisms, even when the woman decided to tell her she was being ridiculous. The woman had never let anything go in all that time.
Reyna reached the lift and stopped. She wanted to thank Kess. She had felt the thanks arrive in her mouth now and had to swallow it, because Kess was no longer there. But the truth was, you could not thank someone for looking away without admitting there had been something to see.
As Reyna stepped into the lift, she closed her eyes and took a very deep breath.