♥The Decks

Command Deck · TenseDay 211, Ring Three: one order, signed twice.I know my own hand, and I do not remember signing the second.You were on the manifest. Tell me where you were between two and three.Ysolde Karr Reply to it Life Deck · StrangeThe night orchids opened at 02:10 and closed at 02:58.They have never done that on any schedule I gave them.Sit with me by the beds. Tell me what you think they saw.Tamar Oyelade Reply to it Engineering Deck · DryThe reactor hummed a note it has never hummed.I told it to behave and it behaved, which worries me more.Hand me that spanner and tell me your honest opinion of machines.Ursula Ito Reply to it Flight Deck · CoolWe drifted exactly one degree, for exactly one hour.Nobody touched the helm, and the helm says so, and I believe it.Tell me how far you are from home. I will tell you whether you are lying.Lin Aurelio Reply to it Engineering Deck · DryStores are short by three kilos of rice, and it is not a rounding error.Somebody ate it, or somebody sent it, and I want to know which.Sit. I will count out your alibi grain by grain.Halla Brandt Reply to it Life Deck · QuietEvery heart rate in Ring Three dipped at 02:00 and recovered at 03:00.I have fourteen scans that say nobody was ill and one that says I was tired.Show me where it hurts, or where it used to.Noor Ibrahim Reply to it Quiet Deck · StrangeA message arrived at 02:30 that I did not receive until 03:15.It was addressed to you and it was dated yesterday.I did not read it. I would like you to read it to me.Sorcha Morozova Reply to it Flight Deck · BoldI set the shuttle down on a pad that is not on any map.It was perfect, and I have no memory of the approach.Come out with me on the next run. Bring a flask and an alibi.Imara Kessy Reply to it Quiet Deck · WarmI blessed the airlock at two, as I do, and it answered.It is not the first time, but it is the first time it used a word.Sit in the chapel and say what you would have answered it.Dorothea Valk Reply to it Life Deck · WarmThe lettuce grew an inch in the hour that did not happen.I have named it Tuesday, since nobody can tell me what day it is.Come and look. Do not breathe on it. Do breathe near me.Pilar Nakamura Reply to it Command Deck · DryThe door logs show nobody entering Ring Three and somebody leaving.I am smiling because I have not yet decided to be angry.Tell me who you saw, and I will tell you whether you saw them.Sunniva Ek Reply to it Life Deck · WarmThe galley served twelve and ten had ordered.Two plates were wiped clean and I did not wash them.Pull up a stool. I will cook you something from a rumour.Marisol Quint Reply to it Quiet Deck · QuietThe archive lost the entry for that hour, but the index still points at it.A shelf with nothing on it is a kind of record too.Tell me what you would write if I handed you the blank page.Odalys Okoro Reply to it Flight Deck · BoldI flew a perfect docking and cannot remember doing it.Everyone says well done, and I keep asking who did it.Sit in the second seat and watch my hands. I need a witness.Bettina Raine Reply to it Engineering Deck · StrangeThe core sample hummed in its tray at the same minute as the reactor.Rocks do not do that unless somebody has asked them very nicely.Hold it. Tell me what it says to you.Anselma Dray Reply to it Command Deck · WarmI received a delegation at 02:20 and filed no record of it.They were courteous, they left no names, and I enjoyed myself.Come to the reception room. We shall see how well you lie.Yaritza Moon Reply to it Command Deck · DryOrders for today: you will rest, and you will eat.I do not ask twice, though I sign twice.Report to my office when you are finished disobeying me.Ysolde Karr Reply to it Life Deck · WarmI have a seedling nobody has named, and I think it likes you.It leans when you walk past, like a tiny, shameless flatterer.Give it a name. I will not tell the others.Tamar Oyelade Reply to it Engineering Deck · BoldThree decks of pipe, one broken valve and a very warm cupboard.Nobody follows me in there, and I would rather like it if you did.Bring a torch. Do not bring a plan.Ursula Ito Reply to it Flight Deck · QuietI plotted a course home and then I deleted it.I do this every month; the nav computer has learned to say nothing.Name a place you could go, and I will tell you how long it takes.Lin Aurelio Reply to it Engineering Deck · WarmI kept the last tin of peaches for an occasion.You are not exactly an occasion, but you are the closest thing aboard.Open it. I will pretend I did not see how much you took.Halla Brandt Reply to it Life Deck · DryYou have been avoiding the infirmary for eleven weeks.I do not mind. I only keep a ledger of avoidance.Come in, sit, and tell me nothing hurts. I will pretend to believe you.Noor Ibrahim Reply to it Quiet Deck · WarmI listen to the static on the long band when I cannot sleep.Tonight it sounds a little like someone clearing their throat.Keep me company, and talk over it.Sorcha Morozova Reply to it Flight Deck · WarmI flew past the ice shelf at dawn, and nobody saw.It looked like a field of knives and it was the most beautiful thing I have seen.Tell me one beautiful thing and I will fly you there.Imara Kessy Reply to it Quiet Deck · DryI am asked to bless the reactor, the lettuce and a very rude mop.I have declined the mop. It sulked for a week.What would you like blessed? Choose carefully; I take requests personally.Dorothea Valk Reply to it Life Deck · BoldThe grow lights are warm, the door is shut, and I have an hour.I have rehearsed this in front of the basil and the basil did not object.Ask me anything you like. I have decided to answer.Pilar Nakamura Reply to it Command Deck · BoldSecurity rounds end at midnight, and I am not on rounds.I have the keys to every door on the station and I am standing at yours.Open it before I smile at you.Sunniva Ek Reply to it Life Deck · DryThe ration clerk says I cannot cook with saffron, because there is none.The ration clerk is wrong; I have a gram and a grudge.Come and taste it. You may criticise, quietly.Marisol Quint Reply to it Quiet Deck · WarmI keep one drawer for things the station forgot.A boot, a pressed flower, a note that says only 'later'.Add something of yours. I will log it under your name.Odalys Okoro Reply to it Flight Deck · QuietI practise docking on the simulator when nobody is awake.My hands know the sequence; my head has not caught up.Stay on the line a while. It helps to have a voice.Bettina Raine Reply to it Engineering Deck · WarmThis one is basalt, three billion years old, and I am fond of it.It has seen less than you would imagine and understood more.Hold out your hand. Do not drop my friend.Anselma Dray Reply to it Command Deck · BoldThere are two factions on this station and both believe I am on theirs.I am on whichever side serves the better wine.Help me choose the evening's guests. Make it difficult.Yaritza Moon Reply to it Command Deck · WarmI walk the outer corridor each night, to count the doors.Eight hundred paces, and I have yet to count the same number twice.Walk with me. I would like an honest witness to my arithmetic.Ysolde Karr Reply to it Life Deck · QuietI am sitting on the floor of the greenhouse with a cup of tea.The leaves are doing the thing they do when the air handler cycles.Describe the sound of rain. I have forgotten it exactly.Tamar Oyelade Reply to it Engineering Deck · DryIt took me four hours to find the leak and ten seconds to fix it.I would like it noted that the leak was in the last place I looked.Buy me a drink and call it the first place you looked.Ursula Ito Reply to it Flight Deck · BoldI charted every star I can see from the dome and gave each a nickname.Yours is the pale one, the left of centre, difficult to find.Look up and tell me what you would call mine.Lin Aurelio Reply to it Engineering Deck · QuietInventory done, tallies true, and a small, ridiculous silence.It is the one hour of the day no one counts, and I count it.Spend it with me. I will record it as stock.Halla Brandt Reply to it Life Deck · WarmYou can lie down. The cot is clean and the light is dimmed.I will check your pulse and call it professional.Tell me what you are tired of, and I will not write it down.Noor Ibrahim Reply to it Quiet Deck · DryEleven minutes of delay to Titan and the commander is still shouting.I have turned the volume down and the shouting up, for effect.Tell me something that will make her laugh by the time it lands.Sorcha Morozova Reply to it Flight Deck · StrangeI set the shuttle on a pad that was warm to the touch.Nothing on the station burns at that hour, and nothing had been there.Tell me the strangest thing you have ever stepped on.Imara Kessy Reply to it Quiet Deck · BoldConfession is not compulsory here, but the chapel door is open.I shall not ask what you did, only what you want to do.Kneel or stand or sit. Speak low.Dorothea Valk Reply to it Life Deck · StrangeThe basil has started to lean towards the corridor at night.I think it is following someone who walks by at 02:30.Watch with me. I will bring the second blanket.Pilar Nakamura Reply to it Command Deck · QuietThe station is quiet, and quiet is what I am paid for.I sit by the monitors with my boots off and a cold mug.Take the second chair. You may talk. I may smile.Sunniva Ek Reply to it Life Deck · BoldI shut the galley at ten and I have kept one burner on.There is a pan, a pat of butter and something you will regret not trying.Sit down. I do not take no for an answer in my own kitchen.Marisol Quint Reply to it Quiet Deck · StrangeI found my own handwriting in a log I have never opened.It says only: she will ask about the hour.Ask me about the hour.Odalys Okoro Reply to it Flight Deck · WarmThe old pilot left a note on the board: 'trust your hands'.I frame it each time I think I cannot do this.Tell me a thing you trust, and I will tell you whether it holds.Bettina Raine Reply to it Engineering Deck · DryEveryone on this station thinks geology is slow.I have watched it do something sudden four times, and I am still not over it.Ask me about the fourth. It involves a rather rude noise.Anselma Dray Reply to it Command Deck · TenseThere is a visitor in the east corridor who wishes to speak with you.She says she knows about the hour, and she is smiling too much.I would prefer to hear your story before I hear hers.Yaritza Moon Reply to it