Things Fall Apart: Chapter 54

Newer York, Botanical Gardens; then Boarding Lounge 42, Aft Docks; 7-8 Tammuz 2541 AS

The time spent in the gardens had been as restorative as the museum had been disturbing. Singer was aware that it had not been anyone's intention—least of all Ellison, who had proposed the museum—to disturb her. In fact, she seemed to be the only person in their party to have her trauma stirred up by the exhibits. Ellison had seen her reaction for what it was, but had not experienced it.

No such controversy arose on their tour of the gardens, which were simply rich with colors and smells and textures—some displays had signs explicitly inviting touch. "Most of the inner core is functionally green—agriculture and a natural assist to the air recycling system," O'Halloran had said. Apparently, the Botanical Gardens around the museum were a favorite spot of hers, and she became more talkative playing tour guide than Singer had seen her for most of the visit. "These gardens, though, are grown with aesthetics first and foremost in mind."

Singer allowed herself to be beguiled by that beauty and let it shut off her brain for a bit. She deliberately did not read any of the displays, made no effort to match modern names to ancient taxonomies, and in general allowed it simply to exist at face value as a place of beauty.

Still, she was not entirely oblivious to other things. Cadotte and Espinoza were engaging now in almost constant conversation that was unquestionably verging into banter, for example. Singer had some suspicions of what might be developing there, and made a mental note to research the current regulations on fraternization, along with the exact status of her chief engineer. His commission was legitimate, but it was a recognition of their need for his professional skill rather than a reflection of time in service. She trusted him implicitly with a lot of things, but she was not about to sit him in the hot-seat on the bridge anytime soon. Which meant he was not, strictly, in Cadotte's chain of command in either direction. Or so Singer thought.

Well, not for her to play matchmaker, and hopefully not for her to have to caution them against the idea. Assuming it even went there. Espinoza was nerdy on a level Cadotte could appreciate, and vice versa, without it necessarily becoming anything particular.

This, too, made her smile, especially once she resolved to leave the possible complexities for later and take it at face value. She listened with half an ear to their conversation and allowed most of her attention to remain on the plants, and on O'Halloran.

When the time came for them to catch a train aft to the docks, Singer found herself of two minds. One was prepared to throw all responsibility overboard and find a bench in the gardens and sit there for the next hundred years. The other, however, was definitely interested to see the impending reunion between her executive officer and zir parent. Alexander had displayed no hesitation when invited to come aboard with the first leave party to join the next day's meetings, even after Singer made it clear Robina was going to be there.

Singer had considered not telling zir, and letting it be a surprise; but Alexander's apology made it clear that it had been a true oversight. Even knowing what little Singer knew about local politics, she had no trouble understanding why Alexander had made the assumptions ze had made.

Possibly by accident, the President of Revi'i, and her secretary of state, Seth, were already aboard the train Singer's group happened to board. They were not taking a special car, this time, so it probably was just lucky timing. That said, the other passengers appeared to be giving the Revi'ini a bit of a wide berth, although it could simply have been coincidence.

It occurred to Singer briefly to wonder about the logistics of freighting her people to their on-station billets, but Robina smiled brightly—and not entirely genuinely and said, "Fancy meeting you all here! Going my way?"

There were a few other passengers in the car. Two had earbuds in, and one was visibly grooving to whatever music was playing in his ears. The other four, however, gave the appearance of considering moving to the next car forward.

Ellison answered, "As it happens, we are! Mind if we join you!"

"Not at all!"

The all took seats nearby. Singer found herself sitting next to O'Halloran in seats facing Robina, who leaned forward and said far more quietly, for Singer's benefit mainly, "I am so anxious I could explode."

Singer didn't need to hear it said to know that, of course. The woman was practically vibrating with it. She was a little surprised Seth wasn't sitting a little further away to avoid having his seat shake in sympathy with hers.

Seth, however, was apparently along in part as the voice of reason, and said, "Now, now, that would be horribly inconsiderate. Think of the mess! Really, Robina."

Robina attempted to give him a stern look, but she could not keep her face straight, and burst out laughing, and finally said, "Of course. I will strive for more decorum and consideration. One would not wish to strain our relationship with the Cousins Above with a spontaneous and messy discorporation."

Seth nodded with all appearance of gravitas. "Just so." Then he smirked.

The train pulled into the next station. Two of the four passengers who had looked like they wanted to change cars took the opportunity to do so. The other two left the train.

Robina asked, "How were the museum and gardens?"

Singer answered honestly. "Complicated. Well, the museum was complicated. The gardens were delightful. The museum...stirred things up I wasn't ready to deal with. I'm still not. Fortunately, we did the gardens after the museum, so I had time to recover my sunny disposition!"

Robina gave a nod of gravitas very similar to the one Seth had given her. "Very proper. Mustn't look traumatized in front of the crew. Might dampen their spirits and make their leaves less enjoyable!"

Singer caught the ball. "Exactly. Can't have that!"

O'Halloran looked at Seth as if seeking assistance, or at least sympathy. He just kind of shrugged. Finally, she said with mock asperity, "With all due respect to your august personages, you both need more therapy than you're currently getting."

Singer looked at Robina to make sure she was taking it in the spirit intended. She was, and so Singer felt comfortable saying, "Not wrong."

Robina sighed and said, "Not even a little."

The train pulled into the Ellis station, and the two younger people with the earbuds in got off here. Singer was reminded that most young adults left their mishapchot for Ellis at some point, so that made sense.

The run from there to the Aft Docks station was relatively short, as was the walk to the relevant boarding lounge.

In contrast to the arrival of Singer, Espinoza, and Cadotte, this boarding lounge already had quite a few people in it, most of them set up at booths to quickly process the incoming people for shore leave. To judge from the doors on the far side, the lift to and from the pier here was larger, designed to accommodate either cargo or a larger party of people.

Wasserman and Goldsmith were also here ahead of them. For all that they were still in undress uniform, they both gave the appearance of people who had been enjoying their advanced leave time. Wasserman was, to Singer's eye, slightly tipsy. Goldsmith was less obviously so, but more relaxed than Singer could remember having seen her. "Pilots, I take it you had a good day?"

"Yes, Captain," Wasserman answered. "Neera here took me on a tour of some of her favorite haunts."

Singer looked at the other pilot, and asked, "Are you originally from here, then?"

"Yep! Bronx Ring, then Ellis of course, then back to Bronx, but piloting the routine traffic around the system got dull real fast, and the competition to get a berth on a scout ship is fierce. So I headed out to Tau Ceti, got hired by a certain stardrive tycoon," she pointed her chin toward Espinoza, "and the rest was history."

Wasserman said, "We thought we'd come help reassure folks that this place is...OK, y'know? I mean, there's some tension, but we had no real issues anywhere."

Singer considered saying that two non-comms is not quite the same level of invasion as fifty crew of all ranks, but she appreciated the idea of it too much to sour the mood. "Good thinking, PO. Will you be schlepping back to the pinnace after or berthing somewhere in Ellis with the others?"

Goldsmith answered this one, being nominally higher in grade as a warrant officer. "The pinnace, I think, Cap'n. We've got clearance to bring it around to the aft docks, as well, so we can be ready to ferry your party over for the tour tomorrow evening. We'll do that after we sleep off our leave day!"

"Works for me!"

A man in a DSR Navy uniform—Singer realized she did not really recognize their insignia—came up at that moment to say, "Commander Singer, gentles, I'm Commander MacDonough. The admiral asked me to see to the logistics of getting your leave parties situated. The first of two groups on their way down from the ferry. I'll be directing them to line up with their leave-buddies across the kiosks. We should have them all credentialed and ready to move on to their berths fairly quickly. From there, they'll have run of the city. I'm told your exec is in the first party as well. Ze is currently accounted for as part of the ambassador's party; is that correct?"

"I appreciate that, Commander, and yes it is!" Singer said, relieved to not have to guess his rank or identity. "Ze will get leave, like everyone else in the next day or so, but for now, ze's on the clock for a bit."

MacDonough smiled, "I understand, ma'am." There was a chime. "That's them." He led her to a place where they would both be visible, while the others, including Robina, took the hint and stepped to one side.

The doors parted, and sure, enough, there was Commander Alexander, at the head of a group of twenty-five assorted crew. Ze was, like everyone else, wearing zir undress uniform and carrying a standard duffel. In zir case, Singer assumed it included a dress uniform.

Ze also had added Revi'ini style designs to zir face—five interlocking triangles on each side, in a pattern similar to, but less elaborate than, Robina's.

Singer tried not to openly beam with pride as they moved in an orderly fashion forward, meeting Singer and MacDonough mid-way. Alexander was carefully looking only at Singer, and, for a wonder, saluted. "Captain, reporting as ordered, along with the first leave party."

Much as with Robina on the train ride here, Alexander was all but vibrating with tension, fighting for normality in a situation where there wasn't much to find. Singer played along, not mentioning the facial designs and pretending not to be surprised by the salute, and returned it, "Commander, good to see you." And that was very definitely true. Singer found she had missed zir a great deal the last couple of days.

Raising her voice just a bit, she said, "Zephyrs, this is Commander MacDonough of the local navy. Be nice to him, he's here to get you sorted and on your way to berths and leave time as quickly as possible!"

There were chuckles all around at that, and Singer turned and said, "Commander, I leave them in your excellent hands."

"Thank you, Commander!"

Singer then led Alexander aside to where the others were standing, and was rewarded for her very difficult day by getting to watch her usually low-key, undemonstrative friend and executive officer Robin Alexander hesitate for all of three seconds before pouncing on zir presidential parent in a hug that was wholeheartedly returned.