Chapter 18. Realization.

Jessica just happened to catch Jack coming out of the shower at a late hour. She was surprised that he didn't appear to be disturbed by her eyes examining his body other than using a hand to hide his manly parts.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to impose, but we just received a message from Houston."

His reaction was more of relief than embarrassment. "What did they have to say?"

"Maybe it would be better if you listen to it."

"Ok,"

"Aren't you going to put something on?" she asked straining not to smile.

"Do I need to?"

"Why aren't you the least bit embarrassed by having me see you in the altogether, and yet you're not interested is seeing us in that way?"

"Male nudity was never considered to be a problem in ancient times, whereas female nudity was mostly considered perverse."

"I suppose that's true, but that practice doesn't seem to be followed in this age of strip clubs and sex shows."

"My point precisely."

She smiled. "Well, you have an excellent physique. I enjoy feasting my eyes on your marvelous body."

He offered her a smirk. "That sounds rather juvenile, don't you think?"

She offered him a twisted smile. "Yes, you're right. I'm acting like a sex starved teenybopper."

He laughed.

She watched him turn to dress and then followed him to the command station where he sat down next to Tog.

"When did the message come through?"

Tog turned to him. "At 22.05."

"Play it."

"We are currently in a transmission difficulty due to a strong solar coronal emission. We expect it to normalize by 07:00."

"That's all?" Jack asked.

"Yes," Tog replied.

He turned to Jessica. "Let me know if there are any new messages."

"I will." She watched him turn and walk away.

She turned back to Tog. "Has he ever observed us shower?"

Tog turned to look at her. "No."

She now knew that Tog was watching everything they did twenty-four-seven.

"Are you aware of what this mission was supposed to be about?"

"My instructions were to pilot this vessel to a location of an A-10 probe that had a failed radio, and then to follow his orders."

"That means that Jack was designated to be the commander from the very beginning of this mission."

"Yes."

Jessica realized that it proved that this mission wasn't a farce. It was meant to locate the alien craft that was responsible for some action against previous NASA missions to find the alien's planet, but it still didn't explain all the nonsense connected to their mission. That could have been an attempt to disguise the mission's actual goal.

But that wasn't the only things that didn't make sense.

She turned to Tog. "Do you understand what's happening to us?"

Tog did something that surprised her. He smiled. "I believe in the principal of causality and the consequences of determinism. You are here because it is logical."

Jessica wasn't sure how to take that. Did it mean that she had some special knowledge or skill that contributes to the success of the mission? Maybe it's because of her attention to Jack and her encouragement of his leadership. She didn't really know for sure, but she now realized that the robot that she was looking at was more sentient than she thought. But she still wasn't satisfied with that explanation. There was something more to what was happening,

She met up with Natalie and Lorrie and decided to tell them what had happened,

"Tog told me that he knew that Jack is the commander of this mission."

"I think that was obvious," Lorrie said. "What's not obvious is why he hasn't tried to hit on us."

"I believe it's because he needs us to help him determine the real reason we're out here," Jessica said. "It's obvious that we don't really understand what this mission is about."

"Well," Lorrie said. "We have gotten better views of Earth and there are some discrepancies."

Jessica eyes grew larger before she squinted. "What discrepancies?"

"We've been unable to detect any electromagnetic signals on or around Earth. It's as if they've gone completely dark."

"Maybe they're in a lock down to avoid the aliens."

"I doubt that it would fool them. Their technology is superior to ours."

"So, what does that have to do with us?"

"We're supposed to figure out why we went on this mission. One reason could be that we were out here to find out what the aliens are up to."

Jessica frowned. "In other words, we were sacrificed to determine what aliens are doing in our solar system."

"Yes, and in the meantime, those bastards at Houston Command Center were able to go hide somewhere, leaving us an easy target."

Jessica sighed. "Well so far, the aliens don't seem to care about us. Maybe they're smart enough to realize that."

"Hopefully."

Natalie smiled. "It seems that the commander cares about you. He doesn't seem to be upset having you view his bod."

"I'm not sure why that is," Jessica said. "Maybe he feels that it doesn't matter if we see him sans clothing. I haven't detected any signs that he's gotten aroused from me seeing him."

"Maybe he's gay."

"I don't think so. That sort of thing would have gotten him expelled from NASA. I think it best that we don't push the issue with him. We need him to remain concentrated in keeping us safe. However, I will pursue the issue in a respectful manner. Maybe I can get him to reveal what he truly thinks of us."

"He likes cats," Natalie said. "He can't be that much of a bad ass."

"Yes," Jessica said. "That's a good sign that he's someone who cares."

That they could all agree to.