Chapter 22. Adjustment.

The next few days were devoted to adding Roxie to the crew, a process that embodied many conversations about their situation. These chit chats took place during evenings when the women knew that Jack was in his quarters.

"How is this commander of yours?" Roxie asked.

"Jack wasn't supposed to be the commander. He just assumed the role because he's able to make good decisions," Jessica said. "And he's a true gentleman."

Roxie smiled. "I take it that he doesn't take advantage of you."

"It's the other way around. I think he's afraid of us. He had a problem with his wardrobe. The ship's materials list got scrambled and he was left with no clothing."

Roxie's eyes grew larger. "You're kidding! Right?"

"Nope. He wasn't happy about it, but he didn't seem to mind us ogling him."

Roxie shook her head. "That's wild."

"He could easily take advantage of us. He's in the commander's quarters with a transparent door to the shower unit. He doesn't gawk at us when we shower."

"That's odd. Most men would take advantage of that situation."

"He found information in the system that the mission we went on was supposed to be Madison and his cronies enjoying a large group of young female cadets. It turned out it was just a conspiracy theory."

"That nonsense was going around the academy," Roxie said. "Some idiots must have added it to the command system."

A period of silence was finally broken by a statement of reality. "There has to be a reason that we haven't been attacked," Jessica said. "The aliens probably know where we are. We still don't know why they made contact with us and then simply left us alone."

Roxie squinted. "You were in contact with them?"

"Yes, and the wild thing was that they knew our language."

"I'd like to see that," Roxie said.

"We can replay it in her quarters," Lorrie said, pointing at Jessica.

"Let's wait on that," Jessica said. "Let's see what our commander does now that we're stuck out here in the asteroid belt."

"Are you suggesting that he might wish to play with us?" Roxie asked with a smirk.

"We don't have much else to do out here," Jessica replied. "Maybe we could pay him back for his restraint."

No one disagreed.

Jack spent a lot of time at the command station. He relied on his robot pilot to determine what was happening on Earth.

"Houston is offline," Tog told him. "I believe it may be an energy system problem. I have logged into an orbital monitor craft."

"What does it show?" Jack asked him.

"I will play some of it." Without touching anything, Tog made the main screen light up with the images he had recorded.

Jack watched it for several minutes before commenting. "Looks rather peaceful. I don't see any major activity."

"I believe that energy sources have been deactivated," Tog said. "It appears that human activity has radically declined."

"Do you think that humans have been killed off?"

"A good number have, but there are survivors."

"Are there any indications of excess radiation or structure damage?"

"There is some damage but very little demolition. It's as if survivors are remaining cautious."

"Are you saying that there were a lot of deaths?"

"Yes, but not a total extinction."

Jack assumed that it meant that there were plenty of deaths but not enough to eradicate the human species. It suggested that things were not going to be as they were before the alien attack. The problem he faced is when to decide going back to Earth. He realized that he needed a good deal of data to determine when it would be safe. Some of that could fall on Tog's shoulders, but his crew would need to step up the effort to determine Earth's status.

However, the crew wasn't finished hazing their new member. They put her to work scanning for more ice objects as the ship orbited the asteroid belt, but not until they relaxed by going down to the agricultural deck to enjoy the pool which also served as a source of irrigation water.

"This is a great way to relax," Lorrie told Roxie as they prepared to shed their clothes. "The water is a bit on the cold side though."

But before they did, they watched Jack approach.

"Looks like you beat me to the pool," he told them.

"It seemed like a great way to relax," Lorrie said. "We can relinquish it to you."

"No, no! I'll do it some other time." He smiled. "Enjoy."

Lorrie turned to Roxie. "See what I mean."

Roxie smiled, but she didn't respond.

They watched him walk away to the deck wheel's ladder to the shaft hole.

"Well, that was interesting," Roxie said.

Once they were sure that Jack was gone, they undressed.

Roxie looked all around before she jumped into the pool. "Are you sure that we're not being watched?"

Lorrie chuckled. "Everything we do is recorded."

Roxie looked around to see if there were cameras pointed at her.

"You won't see them," Lorrie said, smiling. "They're well hidden." She jumped into the pond.

Roxie followed her. "Oh my!" she exclaimed. "This water is really cold."

"Yeah, but it's good to shiver once in a while."

Roxie wasn't so sure.

Two cats made their appearance."

"I can't imagine why they added cats to this ship." Roxie said as she watched them settle down near them.

"We believe it's to keep us calm."

"There must be a more important reason. They consume precious oxygen and food."

"Probably not more than a human."

"I feel terrible that I'm the only survivor of my ship," Roxie said.

"They did what they were supposed to do," Lorrie said. "You were the only female on the ship. It's the crazy alien's fault that your crew perished."

Roxie turned to her. "I'd like to see the recording of your alien contact."

"Yeah, just ask Tog. He'll show it to you."

Little did they know that this would change everything,