Captain Crowe runs a finger down a lengthy black sideburn, stopping near his ear to scratch lightly.

“Okay. Touch that…now that…and this…”

I tap each icon until a schematic of the Ember expands over the panel.

“I’ll show you how to start, and then I have to go help Officer Weck before he heads off.” He nods over at a man who’s poking at a station thruster. “Remmit needs us to analyze some internal systems. He wants to upgrade the data processors before we reach Belvun.” He leans farther over my shoulder. “All right, what’s first?”

I check the list Orcher logged into my holotab. “Station Power Output,” I recite.

“Okay, type that in here.” The tip of his finger passes through the hologram when he points at the workstation’s keypad. “A list will pop up. Select each operation and log the outputs. Simple as that. Got any questions?”

I shake my head slowly. “I don’t think so.”

“Let me know when you finish.”

He goes away to help Officer Weck. I type Station Power Output. A list appears, so I tap the first operation—Engines—and log the thruster percentages, velocity values, temperature readings, radiation readings, efficiency readings, and more. A lot more. I never realized the engines had to be monitored in so many different ways. It takes me twenty minutes to log the data. When I finish, I start logging the second operation Orcher needs: Life Support Readings.

It takes me an hour to reach the end of the list, and this isn’t even half of what a normal day will entail. When I finish, I look for Captain Crowe. Officer Wech has since left, and Crowe is inspecting another projection with three other officers. He sees me and says something to them, then walks over. I hand him my holotab and he skims through the data.

“Great. See? Nothing to it.” He walks me to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

We shake hands. I deliberately tighten my grip to feel more confident.

That wasn’t so bad. It’s a job where I get to sit and record data and play with holograms all day. And I won’t be working alone. It’ll be a stable routine all the way to Belvun.

I scan my ID at the gate and enter the Bridge. As I climb to Orcher’s platform, I check to see if Glacia is working in Station Control yet, but both she and Captain Fallsten are missing.

Orcher takes my holotab and sets it next to his. An automatic link transfers the data. When it’s finished, he relaxes in his seat and his eyes find the Kairos supernova at the rear of the station.