"Do you want us to get into orbit first, and then rest, or are we going to land somewhere," Joxe asks.

Gareth doesn't like the idea of more survivors, but knows better than to bring it up.

"Perhaps we should scan the town for survivors from orbit before we land."

Brent thought about it.  "We'll go up into a low polar orbit, a noon orbit so we stay in the daylight on the ground below.  We can scan as we rest and then home in one whatever stands out."  He plugs in the calculations to take them to such an orbit.

"I want everyone to eat and then rest.  We can set the sensors on automatic and sleep for a good eight hours."

Wanderer turns south and accelerates into a heliosynchronous orbit, placing them 600km above the planet's surface. At this altitude, they will make 15 orbits per day, and it will take two days to survey the planet.

The ship's sensors and recorders come online, and Joxe programs in a continuous broadcast on the emergency frequency that will sweep the ground they pass over.

Everyone has a chance to eat and sleep during the next eight hours.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:29, Mon 20 Nov 2017.

Niamh definitely takes the opportunity that was given to her, and gets to sleep right after eating a decent meal.  Just before she sinks into sleep, she makes a silent prayer to the Gestalt that she doesn't have any nightmares.

Brent stays on the bridge for a while after the others retire watching the empty planet turn beneath them.

In reply to Matt (msg # 737):

The ship's night passes without incident. Everyone awakens to find that Joxe is preparing breakfast. The sensor logs don't record having received any signals from the surface.

Bent comes down to the wardroom in the morning after having reviewed the sensor logs and the ship's status.  He inhales deeply and smiles as he sees Joxe working.  "That smells great.  What are you making Joxe?"  He heads over to the coffee machine.  "Do you need some help?"

"Good morning, Brent." Joxe smiles and points to the commissary unit. "This is something I learned to make a while back. Funnel cakes." She lifts a plate of what looks like browned spaghetti with a white powder sprinkled on it.

Brent pours two cups of coffee.  "Do you want sweetener or anything in a coffee Joxe?"  He stepped over to the commissary unit and handed Joxe a steaming cup.  "Funnel cake?"  He took a deep smell and smiled.  "It smells good."

"No, I like it black. That blend is a little sweet, anyway." Joxe takes the cup and sets it down, holding the plate with her other hand. "Here, take a taste." She pinches off a bit of the thick, soft strand between her thumb and forefinger, and holds it out to him at mouth level.

Brent nodded as Joxe took the coffee.  He watched the plate with interest as she broke off a piece and held it out to him.  "Well, what's to lose?"  he laughed.  Leaning forward Brent took a bite of the funnel cake, his teeth brushing against her fingers.  "Mmmm... now that is good and the service even better."

"I'm glad you like it," Joxe's smile turns wry, and her cheeks color as she retrieves her hand. She turns away, and sets the plate on the table. "You have to eat them quickly, or they will get cold."

Working quickly, she gathers utensils and a bottle of an amber-colored liquid and sets them beside the plate. "Here's syrup to go with them. Be careful, it's very sweet."

Brent colored a bit as well at the sudden interaction.  He covers his reaction by sipping the coffee.  "Ahhh... that is good strong and straight," although his eyes do follow Joxe's form as she turns away.

"Here let me help," he says as he steps up and helps set the table.  Brent takes his dish of funnel cake and sits down.  "It would be sugar on top of sugar but when on Vland you drink the beer or so the saying goes."  He pours a small bit of syrup on the fried mass and looks up. "Are you going to join me?  I'm not sure when the rest of the crew will drag themselves out of bed."

"Sure," Joxe says as she focuses on the commissary unit's control panel. A minute later, her plate is ready, and she sits down across from Brent. She takes a bite of the funnel cake. "This is pretty good, but I think the ones actually fried in oil are better."

She applies herself to her breakfast, and, at length, she speaks. "I never thought of this before, but do you have someone at home?"

***

On the upper deck, Naimh's door chime beeps, waking her from a sound sleep. Her thoughts are slow in forming, and then the chime sounds again.

Brent slowly chews the funnel cake, savoring the sweetness and texture along with the combination of the hot, rich coffee.  "This is all very good.  I don't know about frying in oil.  We live a pretty sparse life in the orbital habs.  This type of thing is pretty luxurious for any of us."

He chewed for a bit as well after Joxe asked her question.  "Back home?  No, not really.  I was always too busy and too on the move to really do much more than a few brief flings."  Brent shook his head.  "Now I'm even further out of sorts."  He looked at Joxe and made to speak and then stopped.

"Out of sorts?" Joxe repeats. "How so?"

The former doctor pushes herself up into full awareness, finding the experience disturbingly like coming out of cold sleep in miniature.  "Um...yes?"

"Breakfast is being served in the crew area," Veronica says through the door speaker. "Do you want to come down?"

Brent paused again, a bit uncomfortable.  "Well, out of sorts being here on your ship and exiled from our home.  I guess we're all in the same ship I guess. I mean..." he paused.  "I mean," Brent continued quietly but with more confidence seeming to have made up his mind.  "There is no one really left behind for me back home other than a few cousins and my sister's family."  He continued;  "I know you've lost everyone you were ever close to but I don't want to intrude on your feelings."  Brent laughed wryly.  "I'm sure this makes no sense."

"It does make sense," Joxe says with a nod. "I had some time to think about what happened, and my cousins and I talked, too." She glances toward the floor where their bodies had lain. "I thought we'd dealt with the worst of it, but I was wrong." She shook her head. "It's still hard to think about. I don't get much sleep some nights. And," she looked straight at Brent, "I'm really glad you're here." The color shows in her cheeks again. "All of you, of course, but..." She trails off and looks down at her plate.

Brent listened quietly as Joxe shared her heart.  He met her eyes and held her gaze until she looked back down.  Reaching out he gently placed his hand over top of hers, lightly so she could pull away if desired.  "I think about being exiled from home and the betrayal that went with it.  But the death on a planetary scale, even of a small planet here really hit me in the gut.  We're all alone and missing our families, homes and friends but we do have each other."  He squeezed her hand slightly.  "I'm glad you are here as well.  It's not as lonely or dark when you are around."

Joxe turns her hand so that her fingertips are touching Brent's palm. She takes a breath and looks up at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "I would have died without your help, Brent, you and your team. I know the ship kidnapped you in a way, but you chose to come out here, anyway. Now, we've rescued another person." She smiles. "I think we have a good thing going."

Brent reaches up and softly brushes his fingers along Joxe's jawline as his fingers twine in hers.  "I think had I to do this over again I would make the same choice to be here with you."  He smiled and squeezed her hand.  "You... I... we have a good thing." Brent's eyes shown.  "And we can overcome the pain and loss by building forward for the future."

"Yes, definitely!"  Niamh actually sounds a little bit excited by the prospect.  "I'll be there as soon as I get dressed, okay?