The High Five

A Bright Flash

Vivian checked the lab, the bathroom, the women's triad, storerooms, octangs, and cargo holds before finally finding Tayen in the fitness room. It was a good place for privacy. In a crisis, physical fitness was the last thing on people's minds. Tayen was doing resistance arm lifts. She must have been at it a while. Her tank top was drenched with sweat along one side.

Tayen turned at the sound of the portal opening, letting the pull-weights slide back with a clank. "Congratulations on being the hero," she said without expression.

"Believe me," replied Vivian, "it was as much of a surprise to me as it was to everyone else. I'm not really the hero type. That's Jess's department."

"It's certainly not my department. I guess everyone knows that by now."

"I didn't come here to gloat," Vivian said. "Or to lay a guilt trip on you."

"Good. I've got that covered." She went back to pulling weights in the hope Vivian would leave. She completed a rep and mopped the left side of her face with a towel. "You know that saying, 'misery loves company?' Yeah, it's bullshit. So can you just leave me alone?"

"Ever heard the one, 'Talking lightens the heart?' Cheesy, but I've found it to be true."

"Talk about what? How I fucked up and nearly got everyone fried?"

"It's no use torturing yourself with what-ifs. We all fall down sometimes. No one got hurt—that's the important thing."

"Would you be saying that right now if you'd been two seconds slower and gotten locked outside the ship with your oxygen running out?"

Vivian could see she was getting nowhere with this approach. Grasping at straws, she went with a hunch. "There's something else to this, isn't there? Some big, dark secret that's been weighing you down. You've been holding onto it ever since you joined the team. Don't think I haven't noticed. It's time to let it go. Get all the ugly out. You'll feel better afterward, I promise."

"Is this the part where we dance around to a teeny-bop song and shout out our most embarrassing secrets?"

"If that's what it takes," Vivian said.

"Count me out." She unstrapped and pushed off toward the privacy of the locker chamber.

Determined not to let her retreat into isolation, Vivian dove to block her. They flopped together awkwardly and drifted into a wall. Vivian grabbed the handholds to either side of Tayen, pinning her inside. "You can't keep this bottled up forever," she said. "It will fester and eat at you."

"Let me go." Tayen attempted to slide beneath her.

Vivian lowered herself to match. "I'm not budging until you start talking. I'm your friend, Tayen. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

Tayen took hold of Vivian's hands and squeezed. The slightest flex of her synth-hand was enough to make Vivian grimace and let go, but her natural hand took more effort. Vivian gritted her teeth, determined to hold on. But Tayen was stronger. When Vivian finally let go, she shoved her away with more force than she intended.

Vivian somersaulted across the room, narrowly missing the exercise rig, toward a full-length mirror on the far side. She raised her arms to protect herself, but she had too much momentum. Her forehead collided with a scrinching sound. A normal mirror would have spiderwebbed, but the anti-shatter material just made quivering ripples.

Vivian drifted back to the center of the room. There was no blood, but a pink splotch on her forehead was already starting to swell. She prodded at it tenderly with her fingertips. Tears of pain stood in her eyes. "Ow, you push hard."