The Space Spoon novel Chapter 25

Yellow arrows appeared on the walls as the meeting ended. Each one had a crewman's name on it. E00 showed them all to their quarters. Only Tejeda and Shayla remained seated at the table.

“You aren’t going to tell me what that was about, are you?” she said, her arms still crossed over her chest as she leaned back.

“I promise I will think about thinking about it.” Tejeda gave an all-knowing smirk.

Shayla didn’t seem to appreciate his joke. “Why can’t you trust anyone? Why can’t you trust me?”

"Oh, my dear Shayla, the answer is simple: you are composed of atoms, and I don't trust atoms since they make up everything."

"I never get a straight answer from you. I am not sure why I bother asking you a question," she whispered, shaking her head.

His smile widened. “I am glad you reached that conclusion. Now, I have some things I have to talk about with you. Firstly, this ship can’t be named SCF1 anymore. That name doesn’t cut it for us. I have already applied for a new official name, and the approval should be ready by the time of our departure.” Tejeda opened his arms in the air as if he were an announcer on a stage. “E00, do you want to make the honors?”

A matte wall tile turned glossy, and a screen flickered open. Large purple letters glittered on it, all capitalized. THE SPACE SPOON.

“Everything is about Carmen, right?” Shayla shrugged. “I know that much by now.”

She got up from her chair. As she passed by Tejeda, he wondered if there would ever be another moment like that one on the dance floor in the dome on Uthion.

As soon as he realized it might never happen again, time seemed to stop. Then everything not anchored down drifted into the air ever so slowly and gracefully without a foreseeable destination.

With nothing to hang on to, Shayla let out a quick, high-pitched "Ah!" as her feet rose above the floor. A secure fastening attached the table to the decking. Tejeda grabbed the edge of the table with one hand while seizing Shayla's wrist with the other. He gently pulled her toward him.

"Please accept my sincerest apology!" They both heard E00's voice from across the room. "I am reading a file about anti-gravity and have somehow lost control of the artificial gravity controls. Don't be concerned! I will get back to you as soon as possible. They just do not want to descend."

“I won’t pretend I understand that,” Tejeda shouted, even if he smiled. “Give us a heads up before restoring gravity.”

The artificial gravity drew them back to the floor before he finished his statement. Shayla was on top of Tejeda, who had fallen flat on his back. Their gazes locked, and he didn't squander the opportunity. After brushing a strand of her black hair aside, he grabbed her face to bring her closer.