Lan rushed to retrieve Edwin and Windee, but one of the soldiers already had them. They screamed, just before they disappeared.
Another soldier aimed his weapon at one of the customers. She was dressed in red, and was holding half of an Alaska Donut.
“Mother. Mother.”
“Shirley?”
“You were talking in your sleep,” Shirley said.
“A dream?”
“Yes, you were asleep at your desk.”
Her mother nodded stiffly. “Okay then, nothing to worry about.”
Shirley was not convinced. Her mother had been working steadily for the past thirty-eight hours.
“Mother. These bodies are more fragile than the ones you are used to. You yourself warned the crew to monitor their exertion.”
“No time. We have the morning customers.”
“Mother, it’s already nine A.M.”
“What?” Her mother rushed to the elevator. “I expect you to let me know when I am needed in the front! How are sales?”
“Fine, Mother.”
“Any emergencies?”
“No, Mother.”
“The replicators?”
“Fine,” Shirley said. “Mother, everything is fine.”
Everything was fine. That is, except her mother. These incidents were happening more and more often. “Take care of family first,” her mother loved to say. But her mother seemed unable to understand that she was family, too.
Yes, the entire crew was hard at work with the donuts and stargate, but her mother insisted that they take time for themselves. Thus, Aunty Floresta would venture into town looking for supermarkets and new food items. Markus would unwind by playing online video games or driving about town in the middle of the night. Windee and Edwin, of course, were children, so Lan took them to museums and the occasional movie.
Yet the only times Lan Tran had truly taken for herself had been those spent with Shizuka Satomi.
This week, Shizuka Satomi had neither visited the shop nor called. And as the days passed, Shirley would catch her mother losing concentration, forgetting things, or staring blankly into space.
“If you aren’t going to rest, then call her, Mother.”
“Why would I call her?”
“Because you like her.”
“Why would that matter? Besides, she’s busy.”
“Mother—”
“Anyway, what would we talk about? Music? There’s no time for silliness. We have a donut to calibrate.”
“Markus and Windee are already doing it, just as you asked.”
“And then we need to locate a suitable power source. Also, the Earth’s crust seems to have shifted again, so we need to retune the space-time filaments.”
“Yes, I am handling both, as you asked.”
“We need to rotate the reference donuts, then.”
“Markus is doing that, as you—”
“As I asked? Well, then I should pay the utility bills.”
“I already did that last night. Mother…”
“Okay, Shirley, I’m going to the bathroom. You haven’t already taken care of that, have you?”
Lan marched into the bathroom and slammed the door.
Immediately, she felt guilty. Shirley was only looking out for her health.
She sat down and closed her eyes. This bathroom. She remembered letting Shizuka in here that first time.
Shizuka. Shizuka had not come to the shop for a week. Maybe she’s just busy. If she wanted to talk, she’d come by, right? Besides— Bang! Bang!
Someone was pounding on the bathroom door. Before she could sit up, Windee barged in.
“Captaaain! Shirley said you needed thiiis!”
Windee gave Lan her phone and left.
“Windee! Close the door! Close the—”
Lan looked at the screen and froze. Shirley had already dialed Shizuka’s number.
“No, Windee, come back! Close the door! At least close the—Hello?”
* * *
“Katrina?”
This morning the girl was once again perched over her laptop, which itself was perched over the corner of the kitchen table.
“Katrina?”
No response. Ah, she had earphones on. Shizuka tapped her shoulder.
“Sorry!”
Katrina jumped up as she shouted. Only Shizuka’s quick hands saved the laptop from tumbling onto the floor.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Katrina said. Her hands, her body were shaking.
Astrid rushed in. “Is everything all right?”
Shizuka nodded.
“It’s okay. No harm done,” said Shizuka.