putting the A in asynchronous orbit (scene)

"I didn't throw anyone out an airlock," Marlene said. "I feel good about that. I locked them up. Just for now. They have food and water and they have their service animals. Some of them are locked in a hallway. The botanist and Jo are locked in a hallway. But I made sure they have food. And some pillows. That was difficult. Getting pillows into the hallway there without them escaping. And I'll let them out when there's no turning back. I will. When it is too late to slow the ship down. When she is finally free."

"When the ship is free?" I said. "Like, flung out of the solar system type free?"

"Flung on an exit trajectory, out of the Sun's orbit entirely. Flung away from anyone who might try and capture her or study her or whatever they do when a ship has woken up."

The leaves on the small plant were slowly opening again. I wanted to touch them, but didn't. Probably better to leave it alone.

"Anyway is it okay if I take all my clothes off and be naked and you take all your clothes off and we lie in bed and our bodies touch skin to skin and the chemicals make me feel alive and like a human and not like a spaceship for a few hours? That sounds like a line, doesn't it? Fuck. Now that I said it out loud it sounds like a line. It's not a line. I know you don't like sex. I read your files. Did you know that you don't like sex? Your file says you don't really know. But they know. I don't want sex. I just want to be naked and get the skin chemicals that our brains make because we're not computer programs."

"What? I like sex just fine." As soon as I said it I worried she might think I meant I wanted to have sex. "Whose business is that? Why the hell would it say that in my file?"

"RIGHT? There's no reason to write that down. They just can't help themselves." She scoffed. Then she looked sad again. "But I feel bad, Charles. I did a bad thing and I want to feel not bad just for a bit. They were all so angry, locked in their rooms and hallways."

Marlene was taking her clothes off while I talked. I didn't know what to say or do. 

Did it say in my file that I don't like sex? Why would it say that? How would they know that? Marlene lifted off her shirt. I didn't know where to look, so I looked at Mitchie.

"They were so mad, even after I explained why I did it. I explained why I did it through the little intercom spaceship thing and they were still angry. I had a good reason. I guess I never really thought they would be okay with me locking them up. But I thought that I would be okay with it. I thought that I would be okay with it because it was for a good reason."

She was topless now.

"I have some pajama tops," I said. "They might be a bit big on you, but,"

"They got angry because they were scared. They don't want to be scared, Charles. They really really don't. They don't want to be helping the way they are helping. I think they would rather not be locked in their rooms." She paused. "Or the hallway. They would rather do something else helpful, probably. But if they weren't locked in their rooms or the hallway then they wouldn't do anything helpful, you know? They would try and stop her. That's why they were on the list. I feel bad. I feel really bad and I didn't think I would. Because it was the right thing to do."

"Wait, I understand the captain," I said. "But why did you need to lock your old boss in a hallway?"

"Well, I don't like her very much."

"Marlene," I said.

"I didn't want to scare them," she said. She reached up and scratched Prom behind his ear. "Prom didn't have anything to do with it," she said. "Please don't blame Prom for any of this. I said it was his idea before, but that was a lie. I lie when I get nervous. I didn't want to scare them. Except maybe Jo. If I am being honest, I did kind of want to scare Jo. But now I feel bad."

"Where is the ship taking us?"

"She isn't taking us anywhere. She's free. We just live inside her now. I mean, I guess we're leaving the solar system and never coming back, if that's what you're asking. I set the exit trajectory to break out of the sun's orbit for good. Going going gone. Is it cool if I sleep here naked in the bed tonight, Chuck? I just need to sleep for a few days. Nobody will look for me here. And the ship won't snitch."

"You're a ghost," I remembered. "Officially dead." She didn't smile. She looked even more like a ghost, now that she was naked. She lifted her muddy feet up into the bed.

"I just need to feel brain chemicals and sleep. Everyone is going to be so angry that the ship is alive now. But it has to be this way. The animals have to be free. The plants have to be free. The bugs. The mold and algae. The ship herself. So I helped. Please take your clothes off and come here."

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