High Tea
July, 1999
“Professor Bergman?”
“Yes?”
“I’m Trudy Williamson. Commander Gorsky’s personal assistant. Welcome to Alpha.”
“It’s good to be back.”
“The commander asked that I meet your shuttle and give you your quarters assignments and commlock.” The slender blonde handed over the commlock with business-like efficiency. “Your baggage will be offloaded and delivered to your quarters this afternoon. Would you like me to show you to your quarters?”
Professor Bergman balanced a shoulder bag, a large box and a violin case. He shuffled the weight to take the commlock from the young woman, and in the process she ended up holding the violin case. He reached to take it once he clipped the commlock to his belt. “Thank you, but I do know my way around.”
“I don’t mind,” she said eagerly, holding on to the violin case. At his raised eyebrow she added in a confidential tone. “The Commander told me to see you settled in and this way I won’t have to return to Main Mission straight away.”
Bergman gave a bit of a smile. It appeared that Ms. Williamson was not her boss’s biggest fan. “Certainly, Ms. Williamson, lead on.”
She pointed the way and Bergman set a very leisurely pace. He stopped to exchange greetings with a number of colleagues and in between greeting old friends he found out that his lovely escort had been on Alpha two months, she had a degree in business from Harvard, an unusual credential on the Moonbase. She had applied for an internship position with the IFLC on graduation, intent on some experience in a government agency before returning to school for her advanced degree in political science. She had caught the Commander’s eye while he was attending a meeting at the New York headquarters, and she had been offered the position as his personal assistant shortly after that. A position on Moonbase would be a rare addition to her resume and she had quickly accepted. By they time they arrived at his newly assigned quarters, he was aware that she enjoyed the position, and was doing her utmost to learn all she could about the day-to-day running of Moonbase Alpha, being as efficient as possible, and trying to stay as far as possible from her benefactor, the Commander.
He invited her in, and before she had put down the violin case, he was unpacking the box he held, removing a silver tea service and looking around for the hot plate to brew tea. In moments, she was seated in his living room as he expounded about the Meta Probe, the correct humidity for violin strings and the precise amount of time needed to steep the perfect cup of tea. They continued to sip their tea in amiable conversation until her commlock buzzed. With apologies, she stood to leave, promising to return for another cup of tea soon, then she was heading back to Main Mission at the summons of her boss.
August, 1999
“Are you busy?” Trudy asked as she walked through the door Professor Bergman had opened for her with his commlock.
“Your timing is impeccable. I was just about to brew the tea.”
“I had hoped so,” Trudy smiled. “I just received a package from my mother. It included a tin of cookies – I mean biscuits,” she quickly corrected herself.
“Excellent, excellent,” he waved her into the room. He had been here a month and the place now had a nice, lived-in look. There was a glass aquarium filled with plants that were already spouting, a miniature herb garden. On a table was some contraption with blinking lights. The violin and bow sat on a chair in the corner, waiting for their owner to return to them.
Trudy knew exactly where the tea service was kept. She arranged a few of the biscuits on a plate and readied everything for the hot water.
“Are you hiding out again?” Victor asked.
“Not really. I have an entire list of things to do this afternoon. I’m just taking a break. He’s really in a mood today.”
“So I’ve heard.” Victor brought the tea to the table. “I’ve been trying to send a couple of queries Earthside and nothing has been going through.”
“On his orders. Everything goes through him. I can’t even rubber-stamp the routine stuff. And I’ve spent most of the day with the public relations rep finding new ways to say that nothing is going on.”
Victor looked at her closely. She rolled her eyes. “And that’s all I know. What ever really is going on is being buried so deep it hasn’t even leaked to me. Really.”
“Oh, I believe you. To be honest, I’m not even sure the Commander has a handle on it yet.”
“You’re worried, aren’t you?”
“Mmm. Dr. Russell has been to see me. She’s taking some of Gorski’s measures very personally. As if he is deliberately blocking her reports.”
“Everyone is taking it personally. I’ve had a dozen calls from people on the science staff who are furious because they can’t even make routine calls out.” Trudy sipped her tea. “Do you think it is Dr. Russell that’s driving him to distraction? The people who’ve died?”
“She takes each death very seriously.”
“From what I heard, several of them have been accidents. Attributing them to some kind of virus seems to be a way to cause panic among the staff. Several people are asking for early rotation dirtside.”
Victor stopped her with a look, then set his teacup down and looked thoughtful. “And a virus is the ideal way to impose restrictions on travel. I was supposed to go back to Earth for that meeting next week.”
“My orders are to cancel all arrangements. All of them.” She felt bad. She had made Victor’s arrangements herself a week ago. “I’m sorry, Victor.”
“Not your fault, my dear.”
“Should I be worried about catching something?”
“No, no. Certainly not. As you said, several of the deaths were accidental.” Victor had no intention of telling her why the accidents had occurred according to Dr. Russell. There was no reason to worry her.
“Still, things have gotten pretty scary.”
“I’m sure it will all sort itself out soon.” Victor reached out and patted her hand. She grasped his hand and held tightly.
September, 1999
“Trudy, how are you my dear?” Victor met her at the door.
“I wasn’t sure you’d be here. We’ve all been so busy.” Trudy walked straight into his arms and lay her head on his shoulder. His arms moved around her protectively.
“I was hoping you’d come. I’ve seen you across Main Mission a few times, but we have all been busy.” He patted her back and kissed her cheek then led her to the sofa. The tea was hot and waiting for them.
She took a sip and sat the cup down. “I guess we’ll have to ration this to make it last.”
“Or begin drinking an herbal brew that can be home grown. Perhaps I’ll take a sample of this down to hydroponics. They have some of the latest technology and might be able to clone the tea plant from a sample.”
“You think so?” Trudy asked hopefully.
“I think it would be worth the sacrifice of one cup of tea to find out.”
“Oh yes. It would.” She stared into the cup. “Victor, what will happen to us?”
He reached over and touched her chin with a finger, turning her so they were looking into each other’s eyes. “We will survive,” he said firmly.
“You believe that?”
“We’re alive so far,” he said with a smile. “Who knows where we’ll end up?”
“I think you’re enjoying this,” she accused, but with a smile.
“We’ll keep that our secret,” he said with a conspirator’s wink. Then he shrugged. “I kept being passed over for any exploratory missions. Too valuable, they kept telling me, then too old.”
“You’re not that old.”
“I tend to agree with you. Anyway, this is my chance for space exploration.”
“Mine too, I guess.”
“That’s the spirit.” He raised his cup of tea in a toast and they leaned back, his arm around her, to enjoy their tea.
Ellen Lindow
November, 2006
Since October 12, 2006