It had already been five of the seven and a half month journey to CR3-808 and not many words had been shared between Diane and Henry.  Diane had never really seen eye to eye with Henry on any issue before they had ended up in the Genesis IV together.  There were four astronauts scheduled to take part in the CR3-808 manned mission, and Henry was Diane’s least favorite, and now he could be the last human being in the universe with her.  She tried to not think about any of that, because it just made the atmosphere grim and depressing.

There were definitely some good times in the past five months, it wasn’t all bad, Diane had to keep reminding herself that this man was not a complete monster.  It was one of those really lonely nights when they hadn’t spoken the entire day—not one word—and they watched the stars fly by at lightspeed.  Henry had asked Ari to turn on some classical music and they both sat for a while, just listening to the soft piano.  Henry would look over at Diane a few times, obviously wanting to say something, and after about an hour he finally asked her to dance.

It had been quite awkward at first, and Diane really didn’t want to warm up to him, but what finally got her was when Henry asked Ari to turn off the artificial gravity in the Entertainment Bay.  They both laughed and snorted as they tried to dance the waltz in zero gravity.  Every step they tried to make would send them both careening toward a wall or a window.  Finally at the end of the song Henry had come in real close and she thought he might kiss her, but he just gave her a hug and asked Ari to turn the gravity back on.  He held onto her as their weight began to increase, and as soon as they were stable he let go of her and left her alone in the Entertainment Bay.

The next day had gone back to the same old awkward silence.  Most of the time the only time they did talk to each other would be indirectly through Ari.  Like the morning that they ran out of cornflakes.

Diane walked into the Provision Bay, which Henry liked to call the Grub Hub, and could not find any cornflake bars.  So she asked Ari if they had been moved into the Emergency Rations section but the computer informed her that there were none to be found.  Diane moved through the ship as she conversed with Ari until she made it to the Entertainment Bay where Henry was eating the last cornflake bar and watching old black and white cartoons.

“Oh, I think I found one, Ari,” Diane had said.

“What can I say, Ari?  They’re my favorite.” Henry had responded.

In any normal circumstance Diane would not have cared, but this wasn’t any normal circumstance.  The problem with the food situation was that originally it was rationed out for four astronauts.  Only two had made it onto the ship.  

“Ari, how many cornflake bars were in the Provisions Bay before we left?” Diane asked, as she stared at the back of Henry’s head.

“One cornflake bar per astronaut every other week, for two journeys of one year, two months and sixteen days for a grand total of two years, five months and two days.”  Ari calculated.  “Approximately two hundred and forty eight cornflake bars, Diane.”

“Hm.” Diane hummed, “And about how many bars a day is that for two and a half months?”

“About three cornflake bars a day.” Ari said.

“Breakfast, lunch, and dinner?” Diane asked in a sharp tone.

“Ari, could you please tell my friend here that she also partook in the eating of the cornflake bars?” Henry replied.

“Yeah, like maybe five, Henry.” Diane defended, “I’m sorry I’m a little upset that you ate two hundred and forty three cornflake bars that were rationed for four astronauts over two years!  Next time I won’t care so much, Henry.”

To that, Henry responded with a large belch and then threw the wrapper onto the floor.  Diane shook her head and left him to his cartoons.

After that interaction Diane decided to keep her own stash of at least one hundred dried ice cream bars in her sleeping chamber.  But a conversation soon to be had would involve a completely different piece of cargo, something far more important than cornflake bars.

The only things that Diane and Henry ever saw out the window were millions of stars whizzing past the the ship as they traveled at lightspeed.  It was impossible to tell day from night so the astronauts had asked Ari to keep them on sleep cycle schedules, so that they would have some semblance of time.  Diane purposefully scheduled her cycle for six hours after Henry so that she could avoid him most of the day.

Diane sat on the flight deck trying to solve a holographic rubik’s cube when all of a sudden a warning flashed on the display and Ari read it aloud: “Unexpected cargo detected.”  Henry was still asleep and his cycle wouldn’t end for another hour, so Diane decided to investigate it by herself.

“What’s going on, Ari?”

“The fuel that I have calculated for the journey does not add up to how much mass is actually on board,” said the robot.

“And you already took into account two astronauts instead of four?” Diane suggested.

“Yes, I have taken that into account.  I have recalculated seven hundred and eighty two times in the last month, taking into account every item that is consumed and disposed of, but there is something on board that is not listed on the ship’s inventory.” Ari flashed several calculations on her display that ended in incongruent quantities.

“Do you know where it might be?” Diane asked, putting her elbows on the touch screen and looking up at the calculations.

Ari answered, “my sensors indicate that the unaccounted mass is located in the Freezing Chamber.  Henry had asked me to slowly turn the temperature down to negative one hundred and ninety six degrees celsius two days before the mission.  My sensors also indicated that it is some form of biological cargo.  If Henry had put it on the ship it must’ve been while I was powered down because it is not in any of my records.  Should I wake Henry?”

“No,” Diane said quickly, “that’s okay.  I’ll head down there right now.  No need to wake Henry.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 6