Big Brother

Month 11 Day 3

1630 Hours

Bugalu

Bugalu stopped just inside the brig, before he could see holding cell 1, just as he’d been instructed. His arrival caught Zhang’s attention. “Mac, you have a guest come to see you. Mac?”

“I heard you,” she answered, and probably stifled a yawn. “Who is it?”

“Bugalu,” Zhang answered. “Looks like he brought you supper.”

“I hope he remembered it’s my breakfast,” Mac replied, and groaned as she started to move around. “Well, bring him in so I can see him. Even I don’t know how I’m going to react.”

Zhang nodded at him, and he came around the corner, stopped again. “Yes, I remembered it’s your breakfast.”

She sat on the edge of the bed, her blanket covering her legs and trailing across the floor. “When did you hear?”

“When I went to your quarters to wake you up. Fabrication is working on putting the living room back together.”

“Yeah, it was badly damaged, I think. Okay, Zhang, let him in. After all, I didn’t jump up, ready to fight him.”

Bugalu stepped forward, wondering at how round Mac’s eyes were as she watched him. Just as he approached the edge of the cell, she scooted all the way to the end of the bed. Her trembling hands gripped her blanket tightly.

Bugalu sat on the opposite end of the bed, put the tray of food between them and pushed it toward her. “Mac, you haven’t been this tense around me since your first week at the Academy,” he observed quietly.

“At the Academy, I expected every man to try to rape me,” she explained, her voice strained. “And now- now, one of them has tried!” Tears started flowing from eyes that were full of fear.

His first impulse was to comfort her, and he leaned forward to move closer and give her a hug, but as he did that, she jerked back, looked ready to bolt. He sat back, re-evaluated the situation. “Well, consider all the men who haven’t tried.”

“Yes,” she said in a tiny voice, and relaxed enough to reach forward to pull her breakfast towards herself. “I keep telling myself that most men are... are okay. But pa is very, very strong right now.”

“I can see that.” He watched her cut into her eggs, butter her pancakes. She looked at the small gravy bowl full of yellow liquid in confusion. “They told me that’s pineapple syrup, for your pancakes.”

She gave him a happy smile, poured the entire contents over her pancakes and proceeded to eat.

When she was about done, he dared to broach a subject. “Mac, I’ve tried to help you get over your father’s dictates. I’m not sure I’ve done that very well. I think it might be time to involve a professional.”

She nodded as she chewed a bite of pancake and swallowed. “Beth has already suggested that. At that time, I wasn’t willing to see any man at all. But now that I’ve had some sleep, and presumably have calmed down a bit, I think a little better of that idea. After all, it was suggested even before this... incident. The problem is, he’s male, I don’t know him, and I just don’t want him in here with me.”

Bugalu grinned. “You’ve been aboard almost a year, and there’s a crew member you don’t know?”

“Actually, there’s a handful I don’t know yet,” she returned. “It’s been a busy almost year.”

“But you do agree to see him?”

She hesitated long enough to eat another bite of egg and drink some hot tea. “Okay, yes, I’ll try it, but only if he can stay outside my cell.”

“Conversations with a psychiatrist are supposed to be private, but I’ll see what I can arrange.”

“Thank you, Bugs.” At his sudden half smile, she demanded, “What?”

“I never thought I would ever be relieved to hear you call me that.”

“You’ve never done anything to hurt me,” she answered. “Just having you here is quieting pa down.”

“Will you still see Dr Fong?”

“Yes. Maybe it is time to get professional help. But like I said, he can stay outside. At least, to start.”

“Good. If you’re done eating, I’ll take the tray back to the mess hall and get myself some supper. Do you want me to bring anything back afterwards? A book to read or anything to do?”

“No, I’m going to go back to sleep,” she stated. “I didn’t get much sleep before your arrival, and it was full of nightmares.”

“Nightmares of falling?”

She shuddered. “No, of... being attacked, and not being able to stop... it. Dreaming of falling would be a welcome relief from that.” She gave him a brief smile. “Maybe I should leave the bed’s gravity at Earth standard for the evening.”

He considered all the bruises and scratches he could see on her face, neck... even her hands. “Maybe not. Because if you fall out of bed and produce even more bruises, that may complicate the case against... Winthrop.”

Outside the cell, an older man approached Zhang and spoke to her. Zhang punched a button on her controls. “Mac, Lt Postern says he’s supposed to deliver this new uniform to you personally. Do you mind?”

She glanced at Bugalu—as if to reassure herself that he was there. “No, that’s fine. I gather there’s nobody in my quarters to accept for me. Della’s probably on a date.”

Postern approached the force field, which crackled off. He handed in 2 uniforms on hangers. “One C uniform, and one D uniform,” he reported.

“But they’re the wrong color,” Mac protested.

“No, they’re the right color for new uniforms,” Postern returned. “Communications’ color is now purple. Didn’t you get the memo?” He turned and left, assuming the force field would crackle back into place, which it did.

“Communications are now purple,” Bugalu muttered.

“I forgot about that memo.” Mac grimaced. “I really liked my red uniforms,” she stated. “They matched my hair.”

Bugalu chuckled. “You are the only person in the universe who could say their uniform matched their hair.”

“Well, not anymore,” she returned, and considered the D uniform again. “And on the other hand, Bugsy, I’m inclined to change. Would you mind leaving now?”

“Not at all. I’ll go have supper, inform Dr Davis about your decision regarding Dr Fong, and I’ll check in on you later.”

“Thank you, Bugs. Zhang, would you shimmer the force field so I can change?”

Bugalu picked up the meal tray, stepped out of the cell and headed out of the brig.