Episode 8.4

After a little chat, Akara serves us the food: a large pot filled with porridge and a huge basket full of fruits. Marto takes the pot because it's slightly heavier than the basket. However, I still have to take occasional breaks. The basket is lighter, but still too heavy for me to carry all the way. At the glider, our paths diverge. Marto mentions he'll take a break later than planned. He doesn't seem to trust Mak to work diligently; he thinks the boy might have slacked off. Also, Marto seems genuinely pleased to have the chance to do everything the elder asks of him.

In the glider, all I need to do is press a button. The autopilot immediately takes me to the desired destination. "Janine!" Gasard greets me with a hug as soon as the glider lands. His eyes wander to the basket and the pot. "Akara always overdoes it!" he comments, smiling warmly at me. "No wonder you took so long."

I shake my head. "Akara was on her way," I explain.

"Oh," he responds. Gasard gestures for me to go outside with him. "If I had known, I would have sent you off a bit later."

I find Gasard's smile simply wonderful. I like being around him the most out of everyone I've met so far. I simply can't understand how anyone could hate him.

Outside, the prisoners work on the walls, replacing dented or torn parts and checking if anything inside is damaged. They are spread out in a way that Otscharsan has to run back and forth to bring them everything they need. "Finally, food!" Musator calls out, patting Otscharsan, who is with him, on the shoulder. "Come on! Be a dear and fetch me my food."

Otscharsan rolls his eyes annoyed but obeys dutifully. "It's nice to see him playing the errand boy," Gasard comments, grinning. I have to smirk a bit, even though I feel sorry for Otscharsan.

Gasard leads me into the corridor he came from when we arrived. The corridor is quite brightly lit, like the airlock. Additionally, there are some devices on one wall that I recognize from his repairs on the spaceships. A pile of cables and other materials stands beside them. The corridor seems to have taken some damage as well. "This corridor is actually meant for transport," Gasard explains to me, gesturing to a small vehicle with his eyes. "But Otscharsan's accident here damaged quite a bit, and I'm the one who has to repair it."

I look at Gasard in surprise. I've had a question on my mind for a while, and now I can finally ask him. "Gasard."

He smiles at me. "What is it?" he asks.

Somehow, his smile makes me forget the question. I just look at him. Gasard is a really attractive man. When he starts laughing, I blush slightly and look away, feeling embarrassed. His hand runs through my black hair. Somehow, I feel like he doesn't see me as a woman but more like a little sister. Which I find unfortunate.

"You're friends with Torsos, but you seem to repair everything that needs fixing," I start with my question.

He nods, then starts laughing. "I can imagine what you want to ask." He sighs and sits down on the floor. "Why does someone like me take care of all the technical tasks that come up? I could just enjoy my day and let others work." I nod. That's exactly my question. I slowly sit down beside him.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind if someone helped me," he admits. "The men are useful for smaller repairs and have my full trust. I've even offered them to work here, but they somehow prefer being prisoners." He shrugs. "What I've installed, all the technical stuff, is even too complicated for them. I've trained some on the other stations and shipyards that belong to us. But no one would want to work with me. My race is feared and hated." He sighs and scratches his head. His next words don't sound particularly cheerful. Rather, very troubled. "And good old Kaia unfortunately reinforces this fear and hatred even more." He sighs. A tortured smile crosses his lips. "I would like someone to help me. But I planned this station. I even developed all the technology for it. I couldn't just let anyone work on it when I'm not around. But unfortunately, no one can work with me either. I tried once; I was even as nice as I could be. But what good is it to me if everyone around me is terrified?" I nod understandingly. Suddenly, Gasard starts to shine. "What do you think about helping me more often?" he asks.

"Didn't I already say yes to that once?" I smile at him.

He shakes his head. "I mean, in the future too. A room will be available soon." He laughs again. "As I know Torsos, he's probably thinking about how convenient it would be to have someone to serve him rather than giving you any tasks. Or you'll just get bored because everything will be forbidden here." Gasard smiles at me. "It's not very exciting to help me..."

"It's interesting to help you!" I interrupt him with a smile.

"Then I'll just ask Torsos today," Gasard promises me.

He gets up and finally wants to continue his work. Like with the spaceships, my task is to hand him everything. But I feel like I'm more of a hindrance than a help. I keep forgetting the names of the devices, or I hand him the wrong thing. But Gasard is patient with me. Again and again, he points out my mistakes and shows me what he means. Embarrassed and somewhat dejected, I sink down to the wall at the end of the work. "You would surely be faster without my help," I say.

He doesn't even try to convince me otherwise. Gasard sits down next to me, his muscular upper body slightly sweaty, his shirt off. The wounds and scars scattered over his body look bad.

"You're right!" he laughs. "At the moment, you're absolutely no help to me!" He ruffles my hair with his hand. "But someday, you'll surely be a great help to me." I return his smile. "Unless Torsos absolutely objects to you helping me, but I don't think so. He doesn't even mind if I bring someone from the Death Zone."

I really hope it's possible. Helping Gasard would be a very pleasant thought for me.

"Shall we call it a day for today?" he asks me. I immediately nod vigorously. When he sees it, he hesitates. "The men always get food as a reward, but I'd like to thank you differently." Suddenly, he starts grinning. "How about it?" I listen curiously to his words. "A bath with warm water?"

"That sounds great!" I confess.

Gasard calls for departure. He leaves his devices, tools, and materials behind. The only thing he takes is his jacket. As we step into the airlock, the men are still hard at work.

"You can stop now," Gasard calls out to them.

"Finally," Otscharsan sighs. He sinks exhausted to the ground, his hand reaching for one of the fruits. I do the same and join the blond man.

"Oh, Boss," Musator calls out sulkingly. "It's so much fun to boss these gentlemen around." With a glance, he indicates Otscharsan, who looks less than thrilled.

Gasard bursts out laughing loudly. "I believe you!" he admits. "You can enjoy the pleasure until everything is repaired again." After a short pause, he adds. "If you want."

"Delicious food, bossing a commander around, what more could you want?" another prisoner exclaims. His comrades agree gleefully.

"But Gasard, you do realize I have an important task, right?" the blond one reminds him.

"Someone can take your place!" he simply says. "Besides, what do you prefer? Playing the errand boy here or running into Torsos, who was quite angry earlier and said he'd lock you up in the Death Zone."

"If I think about it, being a private slave isn't so bad after all." Otscharsan laughs and seems to resign himself to his fate.

The men finish their work. Almost all of them join us and reach for the fruits, only Musator dives into the porridge.

Gasard watches him shaking his head. "Your race has a strange taste when it comes to food!"

Musator looks up at the redhead and starts laughing. "I could say the same about you!"

Grinning, Gasard turns away. He squats down next to me and, like everyone else, takes one of the fruits.

"Boss, that's how I like to be bribed!" one of the men calls out.

Gasard raises his eyebrows. "Bribed?" He bites into the fruit, then gets up. "What about it? Will you make me happy and run, or take the glider?"

"Don't overwork yourself, boss!" Musator calls out with a full mouth.

Gasard sighs softly. "As if I could ever afford a day where I don't work." He turns to the men. "What do you want now?"

"We're not in a hurry yet, and the boy looks like he enjoys long walks." While Musator says this, he pats Otscharsan on the back.

The latter looks at the prisoner in shock, then turns his gaze to Gasard, seeking help. "Hey, please don't do this to me."

The redhead looks down at the blond man, then shakes his head. "But I will!" With that, he bids farewell. He gestures for me to follow him. When I ask why he's taking me, Gasard replies that I should still be of some assistance to him.