Shenanigans!
Power came on today, which was exciting. Well, it was exciting for the five seconds that the power was actually on. And it was really exciting for Senior Technician Aldini, because he ended up embedded in a wall. He didn’t die, thanks to his suit and the wall, but when we got him back to the pinnace it turned out both his legs were broken.
Aldini didn’t freak out about that, though. No, Aldini freaked out when Fifth Officer Chin (our fearless leader, at least on this pinnace) wouldn’t let him go back to the Blobmart. He started screaming about how you don’t need legs in free fall, Chin ordered him to take a sedative, and the next thing you know, four of us were trying to grab him and hold him steady long enough for Aldini to get the sedative anyway. That was a fun five minutes, and when Chin finally gave him the injection she went with a double dose. Kind of risky, but I for one am going to have a black eye from all the flail about he did. He didn’t die, so why worry about it?
Chin looked around afterward, and I’m pretty sure she locked eyes with each of the first-timers. She damn well locked eyes with me. “That was not someone going space-happy,” she told all of us. “You can tell by how Senior Technician Aldini did not try to chew off your fingers, or rip out your eyes. He is suffering from Temporary Mental Decohesion, and will be at full effectiveness once we return to the ship.
“TMD is a common problem in space travel, which can affect anyone. None of you are immune. It occurs when it occurs, and is difficult to defend against. Suffering from it is not a sign of moral weakness. I expect none of you will treat the Senior Technician differently, simply because he has been infected with a mental disease. Do I make myself clear?”
“She certainly made something clear,” Emily said later, as we sat around vainly trying to enjoy our coffee-substitutes. “Mental trauma is more common out here than we were told.”