Brittany quickly tidied up the room, making it usable. Seeming in high spirits, she turned back toward Lübeck and said,
“Dinner service will start soon. Would you like to eat something?”
Lübeck thought for a moment. He didn't feel much like eating. He just looked at Brittany without answering.
“If I go with you, I can piggyback on the officers' mess.” By the time he finished speaking, Brittany had already stepped before Lübeck, standing at ease with one hand on her hip.
“Sounds good. I'll go with you. Help me up,” Lübeck said with a smile, extending his arm. While he enjoyed doing favors for others, he also valued reciprocity—even emotional exchange.
“Alright, let's go early. Finish your meal sooner so your gut has more time to digest before bed.” She pulled herself up by gripping Lübeck's arms, then supported him as they left the room.
The base seemed compact; they soon reached the officers' mess without encountering other soldiers, as if they'd taken a separate corridor.
Upon reaching the dining hall, they found it empty. Brittany first seated Lübeck, then fetched him a special meal designed for age-reversal patients, instructing him to eat only that portion. Returning with her own tray, she sat across from him.
Lübeck saw fried chicken drumsticks, ham, meat patties, vegetable salad, sandwiches, and a large glass of juice. He found it amusing yet marveled at how she could eat so much without gaining weight—youth was truly wonderful. Amid his thoughts, he praised her,
“What an appetite!”
“No, I don't usually eat like this. I arrived at this base about half a month ago and had been eating at the soldiers' mess hall. I'd grown tired of it—nothing compares to the variety here.”
“Well, glad you like it. Take your time and enjoy,” Lübeck said, observing Brittany's expressions and mannerisms. Unconsciously, he compared her to Ruth.
Unlike Ruth's calm, gentle yet resilient and steady demeanor, Brittany was livelier, more uninhibited, spoke faster, and seemed to speak without thinking—simply and candidly. Yet Lübeck still cherished the qualities embodied by Ruth. He pondered whether times had truly changed. After all, compared to Ruth, Brittany was born half a century later. Not only time had shifted, but the environment too. Children of this era no longer endured the hardships of Ruth's generation. He wondered what he truly missed: the classical feminine virtues embodied by Ruth, or simply Ruth herself.
Lübeck noticed that only a few people came and went halfway through dinner, confirming the base wasn't large—or perhaps it was just a medical facility. Still, the seclusion in this corner was pleasant. He waited until Brittany across from him finished her meal with satisfaction, then filled her waist-mounted canteen with leftover juice before rising to follow her out.
“Is there a window here that looks outside?” Lübeck asked as he followed Brittany.
“Sure,” she replied, leading him down a narrow corridor lined with small, rounded rectangular airlock windows. Lübeck leaned out to look. Outside was a wheeled vehicle supply transfer yard—hardly a scenic spot.
He turned to look at Brittany and smiled, saying nothing. They strolled along the corridor together, observing the scenery outside. However, it was the height of a sandstorm, with visibility limited to just twenty or thirty meters. All visible were wheeled transport vehicles parked on the yard, silhouetted against the dark red backdrop of dust.
In moments, darkness enveloped the outside. Even the dusky red dusty sky was no longer visible, leaving only the cold white glow of the yard lights illuminating this small area.
Back in the room, Lübeck opened his computer to review the pushed briefing reports. He had barely started reading the first one when Brittany abruptly approached from behind and stopped him. She decisively shut down Lübeck's computer and declared,
“For the next 15 days, you are not allowed to look at any electronic screens.” With that, Brittany pulled out an eye exam device and solemnly inspected Lübeck's eyes.
Lübeck found himself both amused and exasperated, thinking she was being overly dramatic and rigid. He simply said,
“Alright, what should I do next?” " His tone carried a hint of challenge.
Brittany, seemingly oblivious to Lübeck's shifting mood, proceeded to list the tasks she would oversee:
“Alright,” she stated earnestly, sitting across from him.
“Next, I need to check your heart rate, blood pressure, muscle strength, and balance function. I'll collect all your urine samples, and we'll draw venous blood on an empty stomach first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Alright, I'll leave it all to you,” Lübeck spread his hands, his tone calm yet tinged with a hint of teasing.
This time, Brittany clearly caught the implication in his words. She seemed slightly flustered, her demeanor less assertive. She quietly finished the examination and went to the workstation to upload the data.
After completing these steps, Lü Beck felt exhausted and lay down on the bed to rest. Only then did he realize he had no privacy. The room contained a workbench accessible to both him and Brittany, a bathroom, a bed, simple furniture, and a door—perhaps to Brittany's private quarters. Yet whenever she left the room, everything about him remained under her watchful eye.
When Brittany finished her tasks, Lübeck voiced his concern:
“That's right, you have no privacy because you're now my patient,” Brittany explained with a gleam in her eye, her earlier energy seemingly restored. She sat down beside Lübeck's bed to chat.
“Captain Lübeck, may I ask how long you served on this secret space project before this?”
With nothing to do at night and sleep still far off, Lübeck was happy to pass the time chatting with her.
“Decades. Roughly from the 1950s to the year 2000.”
“Oh? And when did this secret space project begin?”
“Not sure. And it doesn't matter. If you can traverse time, the exact starting point becomes irrelevant.”
“I see,” Brittany replied, lowering her voice.
“So, are you married? Does your role as captain impact your family life?”
Lübeck smiled. He sensed the girl might be trying to map her own future path through his experiences, so he explained,
“I spent most of my career training crew members, rarely leaving Earth. My farthest journey in space was Mars orbit, so I could visit home often. But my wife passed away years ago. Perhaps I might...”
“Oh, I'm sorry. I brought up painful memories.”
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