the arrival

EMRYS Malik settled further into the padded captain's chair, facing broad screens that projected a view of outer space just outside the Estrella. Unfamiliar stars gleamed outside, waiting to be mapped and explored, and Emrys felt himself smile.

Beside Emrys, the slender fingers of the pilot, Mikhail Luxson, moved over the panels—he was checking their position to ensure they had come to the right place, frequently referencing the extensive star map pulled up on the computer panel beside him. Luxson squinted, twisting over his shoulder without adjusting his hunched position to examine the star chart while keeping his hands on the panels. He was good at that, that sort of firm concentration that had him constantly checking his work, no matter his confidence. Emrys liked that about him.

About six feet behind Emrys, Lily Young hunched over a rounded and raised holograph console, her nose almost buried in the glowing stars she studied. Her posture was terrible, but she was focused and cared about doing her work right. Maybe a bit too focused, Emrys thought, but dedicated for sure. Her dark afro was like a cloud around her head, a thought that made Emrys smile a little.

Two other stations sat apart from the rest of the crew: the communications bay, where Armie Abernathy currently sat, informing the mission coordinators back on Earth of their arrival; and the reactor monitoring station, occupied by Riley Horatio, the youngest member of the team at only twenty-three. Abernathy's voice was quiet, though audible in the background of Emrys' thoughts. It was almost comforting in its reassurance that the comms actually worked this far out, that they could contact the folks back home.

Behind him, Emrys heard a rustle of cloth as Paris Mays, the crew doctor, stood from her seat and came forward. He could tell it was her by the click of her shoes—impractical sharp-toed pure white ones that he was pretty sure she only owned to make her look extra-professional. And when she leaned her arms on the back of Luxson's chair, putting her face right up against the pilot's. He visibly tensed at her approach, and Emrys turned his attention to them. Mays, it had taken little time to figure out, was quite the antagonist when she wanted to be, and it was quite clear that she found Luxson to be an easy target. She wasn't entirely wrong, he was quiet and thoughtful, but Emrys made a note to keep an eye on Mays.

"Sure we're in the right place?" she said, smirking, poking him a little on the shoulder. Luxson shrugged her off, not that she seemed to care.

"Yes, Doctor Mays," he sighed, "Please stop leaning on me, I'm trying to work." The doctor huffed, but straightened up, flicking her dark hair over one shoulder.

"Captain, I'm going to go to my med bay," she said, "and make sure space travel didn't disrupt anything." She stood, in a position that said she would go whether Emrys told her she could or not, with her arms crossed. It took more self-control than Emrys would have liked to admit to not bristle at her words, but he managed it.

He waved a hand. "Fine, go, go. We should be stable here, everyone. Let's get to work."

—

MAGDA Reed watched Doctor Mays leave the Estrella's bridge in her usual clipped, quick way. Magda unconsciously shrunk in on herself as Doctor Mays passed, her hair falling in front of her face. Doctor Mays scared Magda, to tell the truth, and it almost felt like the air was colder around her. Magda had to stop herself from shivering.

Nearby, Keegan Reed stood, stretching in a way that arched her back. "I guess I'd better get to work," she said, casting a grin around the room. Not waiting for—or even expecting—anyone to answer her, Keegan left the room, headed down to her biology lab. Magda watched her go. Magda herself was a virologist; she studied disease and viruses, though it was hard to do so when her actual role on board was to clean the station—though she'd quickly taken it upon herself to report any disease they encountered in their travels. Hopefully, that wouldn't happen and those services wouldn't be needed, but it was better to be safe, she thought. Though she thought that it would be easier if she could use the lab, too.

Dmitriy Aristarkhov, who sat in front of Magda, twisted around to look at her. He smiled at her, a little shy and awkward as he often was. Magda couldn't help but smile back at him. He was nice, pretty much the only person onboard besides the Captain to actually make the effort to talk to her. And honestly, she liked his sweet, slightly awkward personality.

"You excited?" he asked Magda, crossing his arms over the top of his chair. Which was impressive, considering the chair extended far above everyone's heads. Dmitriy must have been kneeling on the seat of his. "Outer space and exploration and all that." He wiggled his eyebrows a little.

Magda laughed quietly, watching as another crew member left the room for his lab—Xiong Jian, the geologist, who she'd never actually spoken to. "I guess so," she said, her words not matching up with the intense excitement she really felt. They were in the unexplored regions of space, how could she not be excited? "It'll be interesting, that's for sure."

Dmitriy's smile grew a tiny bit more strained, though Magda couldn't imagine why. He was an astronomer, this was like, his area. "Yeah, it really will."

Fen Jie, the chemist of the crew, walked past the pair on her way to the door, her eyebrow raised. "I'm sure you can discuss this and work, yes?" she asked, though she wasn't cold the way Doctor Mays would have been. No, Fen Jie said it with a smile, with kindness in her eyes. Magda liked Fen Jie, for all her seriousness, and the older woman's kindness made working with some of the others onboard easier—or at least, it had in training and mission prep.

Dmitriy chuckled, but ducked his head when Fen Jie's eyes slid to him. "You're right, of course," he mumbled. He slid out of his chair, standing to his rather impressive, to be honest, full height, and extended a hand to Magda. "Come on, I'll show you my workspace. It's pretty cool, to be honest."

Magda smiled at him and took his hand, letting him pull her up. He released her hand as soon as she was up, though continued to lead her to his...lab wasn't the right word. Perhaps "study" was a better choice. Dmitriy babbled the whole way, talking about the stars he'd already seen and made notes to catalogue, about his hopes for this mission. It put a smile on Magda's face.

—

BELLAMY Chance loved greenhouses. No matter what form they took, greenhouses and plant-filled spaces made them feel at peace, at home.

Stepping into the greenhouse-lab of the Estrella was no different, despite the fact that Bellamy was currently in space. Most of the room was dedicated to horticulture, earth spread from the edge of the shiny cream-colored flooring to the shallow windows on the other side of the room, and a few raised beds designated for certain species. These were circular, and equipped with heat lamps and humidity systems to allow for proper growth. The rest of the space was the lab Bellamy and Amine Grace, the other botanist, shared. A few lab tables, storage containers for plants, seeds, and tools, and a large desk with two computer stations and plenty of working space. Bellamy loved it, and not least because they had been consulted in the design. It was nice to be appreciated.

They moved to their designated station (indicated by a card fastened to the computer monitor with their name printed on it) and booted up the computer, glancing over at Amine. They were examining the seed collection, running their hands through the drawers to check them over before planting. Bellamy smiled, the expression quietly growing across their face. This trip would be something else, that's for sure.

—

1377 words!
Hey everyone!! I wanted to have this out a few days ago, but I've been busy so here it is now! I tried to at least mention everyone, and please do let me know if I've written your character incorrectly!
Please let me know what you think! The middle section is a little rough, but overall I'm very proud of this!