"Except that married men didn't make this trip," I reminded them.
When we turned and set up an arbitrary course we were within forty million miles of the brilliant sun. Opaque shields went over the portholes to keep out the blinding glare, and we settled down to the routine of resting and watching the instruments. I set up two man watches, partly to keep us from getting in each other's way in the crowded quarters. The ship, with its bulk cut in half by the engines had never been designed for comfort. There was enough room for flight operations, but little privacy. Besides the five small cabins on the upper level there was a series of equipment lockers and the larger navigation and control room.
Below, the gallery and the laboratory were set forward of the air lock. Another small room where waste could be jettisoned out, broke up the pattern of equipment that was braced sideways for landing. Adequate space, if not ample, but Karen presented a problem. Scientist or not, she was a woman who hadn't realized that privacy would be hard to achieve aboard the ship.
We changed our comfortable attire for uniforms from the clothing locker, and tried to ignore Karen's brief costume. At the start of my third watch I met Paul coming out of Karen's room.
"Paul, you and John better get some rest. I'll call you in six hours if nothing comes up."
"Okay sir. I was just looking in on her."
I met his glance, knowing how he had felt about her back at the base.
"I wasn't checking on you. We all feel badly about Dr. Thiesen. Has she made any progress?" I asked.
"No," he said flatly. "Whatever it is, we'll have to wait and hope she gets better. I've tried talking to her." His face was set in hard lines as he spoke. "She doesn't know me. Talks a little about the field at El Paso. Not much sense to it."
"Why did she have to come?" I asked. It had bothered me since I first placed my background. I hadn't known her very well at the base. There had been conferences we attended together, but her clinical attitude and the shapeless white uniform she wore gave her a neutral quality. I had never seen what she was like physically until now. I sat with her and Paul at a night club one night, staring across a table at a tanned goddess in a low cut gown that shimmered in the candlelight. She had spoiled the moment when she laughed and teased me about taking time out for a drink. Later there had been a few dances, brief conversations about people and events. Nothing on a personal basis. I had been in love with her for months but preparations for the trip kept me too busy to do anything about it. Now she was here.