It had been a long day in the office. Yeoman Dave Brooks and Zef had gone through all the crew records making sure all essential information was present. It was tedious and time consuming. They’d moved his console into her inner office so she could answer questions without shouting when he came upon some unknown. She hadn’t taken a lunch break, although Dave did, preferring to keep at it and get it over with. By the time they finished the day, there were only 67 files left and Fin thought she would have those done the next day.

Returning to her quarters, she fixed herself a glass of chilled wine, stripped in the bedroom and took the drink into the shower with her. As the sonic pulses helped ease her muscles, the wine did the same for her mind. After several moments of quiet respite, Zef picked up a specially treated sponge and began to rub her skin all over until it glowed with good health. Using fingertips, she rubbed her scalp and fluffed her hair several times to make sure it was clean also.

When the glass was empty she exited the shower, refilled it and then began rubbing a special lotion into her skin. With almost no pigmentation, she had to be careful about certain wavelengths of light that could damage her. The protections were built into the lotion. It also smelled good and after a lifetime of doing it, she didn’t think of it as anything but normal.

As she slipped into a traditional komak, this one a dark teal with golden threads running through it, Zef was thinking of what she wanted for dinner. Walking through the bedroom to the living room on bare feet, she pulled her hair up and over so the white cloud settled over her left shoulder. Just as she was about to speak to the replicator, the door chime sounded. She sighed and turned her eyes upward, whispering “Please don’t be work. Please don’t be work…”

—Zef