My Star by Christine Gasbjerg

in the suits—but they were turned off. What’s going on ? Kurt writes on the pad and returns it to me. Then he looks patiently at me almost as if I was a child.
    I think we’re in danger... I write on the pad about the secret stash of execution weapons I just found.
    Kurt goes pale as he realizes the threat, and rips the pen out of my hand.
    We can’t speak about the light, and we’ve got to appear dedicated to headquarters and E-corp. Kurt writes frantically fast on the pad.
    We have to hide that we speak to each other in confidence. We better keep our conversations to a minimum. Only speak when there’s nobody around. That way they won’t suspect we’re sharing intel, and they will feel in control of us. They can finish us off in a snap, if they feel we’re posing any kind of threat. I feel calm under the circumstances, but very much awake. We’re filling the pages of the pad quickly now.
    Who are ‘they’? Kurt writes fast in imperfect letters full of panic.
    Surely it’s Captain Alvah and the mysterious ‘Officer’ on Earth, possibly a guy named ‘Lorenson’, and presumably all the other highlighted crew members, excluding just you, me, and Martin. Perhaps Rosie is excluded too, although it’s my impression that she obeys all the captains orders without question, so she might soon be ‘highlighted’ too if not effectively already. ‘We’ are probably only including three—you, Martin and me.
    Should we tell Martin? Kurt’s eyes are wide open as he hands me the pad.
    He seems to be very open and extrovert when he finds someone who wants to listen. Even if he’s not with ‘the highlighted’, how can we know he’ll keep it secret, and not reveal our knowledge by accident. Do you think it’s safe? I already know what I think.
    Kurt reads what I’ve written on the pad, and shakes his head in reply.
    If Martin confides in us by himself, then let’s warn him of the danger, tell him to keep quiet and only speak to one of us. But not tell him everything we know and suspect. Keep him at a ‘need to know’-basis, so there’s less risk, if he should happen to spill the beans. I hand Kurt the paper pad. We’ve filled almost half of it now.
    Let’s not tell him anything. He appears to be a blabbermouth, and might give us away. Kurt looks sad, and his writing is getting sloppier.
    But his life is in danger too, if he doesn’t keep his head down, and his nose to himself. We’ve got to warn him. Plus, we could use an ally. I hand over the pad, and squeeze Kurt’s wrist to encourage him.
    Right. Then let me do it. I’ll tell him the bare minimum. Kurt sighs as he hands me the pad.
    He seems ready to give up, and I think a bit of encouragement is in order.
    Look. We’ve made contact with aliens, ET’s. We’ve had an actual conversation with an ET, and we’re learning something extraordinary—almost unbelievable. This is what we came here for. Sure there’s a conspiracy we’ve got to navigate through, and learn the politics of—but we’re also experiencing something that humans have dreamt about for centuries. I try a vague smile, but Kurt just stares at the words on the pad in my hand. The task now is to get the captain and ‘them’ to trust us. Keep our heads down and collect as much intel as we can. At least the words I’ve written have a calming effect on me, if not on Kurt.
    Kurt just sits there, and stares into thin air.
    I tear the written pages off the pad, and put them in the incinerator. The incinerators minimize the amount of trash produced on the vessel, as well as minimize the risk of spreading germs and bacteria. And now this incinerator minimizes information about our secret too.
    Everyone straps up for hyper speed, and the ship moves rather turbulently, like it did during take-off. When the turbulence finally stops, we’re next to what appears to be a space station. It says ‘E-corp’ on the side of it.
    I look at the surrounding space. There are no longer any familiar