Breach

fiction by michael werneburg

"Nah, it's not what you think. It's coming from down there," pointing at the planet behind her.

"How is that possible?"

She suddenly realized that she and the Ensign had only been woken by Mother ten minutes ago, and that Marl wasn't yet fully in uniform. She'd noticed how easily the Prince could become distracted when she wore just the simple halter-top that made up the first layer of her uniform. Wanting to avoid that discomfort, she stood and fetched her jacket. "They call it 'convergent music'; it’s like music is a natural law that emerges every time an intelligent species develops. Somewhere in that alien civilization, we’ll find everything from "Dancing Queen" to "Donguri Korokoro"."

The Ensign looked up at the planet above in renewed wonder.

She regarded the Prince's door, frustrated. "Where is that man? Have you scanned the cabin to check if he’s up?"

"May I?"

"Permission granted."

The Ensign typed at an invisible surface before him through his ocular heads-up display. "Sound asleep."

"How long have we been out of subtime?"

"Four hours."

"That's on top of a seven-hour sleep cycle?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Please don't call me that, Ensign. It makes me feel old."

"Oh! Apologies."

"So, two or three hours to come out of stasis, plus maybe eight or nine hours of sleep. He's in his late thirties, wouldn't you say?"