7 The staff

I'm (Youssef), welcome to station 13

Said a young man with light brown skin, tall, with a slim but athletic body, short smooth black hair, with a heart-shaped face, a long narrow nose, and medical glasses resting on the tip of his nose, showing brown eyes underneath And a light beard.

Then he approached us and extended his hand to shake him

I extended my hand, too, to shake his hand, saying, "Nice to meet you. I'm Salem."

(Adel) came, extended his hand, saying, "Hello, I'm (Adel) nice to meet you."

Then (Youssef) extended his hand to (Osama) "So you are (Osama) it was an honor to meet you" (Osama) replied as he shook his hand "And I also had the honor to meet you"

Then he looked at (Jamal) and said, "Hello, my friend, did you bring all the supplies?"

Jamal replied, "Of course, And I will empty the contents of the trailer into the supply room right away

(Youssef) said to him, "No, my friend, leave the trailer in front of the garage gate, and I will unload it myself.

It's late, go home and take a warm shower and have some rest with your family, and don't forget to send my regards to (Nasma) and (Naeem) and be careful on your return"

The expression of happiness and gratitude appeared on (Jamal)'s face, then he nodded his head and said, "Thank you, Mr. Youssef" and said goodbye to all of us

Then he went to the next building, separated the trailer and drove the car back to the oasis.

Then (Youssef) looked at all of us and said, "Thank God for your safe arrival. It seems that you are tired from the journey. Come on, let me show you your rooms. Or do you still have some energy to give you a tour of the station?"

"We're feeling a little tired now let's call it a day," I said.

(Youssef) replied, "Okay, but at least eat some food in the food court before you go to sleep."

(Adel) replied, "Thank you, but we had a great feast at Jamal's house."

(Youssef) smiled, "Good for you, (Jamal) is known for his generosity. Perhaps this is the seed of a good friendship."

...

(Youssef) advanced in front of us a few steps saying, "Let me describe the station for you while we are on our way to your rooms, please follow me."

We passed through the entrance, and as we walked in the lobby of the building in a straight line, (Youssef) said, "The station consists of four buildings in the form of a square connected by corridors and in the middle of them are the greenhouses and the water well, and we are now on the ground floor of the main building (Building A) on your right The security office, then the stairs, the elevator, then the communications room, and on your left is the reception corner, then the corridor leading to (Building D), followed by the clinic. On the first floor of Building A, there are only two rooms, the station manager's room, which I occupy this position now, and the meeting room.

And as we walk straight ahead, heading to the corridor between the communication room and the clinic

(Youssef) said, "In front of us is the corridor that leads to (Building B)."

And when we reached the middle of the corridor, (Youssef) pointed with his hand to a door on the left of the corridor and said, "This exit (A1) leads to the inner courtyard in the middle of the four buildings, which contains the greenhouse and the water well

when we finish the corridor and reach (Building B).

(Youssef) said: "On your right is the kitchen, then the stairs and the elevator leading to the second floor, which contains the bedrooms, and on your left is the food court, then the corridor that leads to (Building C).

In front of us, the rest room has a library and a television, and we spend our free time in it, if there is any free time at all"

Then we took the elevator up to the first floor, and we didn't take a minute, and the elevator door opened and we got out of it

(Youssef) said: "On your right is the laundry room, but in front of us are ten rooms, and on our left are three rooms, and the corridor leading to the second floor of (Building A) in each room there is its own bathroom and it accommodates two people.

But since we are few in number, everyone lives in one room alone, and there are seven empty rooms that you can choose among them as you wish."

He pointed to the three room on the left of the elevator and the four rooms on the right of the elevator in front of the laundry room. The rooms in front of us were numbered from left to right from one to ten, and the rooms to our left from the wall to the elevator from eleven to thirteen

(Osama) said, "What...there are thirteen rooms, why is this number always chasing me?"

There were expressions of astonishment on (Youssef) 's face

I said to (Osama), "Don't worry yourself about these things, and I will stay in this room to receive curses and jinxes instead.

that's what friends are for"

(Osama) said angrily, "Are you making fun of me, I see mockery jump out of your eyes, but you know what, do what you want."

"No, how can I make fun of you," I replied, "it's just the closest room to the elevator."

And while the argument was going on between me and (Osama), (Youssef) interrupted us, saying, "Calm down, you'll wake up the whole station. Why this argument?!

there are plenty of rooms, and this room is not the last empty room in the station."

(Adel) laughed and patted his hand on (Youssef)'s shoulder, "Don't bother yourself, these two are always like this, and you need to get used to this, because it will be repeated... a lot."

(Osama) and I stopped arguing and looked at them and then at each other and then (Osama)said with a smile, "Okay, let's stop now and tomorrow we will continue our discussion. As for sarcasm, this is another conversation, you idiot."

"Okay, naive," I said with a smile.

(Adel) said, "Didn't I tell you, (Youssef), this is what their discussion looks like, but I worry if they sit quietly."

(Youssef) smiled and said, "Well, I leave you to rest now, and tomorrow I will show you the rest of the station. Breakfast at half past six, but be present in the kitchen at six,there is no cook, so we help each other prepare the food, and there is also a meeting at seven to introduce you to the rest of the station members and discuss the daily tasks and if you need anything, my room is room number one, and excuse me now, I need to go to empty the supplies trailer."

I told him, "Wait, we'll go with you to help you and also show us the rest of the station."

He said announcing his strong rejection, "But you have just arrived from a long journey and need a rest." After our insistence, he finally accepted our help.

So we hastily put our bags in our rooms, so I chose room number thirteen and (Osama) settled on room number twelve, which is to the left of my room, and (Adel) took room number eleven, which is next to (Osama) room and in front of (Youssef) room.

We took the elevator down to the ground floor and reached the main building (Building A) and walked down the corridor leading to (Building D).

(Youssef), pointing to a door in the middle of the corridor, said, "This exit (D1) is similar to the exit (A1) that I mentioned earlier, and it leads to the inner courtyard, and there is an exit in every corridor that leads to the inner courtyard."

And when we finished the corridor and entered the building

(Youssef) spoke, pointing to his right, "This room is the maintenance room, and it contains all the maintenance equipment, and in front of it is the generator room, and in the middle of them is the corridor of the building (C), and on the left is the parking yard, and in front of it is the supplies room, and in the middle of them is the garage door."

There was an SUV in the parking lot

(Adel) said, "Wow, what a wonderful car, why didn't (Jamal) bring us in this wonderful instead of that dilapidated vehicle?"

(Youssef) laughed, saying, "Don't underestimate the car that brought you, because it helped us to pull this *wonderful* when it suddenly broke down."

He went to the garage door and opened it, and we helped him pull the trailer inside and put it in front of the supplies room.

And after we finished unloading the supplies

(Youssef) directed us to the corridor leading to Building C, saying, "Come, I will show you the laboratories in Building C as well."

And when we got to Building C,

(Youssef) began describing the place, "As for this building, it contains only two rooms. On the right is a room for preserving samples."

Immediately in front of me is the laboratory room and to the right of the corridor leading to Building B, so I have shown you all the buildings, and tomorrow in the morning I will show you the inner courtyard."

(Adel) said, "Where are the rest of the station's staff? We didn't find any of them on our little trip, even the security person is not at his desk."

(Youssef)said" We were all waiting for you, but you were late. That's why I told the rest of the people to go to sleep. It was a hard day. As for the security member, he went to his house in the oasis regarding an emergency matter, but he will return tomorrow.

After that we went to our rooms and wished each other a good night, then everyone went to his room, tired from the hard day, hoping for a deep sleep until he woke up energetic.

When you enter the room, you will find on your left a large wardrobe consisting of two shutters, one for each person, and on your right there is the bathroom door, and in front of you are two beds on both sides of the room, and between them there are two wooden desks on top of which are some shelves for books, and in the middle of them there is a window overlooking the desert

...

I got up at five in the morning, went to the bathroom, took a warm shower, got ready for the day, unpacked my bags and put my things in order.

After I finished arranging my belongings, I looked at the wall clock to find that it was fifteen minutes before six in the morning

so I decided to go to my friends to wake them up

And when I came out of the room, I found (Osama) locking his room door and he looked at me saying, "Good morning (Salem) I was going to wake you up, let's go wake up (Adel)"

And when we were knocking on the door of (Adel's) room, the door of (Youssef's) room opened and (Youssef) came out yawning, looking sleepy.

When he noticed us, he said, "Good morning (Salem) and (Osama), how was your sleep, I hope it was comfortable."

We replied, "Good morning, yes we were comfortable, thank you."

And (Osama) knocked on Adel's door again, but there was no answer, and I was going to knock again, but (Youssef) stopped me by asking me, "Do you smell this?"

I looked at (Osama) to find him looking at me too, and we sighed and (Osama) said, "Yes, it smells like food.

It seems that (Adel) has caused a disaster.. I mean he has prepared the food."

And I said, "Let's go see what he did and help him."

We took the stairs to the ground floor and found (Adel) sitting at one of the tables in the food court, sipping a cup of tea, staring at the wall as if it was the strangest thing he had ever seen.

We approached him and (Osama) said "Good morning (Adel)" to get (Adel) out of his wanderings

(Adel) said, "Ah, good morning, my friends. Breakfast is ready. Where are the rest of the people? so we can have breakfast together and get to know each other"

(Youssef) replied, "You'll find them all here in five minutes, but why did you prepare the food on your own? Why didn't you tell us to help you?"

(Adel) said, ending the cup of tea, "Don't worry, Youssef, it's our first breakfast together at the station, and besides being a good chemist, I'm also an excellent cook. Cooking is my favorite hobby."

(Osama) and I look at him with a little anger, saying, "Did you do a disaster again in the kitchen, leaving it for us to clean?"

(Adel) laughs, "If you want to eat my great food, you have to pay for it, and the least you can do is clean the kitchen and wash the dishes."

Osama and I were unable to respond, we admit that his food is really great, but we will never tell him that

I heard footsteps, to find a white young man, slightly tan, of medium stature,Signs of baldness are starting to appear on the front of his head, with black eyes and a slightly plump body.

(Youssef) said, "Good morning, (Mohsen), come to introduce you to your new colleagues."

(Youssef) introduced us to (Mohsen) and we shook hands with him one by one to know that he is a geologist and he is thirty years old

(Mohsen) said, "Welcome to the station, I hope we can cooperate with each other"

I noticed two people coming down towards us, then they greeted us and we greeted them, then (Youssef) introduced us.

He pointed to a young man with a thin body, short stature, curly hair,His skin is reddish-white, and wide brown eyes

He said, "This is (Farid) our botanist. He's in his mid-thirties, but he doesn't look like he is."

We shook hands with him

Then he pointed to a young man of medium height, with dark brown skin, with an athletic physique, broad shoulders, and large biceps

(Youssef) said, "As for this young man (Sherif) a communications technician, he is 26 years old, and his dream was to become a champion in bodybuilding."

We shook hands with him and said, "Nice to meet you all."

(Youssef) said, "And there is (Emad) who is responsible for security, and I will introduce him to you when he returns, and there is also Dr. (Omar), who was summoned to perform urgent surgery at the Oasis Hospital."

(Sherif) asked, "What is this wonderful smell? Did our prayers finally be answered and they appointed a cook to relieve our stomach from canned food?"

(Youssef) replied, "No, they did not appoint a cook, and yes, our prayers were answered in another way, because (Adel) prepared breakfast."

(Adel) said with a laugh, "Don't worry about needing a cook anymore, and since it's our first breakfast, I decided to make something special, just sit down while I get the dishes."

"At least let us help you by bringing the dishes," said (Sherif).

(Adel) quickly said, "No, no, no, no, I'll take care of this, just sit down."

(Adel) brought the food to the tables in the food court and we sat down to eat while we chatted to get to know each other better.

And after we finished eating, we got up to take the dishes to the kitchen, and at that moment (Adel) was sitting in his place, watching us in silence with a sly smile on his face.

We entered the kitchen to find that the kitchen had been hit by a storm scattered spoons, plates and pots everywhere, leaving the place in total chaos.

we cast Adel with an angry look through the serving hatch

(Adel) said in a calm voice, "What...just enjoy cleaning the kitchen while I enjoy my tea."

And while cleaning the kitchen

(Youssef) asked me while he was handing me the dishes to put them in the kitchen sink, "Will he leave behind this mess every time he enters the kitchen?"

"Yes, although his food tastes Great, He always leaves the kitchen in a mess so we don't want him to enter any kitchen for the rest of his life," I replied.

(Adel) said from the food court, "I heard you... you praise my food, my friends, so I will be honored to prepare this wonderful food every day, because I am the super cook."

we all said "No" in one voice.

(Adel) looked at us and said, "What ungratefulness "

Then the food court filled with laughter.