Live Bait

The dark screen in front of me slowly rose like blinds on a window. The blinding sunlight was so much brighter than any light could ever hope to be.

I closed my eyes, unable to look directly at the screen reflecting the outside.

"Well," I said, turning around so that my back was to the light source. "Might as well turn off the lights."

Slowly opening my eyes, I blinked at Midnight's confused look. "It's an Earth thing. We have to pay for electricity, so I hate having lights on during the day," I explained. I thought it was a funny comment. But clearly not if I have to explain things.

"You said to get as close to the sun as possible," muttered Jun Li over the bridge comms, clearly taking my attempt at a joke as a complaint.

Sheesh, clearly, no one here had a sense of humor.

"I know, Jun Li," I said with a sigh. "Thank you for doing such a good job. Is it possible to open all the hatches so that the sun will shine through the halls?"