As the day we would leave drew closer, I got more excited. Glenda, Mary, and I chatted constantly about things we would do on our trip. But what I fai...ed to notice was what was going on right under my nose.Grant was already suffering and I hadn't left yet. I guess I was too close to see it clearly. But I guess others noticed it and they told me about it. But they never told me until after I came back.Grant and I were still joined at the hip. He and I still went everywhere together and did. The briefing went quickly, with Major Wellert providing an overview of the alien ship, and the route to reach the weapons bay. From there, Captain Roland guided us to the suit room. He handed us our helmets, and Bruce put his on. Staring at the blackened visor, he waited for the lecture to begin.Bruce chuckled under his helmet, saying: “TJ? This is what space looks like, all dark.”“Go ahead and remove your helmet. You can’t see anything until they are activated,” Captain Roland told Bruce.“Each. The smell soothed Aria immediately, causing her to loosen muscles she didn’t realise she’d been tensing. Softly grinning, Aria began to hum as she strolled through the hanger, idly letting her feet take her where they would while exploring the station.Aria kept one eye on her display, the map slowly expanding as her drones filled it in, the other basked in the wonder of the ancient station. It had clearly been designed for a race that stood smaller than the average human, they seemed to be. I figured he was potty anyway and I might as well earn a couple of quid as sit around watching daytime TV. We arranged to meet early the following morning. He told me to dress for travelling, whatever that meant, and to be at his place at seven am sharp. We parted company at the door. His last words to me were:"They don't sell rheostats in supermarkets."I had nothing to add.I presented myself at the Prof's pad at seven the next morning, as instructed. He was his usual picture of sartorial.