2 Isolation Vacation

Chapter Two Isolation Vacation No one likes getting a cold. No matter where someone is in the universe, the symptoms are the same: runny nose, watery eyes, cough, sore throat, the redness on that little part of the face where the nostrils meet the upper lip (that's the worst). But on a space station, a common cold can be a disaster. Every breath you take on a space station, someone else has already taken it. You're just borrowing that bit of air until you puff it out of your lungs for someone else to inhale and use for a second. And with all that air swapping comes germ swapping. Of course, the Marlowe has excellent air filtration systems, but a cold virus is the trickiest life-form in the known universe. The cold is basically a biological ninja, sneaking in and side

kicking your sinuses no matter what defenses you've put up. So it's a policy on the Marlowe that if any astronaut gets sick, their whole family must be quarantined immediately. Quarantine is like being grounded. You have to stay in your room, no one can come visit you, and the only people you can talk to are the ones in your family. It's punishment by boredom, even though you didn't do anything wrong. If you're a little sick, you may only have to be quarantined for a couple days. If your cough never stops, you'll be quarantined for a week or two. If you are, as Vale said, a "snot monster," you could be in your tiny compartment with just your family for as long as a month, until everyone is cleared. "Thith will be fun," said Finn's mom, Isabel Caspian, the Marlowe captain. Her cold had so filled her sinuses with snot that she sounded like her head was inside a pumpkin. "Don't be tho thad, Finn. It will path by before you know it. Who wanth to play Monopoly?" And so the Caspian family—mother Isabel, father Leon, son Finn, and daughter Paige—began playing their first of many games of Monopoly.

"It's not fair that I have to be here even though I'm not sick," said Finn. "Yeah," said Paige. "You guys are all gross and sick and I'm fine. Also, it's not fair that you make me be the thimble in Monopoly. Who wants to be a thimble? What even is a thimble?" But of course, by the next day, both Finn and Paige were full-fledged snot monsters. A few times a day, every day, Captain Caspian would sit at a computer in their family's living room, going over reports on the Marlowe's travels and sending advice and commands to the rest of the ship. The space station outside the Caspian compartment continued to make its way across galaxies, even though the four snot monsters couldn't see it. Foggy, Finn's robot, got to come and go as he pleased. The entire family would have to huddle in Finn's parents' bedroom, door closed, so Foggy could open and shut the front door without letting out contaminants. Sometime in the third week, it got a little old. "Hello, Caspian family!" Foggy yelled from the hallway. "Please exit the living room so I may come in."

"Ugh," said Paige, putting down a crayon. "Let's drop everything. Finn's sidekick wants to come in... again." The family got up, retreated to the parents' bedroom, and shut the door—as they did every time Foggy came to visit. "Tell Foggy he can come in, Finn," said Captain Caspian. "All clear," mumbled Finn. "You have to yell it, Finn," said Captain Caspian. "He's not going to hear you." Truthfully, Finn didn't want to yell it. Foggy was always so upbeat. Sometimes when he was sick, Finn just wanted to feel miserable.

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"All clear!" Finn shouted. They heard the front door open and close, and they all filed out into the living room. "Hello, Caspian family!" said Foggy. "You already said that," said Finn. "I am so pleased to see you!" shouted Foggy. "Even though I am not pleased to see you looking so terrible. I wish I could help you all. I'm sad you're all feeling so bad. If there's anything I can do, please tell me." "I still can't believe you choose to come in here with us," said Paige. "There's no way I'd volunteer to hang out with Finn every day." Finn considered which Monopoly piece to throw at his sister. "But he is my boon companion!" Foggy exclaimed. "My true pal. My friend-to-the-end! There is no way I would ever abandon him here to his snot monstrosity!" "Foggy, please," said Finn. "A little less loud." "I am sorry," said Foggy. "Robots, as you know, cannot get sick." "Yes, you've said that," said Finn. "So, I do not know what it feels like to be sick," said Foggy.