“It can’t possibly be as embarrassing as a trio of strangers overlooking a dossier of you while you sit here watching us read it,” Mike joked with her. After his moment of being irritated about Katy’s swift departure, he decided it wasn’t fair to take it out on Rachel or the Experiment. There were going to be unexpected things that came up. For his part, Mike was going to take them on head-on, just like he would have if he were shipped out. On a ship you’re basically alone, and you have to solve the problems you come across with what you have on hand, and with only what you have on hand. To Mike, this situation was no different.<br/><br/>“Anyway, it wasn’t your fault you were put up to this, ja? I mean, the University man told me that Katy knew she was leaving soon. I know for a fact that I wasn’t told that. So in my mind, I’m happy to welcome you to our life here. Although I’m sorry to tell a marine biologist that I love to fish. I hope you will not hold this against me, ja?”<br/><br/>He then turned his attention to Sean and Beth. “How was your run?” he asked. He didn’t dare tell them that he had seen them go into the boathouse, nor what it done to him physically, and that, through the process of fantasizing about them together in there, he had bent Katy over the table they were now eating from. At least he knew now why Katy had so abruptly cut their encounter short. So many of her actions now made more sense.<br/><br/>“I guess that means that the crates marked ‘Katy’ down below are actually for Rachel?” he asked when there was a pause in the conversation. “I’ll help you with those this afternoon if you want to get unpacked. I still have that to do myself.”