The survivors - A NextColony based sci-fi story - chapter 1.2

Keller had almost finished his work when Sally became active again. Suddenly she was beside him again.
"Are you ready, Mr Keller?"
He looked up. It must not have been more than 15 minutes. Did she set a timer?
"Yes, I have set a timer, Mr Keller, on a quarter of an hour," she answered before he could speak.
Suddenly he was a little scared. He had heard others say that he was talking to himself at times without noticing it. Had this happened now again? Or did she really read his thoughts? Which AI would reveal such a feature to a subject of observation?
"I am reading your thoughts, Mr Keller. It's for your and my protection. I am human though. I just trained as ..."
"... a Guardian of The Immortal Soul," he continued. He had heard about them and their abilities now and then but he had not expected to have one of them among the survivors as they kept their structure secret.
"Ok, Sally. I'm glad to know about your reading of my thoughts, however, I prefer a normal conversation." He touched another switch and the machine began to roar with a gentle hum.
"Ready to go, Sally."
"That's good, Mr Keller."
She left the room after him, placing a small device on the wall.
The door closed behind them automatically.

* * *

Keller had tried to think of nothing while they walked to the command center at the bay but had ended up mourning the loss of Adrienne Kaya again. That's what Sally reported later. She added that he asked her for her complete name.
"You have a surname, haven't you?"
"Greene, Sally Greene, " she had replied.
"And you know my complete name also, don't you?"
"Thomas Keller, born 2045, Staff Seargant of the United Air Force, ecology postdoc, father of three children." She just had decided to reveal all she knew. It was a common part of the protocol if you wanted someone's trust.
"And my sons' names and their location, do you know those too?"
"No," she replied truthfully.
He had thought of Adrian, Henry and Christopher then.
Adrian, the youngest, had been an outcome of the love between Adrienne and him (although Adrienne was never carrying), Henry's and Christopher's mother was a woman named Silvia, who had been Keller's first love and who had lost her life in the first battles when no-one had cared about the medics and nurses.
Keller and Kaya had insisted that the children of the colony should get brought to one of the safety buildings. No special treatment for anybody's kids, everybody knew about this rule.
He therefore had not seen his kids yet since the evacuation. There had been no time to ask for them so far either. The time for a rebound would come some time eventually. That was part of the contract. Guaranteed rescue against trust to the command board. So simple as a theory, so painful in the end.
However, the colony they planned to establish would not last a long time without children, without upcoming generations. Everybody knew that. There was a glimpse of hope.

* * *

They walked into the command office to find not only Noah Lieberman, the old man Keller had talked to before, but also a few other males and females, who identified as T. Carson, A. Whitstock, J.-L. Wu, R. Masuda, F. D'Souza and J. Okboro by the badges on their shirts. The representatives of the fractions that had been saved, he guessed.
"Mr Keller. I can see that Mrs Greene found you. Did you get along well? Are the preparations at the ecology lab finished?" Lieberman asked.
"Yes, sir."
"Thank you."
"Can you do another task? Please go to the hospital section to help with the quarantined, Mr Keller, " the blond man named Carson added. "Miss Greene will go with you again. She is your assistant now."
Keller could not help it, he found himself questioning who was the commander of them both, Sally or him? He knew she would register - and maybe report that later.

* * *

To be continued

Thanks to @art-universe for hosting a sci-fi writing contest based on the @nextcolony game's background story.