Aphelion

This could be a scene, or part of one, from a larger story, but it has no plot or character arcs that I could detect. There's the mention that this meeting is a test to determine whether Connie can pass as a human, but nothing ever comes of that, so it's an incomplete story arc. Instead, the two men discuss a kind of rocket engine, and that conversation also ends without seeming to go anywhere.

I suggest that Mr. Gee read Wired for Story, by Lisa Cron.

Here is a very nice little short course in SF writing, free of charge, and it covers all the basics:

http://www.writesf.com/