Nyx (Complete✅)

Chapter 14

       

   Despite everything that had happened, captain West still had tons of responsibility. He sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He had just finished reading a report from the engine room.

   His eyes were sore and puffy from staying up for three days straight. Two days had passed since the work had started again and the strongest of the passengers were recovering from the awful tragedy.

   Captain West had only lost his wife. He hadn't really known anyone else but the loss had stuck him hard and he had taken the days off with everyone else.

   He looked at the date on his holo-desk. Four more days until his private conversation with the two men who had abducted the young woman. He sighed again.

   "Why couldn't everything have gone exactly as planned?" he wondered to himself.

   The message bell on his holo-desk sounded and the captain closed his eyes. He almost fell asleep but remembered his duties and clicked on the message. It was from the PPW. It was only a routine report, stating the progress made since the last time a report like it had been filed.

   He scrolled through the report, only paying minimum attention. When he got to the portion of the exploration department, he started to pay more attention. Exploration was one of the more exciting of the planetary preparation tasks.

   Apparently, there was one girl in particular who was excelling at her tasks. Beth Fields. The name sounded familiar, but captain West couldn't place it.

   He read for a little while longer but the report started to bore him so he logged off. He was supposed to be catching up on the work that had been neglected for those first days of grieving, but he was exhausted so he got out of his chair, walked slowly to the bathroom, splashed water on his face and started to brush his teeth. After brushing his teeth, he opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out some painkiller for a dull headache that had been in the back of his head for days.

   He walked out of the bathroom, opened the door to his bedroom, and slipped under the covers, not even bothering to change his clothes. Before he fell asleep, he clapped and the lights snapped off. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was asleep.
_____

   Beth opened her eyes. It was getting a little easier to wake up so early due to the fact that she had been doing it for a few days. She looked over at her holo-desk. Ten minutes until her alarm. She reached up and turned it off.

   She heaved herself up and got ready for another day at work. Her grief had mellowed down to a dull ache in her chest. She pulled her boots on and was soon on her way to the exploration department.

   Liam didn't meet her on the way like he usually did. She found herself feeling oddly hurt. She shook the feeling away. "Why am I being so overdramatic? It's not like he promised to meet me or anything." She thought.

   She reached her desk and sat down.

   An hour later, she was studying the genetic structure of a sample that the planetary probe had sent back. She blinked a couple times and her eyes stung.

   There was suddenly a loud ringing in her ears. It got louder and she covered her ears in pain. The ringing was replaced with a sharp, panging headache. She clutched at her head in pain.

   The lights on her desk flickered violently. Soon, all of the desks in her station were blinking and glitching. Several people near her grunted in frustration. A man two desks down yelled angrily, hitting his desk.

   Almost as suddenly as it started, the headache stopped. She sighed weakly in relief. At the same time, all of the computers in the room stopped blinking simultaneously.

   She was very confused. "Why would all of the computers do that?" she mused. After a few seconds, she brushed the thought aside and continued with her work. But the incident stayed in her mind and she silently vowed to go and see a doctor after she finished work.

   Two hours later, the breakfast bell rang and she got up. A dozen joints popped as she did and she groaned. She walked to the hall with a flock of other people. Up ahead was the door to the architecture department and soon, she could see another flock of people headed to breakfast. They caught up with the others and she searched for Liam.

   She spotted him and slowly walked through the sea of people. When she reached him, she tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped slightly and turned around. His eyes were bloodshot and had big, dark circles under them.

   "Wow, Liam, you look really tired." She remarked.

   "Yeah. Now that we're almost a year away from Nyx, I've been working really late every night to plan out buildings for the new colony." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I guess it just caught up with me today." He ran his fingers through his hair.

   Beth looked at him, concern welling up in her mind. "You should take it easy. You won't be much use if you've burnt yourself out." She said with worry in her voice.

   "I know. But if I don't work late, then I'll fall behind, and you know that they file reports every two weeks." He said wearily.

   "I wonder what my station supervisor says about me?" Beth thought out loud.

   "I'm sure she only says good things." Said Liam, his voice softening.

   She looked at her feet and thought about her performance over the past few days. She had done all of her assignments and handed in her reports on time, but how did Liam know?

   She shook off the strange feeling and let her thought wander until they reached the mess hall. During their conversation, they had slowed down considerably, so when they got to the mess hall, there was a line that almost reached the door.

   It took almost twenty minutes for them to reach the food. The lady from before was serving food. She absently scooped up mush for each person. Her eyes had a hollow look. She looked like she had been crying for a long time. When Beth reached her, she looked as if she was just going to give her the same treatment as everyone else. She remembered how happy the lady had been after Beth had said thanks, so after accepting her slop, she put as much cheer into her voice and said: "Hello. It's me again. Thank you very much for serving me."

   There was a flicker of recognition in the lady's eyes. the shadow of a smile passed over her face but quickly died out. In its place tears started running down her face.

   "I'm sorry," the lady blubbered through her tears. "It's just that you remind me so much of my little Becky."

   "It's okay," Beth assured her. "Everyone lost someone."

   The lady smiled gratefully. Beth thought that she looked very pretty with a smile on her face. She had a heart-shaped face framed in flame-red hair, a full figure and stunning green eyes.

   "By the way, my name is Cassie." She said, her voice still heavy with tears.

   "It's very nice to meet you," Beth replied. "My name is Beth." She looked back at Liam. "And this is my friend, Liam."

   Liam held his hand over the counter. "Nice to meet you, Cassie." He said warmly.

   Before sitting down, she turned and waved at Cassie, Then she started to eat her grey goo. Halfway through her portion, she decided that she couldn't eat another bite. She waited for Liam to finish. When he did, they took their trays to the cleaning area and headed to their jobs.

   At Beth's door, she turned and said: "Wait here a second. I'm gonna do something real quick."

   She walked to the bathroom. When she was done, she went back into the hallway with Liam. They walked for about five minutes before they reached Liam's department.

   He paused in the doorway and said: "See you later, Beth."

   "See ya later." She replied. She was soon at her desk filling out the answers to some questions on what to do in a survival situation. She finished and clicked enter. "Good, I got them all right." She said to herself.

   She started working on her to-do list.