Survival Among the Stars

Chapter 18: Self Care is Important

The flight to wherever we were going was long, and we were all exhausted from the day's work and the evening's excitement. I found myself drifting off to sleep, sitting on the floor against the hull with Matt leaning on my shoulder. An unfamiliar emotion—bliss—washed over me as I closed my eyes.

The shuttle's landing woke me with a start. I hopped up as quickly as my sore body would allow, and I helped Matt stand as well. The hatch to the rear of the spacecraft opened, and the rescuers, with masks now removed, ushered all the passengers out into the weak morning light of the planet on which we had landed. The air was chilly and fresh, and although I had stopped being surprised by breathable atmospheres, the air quality was wonderfully invigorating.

We didn't stay outside for long, though. We entered a garage-like hangar full of smaller ships and rover-like land vehicles. Beings of all shapes, sized, colors, and species milled around, working on the machines and talking amongst themselves. We filed past all these different aliens into a separate room. This area was open, and several stations that looked oddly like emergency room vitals carts were interspersed throughout the space.

Te-Osh stepped to the front of the crowd and began to instruct us. "We are going to help all of you the best that we can, but we need to learn more about each of you and see if any of you are sick or hurt. Please line up for triage. I promise this will be a comfortable process."

It was only a few moments before I was seated at a station. A brown-skinned being that looked quite a lot like a human woman was evaluating me. She had white speckles on her forehead and hands, and her eyes and short hair were a silvery color. She was really quite pretty.

"Where are you from?" she asked as she used unfamiliar devices to measure my vitals and check for injuries.

"My friend and I are from a planet called Earth. I don't know where it is relative to where we are now," I answered.

She pulled up a tablet with a map of the universe. "Can you identify it on this map?" she inquired, offering the tablet to me.

After just a moment of examining the map, I shook my head in frustration. "I'm sorry, but no. I was captured by the Galra in passing while on a scientific expedition to the edge of our system. As far as I know, my team was the first of our kind to encounter beings from other worlds. I've never seen any of the systems on this map."

She looked at me quizzically. "Your planet is not occupied by the Galra?" I shook my head. "Your home must be very, very far away, then. I don't know if we have any ships designed for a journey that long. I'm sorry."

"I can't go home?" I asked, already understanding what she was implying but wanting to be sure.

"I'm afraid not. Not now, anyway. Again, I'm very sorry." She was quiet as she worked for a moment, but then she spoke again. "Would you be interested in joining our rebellion against the Galra until you can find a way to your planet?"

I was a little surprised, but open to the idea. "What would I do in the rebellion?" I asked.

"Well, what are your skills? We can use whatever specialties we can get," she explained rationally.

"My role on my expedition team was the medic, but as a gladiator for Zarkon, I also developed my combat skills."

Her eyes grew wide. "Well, we could certainly use you here if you would like to stay. If not, I'm sure there are people nearby who would be willing to take you in."

I only had to think for a moment. "If I can't go home, I'd like to help stop the Galra from doing to others what they did to me. I'll stay and fight."