Aiden put his mouth under the tap. His throat burned, but the water satiated his thirst and masked some of the pain.
"The trees had it the whole time. Selfish bastards."
The water came out in a steady stream. He relished in his fill of rejuvenation. The cup was filled, and he took it back inside. He gave it to Kole, who was already looking better. He looked at Addison's body covered with a white sheet. Austin was lying on his side, looking at her.
"We should give her a burial," Aiden said.
Austin didn't speak.
"If you're feeling better, you can come watch."
"Leave me alone."
Aiden shook it off.
"I can take you guys somewhere private," he said.
Austin exhaled loudly.
"Okay."
Aiden took them to the closest empty room and closed the door. James came out of his room and stopped. He turned swiftly on his heel.
"James, wait," Aiden called.
He stopped.
"I'm sorry, okay?"
"Sorry?"
He whirled on Aiden and pushed him.
"You're sorry? For what? Shooting Mark? Throwing us over a cliff? Almost getting me killed from infection?"
He pushed him again.
"Well, which one?"
"All of it! I thought you were working for Canis, and–"
James punched him. Aiden grabbed his hair and threw him against the wall. Juno barked at them. They traded fists, each one receiving a lick to the face.
"Hey!"
Vera tried to pull Aiden away, but he elbowed her in the nose. She went down.
"Aiden! James! That's enough!"
Mark grabbed James and pulled him away.
"Leave him! Leave him!"
"I should have shot you first, then killed your daddy, too!" Aiden spat.
James lurched for him. Mark held him down.
"Let it go, James!"
"No!"
Mark pushed James against the wall.
"I said let it go."
Mark's voice sounded deeper. He stopped and stared.
"He's already been punished for what he did," Mark said. "Let it go. We have bigger problems to worry about."
James gave him one last glare before walking away. Aiden rubbed his neck. It was already sore when he punched it. He helped Vera back up.
"Are you okay?"
"What the hell, Aiden? You hit me!"
"It was an accident! I was trying to apologize."
"He's already screwed up right now. He's stressed and upset, and you're the trigger. Give him some space."
"Whatever. I shouldn't have bothered, anyway. Mark is the only one that likes me. Guess that's gotta account for something, right?"
"I mean... he's not the only one."
"You, then?"
"You did try to save my life."
"That was just the right thing to do. Don't think about it too hard."
"Mmhm. Sure."
"Wh..."
She walked away. Aiden stared at her stride.
"Close your mouth. You'll catch flies," she said without looking back.
He shut his mouth quick.
"I'm... going to check the patients..."
He looked around, realizing no one else was listening. He walked away.
Outside, Mark pulled James to the side.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Me? What are you doing?"
"What are you saying?"
"You're letting a murderer walk around free? He tried to kill us!"
"He was doing it for the right reasons."
"Right rea... man, it's that kind of bullshit that makes everything worse!"
"He thought we were spies or something," Mark said. "I believe him."
"Sure. Take the words of a killer."
"He's not a killer," Mark said.
"Oh, really? You know the ship has a database for convicts, right? Have you taken a look at what their crimes were?"
"No, I haven't, and I don't care. It doesn't matter what they did on the colony. This is where we are right now, and we're going to need everyone to do their part, regardless of their past."
"You're being ignorant, Mark. We can't just snap our past away. It stays with us for the rest of our lives. Before you want to elect someone as a judge or people as a jury, you should do some background checks on them. Look at where they were before we showed up. What happens when we really die?"
"We're not gonna let that happen. Really, James. After everything we just went through, I expected you to have my back."
"I do. Just not on this. I can't in good concience let you ignore the potential risks because you think everyone will get together and sing kumbaya. That's not how people work."
"Everything is being pulled by a single strand, James. I'm trying to keep us from falling apart. It's not easy."
"I agree. I just think you should look at the people you trust before you make final judgement calls."
"Okay. If it makes you feel better, I'll look through personal files on my free time."
"What are you doing right now?"
"Getting ready for the Poachers. They might counterattack."
"I can take care of that. It would be good to know who can handle weapons. And who can be trusted with one."
"You want me to do it right now?"
"I would be more comfortable if we knew our people before we armed them. Don't want another Trey."
He sighed.
"Fine. We need more water, some food, weapons--"
"I've got it all under control. Go do your thing. I've got this."
"Okay. I'm sorry I snapped at you."
"You shouldn't have had to. That's on me."
Mark and James had a healthy friendship like that. They could discuss issues without biting each other's head off. Well, most of the time. Mark wanted to strangle him when he got into trouble, mostly of his own fault. At one point, he had to stop James from dunking his bully's head in the toilet for the third time. Those were good days.
Would it ever be like that again?
Mark went inside. Vera said she would be working on comms, trying to get a signal out to other survivors. He hoped there was someone else to take responbility. Not all of them were out of control, but... he just wanted a break.
The captain's chair had its own console. Since he was granted privelages by Officer Tanner, the chair responded to him.
"Captain O'Connor. Welcome."
An entire menu appeared like one would see on a computer screen. No need for mice and pointers. This one was augmented!
"Okay, this is a little cool," he said to himself.
He liked the power at his fingertips. Sure enough, there was the crew log with the manifest for the convicts on the ship. He opened the files, and a couple of programs popped open with it. Mark didn't recognize them from when his father taught him how the system worked.
"What's this?"
He moved files out of the way. There was a separate manifest. It was titled [VITALS].
This must be how they monitered their prisoners, he thought.
Each profile had a mugshot, along with detailed information showing current readings on the prisoner's condition. He looked at Gino's vitals. The heartrate was only question marks, and it was a flat line. He stared at Gino's face. He looked sad. Mark felt a pain in his stomach, feeling those tentacles from his nightmare wrap around his neck. He rubbed his eyes to dissipate the memory.
"I'm sorry," was all he said.
His flashing, red memory said otherwise. He scrolled quickly and stopped to see Judy's face. Her face was roughed up like she had been in a fight. He didn't need to know what happened. Juveniles had it rough in prison. She was generally a nice person. He couldn't see what she would have done to deserve poor treatment. He didn't need to see her file to know she wasn't a criminal.
"I should have gone with you," he said. "I should have--"
It just registered to Mark. There were people scattered in the manifest, some of them deceased and flashing red from their chips losing connecting to their heartbeats. As for Judy... her color was still green. The heartrate didn't show a number, but her pulse was there. Really weak, but there was a definite blip.
"What the..."
He looked around and found another one. One of the teens that got killed from the fireflies. He was burned to a crisp, but he was giving off a blip every few seconds.
No... This can't be true...
It had to be a computer glitch. He completely closed out of the list and opened the officer's manifest. He knew where their [VITALS] were. The security department in Canis had access to all of the officers' vital signs, including his father's. When he opened it, he choked.
All of the dead officers, even the wolves, had a pulse.
"Shit."
"What's wrong?"
It was Aiden. Mark jumped up from his chair.
"Something is happening to the bodies."
"Uh... what?"
"The dead bodies!" Mark exclaimed. "They're giving off vital signs."
"But they can't. They're dead."
"I know this, and you know this. The computer doesn't lie. Look."
Aiden walked over to the chair and looked at the screen. He shook his head.
"What's happening?"
"I don't know. There's something more to this valley than we--"
There was screaming from outside.
"What was that?" Aiden said.
"Nothing good."
They ran outside. There was a girl being thrown around on the ground by a ravaged animal. Aiden recognized the girl immediately.
"It's Trey's sidechick!" He said.
She was being thrashed around, her own voice drowning in liquid. The animal was covered in dirt and grime. The smell was hideous. Mark whipped out his blaster and aimed it at the animal.
"Hey! Over here, filth!"
The taunt got the animal's attention. It stopped thrashing and let go of the girl's neck. She hit the ground, gargling on her own blood. Her eyes were glossing over. Blood poured onto the ground, coating the moss. Blaez and Edon growled. The animal turned around. When they could see the face, Mark's heart stopped. He couldn't tell from the back, but the face gave it away. Save the glowing, green eyes, the face was canine.
No, more than just canine. The arched back, the teeth, the paws. It was a wolf. It was one of their wolves! The mangy animal barred its teeth. Green foam fell out of its mouth.
"Holy shit!" Aiden shouted.
It didn't hesitate. It scratched at the ground and charged them.
~~~
Sara coughed. She rubbed her head.
"Ah... that hurts..."
Otherwise, she was grateful to be alive. She looked at Tim. He was knocked flat, but he just looked dazed. She helped him sit up.
"That smarts," he said. "Are we dead?"
"I don't think breathing counts as dying."
Tim's helmet came to life.
"Tim. Do you have Sara?"
"Yeah," he said. "She's right here with me."
"Alive and breathing," Sara said. "Thanks to you guys. Why didn't you listen to me?"
"I don't listent to anyone," Cassidy said. "Thought you would have recognized that by now."
"Should have, I guess."
"Since you're not dead, and I assume neither of your are bleeding out, take a look outside. It's a sight to see."
Sara got up and looked.
"Oh... Tim, come look at this."
He got up on shaky legs.
"My head is throbbing, lassie. I'm not... oh..."
He lost his voice. From thousands upon thousands of miles, they looked at Earth. Clouds swirled in the atmosphere. Fresh green litered the continents, dotted with desserts and icy landmasses.
"Mother Earth... she lives."
"And she's beautiful."
Sara never dreamed in her lifetime she would appreciate the vastness of the planet that they had come from so many years ago. She had only seen images and been in some simulations, but nothing could compare to the authenticity of watching the Earth be alive. To her surprise, she started crying. She covered her mouth, but her sobs couldn't be stifled. Tim wrapped his arm around her.
"I wish they were here to see this," she managed to say.
"They are, Sara," he whispered. "They are."
She wanted desperately to believe it. Maybe she would.
She leaned into Tim. He rubbed her arm and watched the Earth spin silently, sun peaking out from behind in greeting.
They didn't see the dark blob crawl out of Tim's tank and dart into the cracks of the vent.