The realization shocked him so much, Liam stumbled backward. He looked back at Beth, with a stunned expression and mouth agape. Other than her bedraggled appearance, Beth didn't seem fazed at all.
"How are you not freaking out right now!" He said, but no words come out, his mouth a gaping hole of astonishment.
Liam looked back to the bed where the alien lay, silently breathing. The shock Liam felt wasn't from fear, but of amazement. There was a real, living, breathing alien right in front of him! When he was a child Liam had gone through a phase of being terrified of aliens and an imminent alien invasion, (probably from too much television) but that fear had turned to fascination and into a dream to reach the stars and someday meet intelligent life from other worlds.
Liam stood there staring at the creature in front of his eyes. He didn't know how long this went on for, it could have been mere seconds, or hours might have passed. It didn't matter to him. He had waited almost his entire life for this moment.
A hand touched Liam's shoulder, bringing him out of his trance. He turned and looked into Beth's eyes, a beautiful purple with a hint of concern. His mouth no longer hung open and he was now able to speak. The same question as before came from his lips, "How?"
"I really don't know..." Beth began, "But I'll tell you everything I can."
________
Dr. Ruth Bridger stood in a room with her team. Though her team currently consisted of only Dr. Mason and Miss Cane, things were going well.
"I still feel like we shouldn't proceed without Dr. Smith and your husband." Said Doctor Mason.
"We are perfectly capable to manage on our own." Answered Ruth. "We've finished multiplying the serum. Now, all we need to do is distribute it."
"I just feel we should wait until we see what Dr. Smith has to say." Said Dr. Mason.
"He would probably agree and tell us to proceed!" Ruth yelled, a annoyance in her voice.
"It still doesn't feel right." Dr. Mason continued.
"Fine, maybe we can establish some sort of communication with them." Ruth gave in. "Until then we'll continue to monitor the girl." At this, she glanced at the screen. Beth was in her room, with two others.
________
After Beth had finished telling Liam about her adventures over the past few days, Liam stood still with a thoughtful yet astonished expression on his face.
After several minutes he exclaimed, "You were on Nyx!"
Beth jumped a little from his sudden outburst. "Yes! I've already told you I don't know how or why I was there, but I'm positive the planet I was on was Nyx. At first, I thought I was delusional, but there's real living proof right there!" She said gesturing toward the slumbering alien on the bed.
"Speaking of the alien, I wonder if he's okay? He's been out for awhile." Liam said.
"He'll probably be fine," Beth said. "I think he has regenerative abilities."
"Oh yeah, I remember you mentioning something about that," Liam said.
They stood there staring at the alien for a while.
"This is just so amazing!" Liam suddenly exclaimed.
"Yeah," Beth whispered.
"So you think the stuff you were injected with has something to do with this?" Liam asked.
"That's the only explanation I could think of. All of this started soon after that. So yes, I think that whatever those people injected me with is the cause." Beth answered.
"I wonder why," Liam said.
"Me too." Beth solemnly agreed.
"Maybe we can find out," Liam said suddenly, looking into her face.
"How?" Beth asked.
"The people who did this to you are on this ship," Liam said.
"Yeah, so?" Beth inquired.
"If we talk to the right people, maybe we can arrange a meeting with them," Liam said.
"That sounds a little difficult, but It's a good idea. Let's do it." Beth said.
"I'm up for the challenge if you are," Liam said.
Suddenly the dinner bell rang, startlingly loud. Causing them both to jump in their skins. After the initial shock, they looked at each other and started laughing.
"What a mundane thing to be scared of." Thought Beth as she and Liam continued laughing.
Several seconds passed, then their laughter was stopped short when they heard a groan coming from the bed.