:: chapter three ::
The next morning, Meredith skipped
work. She knew there was no way she could have concentrated on
shelving books and directing patrons – most of whom were her fellow
students – around the library. Not when there was someone halfway
across the universe who was completely reliant on her for their
survival.
She had just settled herself on one of the benches in the courtyard outside her residence hall with her breakfast – a blueberry muffin and a mug of coffee, both swiped from the communal kitchen – when her phone chimed and its screen lit up with a new message from Taylor, one that made her chuckle. Hey check it out! I’m not dead!
“Good morning to you too, Taylor,” Meredith replied, amused.
Sorry. Just relieved that I’m still alive. I don’t even have an ear growing out of my forehead, or any other weird toxic radiation mutations. Awesome.
“I’m glad you’re still alive too. I was a bit worried that I was going to wake up this morning and you…well, weren’t.”
You and me both. There was a lull in their conversation, during which Meredith took the opportunity to drink some of her coffee. Okay. Fresh new day, same old moon. I might be oversharing a bit here, but I woke up with a fucking HORRIBLE taste in my mouth. Like I’d licked the bottom of my rats’ cage during the night.
“Okay, that’s disgusting.”
Tell me about it. I rinsed my mouth out almost as soon as I got my eyes open and spat it out, and it had this weird green tint to it. Which probably has something to do with the trace elements in this place’s atmosphere. That’s pretty weird though, huh?
Meredith had to read those few sentences again just to be sure of what Taylor had said. “The water you spat out was green?”
Yep.
“Okay, again, disgusting.” An awful thought occurred to her, and she very nearly dropped her mug on the ground. “You don’t think it’s radiation sickness?”
Jesus Christ, I hope not. I don’t feel bad or anything. I don’t have a headache, I’m not nauseous, nothing like that. Apart from the whole ‘lost in space’ aspect of things, I actually woke up feeling really good this morning.
“Don’t forget the whole ‘bottom of a rat cage’ feeling in your mouth.”
Ugh, thanks for the reminder. At least I’ve got rations to get rid of that godawful taste. Maple sausage sounds pretty good right now – closest thing to breakfast I could find in the galley last night.
By the time a new message from Taylor appeared, Meredith had devoured her muffin and was making short work of the remainder of her coffee. Well. That was…‘delicious’ isn’t quite the word I’m searching for. ‘Sustenance’, maybe, but just barely.
“I take it breakfast was a disappointment.”
That’s an understatement. What I wouldn’t give for my dad’s pancakes right about now. Taylor’s tone seemed wistful, and Meredith could hardly blame him. It should get me through today’s field trip, though. He was quiet for a few minutes – Meredith figured he was getting ready to head off. Generator’s still humming along and powering the stasis pod, and Captain Aya’s still stable inside. I’d prefer ‘healed’ to stable, but oh well – I guess when it comes to miracle technology, you take what you can get.
“That’s the spirit.”
I do my best. Meredith swore she could see Taylor grinning at this. Anyway, with the captain stowed safely away I can step out for a few hours. Should be more than enough time to go check out that weird as fuck peak I saw yesterday and still make it back here by nightfall.
“Just be careful, yeah?”
Always. Just one more pass over the ship to make sure everything’s locked down – well, as much as it can be, anyway – and then I’m packing some rations and water, and I’m heading out. I’ll keep you posted along the way.
Almost as soon as Taylor had sent that last sentence the words Taylor is busy flashed up onscreen. Knowing that it would be at least an hour before she heard from him again, Meredith crumpled her muffin wrapper up into a ball and drained the rest of her coffee out of its mug. The thought of spending her day off bingeing A Series Of Unfortunate Events was tempting, but she had assignments and readings to be done for class. If nothing else, it would keep her mind busy and stop her worrying about Taylor hiking across a nameless moon all by himself.
Her mind made up, she rose to her feet and headed back inside to hit the books, closing the front door of the residence hall behind her.
She had just settled herself on one of the benches in the courtyard outside her residence hall with her breakfast – a blueberry muffin and a mug of coffee, both swiped from the communal kitchen – when her phone chimed and its screen lit up with a new message from Taylor, one that made her chuckle. Hey check it out! I’m not dead!
“Good morning to you too, Taylor,” Meredith replied, amused.
Sorry. Just relieved that I’m still alive. I don’t even have an ear growing out of my forehead, or any other weird toxic radiation mutations. Awesome.
“I’m glad you’re still alive too. I was a bit worried that I was going to wake up this morning and you…well, weren’t.”
You and me both. There was a lull in their conversation, during which Meredith took the opportunity to drink some of her coffee. Okay. Fresh new day, same old moon. I might be oversharing a bit here, but I woke up with a fucking HORRIBLE taste in my mouth. Like I’d licked the bottom of my rats’ cage during the night.
“Okay, that’s disgusting.”
Tell me about it. I rinsed my mouth out almost as soon as I got my eyes open and spat it out, and it had this weird green tint to it. Which probably has something to do with the trace elements in this place’s atmosphere. That’s pretty weird though, huh?
Meredith had to read those few sentences again just to be sure of what Taylor had said. “The water you spat out was green?”
Yep.
“Okay, again, disgusting.” An awful thought occurred to her, and she very nearly dropped her mug on the ground. “You don’t think it’s radiation sickness?”
Jesus Christ, I hope not. I don’t feel bad or anything. I don’t have a headache, I’m not nauseous, nothing like that. Apart from the whole ‘lost in space’ aspect of things, I actually woke up feeling really good this morning.
“Don’t forget the whole ‘bottom of a rat cage’ feeling in your mouth.”
Ugh, thanks for the reminder. At least I’ve got rations to get rid of that godawful taste. Maple sausage sounds pretty good right now – closest thing to breakfast I could find in the galley last night.
By the time a new message from Taylor appeared, Meredith had devoured her muffin and was making short work of the remainder of her coffee. Well. That was…‘delicious’ isn’t quite the word I’m searching for. ‘Sustenance’, maybe, but just barely.
“I take it breakfast was a disappointment.”
That’s an understatement. What I wouldn’t give for my dad’s pancakes right about now. Taylor’s tone seemed wistful, and Meredith could hardly blame him. It should get me through today’s field trip, though. He was quiet for a few minutes – Meredith figured he was getting ready to head off. Generator’s still humming along and powering the stasis pod, and Captain Aya’s still stable inside. I’d prefer ‘healed’ to stable, but oh well – I guess when it comes to miracle technology, you take what you can get.
“That’s the spirit.”
I do my best. Meredith swore she could see Taylor grinning at this. Anyway, with the captain stowed safely away I can step out for a few hours. Should be more than enough time to go check out that weird as fuck peak I saw yesterday and still make it back here by nightfall.
“Just be careful, yeah?”
Always. Just one more pass over the ship to make sure everything’s locked down – well, as much as it can be, anyway – and then I’m packing some rations and water, and I’m heading out. I’ll keep you posted along the way.
Almost as soon as Taylor had sent that last sentence the words Taylor is busy flashed up onscreen. Knowing that it would be at least an hour before she heard from him again, Meredith crumpled her muffin wrapper up into a ball and drained the rest of her coffee out of its mug. The thought of spending her day off bingeing A Series Of Unfortunate Events was tempting, but she had assignments and readings to be done for class. If nothing else, it would keep her mind busy and stop her worrying about Taylor hiking across a nameless moon all by himself.
Her mind made up, she rose to her feet and headed back inside to hit the books, closing the front door of the residence hall behind her.
Yeah?
“I was just working my way through this shallow canyon, and there’s this huge boulder blocking my way. It’s way too big to climb over, and I’m not entirely sure I can find a way around it. Think I should back out and try another path?”
I think that’s the best idea, yeah. Don’t want you breaking a leg or anything.
“Yeah, I’m with you.” He glared at the boulder and resisted the very strong impulse to flip it off. “Whole thing looks like a deathtrap waiting to be sprung.” He turned around and eyed the path he’d spent more than half an hour following, tracing the neat line of bootprints that he’d left behind him in the fine, white sand. “There’s a bit of a slope up the canyon wall something like a few hundred yards back the way I came. I really hate to lose time doubling back,” he continued as he started walking back through the canyon, “but it’s entirely preferable to the whole ‘breaking a leg trillions of miles from the nearest hospital’ thing.”
Yeah, a much better idea. How are things going otherwise?
“Well, about half an hour or so ago I came across my escape pod. It’d moved something like ten feet during the night.”
Sounds like there were some really strong winds overnight.
“Yeah, sounds like it,” he echoed. “Must have caught the chute and dragged it.” He refused to think about the possibility that there were little green men that might have moved the pod and were now stalking him, as much as it would have been nice to have a little bit of companionship. “Hey, I’m not bothering you, am I?”
Hell no. I needed a break anyway.
“Yeah? What’re you doing?”
Studying, mostly. I took today off work and figured I might as well hit the books. Netflix was tempting as hell but I kind of want to pass this semester. There are quite a few people who will be cross at me if I don’t.
“I can be one of them if you want me to,” Taylor said with a smirk, not caring a whit that he was the only person who was even remotely aware of what he was doing.
Cheeky little shit. Meredith sounded more amused than she did annoyed, though – at least, that was the impression that Taylor got – so he grinned a little to himself.
“I do my best. I’m gonna get back to hiking – I’ll check back in when something exciting happens.” Not that anything exciting’s going to happen anytime soon, he grumbled silently before putting the thought out of his mind.
Less than an hour later, he was eating his words.
“So, um…right now I’m having one of those dilemmas that only people stranded on a moon can have. Bear with me here, okay?”
I’m not sure I like the sound of that.
“It’s nothing bad, don’t worry. Well, it could be bad,” he corrected himself. “It really depends.”
So what’s the dilemma?
“There’s a huge fucking crater in front of me.”
Huge was a serious understatement. If he had to guess, it looked easily to be five or so miles across. It wasn’t deep – rather, it was fairly shallow – but even so he wasn’t sure he liked the idea of trying to go down into it just to get to the other side. What if it turned out to be like the boulder he’d encountered earlier, and he broke something trying to cross it?
“I’m not kidding when I say it’s huge. This thing is fucking massive. If I wasn’t absolutely terrified of dying alone in deep space at any given second, I’d take a moment to be really, really awed.”
Kind of makes me wish you could send me a photo. I’m not sure if you can do that with this app or not.
“I couldn’t send a photo even if I wanted to. Helmet camera broke yesterday.” He dropped down into a crouch and studied the crater. “My problem right now is that this marvel of geography is smack-dab in the middle of where I’m headed. So I either hike around the perimeter until I get to the other side, or I try my luck hopping down into it and cut straight across. There’s something to be said for the shortest distance between two points, but people don’t usually factor giant craters into that particular equation. So what do you think? Straight across or go around?”
Hiking around the perimeter sounds like the better option to me.
“Yeah, all right. Probably the safer of the two options, to be honest. All flat surfaces up here.” He rose up out of his crouch, straightening to his full height. “About the most exciting decision I anticipate having to make during the next couple of hours is which direction I should start walking in. And seeing as I don’t have any coins on me, because there aren’t any laundromats or arcades here, I’m gonna leave this one up to you. Could be the most important decision you make all day. Do I walk clockwise, or counter-clockwise?”
There was no answer from Meredith for a little while – Taylor figured she was considering how to answer this particular question. I’m gonna say…counter.
“Wow. Counter-clockwise? That is a very daring choice!” He snickered quietly and started heading off to his right. “As I take off marching to my right, in a fucking gigantic circle on an unknown moon in a poorly trafficked quadrant, know that your strong, clear decision-making skills have made all the difference!”
*snicker*
He grinned again and continued, “Clockwise sucks! Counter-clockwise rules! Those who swim against the tide get hit in the face with all the best fish!”
Taylor, stop, I think I might break a rib if you make me laugh any more!
“I think I used up all my enthusiasm just now anyway. And I still have a hell of a lot of walking left to do, so go me. I’ll message you when I’m about halfway. If anything really exciting happens, though, I promise you’ll be the first to know.”
I’m going to hold you to that.
“Oh, I know. Believe me, I know.”
Meredith looked up from her tablet when her phone chimed at her, the distinctive high-pitched dual-tone sound indicating that she had a new message in her Lifeline app. She marked her spot in the reading she was working through, set the tablet aside and fetched her phone from its spot on her bedside table. “I’m not gonna believe what?” she asked once she had the app open to her chat history with Taylor.
I’m still walking around a moon crater, and it’s still BORING AS FUCK! There was a brief pause before he continued, Sorry. I was just going a tiny bit crazy, what with having nothing but the sound of my own thoughts for company. Never thought I’d hate being alone so much.
“It’s all good. Wanna chat? I could do with a break anyway.”
YES PLEASE. I mean, I don’t want to be a bother, but…you’re kinda all I got right now.
“You’re not being a bother.”
You sure?
“Totally sure.”
She almost imagined that she could hear Taylor letting out a sigh of relief at this. So…have YOU ever wandered around the perimeter of a giant moon crater?
“Can’t say I’ve ever had the pleasure, no.”
Well, try to imagine it this way – I feel like I’m a single grain of rice balanced on the rim of the biggest wok in the universe. That’s about the scale of things here.
“That’s pretty huge.”
Mmm-hmm. Some part of me is utterly terrified that a gigantic sugar snap pea or a great big bit of carrot is going to fall out of the sky onto my head and crush me.
“Wow. That’s a…cheery thought.”
It’s not the most rational fear, I know. But that being said, two whole days ago I wouldn’t have thought that a spaceship crash was a very rational fear. So there is that.
“Hey, if you’re afraid of it then as far as I’m concerned it’s an entirely rational fear.”
Okay, that makes me feel a bit better. Meredith smiled a little at this. Anyway, the other side of the crater’s in sight. I’m going to keep on hiking. Thanks for the pep talk.
“No problem, Taylor.”
A knock sounded at the door of Meredith’s room just as Taylor’s busy message flashed up onscreen. She set her phone aside, though still within reach, and picked up her tablet again. “Yeah, come in,” she said as she unlocked her tablet.
“Only me,” Quinn said as she slipped into the room and closed the door behind her. “How’s he travelling?”
Meredith didn’t need to ask who Quinn was talking about – she knew immediately. “He’s travelling,” she replied. “Not much else to say, really.”
Quinn seemed to consider this as she perched on the very end of Meredith’s bed. “So while he’s been travelling, what have you been doing all morning? I thought you had to work.”
“Skipped work today.” She held up her tablet just long enough for Quinn to see what she was reading – it had a chapter of Foucault’s Archaeology of Knowledge open on its screen. “My folks’ll be annoyed at me if I don’t pass Adams’ class.”
“But you’re also worried about Taylor.”
It wasn’t a question, yet Meredith responded as if it was. “Well, yeah. Of course I’m worried about him. He’s all by himself on a deserted moon God only knows where, wouldn’t you be worried?” She ducked her head a little. “I wasn’t sure I could concentrate on work if I was worrying about him.”
Part of her was almost certain that Quinn would tease her for worrying about someone she barely knew – someone she’d only met by chance, all because his call for help had reached her phone at exactly the right moment. The rest of her, the part that knew better, squashed that right down – if there was one thing Quinn would never do, except maybe in jest, it was tease Meredith about something that she considered important.
“Good,” Quinn said, her tone almost determined. “He needs someone to worry about him.”
“You sound like his mother.”
Quinn shrugged. “His mother’s not there right now. Someone has to.” She gave Meredith a reassuring smile. “He’ll be okay, Mere. I know he will be.”
Meredith did her best to return Quinn’s smile. “I hope so.”
Somewhat to his surprise, Taylor ended up reaching the other side of the crater a lot sooner than he thought was even remotely possible. Even more surprising was what he saw when he looked back across the crater to the other side. The crater now looked even bigger than it had before he’d started his hike. He couldn’t even see the wreckage of the Varia from where he was standing. The air above the crater was shimmering like it would above the road at home during summer, looking almost like a mirage.
“Huh, that’s weird,” he said quietly, and checked his wrist computer. Among the jumble of information that populated its screen – his body temperature, pulse and respiratory rate, the air pressure and composition, and the level of oxygen left in his IEVA suit’s tank – was a reading of the air temperature. It was just barely fifteen degrees – warm enough that he was able to take his helmet off, but too cold for what he was seeing. “Okay, that should not be possible.”
What shouldn’t be possible?
“I just got to the other side of the crater. It didn’t take as long to hike as I thought it would. Which I’m not exactly complaining about.”
But?
“There’s this weird sort of…shimmering above the crater. It looks a lot like the heat shimmer you see above a road on a hot day. It’s nowhere near hot enough for that, though.”
That really is weird.
“I know, right? It’s warm enough that I don’t have my helmet on – I found a carabiner and a bit of rope in the wreckage, and I’ve got my helmet tied onto that and clipped onto my backpack – but it’s definitely too cold for heat shimmer or shit like that.” He shook his head a little. “Probably nothing I need to be worried about, though.”
How close do you think you are to the peak?
Taylor squinted a little as he considered his answer to Meredith’s question. “Maybe…a couple of miles, still? I can definitely still make it there before nightfall. It’s just…”
What?
“It’s probably just my eyes playing tricks on me. But I feel like the peak keeps getting further away the closer I get to it.” He shook his head. “I’m definitely seeing things. I just have to put my head down and keep on hiking. Check back in later.”
Be careful. Please.
He let out a quiet, almost rusty chuckle. “You sound like my mom.”
Your mom’s not there right now. Someone has to sound like her, right?
“And I appreciate it, believe me.” He let out a breath, one that sounded almost like a sigh. “I miss my mom. I really do.”
You’ll get to see her soon. I know you will.
“I hope so. Be nice if I could get off this fucking rock by- ahh!”
He broke off and let out a yell as the toe of his left boot caught on something, and he went down hard. His forehead smacked against the ground as he hit the deck. “Ow. That hurt.”
What just happened?
“I just tripped over something.”
Oh dear.
“Yeah, I know. I’ve been so graceful so far, it must be hard for you to believe that I could just trip over my own fucking feet all the time.” He winced a little as he eased himself up onto his knees. “Oh, that’s gonna leave a mark.”
So what did you trip over, exactly?
“Probably just my own feet, like I said. Happens all the time back home.” He took a few moments to steady himself before getting back to his feet. As soon as he was upright he turned around and crouched down so he could get a closer look at what he had tripped over. “Huh.“
What?
“It’s really buried in the sand, so I’m not sure how I just tripped over it, but it’s shiny and kinda…” He squinted again as he studied it. “Metallic-looking.”
As he finished speaking it hit him, and he felt his eyes go wide. “It’s a bit of metal. How the fuck is there a bit of metal here? That shouldn’t be possible.” He reached out and tugged it out of the sand, brushed it off and started examining it. “It has to be a bit of a panel from the Varia – I mean, what else could it be? There aren’t any other shipwrecks here.”
None that you’ve seen, at least.
“Okay, yeah, none that I’ve seen. And if it is from the Varia, it’s weird that it’s come down so far from the rest of the ship.” He slipped the right strap of his backpack off his shoulder and drew the backpack around in front of him so he could get at the buckles. “I think I’ll hang onto it. Who knows, I might find out what it is after I get picked up.” If I ever get picked up. “Anyhow, I’m pretty much directly opposite the spot where I started walking around this crater, so I’m going to keep heading north.”
He slipped the piece of metal into his backpack, did up the buckles and shifted it back around again, slipping his right arm back through the strap and settling it onto his shoulder. “What a long, strange counter-clockwise trip it’s been.”
“You look all done in,” she heard Quinn saying, sympathy in her voice, and she looked up. Her roommate stood in the doorway of her room, leaning against the door jamb with a mug in one hand. “I made you some coffee,” Quinn explained. “Lots of milk and a couple shots apiece of vanilla and caramel, just how you like it.”
Meredith gave Quinn a relieved smile and got up from her bed. “You’re amazing, Quinn. Did I ever mention how much I love you?”
“At least once or twice.” She handed the mug over and hid a smile when she saw Meredith just about stick her whole face into it. “Have you been studying this entire time?”
“Just about,” Meredith replied between sips of coffee. “I need one hell of a break.”
“Well, you’re getting one,” Quinn said, thinking quickly. “You in the mood for Indian?”
Meredith paused mid-sip and raised an eyebrow at Quinn over the rim of the mug. “Quinn, I am Indian. I’m always in the fucking mood.”
Quinn raised her hands in self-defence. “Just checking. Come on, finish your coffee and we’ll go. It’s my treat.”
The two of them ended up at the Indian restaurant over on Westwood, a few blocks from campus. While they were waiting to be seated, Meredith took her phone from her pocket and silenced it. “Do you think that’s the best idea?” Quinn asked once she realised what Meredith had done. “I mean, what if he needs you?”
“There’s nothing on that moon except for him and the captain of his ship, and the captain’s unconscious in a stasis pod somewhere in the ship’s wreckage,” Meredith replied. “Plus he’s tough as all get out. He has to be to have survived as long as he has. I think he’ll be all right for now.” She gave her Lifeline app one last check for any messages before locking her phone and slipping it into a pocket.
“If you’re sure,” Quinn said – she sounded a little uncertain, something very much out of character – and Meredith nodded.
“If it makes you feel any better, I’ll check my phone once lunch gets here,” Meredith offered. “He probably won’t have much to say, but I can definitely check in with him and see how he’s going.”
“That does make me feel better, yeah.” Quinn gave Meredith a slightly apologetic smile. “I know he’s probably just fine and it makes me sound like a mother hen and all, but he’s alone out there. I think I’d want someone watching out for me, that’s all.”
“I don’t think it makes you sound like that at all, Quinn. He’s…” Meredith trailed off as she hunted mentally for the right words. “It’s like he’s my little brother. I mean, he’s a sophomore so he’s at least two years younger than us, so age-wise he’s old enough. Reminds me a lot of Fabian, to be honest, and I’d want someone to be looking out for him if he was stranded somewhere. So I feel exactly the same way.”
Just as Meredith had thought, there was nothing particularly exciting happening when she checked her phone next – Taylor was still on his hike across the moon, still headed toward the peak he’d seen the previous day. With both she and Quinn satisfied that their astronaut friend was doing okay, Meredith put her phone away and resolved not to check it again until they were leaving the restaurant.
By the time Meredith got around to checking in with Taylor again, the little indicator light right at the top of her phone’s screen was rapidly flashing bright red. Almost immediately she felt a wave of cold sweep over her, and she swallowed hard. She had no idea how long her phone had been flashing at her, but she had a distinct feeling that Taylor was trying desperately to get her attention – and worse, she was pretty sure he’d been trying for quite a while.
As soon as she got her phone unlocked and the Lifeline app open, she realised she was right.
Um, so, here’s something. On this side of the crater, maybe a few miles north of its edge, there’s a little ridge. And on that little ridge, there are more little pieces of metal – like, SEVERAL more.
And then, just on the other side of that little ridge I just mentioned, where someone a lot shorter than me probably couldn’t see it until after they’d reached the top, there’s, um…
Meredith, there’s a spaceship.