It took me a great deal of time to realize what horrible tragedy Dr. Matthew went through. What I will never understand is why he simply revealed himself to the aliens.
Adam managed to get me settled into a bed in the sleep room, and then he went off to clean the place up while I got some rest, but my thoughts caught ahold of me and didn’t let me go for the whole day.
My nightmares swirled around my last few minutes with my crew, and then to the last moments of Dr. Matthew’s death. I can hear myself screaming at my ship’s captain about not leaving them behind. And I can see my best friend, my confidant, my co-worker, Amy. She had accompanied me on this mission out of guilt. She thought she owed me something because I had begged her boss to not fire her over a stupid mistake. Now she was paying me back by dying. I had been sure there was enough room for two people in the escape pod. Amy just stared at me, and nodded. She knew there wasn’t enough room, even though I begged her to come with me. I always find myself begging for things. I begged for forgiveness the second my ship crashed and I was not on it. I begged for help when my parents were taken by the plague. I begged for death when my escape pod crashed into the terrain and I didn’t want to be the last human in existence. And here I am again, begging for quiet dreams, when I don’t even deserve the ability to sleep.
I awoke to the beautifully perfect face of Adam leaning over me. It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the dim light in the room.
“Dr. Eden, I’ve prepared a meal for you in the kitchen. I also alerted your SR to what was going on. He told me he would initiate his sleep sequence and that he would see you soon. I also took the liberty of cleaning most of the facility and fixing the locks on the doors so that you may have access to any of the rooms, though you’ve found that most of them had their doors open anyways. I also changed the lamps in the hallways back to normal, as the black lights were just a safety precaution that was activated after I went to sleep and the aliens left.”
“Oh Adam, thank you so much.”
I got up and followed him to the kitchen. He had set up the table nicely and wiped down the chairs and counter tops. I could see that he also cleared the last of the rubble left. On the table was a tasty looking dish, I was unsure of the name. I haven’t eaten tangible food for the eleven years I was in space. Even before than I had settled for the freeze dried food that I ate in the laboratory that I worked at on Earth.
I took my place at the table and Adam sat down to accompany me while I ate.
“It really is horrible, what happened to you.”
“Oh Adam, please, I don’t need pity.”
“I am not giving you pity, I was just acknowledging what happened. It wasn’t fair of them to do this to you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your government, of course. They knew about this place as long as Dr. Matthew did. They did nothing. Dr. Matthew kept trying to get through to them, to tell his family that he was alive, that it was safe here.”
“How did his family react?”
“The government managed to intercept every message. They wanted to punish him."
“Even if they hadn’t, his family would have no way of getting here.”
“This is true Dr. Eden, but Dr. Matthew hated not trying.”
“It’s hard to say that he did everything he could, because he left his family in the first place, Adam. I know you don’t understand that, but family runs deeper than anything. I would hope he felt the same way.”
“I don’t know, we never discussed it. He was a man of few words, really. And I do understand family. I may have been built without emotions, but I certainly learned them over the years I spent with Dr. Matthew. I am far more human now than he would have expected.”
“If you claim to be so human, how could you let him die?”
“In that moment, I was struggling with myself. I couldn’t choose between my loyalty to him and my pain for watching him go through that. I knew I should have helped him, but I had made a promise, and I was built to keep it.”
“I would hope, should you ever be put in that type of situation again, that you choose differently.”
“I would hope, for my sanity, Dr. Eden, that I can.”
I finished up my food and Adam took my plate from the table and washed it quickly. I stood up from my seat and started to speak but Adam managed to get his words out first.
“Dr. Eden, would you care to join me for a movie in the television room? I managed to fix what was broken on the television. I also found some old recorded movies that Dr. Matthew had brought with him.”
“Oh, Adam, I was going to shower first. Is that alright?”
“Of course doctor.”
“Please, just call me Noomi. I feel as if you are my slave when you call me Dr. Eden.”
“Of course… Noomi. I will see you in the television room.”
I left Adam in the kitchen and went to the bathroom. It was surprisingly clean, and Adam had laid out a new suit for me to wear. It matched his in color, but was very similar to my old one. As much as I liked my old suit, I figured it was time for a new one.
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