Chapter 7

They walked through the empty corridors, Alicia listening for footsteps from any member out on a repair. But they were lucky and no one was around, and they passed through the first part of the ship unnoticed.

Now, as they were walking, she realized they hadn't planned it very well. The space suits of Einstein were in poor shape, and she didn't know if they would hold, even for a short journey. She told Bianca, who just replied

We can wear my suit.

Alicia thought back on the suit she'd worn, and how it had climbed up her arm, covering her body. How would that work with the two of them? She suspected she would only get a very technical answer, though, so she stayed quiet and kept walking.

As they came to the airlock, Bianca stopped and said,

Based on the schematics I've seen of Einstein, there is a socket on the outside, meant to be used for external charging. We'll try that.

She didn't wait for Alicia to answer, but pushed a button on her bracelet, and the suit floated from it and began to climb up her arm. Its shimmering glow lit up the dark corridor and once she was covered, she moved closer to Alicia and put a hand on her.

The metallic liquid flowed from her hand and over to Alicia, and she tensed up.

It won't hurt, Bianca said.

Alicia had thought that the experience would be similar to the one she'd had, in her room, and she braced herself for the new reality to enter. Instead, it never happened, or at least not in the same way as it had done back then. The glimmer in the air became stronger, and a fleeting memory of how Hermes had been able to feel Bianca's heart and mind passed by before she was enveloped by a sense of peace that made her knees buckle. She looked at Bianca, and in between them, a glimmering chord could be seen. She wanted to reach out and touch it, asking if Bianca could see it too, but her arm wouldn't move and no words came. The air began to vibrate and slowly, the reality she'd felt last time in the suit entered, only, she wasn't alone this time. She felt Bianca and her presence everywhere, in every fibre of her being and in each spark floating in the air, she could see her. And she knew, that even if they would be miles apart, she would still feel her, as close as she stood now, knowing what she thought and what she felt. A whisper from a voiceless being floated by. This is what Bianca lost. This is what she shared with Hermes.

She felt a tug and looked up. Bianca was moving towards the airlock, and Alicia followed, not sure if her feet ever touched the ground. She watched the corridor, the air shimmering as if it was lit up by countless floating lights. Why hadn't she seen this before? The wall in front of her vibrated and happenings of the past, of the people who had been here, walking these corridors, flashed before her. Is this what Bianca had seen, as she watched the walls?

We need to go, she heard Bianca say.

The womb of the new reality embraced Alicia as she followed her out of the airlock and into space.

She barely remembered anything as they floated towards the shuttle. All she knew was that she had been lonely her whole life, and now she wasn't. Every particle around her was alive, and she was them, and they were her.

They must have reached the shuttle because Bianca stopped and Alicia turned to see her entering. She stayed outside, resting in the unseen arms that held her. Once, she'd felt fear, and worry, but she couldn't remember why any longer. Shortly after, Bianca came back out, connected something to the outside of the shuttle and said,

It's done.

Alicia felt another tug, and they began to float back to Einstein. Bianca must have connected the cable she'd brought from the shuttle to the ship, but Alicia never saw it. She only felt Bianca, her presence and the particles that had never been separated from her.

They climbed back through the airlock, and with a small tap on her wrist, Bianca brought the suit back into her bracelet again.

Alicia felt it flowing from her, and slowly the feeling of peace diminished. The air lost its shimmering, and the particles retreated. Bianca's presence moved further and further away until she couldn't feel her any longer. Left, was only an emptiness and a hollow in her chest.

The corridor was barren, the walls simply metal sheets, with no memories of the past and the air nothing else than something you breathed. She was alone, a hole in her chest where, for a moment, there had been something else, a memory she could no longer remember.

She reached out, trying to force a connection to Bianca, but nothing happened. The dark corridor seemed to close in on her, shrinking until there was nothing else than emptiness and the hole left. She was alone.

Bianca started to move towards the bridge, but Alicia grabbed hold of her hand.

How can you go on like this?, she asked.

Bianca must have understood what she meant because she said,

Hermes told me there is always hope.

Alicia looked around the dark corridor.

How?

I don't know.

There has to be a way.

Bianca didn't reply but took her other hand, holding it in hers. Alicia never knew what happened, but maybe that's when Bianca decided to trust what Hermes had said because slowly, the air began to shimmer and the hole faded from her chest. Every fibre of her being was filled with Bianca's presence, and Alicia began to cry, throwing her arms around Bianca.

She'd forgotten why they had come here in the first place when the fluorescent lamps in the ceiling suddenly started to flicker. She let go of the embrace but kept a hand in Bianca's as she watched them come to life. A warm breeze moved through the corridor, and they looked at each other.

It had worked! They were charging! Einstein was charging and they had power to use! She threw her arms around Bianca again. It had worked! It had really worked!

Alicia smiled and looked at Bianca, and together they walked back towards the bridge and the biosphere.

She had thought they would be able to arrive unnoticed, quietly announcing what they had done, but even before they had come to the bridge they could hear the voices. As they came closer, she saw that the door to the bridge was open, and the members had gathered there. More things than she'd realized must have turned on when they were charging again. Jeff was the first to see them, and he hobbled over to them.

This is your doing, isn't it?, he smiled

Alicia nodded and explained what they had done and how Bianca had managed to charge Einstein from her shuttle.

Who would have thought..., he said and he hugged her.

Alicia looked out over the people gathered on the bridge. Is this how it had been when this journey had begun, such a long time ago? Full of hope and achievement, the future in front of them and anything being possible. They had waited for a long time, but finally, this was their part of the story that they would write about in the logbook to be read by the generations to come. She smiled, then remembered the biosphere, and she beckoned to Bianca to follow her.

This time, they walked through the lit corridors and Alicia took Bianca's hand. She watched the walls and the floor she'd barely ever seen in any other light than from the torch. As they came to the entrance to the biosphere, they heard a rumbling from inside, and she let go of Bianca's hand and ran towards it. What had happened?

As she opened the door, she was instantly soaked by the rain pouring down. She stared at it, not being able to believe her eyes. She had never seen this much of it. She looked at Bianca, laughed and pulled her into the biosphere.