Lost in Space

Chapter 20: Back Home

The next few moments were expected to be moments of relief, but we knew something was a bit off. The next few moments felt like moments of paranoia. We didn't know what happened, and we don't know what will happen next. Helena is presumably dead, but we don't know that. Most of us were just lost in thought of the possibility that Helena could have survived Lillie's attack.

As I thought that, Lillie broke the silence. "Jordan? You seem to be a bit lost in thought. You look a bit pale."

She was right. I should feel relieved that Helena is dead, but what is this feeling? "I don't know. I should have big sense of relief thanks to you, but something is just... off."

"How so?"

"It... umm... What if Helena survived? What if there is a greater force out there?"

Lillie gave a hard pat on my right shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Besides, you have something else to worry about."

Ashley said in agreement with Lillie. "Even if Helena survived, at least she knows not to mess with us humans. We should be more prepared next time if she decides to come back." She nudged my shoulder. "Besides, we will know what to expect next time. We know a couple of Helena's weakness. We can take that to our advantage. For now, let's enjoy our trip back to Earth."

I responded. "It will be a while before we arrive back to Earth."

Lillie walks to the controls. "We can travel hypersonic speed, can't we?" Before I could get a word out, we traveled to Earth through hypersonic speed. "See? It wasn't so bad."

The ship's door immediately opens. Stephen speaks out of shock. "We're finally back on Earth, guys."

I was expected to rush out, but I walked out of the ship very slowly. Where we landed was even stranger. "Lillie, did you mean to—"

"Of course, I did. This is where we were when we left Earth." Lillie walked towards me. "Now, go take care of your business. You said you have someone you need to talk to."

Without a moment to waste, I rushed inside of the building in front of us, only to see the same woman I saw at the ship before it launched. She just looked at me. "You must be Jordan."

"You... What are YOU doing here?" I said as she gave a slight smile, which was creepy.

"It's nothing, really. Although, I thought you were supposed to be killed by the helions."

I wasn't dense. How does she know what a helion is? "Wait a minute. How do you know what a helion is? How did you know we were supposed to be sent off to be killed by them on another planet?"

The woman walked closer to me. "Since you are here, I might as well say it anyways." She casually walked around me. "Since you survived, you knew about the helions as well. Is that correct?"

"Yes, that is... correct."

"Good." She walked and stood beside me. "As you know, there is one specific helion who helped organized this event for the whole ceremonial offerings."

"Ceremonial offerings?"

"While it wasn't just 'her', there was another helion, who was killed by her."

I knew what she meant by 'her'. "You mean... 5G-189, who is actually Helena Gerald."

"So..." The woman smirked. "You know almost everything about the whole situation."

"What are you getting at? What are you even saying?"

The woman walked away. "Not everybody gets a happy ending. 25 humans, including you, were sent as H.E.P.N.I.S. offerings to Helena Gerald specifically, but it wasn't for the Leader." She turned towards me. "Yes, I know Helena killed him, but that is besides the point. The point is that the fact that you survived means that she is most likely dead." She walked awfully close. "Who killed her?"