Love at First Sighting

Chapter 18: Contacting Home

"So, this is the communications deck. We're able to communicate with pretty much anywhere we know about from here, as long as they're nothing more than 3 million and a half light years away. Luckily for you, your home planet is only 2 and a half million light years away, so we're well in range for that," Ovi explained, leading us into a large room higher up in the ship. All around the room were screen, tuning dials, and assorted buttons, while in the back of the room there was a large chair in front of an even larger screen.

"That's the main communication hub on the ship, that's what we're going to use to contact your friends. There's more of these on Talgis, and much smaller ones as well. However, as we a constantly moving through space, we need more complex devices in order to make contact," Ovi continued, leading us up to the chair. "Take a seat."

I sat down in the chair and Paul sat down next to me, balancing himself on the arm rest. Ovi got behind one of the screens beside us and started typing and dragging things before a holographic display of the earth came up.

"Now, remind me, whereabouts would your friends be now?" Ovi asked, looking over at me in wonder.

"Well, we've been in space for like two human days, right? Ok, well, I can imagine that they'd still be somewhere in the US since they probably have a heap of stuff to work out concerning the RV and the government," I thought, furrowing my eyebrows a bit.

"So, we have a small idea of where they are. Thankfully, we can track them remotely using your memories of them," Ovi smiled, taking a helmet from the bench behind him and placing it on my head. A few seconds went by and a holographic display of Graeme and Clive appeared on the screen, the both of them sitting on what looked like was a hotel bed watching a TV. Ovi smiled and took the helmet off before typing some things in and handing us two headsets.

"This will let you talk to them, and we're able to detect a microphone somewhere in the vicinity of them so, while it may be quiet, you will be able to talk to them."

"Thank you so much, Ovi!" I exclaimed, hugging him. He smiled and pushed a button on the display. The holographic image from the smaller screen was now displayed on the massive screen in front of us.

"We are live in 3, 2, 1-" Ovi flicked a small lever and the expressions of Clive and Graeme changed to amazement and they jumped off the bed, crawling over to the TV.

"Lilly! Paul! What are you doing in the TV?" Graeme exclaimed; his voice murmured slightly due to the placement of the mic, which seemed to be Clive's Gameboy that was placed on the table behind them.

"We're testing how to contact you guys, does everything look ok?" I asked, adjusting my headset a bit so I could hear them better.

"You're a little fuzzy, but that might be the TV. How is everything? What is it like being in space?" Clive exclaimed, shuffling a bit closer.

"It's so cool, they have these refilling food things and they recycle everything and, ugh, it's just so cool," I gushed, and Paul chuckled at me, leaning over to kiss my cheek.

"It's pretty great being back, there's some new stuff that I'm not used to but I'm looking forward to getting back home," Paul added, a hint of fear in his voice. I took his hand in mine and squeezed it gently and smiled at him before turning my attention back to the boys.

"So, you're not on the planet yet?" Graeme frowned, confused.

"What do you think, we're the fastest race in the universe? We might be advanced, but it'll take a couple of days to get to our galaxy, dipshits," Paul exclaimed jokingly, rolling his eyes slightly. The boys laughed, albeit nervously, and I pointed behind them at where the Gameboy sat.

"Can you grab that? We're using that for a microphone, and I can hardly hear you guys," I explained, and Graeme jumped up to grab it when Ruth came into view, stretching tiredly.

"What's wrong, fuckers?" She asked, looking around for a second before realizing that Paul and I were on the TV. "Holy titty fuck! Paul, Lillian, how are you in the TV?" She exclaimed, kneeling to get a better look of the TV.

"You're getting better at the whole swearing thing, Ruth. We're contacting you from the ship via the communications hub, just to make sure that it works. How have things been since I've been gone?" Paul smiled, leaning against me slightly.

"Well, Agent Zoil helped us get back to the nearest Government base and we had to do a bunch of paperwork to ensure that we wouldn't leak any information about the government and stuff, then they hooked us up with a different RV so we can finish our trip and covered all expenses for it, including the plane tickets home. They've told everyone that's wondering where you went that you are on a government mission and will be uncontactable for the further future," Graeme explained, holding the Gameboy closer to his face so we could hear him better.

"I mean, in a way, I am on a government mission. Sort of," I shrugged, staring around me. "So, what's happening Ruth? Are you coming to Britain with the boys or are you sticking at home in the US?" I asked, taking the attention off the more confusing stuff.

"We've decided I'm going to move to Britain and live in a separate apartment for the time being. Actually, we were wondering if I could move into your old apartment," Ruth said, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. I smiled kindly and shrugged.

"I don't really care who lives in my apartment after me, if you wanna take it then go ahead," I smiled and the three of them released the breath they were holding, smiling and looking at each other.

"Thank you so much, do you still have your stuff there?" Graeme asked, taking the Gameboy back from Ruth to speak.

"Negative! We had a crew collect everything from her apartment while we were boarding the ship, everything of hers is safe in storage until our descent upon Talgis," Ovi piped up, peeking his head over the back of our heads. I gasped and looked back at him, smiling slightly.

"I can get my stuff?"

"Also, negative. We have your possessions under strict care while we make our way to the planet just in case any of it inhabits any bacteria or possible strains of disease, we do not have an immunity too. The only reason you're free roaming is because our scanners didn't pick anything dangerous up on your file," Ovi explained, returning to the computer where he was making sure that the connection was staying strong. I shrugged and looked back at the others and sighed slightly, stroking my arm.

"I miss you guys. I know it hasn't been too long and we're able to talk to each other and all, but the fact that we've known each other for so long and now we're just separated kind of hurts."

Graeme sighed softly to himself and Clive motioned for him to hand the Gameboy over, holding it up to his mouth as if he were about to sing karaoke.

"Lillian. We've been friends for years. We first met you when you were fresh into college, just out of a toxic relationship and depressed out of your mind. We helped you and, when we needed, you helped us. There's nowhere in the universe where you can go that you can't rely on us, even if it seems impossible, we will try our damn hardest to help you out. We all care about you."

My eyes welled up with tears and I started softly crying, earning confused looks from Ovi. Paul put a hand on my back and I sniffled, looking up at the screen through tears.

"Thank you so much guys, I love you."

They smiled and waved at me before Ovi cut the call, rushing over to me.

"Lillian! Are you ok? Why are you crying?" He exclaimed, staring at me worriedly. I wiped away the tears from my cheeks and smiled weakly, leaning on Paul.

"I'm fine, just got a little emotional is all."

"Do humans cry when they become emotional?"

"Well, yeah. Some people more than others, but it's a natural thing."

"Fascinating, can I run a few experiments with you to test this theory?" Ovi asked, his eyes wide in wonder.

"What?"