The Ruins of Alpha Centauri (The Tes Simms Anthology, Book 2)

The Family

"It's about time the two of you showed up," one of the scientists says, quickly approaching the doorway as we enter. "You were supposed to come two days ago."

"Sorry, we've been a little busy."

"Actually, it's my fault," Sola says. "I spaced it the past couple days trying to give them their tour."

"Well, lucky for you two, we may have made some progress. I've discovered a way to test elemental composition and energetic reaction without triggering a change in energetic state."

The three of us look at him with dulled eyes.

"English, please?" Holly asks.

"We're going to figure out exactly what is in the center of your little robot friend without blowing this place up."

"Well cool. Let's get going then."

Holly offers Aurora up to one of the two scientists, who delicately places her on some sort of pressure plate. We watch as they shine a bright light down onto her, and then crank a dial.

"You see, we can input a crazy amount of energy into the atoms around the mysterious material, increasing the chance that its energy will also be increased. Or at least, that's how it will work if it's made of traditional elements. However, since this is not, we sort of do it the reverse way. We're pouring a ton of energy into the anomaly, and using the air and metal alloy elements around it to cushion it."

"I'm sure that makes sense in the future," Holly says.

"Not to me, it doesn't," Sola says.

We stand for another hour and a half as we wait for the scientists to conduct all the research they can into Aurora. Whatever it is they're trying to do, they're becoming increasingly frustrated.

"I've got it!" One of them eventually says. "Whatever this thing is, it's like a battery. It's stores energy in it to be used by your little robot pal."

"Well then, how do we charge the battery?"

"That's what we're working on," the other says. "It's not holding a charge long enough to do anything. We can input energy, and as long as we keep inputting energy, the charge won't go down. But as soon as we stop, it drains exponentially fast. What's even more strange is that your little rabbit doesn't even seem to run on this battery."

"Is it maybe just a threshold thing?" Sola asks. "You know, once it reaches a certain charge, it does its magic?"

"Perhaps. But since we have no clue how this works, it could be anything. It could be the method we're putting energy in."

I motion to Holly to have us talk in a corner.

I think that's all the information we need, I write. If we can hook Aurora up to a steam generator, maybe we can charge her up to get her home.

She nods, but her eyebrows are furrowed. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but none of this does.

"I know you have been hesitant to let us test on Aurora," one of the two says, "but would you let us have her for the night to look at different charging methods?"

Holly and I look at each other. We both know the answer.

"Respectfully, on top of our reason last time, we were invited to have dinner over at Sola's place, and that included Aurora. We'll come back tomorrow to let you test. We promise."

"I'm holding you to it. For real this time."

I raise a pinky. As much as I'd rather not come back, if we want to figure out how we can get a steam generator going, we'll need their help.

"All right, time to head home," Sola says. "Dinner will be just about ready."

Dinner was not just about ready. In fact, it was hardly three o'clock. We spent the rest of the time waiting, playing a few sad rounds of chess to pass the time. And by we, I mean Sola and I, because Holly was too overwhelmed trying to figure out what all the pieces did.

Around five, we all three get up to help Sola's mom, who's nearly done with the main course. Shortly after, our hands are washed and we're sitting around the table.

"I'm so glad the three of you could make it for dinner today," their mom says. "We haven't had a table this full since their dad died."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Holly says.

"Meh, he was a few choice words away from finishing the devil's alphabet, as it were. So, tell me some about yourselves. I hear you're from California. I didn't know that was a country all the way back then."

"Funny story, it wasn't. But yeah, we're from California. We were on a trip to Jerusalem for class when we were shot out of the sky. Little did we know, it was a cannonball from the shattered remains of a decades-old Nazi airship...."

Holly spends the next fifteen minutes relaying our story, quietly skating over some of the more horrific details. Her capacity for storytelling is insane. I wonder how I never noticed, seeing as we've shared almost every English class we've been in.

"That is a lot to take in," Sola's mom says. "And you're sure you two are okay after going through all that?"

"I haven't even heard this full story," Sola says.

"Well, we're getting by," Holly says, faintly smiling. "I'm just hoping we can figure out the stuff with the scientists and get back home soon. No offense, but the future kind of sucks."

"Wait, you mean to tell me you didn't have to survive giant killer robots in 1970?"

"I know, big shocker."

"I guess the thing that's bothering me is what the heck is a Nazi?" Sola's mom asks.

"Wait, you don't know what a Nazi is? They were like, this evil regime that appeared in the 1930s and killed a lot of people. There was a war and genocide and everything."

"This is gonna sound weird, but I don't think we had Nazis. After World War I, we had a few decades of peace. Well, until the Cold War."

"We kind of have a Cold War too. It's just a little less prominent than the Steam War, which is also a gridlock of powers."

"I wonder what else is different, then."

We spend the rest of the night discussing our home. It's the most normal I've felt in a few long days, but the more we talk, the more I long to be back in the comfort of my own universe. Finally, a few hours after dinner, Holly prompts us to leave. Nobody argues.

When we get to our house again, exhaustion washes over me. Today has been too much. I started it off with a galvaknight chase and ended it with a family dinner. I haven't had one of those in years, unless you count a family dinner as just me and my grandma.

"I know it's your turn on the bed, but I was sort of thinking that maybe we could stop fighting over it," Holly says, slipping into something more comfortable. "After all, it's big enough to fit both of us. I won't even make you cuddle me."

I toss the idea around in my head. Part of me is still hesitant, partially because of our tenuous relationship before the Hindenburg, but the rest of me is too tired to care. Inevitably, like every other decision, I shrug.

"Oh, thank God. My body is too sore for the floor right now. Thank you."

I claim the right side, and she stakes the left. Aurora hops on to the bed and curls up down at our feet. To keep personal space, I put my hands in the pocket of my hoodie, but feel something inside.

I still have a few of the rings. I pull them out, and Holly notices.

"Did you find those rings on the surface?"

I nod.

"Those are beautiful. They look like wedding rings."

I hand them over to her, letting her get a good luck. She puts one on each hand.

Apparently satisfied, she rolls over, and within a minute, she's snoring. I follow suit not too long after.