Bright Horizons

Chapter 8

06 January 2043

“Are you sure there isn’t anything else I can do for you Alex?” Kyle asked as he watched his friend pack his bag.

“Thanks Colonel, but there really isn’t anything else to do.  Emily has to stay here for the mission and the girls need someone to take care of them.” He turned to face Kyle. “You know, when I got the word that Dad was killed, I was angry… sad… full of emotion. But I wasn’t surprised. He was a warrior in the middle of a war. Things like that happen. But a woman in her late 60’s shouldn’t just drop from a heart attack in the vegetable aisle at the grocery store. It’s not right.”

Kyle shook his head. “No it isn’t Alex.”

Alex looked away from his Commanding Officer and glanced around the room one more time. “It… it just feels like I was gut punched, Colonel.”

Kyle couldn’t believe how much things had changed in the last two days. The first three months on the station, the mission had been going great. Emily and her small team were feeding tons of data back to NASA seemingly every hour. The Hedali had introduced Ambassador Thomas to the three other races that shared the facility, and Kyle and Alex had been the guinea pigs for their scientists as their jobs of “security” had been pretty relaxed.

Then two days ago the daily NASA communiqué came. The first line was simply “Abigail Ramirez has passed away after a heart attack.” A follow up personal communiqué about an hour later had provided the details. 

Abigail had a sudden and massive coronary while shopping. Her sister Kelsey had come and picked Emily’s girls up at school and told them of their grandmother’s passing. Alex could go home and take care of the girls if needed, and his Aunt Kelsey had requested that if possible.

Due to the nature and secrecy of her work, it was established that Emily Troy was indispensable.  She could only send a message to her daughters.

Thus Alex had decided to go home and be with his nieces while his sister finished up her one year assignment.

A tiny chirp on his communicator brought Kyle back to the present.

“The Hedali scout ship is just docking, Alex.”

“Thanks Colonel, I guess I had better say goodbye to Emily and get down there. Did they say who was going to replace me out here?” Alex asked as he shouldered his bag.

“Williams wanted it, but he had a hard time convincing them that he was security. K-man was the best choice, all things considered.”

“He knows there isn’t a range up here, right?”

“Yeah, and he grumbled about that more than you did, Alex,” Kyle laughed. It was good to see Alex get a little of his sense of humor back. Gallows humor is common for a Marine, but Alex had been very tight since he found out his mother had died.

“Well Colonel, until we meet back on Earth.” Alex sharply saluted Kyle, and once the salute was returned he turned and walked out of their tiny barrack room.

Kyle looked at the “earth clock” that they had in their room and realized he would not be able to get something to eat before his meeting with Ambassador Thomas.  He sighed and headed towards the daily briefing. He knew that routine kept everybody’s head clear in these kinds of missions, and so he reminded himself every day of the importance of these briefings and made sure he had three new random facts to give Ambassador Thomas as part of his presentation.

The door opened and Ambassador Thomas looked up from his small desk. 

“Good afternoon, Colonel. Please have a seat,” Ambassador Thomas said motioning to the chair in front of his desk. “Day 97 is coming to a close.”