And Silent Were The Stars

- 2 -

A pale blue light of the holoscreen lit up in the darkness of the tiny cabin and a quiet beeping sound filled the silence. It took Rebecca a couple of seconds to realize the sound was coming from somewhere outside her dream. She threw the thin thermal blanket off and sat up on the cot. Her bare feet touched the rubber covering of the floor. The tank top soaked in cold sweat stuck to her skin. Rubbing her eyes with one hand, she reached out to the screen and touched the answer button.

A man's face appeared in front of her. His pale blue eyes planted deep within the thin face were partially covered by the heavy, drooping eyelids similar to those of a basset hound. He stared at her from behind the thick lenses of his glasses.

"What is it, Arthur?" she asked, squinting at the light of the holoscreen.

"Hey, Becky," he said, revealing pearly white teeth as the narrow line of his lips split into a smile. "They are heading back. Prep the quarantine area."

She cringed at Becky. For a second she wanted to remind him that it's Rebecca but decided to let it go.

"How many?" Her eyes were now wide open and focused on the screen. The light of the cabin grew brighter as her hand reached the touchscreen on the wall above the narrow bed, moving the light control slider to the right.

"One." His smile shrunk.

One. She tried to bring up the numbers from the report she'd read last evening before the rescue vessel took off for the colony. There were supposed to be at least a hundred and fifty-eight colonists down there.

"And the rest?"

"No trace of anyone else. No bodies either. Doc said that they managed to get only to the second level. The third is sealed off. One of the techs has tried to get the elevators running but with no luck. Captain's orders. They are on their way back to the ship."

Only one survivor. Quarantine. A standard procedure but there was something that made her uneasy. Her eyes shifted away from the screen and traced the thin line of light that stretched all the way across the wall under the low ceiling and illuminated the room with a soft white glow.

"You still there?"

"Meet you in the Medbay." She terminated the call. A logo of the Sirius Corporation substituted the image of the man on the screen. Underneath, in the right bottom corner white numbers glowed on the light-blue background, 4:14 A.M.