And Silent Were The Stars

-14-

  "Look at me, come on, look at me." With her fingertips Rebecca tilted the woman's head up so that they would stare each other in the eyes. "Tell me what happened? Did they manage to contact the Traveler?" Her voice sounded calm even though on the inside the feeling of unease coagulated somewhere near her stomach, moving to her chest and squeezing her heart in its iron fist. She dreaded the answer. Traveler was one of the shuttles aboard Syracusae. It would not hold more than a crew of fifteen but it was fast and had stasis pods aboard, as well as all the equipment necessary in case... In case of what? She dared not think about it now, not right now. 

"I know it... I saw him die, Rebecca." The woman moved away and turned to face the door. Rebecca wanted to touch her shoulder but then took her hand away, letting Lynn speak.

"I know it must sound crazy. I... Since we stopped here I've been having these... these dreams..." Suddenly she turned and stared Rebecca in the eyes. "I SAW him die." She spoke with such certainty that Rebecca felt that she truly believed in what she was saying.

There was a moment of tense silence. Seconds stretched for what seemed to be hours. Rebecca saw tears welling up in Lynn's eyes, red and swollen from all the crying. Her colorless lips were now pursed together, trembling. Lynn shook her head and then faced away to the wall. There were no more sobs coming out of her, giving way to the silence that now filled the room like cotton, heavy and dense. Lynn hugged herself, her fingertips digging into the fabric of the cardigan. Rebecca felt helpless, not able to find the right words.

Then Lynn took in a deep breath and spoke. Her voice sounded somehow lower, bitter. "I... These things I've seen..."

Rebecca filled a glass with water and dropped two pills out of one of the plastic containers she took out of the small drawer by the bed. She saw the white round shapes dissolve into a myriad of tiny bubbles as the liquid hissed. Then she handed it to Lynn, placing one hand on her shoulder and squeezing it reassuringly. "Here, drink this."

Lynn emptied the glass in one go, almost choking. A drop from the corner of her mouth slid all the way down her chin and neck. She drew a deep, broken breath as she handed the glass back to Rebecca and wiped her mouth with a sleeve. Rebecca gently made Lynn sit down on the cot. The woman stared blindly at the floor. Large tears rolled down from her eyes and fell onto the hands in her lap, her fingers rubbing the wet tissue. Rebecca waited patiently, sitting by her side. She covered both of them with the thin silver blanket and for a moment they sat there, Rebecca embracing her.

"I..." Lynn started and then stopped, searching for words. Her voice sounded steadier. "I saw them. Those things." She pronounced the word with disgust, her lips curving and bearing the teeth.

"It was just a dream. Only a dream. Nothing more."

"It felt so real." Lynn didn't take her eyes away the floor, not blinking even once. "The things... Those things. They were everywhere. And there was blood, so much blood..." she turned her head and looked at Rebecca, her eyes wide open, the eyelids swollen from all the crying. "It was everywhere - on the floor, the walls. And those poor people. And James..." her voice withered out and she pressed her face against Rebecca, digging the face into her shoulder.

"Shh, it's all right now. It's all right. It was just a nightmare. A bad dream, that's all." Rebecca hugged her and waited for her to calm down a bit. Lynn spoke still sobbing, "It all felt so real, Rebecca." And somehow Rebecca believed her. A cold memory of her own nightmares passed a shiver through her.

"Soon the communications will come back up and you will see that James is fine. They all are fine. You'll see." Rebecca held Lynn in her arms, swaying from side to side, and repeated it a couple of times until she felt Lynn's body relax.