And Silent Were The Stars

-16-

  Rebecca sat by her desk her forehead resting in her palms on top of it. The digital clock on the wall panel showed that it was lunchtime. The last time she's spoken to Doctor Dawson there were still no news from the Traveler. It's been over forty-eight hours now. Even though she didn't feel hungry she wanted to check up on Lynn and see if she was doing any better. Maybe a hot meal would lift her spirits. They hadn't spoken since the early morning when she'd left Rebecca's dorm. 

Before leaving she scrolled through the cameras of the Medbay. The feed from the ones located in the recovery ward showed the man from the colony. He was sitting by a small table and staring at a plastic dish, his lunch untouched. She got up from her desk and headed out of the room. When she reached the room with a plaque Rec-02, she pressed her bracelet against the holoscreen on the wall and the door opened. Inside the room she saw the man. He didn't move, just sat there in the same position, unmoving, staring at the table in front of him. He paid her no attention as she walked to the other side of the room.

Rebecca scrolled through the report on the holoscreen by his bed. It seemed that since Vasily had regained consciousness he was reluctant to talk. All the questions about what happened on the surface of the planet received only one answer, I don't remember. Rebecca took in a deep breath and walked to the table. She pulled another chair from where it stood by the wall next to the table, opposite the man and sat in it.

"Vasily?" she saw the man's face, blank. He did not stir.

"Vasily, can you hear me? It's doctor Porter. Do you remember me?" She tried to keep her voice steady.

The man lifter his head.

"How are you feeling?"

No answer followed.

"We have sent another search party down to the colony." It seemed that hearing these words had stirred something in the man, his posture became more tense and his face features gained some sharpness to them.

"Vasily? I thought that you might want to know that we are doing everything we can but the communications with the surface of the planet are down." She waited for a reaction.

"It would really be of help if you could tell us anything that you remember. If you would try to remember what happened."

It was as if a transparent wall separated the man from the rest of the world. After a minute of silence Rebecca asked another question.

"Who is Anechka?"

It seemed that for a moment she managed to reach something inside of him, the moment he heard the name, but then his face regained the same expression of emptiness and all he said was, "I don't remember."