Proxima Terra

As it comes so it goes

Bastien Dellor was standing on the top of tower gazing into the horizon patiently waiting for Sun to rise up. Every morning he was standing there in silence watching the sun's rays hitting Elybis station then slowly reflecting onto the ocean beneath leaving dimmed traces of symbol of strength and power which was gracefully embracing entire station. The only thing that was bothering him was that moment didn't last for long.

He pulled his hand through his thick black hair suddenly feeling tired. He could feel heaviness on his shoulders like the whole weight of the world started crashing upon him. Those were the moments when dark memories were creeping into his mind. Six years went by since his mothers' accident happened and he still feels like the first day she died. He occupied himself with work leaving no place for sorrow except in these rare moments. Now he's twenty-three years old and at the top of his career as Watcher. He loved his job because of the danger and excitement that came with it. These days only adrenalin and innocent curiosity of his younger sister kept him going forward. He was proud of his sister Aurora, she was curious and eager for knowledge but child-like innocence surrounded her presence. She was tall with pale, soft skin and long blond hair looking like an angel, only her brown narrowed eyes weren't fitting in that angel-like look. That reminded him that he promised to help her with homework of Ancient Religions. He slowly got up and walked to the glass elevator pressing the button to get in. He was far up on the 455-th floor and he needed to go down on Deck One first to meet with his father so they can finish preparations for descending on Earth tomorrow.

This time they were looking for unusual behaviors of animals that they tracked. His father and he didn't get along very well, his mother's death changed them both completely. The only thing in common they had is their love for Aurora and being a Watcher. His father was a military man, hard, stressed, and formal. He was not a kind of man that shows emotions openly.

His thoughts were interrupted when elevator doors opened and mixed voices of people started rushing in. He started walking thorough round white corridor that stretched up in miles all the way around the station. Deck One was the center of Elybis station where technical work and planning was done. Glass doom was surrounding the whole deck which stretched into wide circle divided in separated rooms. Walking toward the room he saw through glass wall his father and other generals gathered around a wide black table discussing plans and strategy for tomorrows' operation.

-"I'm telling you we're not ready yet to stay on the ground for longer than eight days. It's ridiculous to assume that anybody would willingly put themselves in such danger just because of your theory." Zed angrily said pulling his hand through his hair and nervously tapping a pencil on the desk.

-"Zed, I understand your concerns but we need to get out of the safe zone and find out more about these animal behaviors. What we saw on screen never happened before, we need to know more." Alister said.

Bastien came cross-armed curiously listening to what they're speaking.

-"Bastien I'm glad you came, we discovered new kind of information that needs investigating. Wolves that we put trackers on went to red zone of radiation, and their vital signs stayed same and healthy, this has never happened before, nothing lasted more than a couple of hours in that zone and now data tells us that wolves had been there for last two days and nothing changed. This is remarkable, it could mean that after 95 years of hard work we managed to clean out that area." Alister said approaching him from the left side.

Zed stepped from the table coming to his son looking worried. -"This is just a theory, we don't know what happened. We can't know. It could be that trackers malfunctioned and that they're sending corrupted data. We just don't know for sure what happened."

Alister frowned-"We can't assume anything, an investigation is needed. I'm sure we can find volunteers for this mission." He looked curiously into Bastien knowing that he won't refuse this offer.

Bastien looked intriguing on-screen stretching on the wall, watching trackers blinking with green lights motioning all through radiation area.

-" I will volunteer and seek for more people on my team . Draco and Riley will be interested in this mission also." He thought of his very two best friends who were just like him, eager for danger and adrenaline.

Zed furiously looked his son but he knew this would happen. "Are you really capable of such ignorance? Putting yourself in danger just on a hunch of an old man-"

-Bastien interrupted him starting to get angry-" Don't you understand that this is important and it can't be stopped just because of your fear. This could mean that possibly in the near future we could return to Earth, at least some parts of it. And we can't ignore it just because you're afraid."

Zed sighed shrugging his shoulders, knowing that he can't stop his son. He never could and he never will. For a moment he remembered Bastien when he was just a boy and now he's grown man who's creating his own path. His mother would be proud of him, he resembles her in so many ways. Zed himself was never brave, he was always questioning things deeply and along with that way he lost his own son. They were close before Anita died and now they're just strangers.

-Bastien looked with vague expression wondering why his father isn't putting more effort into stopping him, like always. Maybe he gave up realizing that he can't accomplish much.

-"Alright then, we'll discuss our strategy after work hours. For now, this must stay a secret until we find out more about what is happening. We don't want to create panic among people." Alister said determinedly. And other generals agreed with him.

Bastien nodded and started walking towards the corridors, he remembered that he promised to help Aurora with her homework. Now more than ever he was sure that he chose the right path to follow.