Aleks

Epilogue

Fifteen years later

Aleks Garrison sits on a chair in a house made of ship parts. He sits on  a seat made of scrap metal and a toilet seat looking out the window at a green world he thought he would never see. He is handicapped from the bullet back on Earth. Alice enters into the room and sits by his side.

"You feeling okay?" she asks looking at the diner pushed to the side of the table. Aleks looks at her and then back to the window. " We're all waiting for you. It's Issac's birthday. Erin and Derick really want you to be there." Alice pauses and put her hand on Aleks'. "I know you like cake, Aleks" She smiles and runs a finger over the table in front of them. "You're thinking about Earth aren't you?" she asks putting her palm flat on the table.

"I always do." He says quietly.

" Me too. A lot of innocent people died because of the Military. But those nukes were what was best for them. the Military would have killed all of them for all the gold in the world. And after we left they would have gotten twitchy about other people rebelling and leaving. They are better off dead." Alice says with a solemn tone.

"Do you think we could have saved them?" Aleks says looking at Alice.

"I wish we could have." says Derick entering the room with Erin. "I will tell you one thing. As much as I regret having to kill all those people on Earth. I don't regret saving all of us. There is no fighting here. We made a society with a few if no issues. we live in a peace that Earth never had. There are kids here. A next generation to make new advancements..." He pauses and walks over to Aleks putting his hand on his shoulder. "We did good Aleks." Aleks hangs his head for a moment and points to his folded up wheel chair. Erin unfolds it and puts her hand out to help him in but he is already doing it himself. Peter comes into the room and begins pushing him to the outside. A large blue sun lights up the red-ish sky. "It still makes me look in awe that sky." says Peter to Aleks. The small town is colored with small alien flowers and  grasses that are green and all other colors of the rainbow. Their make shift houses that they tore the ships apart for shine and  glisten from the sun and cast dancing reflections of them as they pass to get to the town center.

Everyone's eyes are on Aleks as he is wheeled next to the table where Issac, Erin and Derick's son sits. the cake has numbers inserted into it that reads "9" Derick lights the candles and they all start to sing. And it is at the moment, surrounded by his new family and friends that Aleks let's out a long breath and reaches into his pocket and sets a sword guard on the table with the name "Tom" put into the metal.

"you kept that?" Alice says running her fingers over it's metal after the song is done and the candles are blown out.

" Yeah." Aleks says looking at Alice. He shifts his gaze to Issac and holds up the metal sword guard. "This is from one of the best men we all knew." He says loud enough for the entire town to hear. " He was brave, and smart. He was kind and a friend to all. This is our Symbol. This reminds us to never be like the old world. That we are new. And we will always put each other first. We are all humans at heart." Aleks hands it to Issac. " You remember that Issac. fight for humanity, fight for every human and every being with a heart and blood in it's veins..." he trails off. "Make a better world!" he says loud again. and the crowed cheers and they all smile, because they know Humanity has entered a new age.