A World's Bounty

(7) Ersi

I walked peacefully through the streets of Miami, grinning like a child on Christmas day, as I walked amongst the other pedestrians. I ordered an ice cream cone at a colourful shop, bought a pair of sunglasses, and even cleared a whole mall. And the best part? No one recognized me. No one called my name. No one raised a camera or cell phone at my face. I was as uninteresting as the next stranger waiting in line.

I felt like a human Christmas tree, except instead of ornaments, numerous branded bags hung from my arms. I smiled at the sun upon exiting the mall, welcoming its warm rays, even on a hot day. I was never one for the cold. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I was back down against the concrete, squinting up at the blinding sun. Then, a man whose nose and facial sculpture looked vaguely familiar to Wes', leaned over top of me, shielding me from the blinding sun.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty." Suddenly, a deafening clap echoed around me on a continuous loop, piercing my eardrums painfully.

---

"Ah- what the hell!" I gasped, slamming my back backward, only to feel a leather barricade stop me. Light poured into my eyes, feeling even harsher at this point than the sun from my dream. My dream... I slowly rotated my neck to the right, only to see Wes seated stop his chamber rubbing his eyes.

Suddenly, his eyes zeroed in on mine, before I could turn away, he locked our gazes. "How'd your nap go?"

I raised a brow, "Fine." Until you interrupted it.

He rolled his eyes. "Seriously. I want to know how many of your dreams I starred in." And.. there's that smartass little comment I was looking for. I surprise even myself, with the confident smirk on my lips. "Seriously. I've had the blessing of not thinking about you since I laid my head down." His smirk morphed into a tight-lipped smile. If there was one thing Wes couldn't handle, was getting his ego downsized by literally anything. Including me.

"Alright, everyone! Head to the control panel, for a good look at the new earth!" Zac's voice boomed, as everyone had begun to slowly stretch away from their chambers.

I felt a nervous bump grow in my throat. What if it really wasn't survivable? Then what? Would we have enough time to find another possibly, but not one-hundred-percent-sure inhabitable planet?

Pushing the negative thoughts from my brain was easy once we reached the control panel. If someone asked me to explain the sight before us in words, it'd be impossible.

It felt like a thousand sparks had set off all at once inside my stomach, and I shakily made my way towards my station, situating myself in front of the wall of switches and flashing buttons. I couldn't stop shifting around in my seat, seeking a comfortable position that at this point seemed impossible.

But, as I glanced around, I seemed to be doing a lot better than most, who couldn't even stay seated. Nonetheless, those of us who needed to control the ship took our places and forced our brains to be present. The array of colours from the planet shone brightly, and at that point, I was glad for the light adapting glass, that prevented the blinding light from killing my eyesight.

My job wasn't too hard, because right now all's I was doing was monitoring the ship, and it's different levels of gas, as well as the condition of its most important parts. Basically, just waiting for something to go wrong. That was my job.

At first, I was disappointed, that my skills would only be useful in space, and that I'd be near clueless when it came to selecting non-poisonous plants or how much drops of iodine to cleanse a cup of water.

"Alright! Launching sequence initiating." Zac bellowed proudly, in other words, warning us to be ready and alert at our stations.

"Releasing sequence... now." Announced Adelpha calmly, and I watched each light and bar for launching sequence light up normally, all bars staying in the average. So far, everything was running smoothly.