Journey

Elijah

I was scared. Nobody was answering their coms. Alivia had rewired my com to be compatible with their's. I have tried coming Lorelei but she hasn't answered. It scared me. In fact all the "Shippers" disappeared at around the same time Lorelei stopped answering her com. Something weird is going on here. I searched for her for a while before I found two shippers in the cafeteria ordering food. They told me she was in the brig and was busy. I went outside and talked to Alaina for a while. My dread just grew even larger not being on the ship. We decided to go find the secret level. We walked to the first floor. It looks extremely dead right now. No one is ever down there and it is burnt. We go to the bookshelf and shove it to the side. We climb down the stairs until finally we hit the bottom. We walk into the room. The lights hardly glow down there.

"This is weird," Alaina said.

"For sure," I agree.

I wonder how much time Rebekkah spent down here hiding from "The Captain". It is definitely very dusty in here. Alaina coughs

"Ack! Someone needs to dust down here. I can hardly breathe," She exclaimed.

I started laughing. In which ended up turning into a coughing fit. Alaina giggled. She made sure not to laugh and up coughing. We dug around in there for a while. The had a few journals from the ship's original design. I flip through one and find a picture of the captain and his family. I show the picture to Alaina.

"This is back when the intentions of this mission were pure. Tsk. I wonder what he would have thought of everything that's happening," She tsked.

My unease grew as I thought of Lorelei. What is she doing in the brig. I felt like the gravitational pull shifted. I feel like instead of being pulled to the ground I am being pulled to her. I walk out of the room and onto the stairwell.

"Hey, I'm going to go to sleep after we get off the ship," Alaina explained.

"Yeah, I'm just going to check on Lorelei," I say not really listening to her.

She turns to leave the ship and I turn to go to the brig.

I round the corners and wander until I eventually and inevitability find it. I walk in and the scene leaves me shocked. All the shippers are busying themselves while Lorelei sits in the brig. I see red until I realized she is interrogating a boy. He is super thin and it's kind of scary. He is like a living skeleton. When she is done I don't know what to think. This boy. Something about him doesn't sit right with me. I have met everyone in my colony and everyone in Lorelei's colony. I have never seen him before. I never forget a face. Never. Even past that he still doesn't sit right with me. I sit with Lorelei in cafeteria. I am so deep in thought I don't even notice her call the doctor. The doctor comes in in a rush. He sets his bag down next to me and continues to ask what's wrong.

"Nothing is wrong," I continue to assure him.

He doesn't take no for an answer so he continues to check me out until he is certain I am not going to drop dead.

"What was that for?" I ask Lorelei.

"You weren't answering me. You were just staring into space. You weren't reacting to anything so I did what I thought would be best. Better safe than sorry," She whispered.

I wrap my arms around her. It's not her fault. None of her problems are her fault. She feels the weight of the 1,986 people in her colony. She is handling it way better than any 15 year old I have ever even thought possible.

"So if you were only extremely lost in thought, what were you thinking about?"

"Indio. He isn't normal is he?" I ask. 

She seems startled by my question.

"What. No, of course he's normal," She sputtered.

She didn't understand what I meant.

"That's not what I meant. I mean does he seem different. When you were around him, did you feel different?" I ask.

She doesn't seem to understand what I am saying.

"Like when I'm with you I feel warm. Happy. Content. But with him it seems alien. Not natural." I say.

I must sound like an idiot trying to explain but I try anyway. She seems to consider what I am saying.

"He's a Nomad. He moves around a lot. Maybe that's why he seems different to you," She explains.

I consider this for a moment. He's a Nomad and that is why I haven't seen him before. I didn't know our colony had some separatists.

"Maybe," I say.

"Elijah, what do you think he is?" Lorelei laughed.

"I don't know." I say.

"Do think he's an alien?" She teases.

"It's possible," I say.

She giggles.

"Lorelei, we live in a solar system with a habitable planet light years away from Sol Earth and you still don't think aliens exist," I try to sound serious but I can't help but laugh. Lorelei laughs and it is a beautiful sound.

"Thanks. I needed this," She says.

"Sure. What am I giving you?" I ask.

I give her a crooked smile.

"You are making my life not so depressing," She says.

"My pleasure, My lady," I smile.

"You are a smooth talker," She laughs.

"Ouch," I say.

"Not apologizing," She laughs.

"Make it up to me?" I ask.

She laughs.

"Of course I will," She smiles.

She kisses my nose in a sweet gesture.

"All better?" She asked.

I laugh and nod my head.