Princess of the Stars

4 - Decisions

"Terra," Sam called as she entered the courtyard. She walked over to him, admiring the open and airy feel to the outdoor space. It felt almost like being in a garden back on Earth, almost like being home again.

"You look nice," he said as she approached.

"Thanks, it was the only thing in my closet."

"Same here." He gestured to his tuxedo with a chuckle. "Since we have a minute before this thing starts, I wanted to chat with you about the upcoming week."

"What about it?" Terra could feel the anxiety in her stomach riling up again.

"I told you that you don't have to make this call alone. You've got all of us, so I was thinking about how ridiculous deciding the fate of a mission like that in an Earth week is. You barely have time to familiarize yourself with the equipment here in that time. How are you supposed to figure out a way to recreate your technology with so little time?"

"That's what I was worried about." She tugged on her necklace. "I kind of counted this attempt at the mission as a failure and realized that the only way is to go home and begin again."

"That's nuts though." Sam ran his fingers through his hair, his face beginning to take on a red glow.

"It is, but what can we do?"

"We can tell them we need longer to make a decision like that."

"They need us off their base. Right now, just the upper leadership is taking up an entire residence hall. It's overcrowded."

"That may be, but the lower ranking folks can help out on the base in the meantime, and we can send home the people who want to go back. That will free up some space."

"But how much space?"

"Enough, I'm sure. They'll be glad of a few extra hands, and they've got plenty of empty space here in the residence sector. It looks like they're planning on building another courtyard inside a ring of buildings on the other side, just like this one."

"It wouldn't hurt to ask, I suppose."

"Ask, or demand?"

"Let's just start with ask. If they say no, then we can hit them with a hammer."

As they talked, the others filed in, including some of the lower ranking crew. While each was provided with mourning clothes, the quality obviously corresponded with rank. Terra hid to the side with Sam, embarrassed of the fancy silk she wore while the others wore simple frocks and button-downs. She watched, as she always did, while Sam tried to cheer her up, but the weight of her position pulled on her. She looked instead to the courtyard garden around her.

Water spilled from high-up receptacles in between trellises covered in deep green ivy. Life, represented in the flowing water and the presence of nature in the courtyard, was an interesting choice to pair with a memorial service.

They were celebrating the lives of these lost crew members. Perhaps some would be found. Along the outer edges of the blue- and grey-tiled circle, images of the memorialized crew shone in the air, the water flowing behind it. People gathered in groups, and loved ones looked to their lost ones' faces as they held back the tears the waterfalls seemed to encourage. Terra wiped a single tear from her eye as she watched the scene, but she refused to participate. Over on the far end, she could see Celeste's glowing eyes, ever-hopeful, staring at her. They brought her back to a conversation they shared on the ship.