“Alright everyone, gather around!” Roger had also built a small table for the crew to eat at. “Remember, two berries each!” He handed the berries out in a pot, giving each person a pepper as well. “Now, before we eat, we must remember those who lost their lives for us to get here.” He bowed his head respectfully, followed by the others.
“We remember Seth. We remember Gus. We remember Julian…” He noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Turning to face the window, Roger noticed a bright purple flare launched up from the Earth. “Sonia!” He drew her attention to it. “Bertie! With me! Coms room now!” She rushed off with Bertie following behind her.
Bertie tested several frequencies, “This is Space Station Gemini calling Earth. We have seen your flare. Please respond. Over.” The familiar sound of static returned once again. He looked back at Sonia. “Keep trying,” She tapped him.
“Repeat, this is Space Station Gemini calling the Earth. Is there anyone receiving me? Over.” The static was oppressive. “Professor, it’s not worth it. Sure, there might’ve been a flare, but how do we know whoever launched it even has a radio with them?” He put the microphone back down again as Sonia stepped back, looking up at the monitors.
“Canada…” She noticed that one of the monitors revealed the station was currently passing over Canada. “I recognise the shape! See, just down there, that’s North America, and directly beneath is, it’s Canada!” She sounded excited, which confused Bertie.
“Bert, don’t you get it? When we spoke to Art, we were hovering over the other side of the world. That means there are people all across the globe! The world won’t end! So long as there’s people in MEDC countries, they can still rebuild!” She continued to watch as the Station passed over the country beneath.
“What are you saying, Prof? Are you suggesting that we should go back to Earth? After everything that’s happened?” Bertie clearly wasn’t willing to go back down now.
“No, not at all,” Sonia was quick to defend herself. “We wait. We bide our time up here. If we see a well-lit city, or an active area, or even a huge tyre fire, we go back down. We go where we know there’s civilisation. We can help rebuild. Those sacrifices won’t have been for nothing after all! They really would have bought us the necessary time!” Sonia had once again become the hopelessly optimistic one…
Ten weeks later
20th April 2026
Sonia had called for a meeting on-deck. “Thank you all for gathering here. I have two rather important things to tell you. Firstly, our emergency food stash is now only at half capacity. We have done well to preserve resources. This is mostly thanks to the plants which we have successfully grown up here,” She nodded to the plants growing their new food source.
“However, there is one large problem which we have overlooked all this time – Fuel… If we can’t keep the Gemini running, we will lose power. We’ll lose thrusters, the water generator will stop working, as will the ventilation system. The station will simply drift around in space. Now, there is a possibility we may drift back to Earth, and come crashing down back to our planet. Though there is also a chance that we may drift off in the opposite direction, and aimlessly float around in space…” Everyone appeared to be unnerved upon hearing this.
Wells raised his hand, “But we’ve got fuel. We’ve got enough fuel to last us for a long time. Don’t we have something like nine or ten barrels?” He couldn’t see the problem.
“We only have five, Wells. Over the past eight months we’ve used up four barrels, and Amanda wasted one of them. By my calculations, we can only power the station for, at most, another seven or eight months. We could just about make it to Christmas Day, or maybe even New Year if we’re lucky.” Sonia tried to give the rest of the crew the silver-lining to their seemingly hopeless situation.
“Just as everything was going right as well…” Byron sounded furious. “We were planning on surviving up here! On riding out whatever the heck happened back down there! Now we’re going to die, up here?”
Sonia looked at Bertie, their expressions revealed to everyone they were hiding something. She then turned back to the rest of the crew, “Bertie and I… We made contact with Earth, a couple of months ago… A man named Art. He revealed to us only 25% of the population is still alive. But given how it’s been two months since then, that figure has very likely decreased…”
Everyone looked at each other, confusingly. “Why didn’t you tell us this before?” Nadia spoke out. “We didn’t want to upset any of you… Because 25% is not a big number, at all… The chances of your loved ones still being alive are even less than that. I’m sorry.” She stepped back, and looked out the window – to admire the Earth once again.
“You’re sorry?” Rosie felt betrayed as well. “How could you hide something like that from us? Life is too short for secrets, Professor!” She broke away from Wells and stepped forward, “Our families were dying down there, and you didn’t even have the courtesy to inform us of what the survival rate was? Screw you!” She aggressively pointed at Sonia with a stiff finger, before marching out of the deck.
“Rosie! Wait…” Wells tried to stop her. “Thanks Sonia,” he sarcastically murmured to her before going after his new love.
“Anybody else?” Despite how bad Sonia felt for covering up the truth, she wasn’t prepared to face anymore of her friends turning against her. “Byron? Nadia? Roger? Anything more to add? How about you Kristina?” She confronted the crew, but no one said anything.
Below deck, Wells and Rosie had headed towards the escape pod. “Come on, come on!” Wells tried everything to open it. “Dammit!” He slammed his fists against the panel. “Byron must’ve entered the override code… Only he can access it,” he informed Rosie. “Well… What do we do?” She asked him in a kafuffle.
Chapter 7: Final Hours
Eight Months Later
25th December 2026
“Alright, so I made a promise to you all several months ago,” Sonia reported down her earpiece as she headed to the deck. “I promised you all that a certain luxury would remain unconsumed until this day…” She deactivated her earpiece as she returned to the deck.
“This!” She produced a large silver packet and planted it on the table. “It’s… A bag?” Roger examined it. “Not just any bag – It’s rotisserie bag. Who wants to do the honours? Anybody?” She looked at each member of the crew, though they all seemed to be confused.
“Alright, fine. Guess I’ll do it myself,” She pulled up a pair of scissors, cutting the bag open. She pulled out the contents inside and placed the object on the table – it was a cold roast chicken. Everyone’s faces lit up.
“Finally! And there I was thinking our last meal was going to be bloody vegetables!” Wells jokingly remarked.
“Remember everyone, sharing is caring! The Earth may be dead, but the morals and principles created down there live on through us, and through the poor souls trapped and surviving on the desolate world down there.” She pointed out the window, towards Earth. “So, tuck in! But be kind, to one another. We’ve used up all our fuel barrels now. These may very well be our final hours. Let’s go out on a positive note, together.” She warmly smiled, but everyone was busy ripping parts out of the roast to notice or acknowledge what she was saying, “Huh, enjoy…”
She found herself lying down on her bed again. Looking out across the Earth. She recognised her home country beneath the station – Australia. “I just want to go home…” she mumbled to herself, wiping a tear away from her face. She sat upright, holding herself.
“I never wanted this… I never wanted any, of this. I should be with my sister right now. I should be with my family. I shouldn’t be up here! Six months, they told us. Yet we’ve been up here for fifteen! Over an entire year that is! I can’t take it anymore!” She threw the photo frame on her bedside at the window – Only seconds later did she realise how important that object was to her.
Running over to the window, she picked the frame up again
. The glass had shattered, shards all over the floor. She slipped the photo inside out from under the broken glass.
“Alison…” She brushed the photo with her hand, longing to return to her sister. “I’m so sorry,” she placed the photo against her heart as she broke down into a fluster of tears.
In contrast to Sonia, everyone on-deck was enjoying themselves digging in to what they believed would be their last meal. “So, that’s when I told him, I didn’t actually have any medical experience at all!” Wells was telling a joke, which made everyone around the table laugh – except for Kristina.
“Kris? You alright?” Wells noticed something was up with her. “No… No, not really,” She looked at everyone’s jovial expressions, which confused her. “How can you all be so happy and upbeat? Everyone down there is dead!” She reminded them all of the bitter truth. “Not to mention, we ourselves are all about to die… And I don’t care about bravery, I’m not afraid to admit I’m scared to die! I don’t want to die! But I know I have to… And I know I’m about to… We’ve lived up here for over a year now. Aren’t you all tired of living yet?” She stood up, pacing around the table, slightly concerning everyone.
“Do you even remember the first sacrifice? Seth? Hmm? Don’t any of you remember him? Because I’ve thought about him every single day since his death…”
Wells stood up in front of Kristina, “Kris, we all think about him… We all miss him. But he did what he had to do. Like Roger said, it’s how we must survive…” The only response Wells received was a laugh from Kristina. “Seriously? Because, I remember, when he said that the first time, you called him out for bullshitting! What’s changed, Wells? Why don’t you hate his guts anymore?” He didn’t say anything, but swallowed hard, with a reddening face.
“Oh… that’s right!” Kristina continued, “Rosie came along! I must say, I’m happy for you two. I really am! Damn, Wells. She must really mean a lot to you if she made you no longer hate Roger!” She turned to face Roger, who looked guilty. “Yeah that’s right… You had better have a look of guilt on your face! Poor Seth. I mean, imagine if his family are still alive down there? You know what, I hope you do get back to Earth Rog’, just so that you have to explain yourself to them! Sure, it’s unlikely that they’re alive, but it would be all kinds of funny if they were!” She clearly wasn’t taking the situation seriously anymore.
“Anyway, I side-track... Where was I? Oh yes, the next victim of that wretched lever: Augustus! Poor Gus. He had it rough! I mean, he was stabbed, betrayed, and thrown in to the air lock all in the exact same moment! His last words were literally the name of his attacker! But one more sacrifice wasn’t enough for you Roger, was it? No, you had to dispose of Julian as well!” She turned back to face Wells, “And you forgave him for that? Wells, you were as close to Julian as I was! How could you possibly just forgive and forget like that? Oh, right… Rosie? Yeah? Am I beating around the bush or am I dead on it?” She continued to taunt him.
“Putting Gus aside… We then had another one who went out on a rough note: Neil! Oh, that poor, poor guy. He was stabbed and then bled to death whilst covered in fuel! But to top it all off, he faced death by Roger’s hand as well! What a way to go… I didn’t speak to him all that much, but I wish I had of. He seemed quite, well… banterous, I think is the best way to describe him. Or, second best way at least. Of course, the best way to describe him now is dead! Thanks to you!” She went back to taunting Roger instead.
“Alright Kris, that’s enough!” Byron was fed up. “Oh! Byron! I love your accent, but that’s about it. England seriously couldn’t have picked a duller person to send up even if they tried! It really should’ve been you who went out that air lock first, not Seth.” He clenched his fists, but then released them again – He knew Kristina didn’t really feel this way, and that she was just angry.
“Anyway… I’m nearly down now! Here we get to a point in which I agree… Amanda! That bitch kind of deserved to die! Hey, Byron, if you die as well, this Station might actually be worth dying on! Na, I’m just kidding. I can’t be bothered to wait for death anymore… Besides, I more or less hate all of you. So, may the stars – bla-bla-bla, whatever Roger says all the time.” With those words, she looked around the table one last time, before leaving the deck.
“Ok? What was that about?” Nadia asked. “Isn’t it obvious?” Wells passive-aggressively responded, “She’s giving up her life. At least that’s what I can deduct from what she was saying.”
“Wait…” Roger’s eyes slowly widened as he came to a realisation. “If she’s going out of the air lock, how is she going to close the door behind her?” Everyone squinted their eyes at Roger, curious about what he was trying to say.
“Think about it: She isn’t going to close that door! She’s going to open and we are all going to be sucked out!” Now, everyone’s eyes were widening. “Ain’t anyone gonna stop her?” Nadia and Byron both looked distressed.
“She made a good point…” Roger didn’t look panicked anymore. “What’s the point in living up here when we’re just gonna die anyway? We don’t have enough fuel to survive.”
Byron and Nadia looked at each other, both equally bewildered. “If you want to die, that’s fine… But some of us don’t. So we’re not all going to die just because you want to. In fact, why don’t you go in the air lock with her in that case?”
Roger threw his hands – Something which the others did not expect. “It’s only fitting, right? The fact that I was the first one to throw people out of that air lock. I should also be one of the ones who goes out of it as well. Fine by me.” He left the table, and headed out of the deck.
Byron and Nadia looked at each other, “What do we do?” She asked him. “Only one thing for it… We give him his wish. Two pricks out the air lock, two problems solved, I say.” Byron then too left the table, planning to operate the control panel.
Nadia looked to Wells and Rosie, “Don’t just sit there Adam and Eve! Go and stall him!” It took them several seconds to jump up, and chase after Byron. Nadia then activated her earpiece.
“Sonia! Listen to me, I need you at the air lock right now! This cannot wait!” Nadia transmitted, but Sonia ignored her. “Sonia? You there?” Nadia persisted, but Sonia merely took her earpiece off, throwing it across the room. She continued looking out the window, watching Australia beadily.
“Kristina and Roger,” Byron began as he shut the air lock door with them inside. “It’s a ‘pity’ that you both have to go… But your decision is respected given the circumstances…”
Kristina rolled her eyes at him, “Just get it over with already!” Despite how fearful she was of dying, it also appeared she was eager for it to come for her.
“Very well… May the stars take care of you. Safe flight, our acquaintances.” Byron placed his hand firmly on the red lever…
Chapter 8: Space Dementia
“Stop!” Nadia grabbed Byron and threw him away from the control panel. “Are you out of your mind, Byron? They don’t actually want to die! They’re just upset! You’re killing them for misplaced emotions?”
He shrugged, “Does it really matter anymore, Nadia?” He too appeared to have lost hope. “We are literally living in a post-apocalyptic universe now… On board a bloody space station of all things! That’s what you’d expect to see in some Science-Fiction novel!” He also seemed to believe their situation was unrealistic. “We’re all gonna die up here anyway. Those who want to do it sooner rather than later might as well be granted their wish…”
As he tried to move back over to the control panel, Nadia stood in his way, “Byron please, don’t… Just think about this. We still have that escape pod remember!” He laughed her suggestion away, “The heck can we do with that? Return to Earth? You think life down there is any better than it is up here? In another life, you should really be a stand-up comedian, Nadia.” He tried once again to bypass her, but she completely blocked his access to the lever.
“For what it’s wo
rth, I think Nadia is right…” Wells added to the conversation, as Rosie nodded with him in agreement. “Look at them,” Wells nodded to Kristina and Roger inside who were both slouched up against the wall – not caring about anything. “Just let them go, Byron. We’re like family now. We don’t kill each other – at least not anymore anyway.”
Byron looked at all three of his comrades, noticing they were a united front. “Alright… fine,” Byron threw his hands up and headed out into the corridor. Nadia opened the air lock door, “Wells, Rosie, help me get them to the medical bay.”
Sonia continued to admire the Earth beneath even now. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” A familiar Australian accent called to her from behind. Confused, Sonia turned around, “Alison?” She received the shock of her life upon seeing her ‘sister’ behind her.
“Hello Son’. Did you miss me?” She joined her sister at the window as they admired the Earth below them together. “Australia… What a beauty. Even prettier from up here, don’t you think?” ‘Alison’ tried to make conversation with Sonia, but she was partially confused by her sister’s appearance, yet partially also knew she was just a hallucination.
“Remember when we were just kids?” The hallucination of Alison continued anyway, “Remember running through the streets of Sydney? Oh… and how you almost got hit by a cyclist?” She laughed, but Sonia still appeared to be solemn and contempt.
“Lighten up a bit, sis. Please? For me? Come on… What isn’t there to love about your new lifestyle? Think about it, you’ve got fresh vegetables up here for one. You’ve got a new family even. You don’t need me,” Alison fully turned to face her sister, gesturing towards the broken photo frame on the floor, “Looks like you really do miss me after all…”
Sonia began to cry. “Alison… You have no idea… I love you so much, I miss you so much.” Her sister warmly smiled at her, “Hey, it’s ok sis, don’t cry,” She sympathized with her. “Everything’s going to be ok, I promise. You know why? Because I’m here now. Never has there ever been a single problem that you can’t solve with me by your side. We’ve been two little geniuses since we were just twelve. Remember that? The two highest scoring students in the year group – that was us!”
Human Nature (Book 2): Human Nature II Page 4