*
The room they entered was much larger than the study, and filled with light courtesy of two large windows. The large, sturdy bed in the centre of the room looked well worn, and Barsch reasoned that they had just entered the main bedroom. At one end of the room lay a small military cot, which, judging by the covers apparently thrown off in haste, had been recently slept in. A small dresser occupied a space across from the bed, and Barsch could see several dirty shirts inside.
On one wall, a poster had been put up, which read, “COME AND FIGHT FOR GLORY AND HONOUR! JOIN THE ARMY AND PROTECT YOUR COUNTRY FROM THE GREEDY FOREIGNERS! ENLIST TODAY!!!” Above the words, they had placed a picture of a handsome soldier surrounded by a cheering crowd. Below the poster, several medals and insignias had been placed in a framed box. In the centre of the box, framed by the medals, was a small knife, with a gleaming blade and polished ebony-wood handle.
There was a faded note beneath the box which looked like it had been carefully preserved. Curiosity overcoming common sense, Barsch moved forward and tried to see what was written there. He could only see the final line, but it was more than enough. With a blocky yet elegant script, it read, “...birthday, I hope you find a good use for this. Hopefully, you will be able to save a life with this blade, just as I did. Love, Dad.”
“Heh heh, wasn’t really expecting company you see. I would have tidied up a bit, but I guess I just forgot how to do that, over the years,” he appeared to notice Barsch’s glance at the poster, and hastily said, “Don’t mind that old thing, it’s just... it’s just something that I received a long time ago, from a dear friend.”
The girl was lying in the large bed in the centre of the room, looking like a corpse, save for her ever so feeble breath which periodically escaped from her pale lips. Even seeing her in the light, Barsch could tell that she was beyond beautiful. With her lightly-toned skin and ivory-white hair, she could have been a doll. But those eyes, those ethereal, unnatural eyes, could only belong to something living… something so tragically mortal.
“She’s been like this the whole time, occasionally she mumbles something under her breath, but it’s too faint to make out” said Kingston.
“Is there any way to wake her? Like you did for me?” Barsch asked, looking at the sleeping beauty before him.
“I didn’t do anything for you except wait, m’boy, and I suggest we do the same for her. As long as her vitals are stable, and her condition doesn’t decline, then there’s no real risk. All we can do is hope she wakes up soon…”
Barsch could see the wisdom in Kingston’s words, but at the same time, a small part of him wanted to shout at the old hermit. Instead of waiting, they should try everything they could think of! But, if they harmed her by accident… if she never awoke because of something he did… Barsch already carried too much guilt to take on more, so he kept quiet, and trusted in Kingston’s experience.
“Then, in the meantime, I think I need to return to Genesis Station 13 and try to find a way inside. If I do, I’ll return here and, well, maybe we could find some spare pods for the two of you… You wouldn’t have to be alone anymore, and I’m sure that when we wake up someone will know how to help her…”
Kingston’s face fell into sadness at Barsch’s words, but the old man tried to cover it up with a cough. It was clear to Barsch that he would not leave this place, even if it meant losing the first visitor and companion he had had in forty years.
“Well, that sounds good and all, but your return trip will have to wait. I take it that you saw the clouds building outside?”
Barsch nodded, remembering the green-hued clouds covering most of the morning sky. “Those are acidic right? If it rains, it might cause some rust to form, and it could irritate the skin, but if I cover up properly, I don’t really see it as a problem. And besides, acid rainfalls never last more than a few hours, everyone knows that.”
Kingston gave a low guffaw at Barsch’s explanation, before gently taking his arm and leading him to the window. It had been less than an hour since Barsch last checked, but the cloud had already doubled in size. From deep within it, Barsch could already hear the tell-tale rumblings of thunder, and it looked like it might break at any moment, sending gallons of acidic water raining down upon them.
“In your times, acid rain was more of a nuisance than a threat, but times have changed m’boy. Nowadays, it can rain for days, and the acid is strong enough to burn the skin to the bone. And judging by the size of that cloud, we’re in for a hell of a storm. If luck is on our side, the rain will stop in about two days. If it isn’t, then we could be here for a while.”
“Days? Just how bad have things gotten? I thought the planet was supposed to heal while we slept, not worsen...”
Outwardly he said, “Okay, I get it, I’m not going anywhere. But… is there anything we can do in the meantime?”
Kingston nodded, and, after closing the windows and the shutters, led Barsch from the room. “First, we need to make sure everything is airtight, and that the plants have been covered up. Then, we have to secure all of the windows and check we have enough food to weather the storm. After that… well, we could play chess, or checkers, or read books…”
“Yeah, that sounds… great.” said Barsch, with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. Reflecting on how much worse things could be, he even managed to smile as he said it. Given that he had just spent two decades frozen in a tiny pod, and then two days fast asleep, a few days of relaxation with Kingston for company seemed heavenly by comparison. Following Kingston, Barsch set to work preparing the small cottage for the incoming storm, safe in the knowledge that eventually it would pass, and he could return to where he belonged…
At the same time, just inside the bedroom, the nameless girl began to murmur, “Phase One complete, starting Phase Two…”
Awakening Page 11