Lucas's P.O.V
“Have you found any damage?” Avera asked, peering out the windscreen. “No, the antennas are fine. Not a scratch on anything.” Responded Scott.
“And the heatshield?” I asked, peering out the windscreen as well. “No damage.” Said Michael, “still looks new.”
Avera sighed, “Well come back in then. Not much need to have you guys out there.” She said into her mic. “Give me a minute, I want to get a look at this view…” Michael responds.
“Be quick.” Avera said before glancing out the window again. “Yeah.. The view is stunning though.” Replied Scott, “But the continents look kinda funny.”
“What do you mean they look funny?” Garrett asked, “Looks like a bunch of land from in here.”
“No I mean that it just looks off, ya know?” Scott said, “It's like I can almost recognize it.”
Avera looked impatient, “Just get back to the airlock.” She said, “We can figure the view out later.”
“Yeah Scott we can figure-” Michael said, stopping himself mid sentence. “Uh, what's that?”
“What's what?” I asked. “A bunch of small shiny things in the distance.” Replied Michael. “Those are called stars,” Garrett retorted, “Space is full of them.”
“But they are getting bigger…” He said, “Uh Scott we gotta go, right now.”
“Huh? What are you- Oh shit!” Scott said, barely masking his horrified tone. “Space debris!”
“What?” Avera said, “You can't be serious?”
Before anything else could be said, the pings of metal ripping through metal shrieked through the cabin. Vita looked around concerned,“Uhm-”
“Get your helmets on!” Avera practically yelled. I reached over for my helmet, and by the time it was pulled to my chest, something large struck the ship.
Something big hit us, the ship was flung into a violent spin. The helmet escaped my grasp, getting flung out of sight in the process.
The ship continued to get peppered by bits of who knows what. Parts of the windshield looked as if it was about to give out while it got obliterated by pieces of debris. As this happened, the sides of the cockpit began to deform around me. Cracks I could have sworn, developed me on all sides.
With a violent pop, the once familiar panels of buttons and switches were now replaced by the dark ink of space.
In a silent, slow motion, I was ripped from my seat, air sucked from my lungs and all. I clawed at my lack of surroundings, but all it did was spit me further from the ship. I couldn't breathe…
I spun around wildly as I got farther and farther, the ship, the planet, the black void of space, all merging in a streaky line. I choked as things dimmed. Darker, darker, air, air!
I shot up on the sofa, gasping for the oxygen I so desperately needed… It was pitch black in the room. The only noise was the distance whooshing of the wind.
I was… fine. I could breathe, and I wasn't floating into space. No, I was just sleeping on the couch.
It was a dream, wasn't it… Still here on Aure- Earth. On Earth. I frantically turned my head, gosh it must be the middle of the night.
“You alright?” Somebody asked dryly. “What?” I said, still out of breath. A lamp turned on in the corner of the room, making me flinch. I could at least see my surroundings now.
It was Vita, who was awkwardly curled up on the adjacent sofa-bed. She could barely fit on it given her size. Winter showed us how to turn the couch into a bed by unfolding a hidden mattress, but even then Vita still had to curl up to fit. Unfortunately the couch I was on didn't have the pop-out bed. Kinda sucks.
I rubbed my hand across my visor, “Just had a nightmare, that's all.” I said, “got sucked out of the EX-5.”
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“Oh,” she said, “that doesn't sound very pleasant. “It really isn't, don't even know if I'll be getting back to sleep now.” I said, resting my head back onto a pillow.
Vita sat up with her hands clasped, “I can stay up if you would like. I once had a nightmare when I was little, hated the silence of being awake after it.”
“Ah, thank you Vita, but you don't have to.” I said quietly.
“Nah, it's fine.” She said, “And hey, if you have anything on your mind, feel free to say so. I haven't really had much to talk about in the last few weeks anyway.”
“Well,” I thought. What have I been thinking about? Being stuck here? How will we leave this place? Will we leave?
It was hard to think of 1 thing. There were multiple things to be mulling over. Heck, Winter and Oscar are doing all they can and it isn't affecting much…
Okay, maybe not entirely for Winter. She was giving us free housing and food… plus she was really nice. Talking with her was lots of fun.
“Are you still there?” Vita asked, chuckling.
“Wha- oh, yes. Thinking about winter, I guess.” I said, “The aliens here are cool.”
“I like her, I'd say.” replied Vita, “We’d be in quite the pickle if it wasn't for her being as kind as she is.”
I smiled, “I agree, and she loves space which is a plus.” I said.
She nodded, “I'll leave you to those thoughts. I also do have a general question to ask you.” she said, looking at me.
“Ask away,” I said, turning over to see her. “Do you really think we'll return home?” She asked, focusing on me for a response. I sighed, “I can't give you a concrete answer.” I replied, “We have enough power in the hyperspace cell to, at the very least, jump back to Aureon. But I don't know how we would actually reach the jump stage.”
“Oh..” She said, sounding somewhat disappointed. “It's all what-ifs, but we can probably get a better idea about it in the morning.” I replied, “Probably a good idea to try getting back to sleep.”
I shuffled back around on the couch until I was comfortable. Now, The thoughts of being stuck on this planet permeated my mind. My nightmare felt irrelevant now.
The lamp switched off and I could hear Vita as she curled back up on her bed.
°°°
Everyone sat quietly at the dining room table enjoying their breakfast. Well, almost everyone. Kyle was too busy fiddling with one of the holographic collars to acknowledge the waffles that Conrad had made.
Conrad scowled at him, “Will you eat that? It took me forever to figure out how to make it in the first place.” He said. Winter glanced at him, “Took you forever? I was telling you every step!” She said with a slight laugh.
Avera was beside him, “Oh it's fine, Conny.” she said, putting her hand around his arm. He winced, “Please don't call me that…”
Kyle looked up, “Hah.” He said before going right back to what he had been doing.
“Hey I thought you finished setting up those holo-collars yesterday.” Garrett commented, “Is that one not working?”
Kyle handed him the collar, “This one is yours, actually. I was having trouble finding a model to project.”
“Did you find one?” Garrett asked, inspecting the collar.
“Yeah, a bird. It was called a Tunki or something like that.” Said Kyle as he moved his plate of waffles closer to himself. “You can try it on.”
“What about mine?” I asked, “I want to see what it looks like.”
“Yeah,” Kyle replied, “everyone else can try theirs on after breakfast.”
Garrett lifted and closed the collar around his neck before he switched it on. Similarly to what Vita's had done, an image slowly rendered around his head.
A funny looking bird head slowly took shape. Garrett's visor was now a small beak, topped by a comically large crest.
Winter nearly spat out her coffee when the hologram came into focus. “YOU PICKED THAT?” She said, laughing hysterically.
“What's wrong with it?” Kyle asked defensively, “Garrett is orange. Tunki is orange.”
“Yeah, but like,” Winter said, “you couldn't have picked a fox or something?” She asked.
“Oh. That would also work.” replied Kyle, “What do you think, Garrett?”
Garrett picked up a spoon and studied his reflection from it, “I like it actually.” He said, “I kinda like the mohawk.”
“I guess that settles that.” Winter said, “Can I see everyone else's?” She asked.
Michael nodded, “Sure, I'll get the rest of them.” He said before getting up from the table. He left and went towards his room and eventually came hobbling back with a handful of the collars.
He handed everyone their corresponding collar and we all put them on. Winter watched as everyone tapped the power button on the projectors.
1 by 1, Avera, Kyle, Michael and Conrad's heads began to fizzle into different shapes. I joined in and pressed the power button on my own collar. Vita was the last one to do it as we'd already seen her use it yesterday.
Winter's face lit up as she did her best to figure out who was supposed to be what. Avera seemed to be a parrot, which made Garrett look less funny, Kyle looked to be a Cat, Michael and Conrad were wolves, and when I checked my own reflection, I looked like some weird dog breed. Later, Winter would tell me I was a Weimaraner.
We all looked silly staring back at one another admiring the holograms. “Woah… you all look stunning.” Winter said, “You're a genius Michael.”
“And I did all the coding for it!” Kyle beamed enthusiastically. “Why yes you did!” replied Michael, who then grabbed Kyle.
Kyle yelped, “What are you-” he said before suddenly getting lifted high into the air. “Put me down!” He said, swatting his hands on Michael's.
Michael chuckled, “Okay.” He said as he set Kyle on his shoulders. “There you go.” Michael said, “Enjoy the view!”
Kyle was forced to grab Michael's horns through his hologram to avoid falling, making him laugh even more, “This isn't funny.” Kyle protested.
“Michael, be careful!” Vita said, “Your leg is still healing!” She scowled at him, “I'll be fine.” Michael said back to her.
Garrett watched the ordeal in amusement. “That looks like fun…” he said, turning over to Vita. “Can I get uppies? He asked her excitedly.
“no.”
Garrett frowned, “was worth a shot.” He said before switching off his hologram collar. Everyone followed the act and switched off theirs to save power.
After a couple minutes Kyle began to order Michael around, clearly enjoying the high vantage point. “To the kitchen!” He pointed, “onwards!”
Conrad and Avera went around the table and picked up all the plates and cups and followed Michael and Kyle to the kitchen.
“Well that was amusing,” Winter said, "I should probably get the mail. I'll be right back.” She made a small wave and left towards the living room.
Garrett sighed, “At least we can finally go outside now without much risk. I would love to get some more plant samples.”
“You guys want to help with that?” He asked. “Sure, but we should probably check in with Avera on anything else we have to do.” Vita replied.
“Eh, do whatever you want.” Garrett said, “Ima go find my boots.”
He mimicked the wave winter did and promptly left the dining room, leaving Vita and I as the only ones there.
As I started to formulate an excuse to leave the room myself, I heard the front door slam open. Winter came sprinting in, “SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT-”
Vita and I turned in surprise, “3 FUCKIN HUMVEES ARE COMING UP THE DRIVEWAY!”
“What are you talking about?” I asked her.
“THE MILITARY!” She cried, “THEY ARE HERE.” Vita looked unhappy at the news, “Handle it, then.” She said, “I'll get everyone else rounded up.”
I switched on my Holo-Collar, “I'll help, If they are here for us, I'll buy some time.” I said. Vita nodded, “Is the backdoor unlocked?”
“It's still broken from you guys, so yeah.” Replied winter, “Alright Lucas, come on.”
We both left the dining room. As we went past the living room sofas, a heavy knock rattled the door. “Coming!” Winter said nervously. She stopped at the door,resting her hand on the door handle. Slowly, she twisted it and pulled the door open.
End of chapter 19.
Author's note: This chapter was delayed because I ended up hurting my arm after I was yeeted off a bike lmao.
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