Orpheus

6

It took the crew the rest of the Earth day to get the artificial gravity and the Resilience up to speed. It had been tedious work: after unloading all her equipment Riley had helped Elise unload the others' as well. But then again, everything happens for good, she reasoned; the hard work made the noodles she was slurping all the more delicious.

They were in Sector 11; the dining area of sorts. It was a large, spacious room, with large food counters on one side and a set of tables smack in the middle. A food storage of sorts was located next to the entrance of the onboard cultivation area in Sector 12.

"Alright boys," Pratham said approaching the dining table with a plate of what appeared to be pasta, "Ya ready to live the last leg of your lives with the rest of us?"

"I think you got a bit confused foreign exchange:" Owen spoke. "I'm the funny guy here. You're the dumb guy." He looked around the table, a grin plastered on his face.

"Dude, you have pineapple on your pizza." Pratham retorted as he sat down. "I think you qualify as the dumbest person on-board."

Riley had to admit, that was funny. Not as funny as the glare Owen was giving Pratham.

"Hey! Pineapples belong on pizzas. Ask Elise: she's Italian."

"Racist much?" Elise commented, auburn strands of hair touching her shoulder. That prompted some chuckles from most of them, including Owen.

Riley noticed Olivia wasn't touching her food. "Ol', wassup?"

"Nothing unexpected I suppose..." Olivia replied, though Riley couldn't help but notice she looked a lot more queasy than usual. "What's our trajectory, Connor?"

"Right now we're going to orbit the Earth for a few days," Connor replied taking a bite off of his chicken "gain some speed, and then use that to slingshot our way to Mars. It's going to take us approximately 150-300 days to get there."

"Three hundred..." Olivia mumbled. "So we at least have three hundred days to live"

Riley's stomach suddenly got hit by a wave of cold. She forgot that they could easily die going through the wormhole.

"Way to suck the joy outta the room Ol' " Owen muttered as he chewed on his pizza.

"Hey," Pratham spoke in defense. "Anything could go wrong while passing through the wormhole."

"So the best plan to save humanity could end before it even begins." Elise's sarcasm was wry. "Cool".

"Cut the sarcasm Elise!" Pratham snapped. "Doesn't the thought of not feeling the ground, not breathing natural air discomfort you?"

"Last time I checked, we breathed dust."

"Alright guys," Riley interrupted "Let's not fight now shall we?"

"Riley's right." Connor joined, an air command in his words "We have a mission; The human race sits on our shoulders. Earth is lost, it's time we come to terms with it. We had a good run; four billion years, but we have nothing else left there besides our demons."

"Our demons never leave us; you of all people should know that" Olivia interjected.

Connor glared at her, before suddenly getting up. "Well then. Changing those solar panels made me tired; I'm off to bed." Those were the last things Connor said before he left the table; his half-eaten plate of food stared back at the rest of them.

'Something's up.' Riley thought.

The rest of the dinner was quiet after that. Pratham and Olivia went to do a last recheck on supplies in Sector 1, while Owen went off to the gym, which left Riley walking alone to the rooms located in Sector 9. As she closed the opening of her room, she began thinking of Connor: what could have triggered him? He seemed so calm and in control. Then again, Riley knew she shouldn't judge somebody by their behavior; they change depending on the situation and the people. She herself did too often.

Moments later, Riley had put on her earbuds as she tossed around her bunk, trying to sleep. Yet the song humming in her ears only echoed what she was feeling:

"... For here
Am I sitting in a tin can,
Far above the world.
Planet Earth is blue,
And there's nothing I can do..."