The Edge

Matteo: Part One

"We're going to have to split up when we land," Helen said.

Matteo hummed in agreement. He was glad they had decided to help Roland and his family—it was the right thing, and it made Tola feel better besides—but he couldn't deny that it had delayed their search. Still worth it, kinda stressful though. "Arian said this planet is a little rough," he said, "but not as rough as the last place. So if the hospital isn't absolute trash, we probably won't have to worry about security for whoever goes there. I'd still be worried about the search group, though, so..."

"Gideon should go with them, right," Helen finished. "Might be hard to get him away from Tola, though."

"I'll go with Tola. He trusts me to keep her out of trouble." It would probably still take some convincing, but as protective as Gideon was of his little sister, he was also logical and strategic. He'd come around. "Where will you be starting with the search?"

"Wherever looks shadiest. That's worked for us so far." Helen rubbed her eyes and sighed quietly. "What the hell has she been thinking?"

"You mean Cass? She probably hasn't been. No offense, but you know how she can get when she has a thought in her head." Helen and Cassandra were the stereotype in that regard; not good twin, evil twin, but definitely lawful twin, chaotic twin. "And she was probably sure she was doing the right thing...and, to be fair, she kinda did?"

"She stole a ship, Matt."

"True, but it was for a good cause. Besides, we're technically smuggling a sick kid off-planet."

Helen paused, as if trying to think of a rebuttal. "...is it really smuggling if the cops know and look the other way?"

Matteo snorted quietly. Maybe chaotic twin, mostly lawful twin was more accurate. "Technically, legally, I think it's still smuggling, but y'know what? We're not going back there ever. What are they going to do?" He definitely wasn't going back. That place had been miserable. "What did you make of what Tola said about the thing in the mines? I still don't know..."

Helen thought about it. "I'd have an easier time believing it if I'd seen it myself, but she's not the kind of person who makes stuff up. Either she's right and she saw something, or Arian's right and she hallucinated. I don't like either option."

"Agreed. Add that to the list of reasons to never go back."

Matteo hesitated. His gift--the ability to feel into the future and guess at things to come--didn't extend past the immediate future. This was the norm for guys like him; the most popular theory was that trying to "see" further than a minute would involve too many potential futures. The complexity of the flow of time could cause a break from reality if viewed in its entirety. That meant any gut feelings or weird vibes that the nightmare of New Frontier was just a warning of things to come was anxiety. Not a premonition. Not a certainty.

He hoped it was anxiety, ayway.

"I'm gonna check on the others," Matteo said suddenly. His back protested as he stood. Damn, how long had he been sitting? Probably slouching, too. He knew it wasn't good for him, but much like staying up too late and remembering to drink water, it was one of those health things that slipped his mind until he was feeling the side effects. "Do you need anything while I'm up?"

"No, but thanks. Just make sure everyone is settled in and not going crazy."

Settled in, probably. Not going crazy? That one he couldn't promise. They had been on this ship together for long periods before, but there was a difference between getting along and getting along while in close proximity to each other. They were out of practice with the latter. He was a little shocked no arguments had broken out, especially not between Arian and Gideon. They were the most opposing personalities of the bunch, and while Arian usually only dished out what he thought his siblings could handle, Gideon was the only one left with an unpredictable threshold for annoyance and a strong response to being provoked.

Then again, considering what he'd been through...

Matteo shook the thought off and kept walking. He didn't like to dwell on it too long; not just for his own sanity, but because it felt pointless and intrusive. That was then, this was now.

No sense in tying his brother too tightly to his past.

Luca was playing video games with Arian and Adoette; Tola and Gideon were holed up with their guests in one of the only spare spaces available. Their ship was big, but not big enough for guest rooms. Best they could do was put some air mattresses down in the living room. Matteo waved Tola over to talk. "How's he holding up?" he asked once they got to him.

"Still sleeping, mostly. His fever hasn't gotten any worse, so I think the medicine is helping." Tola still sounded stressed, but less so than she had on the planet. She'd probably stay stressed until she knew for sure poor Roland was okay—or, at least, in hands that could help him more than she could. "How much further?"

"We should be there by tonight standard time. No idea what that will mean for local time." That was one of the rougher parts of space travel. They could stick to standardized time and follow the day/night light cycle of the ship while they were travelling, but that flew right out the window once they reached a planet. "That doesn't stop us from getting him to an ER, though. I don't think I've ever seen one that isn't open 24/7." Matteo glanced over at the family. Edward had fallen asleep in his chair; Carrie was barely awake in one of the other air mattresses, watching her son with half-closed eyes. The brother, Nathan, was sitting in a corner, probably still in time-out after leading Tola to those mines.

Speaking of... "How are youholding up?" Matteo added.

"I'm okay."

"You sure?"

"I'm...better now. Still a bit shaky. I was really worried we wouldn't be able to help him."

"It wouldn't have been your fault. You know that, right?"

"...logically, I know it wouldn't have been."

Matteo sighed and gave her a quick, one-armed hug. "Yeah, I get what you mean." He felt the same way about Cassandra. Hell, for all he knew, Tola was just redirecting her emotions about Cassandra onto Roland. Probably not the healthiest thing in the world, but it was better than bottling it up, he guessed. "I'm going back to the cockpit." He paused to wave to Gideon, who was still sitting in his chair with a mug of what was probably straight coffee (or it was water and they needed to do the dishes again). Gideon lifted his mug in response. "You guys call if you need anything, okay?"

"I will. Love you, Matt."

"Love you too, T." He gave her another quick hug and a kiss on the top of her head before leaving. He would've stuck around longer, but he knew Helen hadn't been sleeping well. He didn't want the sleep-deprived person watching the ship alone.

Then again, they were probably all sleep deprived by that point.

Hopefully they wouldn't be too tired by the time they arrived. There was a lot to do and only so much time to do it. Matteo thought about doubling back around to try and hammer out a plan for real, but...he thought back to the looks on everyone's faces. How worn down they all seemed. Especially Luca. He had that I'm about to start screaming and this video game is the only thing keeping me sane look. Everyone had something on their minds, some of them beyond just Cassandra's disappearance, and when he weighed the pros and cons of dragging everyone out of their protective bubbles.

No, not worth it. He and Helen could figure something out and trust that everyone would roll with it. Better a bit of controlled chaos when they landed then forcing everyone out of rest mode and back into crisis mode.

They were pretty good at controlled chaos by now, at least. They had that going for them.

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(Author's Note: This story was cross-posted from singlequantumevent.com. If you'd like to see more stories like this one, including ongoing stories and ones that haven't been posted to WattPad yet, check out the site! )