Orpheus

31

"Why wasn't I woken up earlier?" Riley asked Olivia as she wiped herself with a towel; the effects of waking up from cryo were significantly downplayed by her mind. "I thought I was supposed to wake at least another time in between?"

"Owen; he insisted that you needed the rest."

Owen; his name forced her memories to flash images from the past few weeks; Riley felt a flurry of emotions wash over her.

"Did he... say why?" she asked, trying to stay as calm as possible.

"No. All he told us clearly was that you needed the alone time." Olivia replied while giving a puzzling look. Riley didn't bother to explain; she was too busy trying to keep her emotions hidden.

'Why did he have to tell them to that?!!'

'Maybe he was caring for you...'

'Maybe, but it makes me look like a distressed damsel; I can make my own decisions. And I'm tired of being treated like a delicate flower!'

'Maybe it's because you are one...'

Riley shook her head in disapproving denial; Olivia seemed to have noticed it.

"You have to see this though." Olivia continued, trying to change the topic. "I think it looks beautiful."

She skipped on ahead towards the windows, leaving Riley to slowly get up and totter after her; She though Olivia almost looked like an innocent teen, doing that. Once she did reach the window however, she understood why Olivia was skipping.

"Whoa"

In front of her looming in the distance, was it: the wormhole. It was small, next to Mars, yet it made itself a point to stand out; a spherical kaleidoscope of stars and lights against an inky backdrop. A haze of particles seemed to encompass it, veiling it; gravity tearing apart the atmosphere of Mars. Riley thought it almost looked like the wormhole was drinking from the planet.

'Don't be absurd... It's just martian air.'

"Terrifying, how sometimes the most dangerous things are the most beautiful." Olivia commented, her gaze still fixated ahead.

"Terrifying?" Riley turned towards her.

"The gravity; its already shred up both of the moons."

'Phobos and Deimos... Greek gods of fear and dread. That's what the haze must be; residues.'

A more morbid metaphor struck Riley: 'Or corpses; corpses of fear and dread.'

Riley stared ahead for a while, watching the steady stream of brown get whipped up from Mars, its tail merging with the giant cloud. They were too far to tell clearly, but Riley thought she saw larger chunks of rock float among the clouds too.

"Where are the others?" she asked.

"They're all awake, but Connor told us to be by the dining area in a few hours." Olivia replied. "Look, if you need some rest, I could explain that to them. You did just wake up from cryo."

'No, I've been treated as a special for too long now.'

"It's okay," Riley reassured as she shook her head in a burst if short nods. "I can make it."

Suddenly, a streak of lightning flash from near the wormhole; Riley flinched, instinctively waiting for the accompanying thunderclap.

"Don't bother waiting for the thunder" Olivia seemed to have read her mind. "There's no air in space; there's no way sound can reach us."

"Ah..." Riley felt a bit dumb for not thinking about that.

She stared ahead, at the stormy clouds 'gainst space. As another bolt of lightning snapped out at space, Riley had a sinking feeling in her stomach; if she hadn't realized it yet, she now truely felt the gravity of the situation: she was actually here, alone, in space, humanity's last hope, going into the unknown.

'I'm not good enough for this... but I have to be. I have to be...'