room with broken equipment and a half-broken silver chair stood in the middle of the room. “Can you feel the vibration in your body?”
“Yes.” I swallowed hard. “What is it?”
“Feel this?” He touched the wall. “It’s cold, but run your hand along the wall and follow me.”
I did as he said. The black granite-type wall was smooth and icy cold until I felt not only a hot patch but also a jolt through my back. I pulled my hand away.
“It’s alive,” he said, his hand pressed firmly against the warm spot.
“What’s alive?” Two steps brought me right up on his back while I gripped his right hand and arm, scared.
“The ship. It’s talking to me. Put your hand up here and tell me if you hear it.”
Aric grabbed my hand and moved it to the hot spot on the wall. Another jolt went through my back and I cringed. His fingers were laced with mine but the palms of our hands rested on the ship’s wall.
“Don’t block it. Let it filter through you.”
Uneasy and scared, I came to terms with accepting what Aric asked me to do. When I did, I felt energy like nothing I had felt before. My body was floating, my eyes were closed yet I could see, through the vibration from the wall to the implant, I could see what he could see—I could see through the eyes of Aric’s father.
The screen in front of him showed the ship breaking the surface of Earth’s atmosphere. Fire and warmth brushed my face, as if I were there. The ship was falling fast and then at his side was his wife with Aric in her arms. He was three years old, scared like I had been.
“Are we going to make it?” his mother asked his father. Fear in her eyes, yet the same adoration for her husband that I had seen in my mother’s eyes for my father.
“We’ve lost control, Adalee. Get back to your seat and buckle in before the impact.”
“The beacon. Can we send the signal?”
“It was destroyed from the fire upon entry. We have our own. They will sound off.”
“They may be too weak. Atlas, please, we have to get to the beacon.”
“I will go, if you get back to your seat and buckle in.” Atlas removed his seatbelt and stood up, walking against the slant of the falling ship.
“Our people.”
“Adalee, buckle in now before it’s too late!”
I watched her run from the room, but the ship tilted and she began to fall backward, grabbing a control panel near her. I wanted to scream and tell her to get in the seat.
My eyes moved from the screen of Earth below and back at her toddler in her arms. My body began to gyrate and as I glanced back at the screen, I saw our red car, a tiny blip on the road.
Aric’s father tried to maneuver through a small control room to get to the beacon switch but the room burst out in flames, catching him on fire. His screams were deafening and my heart was racing.
I watched him drop to his knees at the same time the ship crashed against Earth’s soil. Adalee was ripped from the control panel and flew straight past Atlas’s burning corpse. She dropped Aric, almost setting him down easily on the ship’s floor as she was thrown through the front of the shattered ship.
Aric rolled forward until he hit his head on a control panel wall and lay there unconscious. His father lay on the floor, engulfed in flames. The metal organism on his arms and back released him and seeped into the vent, bonding with the ship.
I pulled my hand away and gasped for air. Aric threw his arms around me and held me tightly. I could feel his body trembling. I could hear his sobs.
“My parents. That was them. That’s what happened. We were there, we saw it all.”
Tears ran down my cheek. They were absorbed into his shirt. I didn’t know what to say. My parents were killed at the same time. But today, I saw the events from a different perspective. This time, I felt like the daughter of the Ceren parents. This time, I cried for them and for Aric. I cried with him because I understood his pain.
“Hey, guys,” Em said, “I
“Yes.” I swallowed hard. “What is it?”
“Feel this?” He touched the wall. “It’s cold, but run your hand along the wall and follow me.”
I did as he said. The black granite-type wall was smooth and icy cold until I felt not only a hot patch but also a jolt through my back. I pulled my hand away.
“It’s alive,” he said, his hand pressed firmly against the warm spot.
“What’s alive?” Two steps brought me right up on his back while I gripped his right hand and arm, scared.
“The ship. It’s talking to me. Put your hand up here and tell me if you hear it.”
Aric grabbed my hand and moved it to the hot spot on the wall. Another jolt went through my back and I cringed. His fingers were laced with mine but the palms of our hands rested on the ship’s wall.
“Don’t block it. Let it filter through you.”
Uneasy and scared, I came to terms with accepting what Aric asked me to do. When I did, I felt energy like nothing I had felt before. My body was floating, my eyes were closed yet I could see, through the vibration from the wall to the implant, I could see what he could see—I could see through the eyes of Aric’s father.
The screen in front of him showed the ship breaking the surface of Earth’s atmosphere. Fire and warmth brushed my face, as if I were there. The ship was falling fast and then at his side was his wife with Aric in her arms. He was three years old, scared like I had been.
“Are we going to make it?” his mother asked his father. Fear in her eyes, yet the same adoration for her husband that I had seen in my mother’s eyes for my father.
“We’ve lost control, Adalee. Get back to your seat and buckle in before the impact.”
“The beacon. Can we send the signal?”
“It was destroyed from the fire upon entry. We have our own. They will sound off.”
“They may be too weak. Atlas, please, we have to get to the beacon.”
“I will go, if you get back to your seat and buckle in.” Atlas removed his seatbelt and stood up, walking against the slant of the falling ship.
“Our people.”
“Adalee, buckle in now before it’s too late!”
I watched her run from the room, but the ship tilted and she began to fall backward, grabbing a control panel near her. I wanted to scream and tell her to get in the seat.
My eyes moved from the screen of Earth below and back at her toddler in her arms. My body began to gyrate and as I glanced back at the screen, I saw our red car, a tiny blip on the road.
Aric’s father tried to maneuver through a small control room to get to the beacon switch but the room burst out in flames, catching him on fire. His screams were deafening and my heart was racing.
I watched him drop to his knees at the same time the ship crashed against Earth’s soil. Adalee was ripped from the control panel and flew straight past Atlas’s burning corpse. She dropped Aric, almost setting him down easily on the ship’s floor as she was thrown through the front of the shattered ship.
Aric rolled forward until he hit his head on a control panel wall and lay there unconscious. His father lay on the floor, engulfed in flames. The metal organism on his arms and back released him and seeped into the vent, bonding with the ship.
I pulled my hand away and gasped for air. Aric threw his arms around me and held me tightly. I could feel his body trembling. I could hear his sobs.
“My parents. That was them. That’s what happened. We were there, we saw it all.”
Tears ran down my cheek. They were absorbed into his shirt. I didn’t know what to say. My parents were killed at the same time. But today, I saw the events from a different perspective. This time, I felt like the daughter of the Ceren parents. This time, I cried for them and for Aric. I cried with him because I understood his pain.
“Hey, guys,” Em said, “I
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