Chapter Text
I float around just trying to take everything in. Alright, the other Hail Mary (they’ll be Mary 2 unless I think of something else) should be upon us any minute now.
When was the last time I talked to another human person? Don’t get me wrong, I love Grace, they’ve been incredibly fun to be around and I’d say they’re the best friend I’ve ever had, it’s just… maybe I’m being selfish for thinking about human interaction instead.
I was the first to be induced in the coma. Yao and DuBois put me to sleep; my position in the crew hierarchy as the late addition put me firmly third on the totem pole, but that wasn’t really important to me then. They were the last people I ever talked to. That was four years of a coma plus the time I’ve been awake at Tau Ceti to now, so that makes…
Yeah. A while. Do I even remember how to talk to people anymore?
“Proximity alarm.”
Oh?
The radar pings with the approaching blip - maybe they get to be the Hail Mary Carpathia to our Hail Mary Titanic?
“Hey, Grace?”
“Rocky?”
“Have we ever watched Titanic?”
Grace pauses. They were studying up on one of the laptops I rigged safety measures to work in their atmosphere (simply put, it’s in a box, but a damn well engineered box); a true seeker of knowledge this guy is. “Rocky mention this before as movie, not have seen with Grace.” I’ve gotten pretty good at understanding Eridian; I get most of what they’re saying before the translator does.
Grace excitedly taps a few limbs on the ground, their assortment of projects forgotten. His side is a mess, but I figure the whole echolocation thing makes it only a small issue? “Grace read about ship Titanic on computer! Many many things change about Earth ocean ships after ship hit big Earth ocean frozen water-”
“Grace.” If I don’t stop them, they’ll dump info on me for hours. And I listen to them for those hours, and probably by some alien magic they keep me captivated like no professor of mine ever could. That said, I say this with love in my heart for my crewmate, now is not the time.
“It is odd ships did not have safety before bad thing happen - why not do most safe thing first? Many, many people write about this ship - understand saving small humans first, but why only one of two Earth sex first? Better survival odd or culture, question?”
I push myself to float over the tunnel section Grace is in now. “Grace,” I say again, dryly.
“Remains of ship is very diverse in Earth ocean creatures! Is amaze! Ocean is under freeze temperature of water even at Earth thin atmosphere and cold, cold normal temperature! Cold, cold, cold and atmosphere at bottom of Earth ocean many, many more atmospheres, more than Erid -”
I knock at the tunnel a few times. “Graaaace! Grace! Earth to Grace!”
Grace stops and angles their carapace a bit more towards me. “Not on Earth.”
I chuckle. “Rocky to Grace.”
“Grace to Rocky.”
I gesture behind me with my thumb. “Wanna man the comms? I’m gonna take a look outside the airlock window for the other ship.” Post-planet-diving incident, I made a few quick adjustments for controls for the Eridian side of the cockpit to get to a few of the controls. It’s not extensive or anything, but Grace can get to a few important things, communications included.
“Not man.”
“Pfft. You and me both, brother.” Gender communications was very, very, very complicated to explain to a guy from a species that are all biologically one sex. Or hermaphrodites? Whatever, I’m not a biologist. Then for me to say all that and go ah, yes, I don't really subscribe to that was - actually, received a bit better. Grace not either too! Grace said. This is why I bestowed upon him the gift using of my own pronouns for them. He was happy to share that part of a human subculture with me.
“Grace will … Eridian the communications.” He chirps with chords of laughter. “Why use small door to observe other ship? Telescope not work, question?”
I wave a hand as I start to push myself over. “It’s different seeing something on a screen versus seeing it with your own eyes.”
“How?”
“It just is!”
“Explain, please. Science!” I swear, Grace explains every reason for wanting to know something with science.
“Uh… I think it’s the disconnect. You know, you heard the other Eridian on the message! It was nice, but it’d be different to hear them for real, right? I feel like it’s more a intense feeling for sight, though.” I leave out the it’s a piss poor excuse for human interaction, though it gets the job done when you’re going mad from isolation from any living thing that goes through my mind, because I’m not about to bring the mood down.
“Ah! Good point, Rocky, thank you thank you! Understand.” Grace taps away at the laptop controls as I make my way to the airlock in earnest this time. “We watch Titanic later, question?”
“Duh, of course.” I say as I fly around the corner. One of the only benefits of being out here so long is I’ve got pretty damn good at maneuvering around in zero Gs.
The airlock is currently set at the ship’s pressure, rather than at the vacuum of space, so I can just open the door and take a look out. Doctor human man Ryland Grace (-doctor of what?) isn’t half bad at piloting, or at least to a point where he doesn’t explode all of us. Small round of applause to him. I can see the minor propellants adjusting the Hail Mary 2’s velocity to match ours. Hey, I worked on those! Glad to see the other dumbasses in the perhaps-an-alternate-universe engineering team didn’t completely go to pieces.
The Hail Mary 2 stops. They’re not terribly far away. A hop, skip, and a jump across a little thing called the vacuum of space! From this distance, the ship looks mostly the same as my own. There’s different bumps and scrapes than mine; I think there’s only two missing fuel tanks to my own four? Lucky bastards.
Oh!
There’s a flash of movement in the opposite airlock door.
I wave.
He waves back.
Oh, fucking hell, I must have the stupidest, cheesiest grin on my face.
Alright, all the anxiety I ever had about potential human interaction is replaced by the pure adrenaline rush I got from seeing another person. I kick off the airlock door, soaring through the hall like I’m my own Hail Mary speeding towards the cockpit Tau Ceti. I fly into the cockpit; the only thing that stops me from smashing headfirst into the window is my grip on the pilot's seat. Doesn’t stop my legs from trying to follow that momentum still. If I didn’t know any better I’d think my Vans would slip right off my feet, but I flip around into the seat properly.
No time like the present.