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Matt hadn’t even been born yet when Sam was selected for the Triton mission. Colleen, at the time, had begged him to stay. In a few months, they’d have a son, he didn’t have to go on the mission.
But he still did.
He assured her every day that he’d come back safe, that nothing could possibly happen. Sam said he’d be there for their son. He promised. With so many sweet nothings he’d whispered it became hard for Colleen to not allow him to go. After all Sam had gone on more missions than she bothered to count. Sam would come back. For their soon to be born son.
Colleen quickly found out a lot can go wrong in space.
Triton Mission Failed - Crew Dead
“The Galaxy Garrison is offering consolation to the families of the lost crew members. They have reported it was an engineering failure that went unnoticed until the spaceship exploded upon landing-”
After that, she cried all night. Colleen learned her husband died from the 9 o’clock news.
The Garrison offered no consolation. Employees at the time were given a few days to grieve and then continue. They only put up a memorial for him and offered her a severance. There wasn’t much else they could do but after the grieving days were up it was almost like the forgot the deaths. It became unbearable to see faces she’d known for years not even bat an eye when the Triton mission was mentioned in the room.
She wasn’t sure where she could go. Right now was a horrible time to try and buy another house just for the Garrison. One of her friends watched Matt as she drove into the desert one night in her frustration. That’s how she learned about a house in the middle of nowhere. There was a little town nearby- it’d be perfect.
Colleen went back to the Garrison, resting, then packing everything she needed and taking off again. Matt deserved the best childhood possible, and at the moment the best thing she could do was get away from those memories and start again. Or at least work all of it out.
A month passed at the house where she lived peacefully with no interruptions. Matt was still doing fine. Life was… good.
Until Colleen heard an explosion close by, running out to go see what it was. Of the infinite possibilities, it could’ve been the first assessment of the area eliminated the possibilities of bombs… When she actually arrived, a hole was carved out of the ground, a crashed ship inside of it.
Colleen managed to pry open a loose panel, exposing a woman inside. “Are you okay?” She asked, pulling her from the ship and out of the crater, gently placing her down.
“I am injured… but I think I’ll manage.” The woman muttered.
“My name is Colleen. I have a house nearby here where you can rest and get you patched up and I can make food.” She offered. Though it was less of an offer and more of a you-need-help-and-if-you-don’t-go-willingly-I-will-drag-you-there-to-help-you.
“Krolia.” She spoke. “My name… is Krolia.”
Colleen helped her up, “We’ll get you fixed up. Just… hang on.” Krolia held onto Colleen as best she could as the woman struggled to lift her and get inside the house. She was in pain and cut up in multiple places, but she’d just have to manage.
All of the lights in the house were turned on, meaning that when Colleen looked at her, it became obvious that Krolia wasn’t human. Sure, the woman- alien was bloodied but there was no doubt she was purple. It wasn’t the main concern at the moment, but it’d certainly come up as a topic of discussion later. It was too odd of an occurrence not to talk about.
“Thank you…” Krolia muttered as Colleen worked to patch her up. She would’ve been fine on her own, but this human was showing her kindness and didn’t abandon her… Maybe she’d help find the blue lion too. If Colleen knew where it was that is.
Colleen didn’t respond, instead just working on first aid. The armor Krolia was wearing seemed to have mostly protected her, but it looked uncomfortable… Her clothes probably wouldn’t fit the alien, but she figured at least try to get something that wasn’t battle armor.
“Hold this to your cheek.” Colleen handed Krolia an ice pack. “I’ll be back in just a moment.” She ran off up to her room. In the absence, only silence remained for a moment before Krolia heard crying. A baby’s crying. She stood, following the noise upstairs. Krolia opened the door to the room, looking inside. It was just a plain bedroom, opposite of the bed was a crib.
Krolia stepped over, looking at the baby and offering out her hand. Quickly enough the baby was quiet, wrapping its hand around one of her fingers. Colleen was a mother living in the desert… Krolia couldn’t help but wonder about the woman’s love life. She looked around the room with a quick glance. On the dresser was a picture of a man in a space suit. So she was married then.
Colleen walked into the room, “Matt-” She spoke before looking up and meeting Krolia’s eyes. She smiled, stepping over and picking up the baby after setting the clothes down on the bed. “This is my son, Matt. He’s 3 ½ months old…”
“He’s beautiful. Your husband must be proud.” Krolia smiled at her.
“My- uh- my husband died a month ago... “ Colleen frowned.
“You’re a single mother living in the desert…?”
“Yeah.”
Krolia felt bad about bringing it up. She watched as Colleen set Matt down.
“I brought you some clothes that might fit. I’m not entirely sure, but you can try them on if you’d like.” Colleen picked up the clothes, handing them to Krolia. “There’s a bathroom just down the hall.”
Krolia nodded, “Okay, thank you, Colleen.” If she was welcome, she was going to stay.