Chapter Text
I awoke with a jolt. I remember a dream. It was weird, and sad. I remember a - red pool? Two men… one died… and… The dream is gone. Thanks brain. I remember close to nothing about my dream. What a great way to start the day. Disappointment.
Luckily, my disappointment in absolutely everything didn’t last long. My fiancée, Elizabeth, walked in with a huge plate of breakfast on a tray. “Good morning, Perry! Today is a big day!” Elizabeth, Liz to me, smiled at me. But I know she’s holding back tears. Today was the day I left to take the final test to see if I can meet NASA’s requirements. NASA was hiring interns, and since I’m majoring in areophysics, I was a prime candidate. I might get a job at NASA! Liz wanted to start a family as soon as possible, so I know I need a good salary to support all of that. “This will benefit all of us, Liz. I promise.” I smiled at her, put the tray to the side, and hugged her. “It’ll get better.” I whispered to her reassuringly. She nodded, wiping a tear from her eye. She was still smiling through this, which I loved about her.
My strong Elizabeth. I pulled out of the hug and went back to eat. “I’m not leaving for another 2 hours, hon.” I laughed slightly, eating the scrambled eggs. “I know.” She whispered. “But it’s best you get ready early! You know how pesky airport security is!” Always practical. That was Liz. “An hour of just them looking through your baggage is nothing.” I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. “Yes! So eat!” She yelled, leaving our room to probably double-check that everything is packed. I listened to her and shovelled through my food. When I was done I fit myself into a tight suit, which impressed Liz, which is exactly what I wanted. Today was my last day in New York City for a long time. I would miss it. I, with 11 other people, would be traveling to an island off the coast of Hawaii, which strangely wasn’t claimed by Hawaii. It has very fertile soil, and an active volcano. However, it was secluded and we did not need to ask anybody’s permission, so it’s perfect for what we’re doing.
We’re going to build a prototype rocket ship. Can you believe that? It’s only been my dream since I was 9 years old. The only downside is I don’t know how long it will take, and I have to leave Elizabeth here. I told her it would take 9 months tops, since it was only a prototype. She still cried, and I still knew she was a tough little cookie. Time passed too quickly. Soon enough, I was at the airport, ready to move to an exotic island, where my entire future laid. I turned to look at Liz, who was still softly crying. I hugged her, kissed her forehead, and told her I’d call her everyday.
***
I finally arrived at the exotic island. I knew the name of the island- ʻAʻohe ʻāina kanaka- and of the volcano- Mount Kuongezeka. The people on the private jet would not stop talking about how much research they did for this place. I kinda felt bad, because I did only a little research. To be fair, I spent most of my time saying goodbye to family members and spending time with Elizabeth. We lived in the same house, and I knew she would miss me most of all.
I arrived at the site not long after. The NASA engineer who was running this thing, Michelle O’Hara, appeared on a screen in the jeeps we’d taken in groups to the site. “Hello, future aerophysics engineers! As you may know, I am Michelle O’Hara and I am the one behind this whole shabang,” she gave us a news-worthy smile, and continued. “As you can see, this is just plain jungle! If you look far enough in the distance, you can see Mount Kuongezeka! Kuongezeka means “Boom” in Swahili! Mount Kuongezeka is an active volcano, which last erupted in 1933. As I was saying, all you can see is the jungle, the cement clearing you’re going to use to build the ship on, and the volcano. There is no penthouse, or house, or even shelter. You will have to make your beddings and necessary rooms first. If you want to sleep and protect yourself from nature, you’ll have to get that done now.”
She talked about a lot in a short period of time. “May I suggest a name-game like the ones you played in Kindergarten, just to get to know everybody better? Okay, let’s do it!” No wonder this lady was in charge of us. I felt like I was back in elementary school. “Please exit the cars, and I’ll tell you the rules of the game.” Everybody exited, and I found that everybody was dressed in separate colors, but they all had one color. In simpler words, I was in all red, one guy was in all green, one girl was in all yellow, and so on. It was weird. “So everybody stand in a circle!” We all stood as instructed. “Now we’re going to go around and say our first and last names, then say something you think everybody should know. Let’s start with… Perry! Why don’t you start us off?” Everyone in the circle turned to stare at me expectantly.
“Um, I’m Perry Richards. I have a fiancée named Elizabeth.”
“Let’s go in a clockwise circle, you guys!” Michelle gushed cheerily.
“I’m Emmaline Noel, I love bananas.” The girl in yellow said, munching on a banana.
“I’m Jaxon Hatt, and I like my privacy, please and thank you.” The man in all black said in a British accent.
“I’m Joseph Hart, and Everett is my brother.” The man in a lime green outfit said.
“I’m Everett Hart, and Joseph is my brother.” The man in a dark green outfit said.
“I’m Priscilla Cramoisie. My IG username is Priss_Sis24.” The girl in purple said, sucking on a lollipop.
“I’m Mordecai Watterson, and I think that chocolate cupcakes are better than vanilla cupcakes.” The man in dark blue said, smiling pleasantly.
“Hello! I’m Casey James! I like reading in autumn.” A girl in a light teal, kinda cyan outfit said cheerfully.
“I’m Joselyn Rose, just call me Josie.” The girl in pink said, looking at the ground.
“I’m Albatatis ‘Ana, I’m from Zimbabwe.” The man in brown said, dressed respectfully.
“I’m Charlotte Carpenter, and this is my grandmother’s rosary.” She held up a beaded necklace with a cross dangling off of it.
“I-I’m H-Harvey Miller.” A shy-looking boy in orange said, his big, round glasses slipping down his face. “I like spaceships.” He looked like he just got out of a game of DnD, or he just watched a Star Trek marathon. It surprised me that someone like him had enough ambition to be an areophyisicist. Good for him.
“And, we circle back to Perry. Wow! Now you all know each other!”
“Vaguely,” somebody mumbled.
“Better get to working on your spaceship, guys! I wish the best of luck to all of you!” And then the screen the driver was holding up went dead. I looked around and saw a huge bundle of blueprints by the cement slab they called a “building site”.
“Come on, guys! We ain’t got no time to lose!” Emmaline said, sounding vaguely German. Our squad of people rushed over to the building site and looked at the blueprints. “Well, this should be easy enough. The beds are just bunk beds. We’ll all be sharing a room.” Mordecai said, taking out the first blue sheet of instructions.
The group groaned in harmony, but we all obliged. “First, we build it. We will discuss rooming later.” Mordecai said firmly. We built for the rest of the day. When the sun finally set, the rooms were done. The rooms were pretty nice. Cramped, but nice. Like you were on a train, but more straps to hold you down in the zero-gravity air. “So, now, to discuss roomies.” Jaxon said, his accent charming a certain Priscilla. “One thing needs to be said and clear to everyone here. We must be professional. NASA needs us, and we won’t even have a chance if we’re goofing off and being immature. Let’s keep this professional.” Jaxon explained, his eyebrows knit in a firm line. “Of course.” The group all murmured, and so the debate had begun.
“I think it’s only fair if we just get randomly paired. You don’t get a say in your pairing.” Nobody said anything, but the tension suggested that some didn’t agree with this. “Luckily for us, Michelle already has suggestions for room pairing. We’ll use her list.” He cleared his throat, and the tension in the hallway of the rooms grew. “For room A1, Harvey and Mordecai.” Jaxon held out the key and Mordecai took it, gesturing for Harvey to follow.
“For room B1, Charlotte and I.” Jaxon held out the key to Charlotte, and whispered to her he’d meet her there.
“For room C1, Albatatis and Casey.”
“For room A2, Emmaline and Priscilla.”
“For room B2, Joseph and Everett.”
“And last but not least,”
“Then who is least?” Someone echoed.
“For room C2, Perry and Josie.”
I looked across the now nearly vacant hallway to Josie, who took the key from Jaxon. “Come on, Perry. I want to sleep!” She cried, laughing. I rolled my eyes and followed her all the way down to room C2, where there were 2 pull-from-the-wall beds, complete with oak hardwood floors. There was a small window, which Josie stared out of, wistfully. “This is going to be lovely.” She said, and went to fetch her suitcase from the jeep she was in. I sat on the bed which I claimed mine. From the door, my bed was the left bed. Josie’s was the right. It was a small place, but it was nice. It would be a nice stay here. I decided to tour the island a little bit before I grabbed my suitcase.
The island had a nice feel to it, it smelled like the ocean and the feeling of being fresh. I sucked in a deep breath, and let it out with a big smile on my face. “Hello, Perry.” I turned and saw Albatatis. “Hey.” I said, smiling slightly. “What do you think so far?” I looked back out at the island, and breathed deeply again. “I think I’m gonna like it here.”
***
I woke up with a start. I looked out the window and found the sun had not even risen yet. I gripped my chest, my heart beating rapidly, adrenaline pumping through me. Something was wrong. I had to stop something, I felt, but I couldn’t figure out what. Probably just a dream. To calm my racing heart, I decided to go and get a cup of water from a fountain Michelle had supplied to us. I walked out the doors of the spaceship and saw a jug of water, like the ones in modern offices that people gossip around. I walked up to it and poured myself a cup. As I raised the foam cup to my lips, I heard a blood-curdling scream come from far away.
I dropped the cup, I was so shocked. What was that? The scream had stopped, but it had gone on for quite a while. I looked around and saw no one. Was this the call of a wild bird? The roar of an animal? The call of a monkey? I didn’t know what was on this island! I knew my skin was pale without looking in a mirror. I knew that I was shaking, without ever having to look at my hands. That was horrifying! I decided it was out of my power to look for it, and if I discovered what it was, there was a 90% chance that I would not come back.
I walked back inside, climbed in bed, and tried to convince myself that it was just a weird bird call, and not a wild animal ready to kill. In the back of my mind, I was even more afraid that the scream was, well, a scream. Like from a human being. I was afraid there was something out there that had killed a crewmate of mine.