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The Blip-A, leaving Erid for technically the first time but almost forty two human years later than it had in Rocky’s memory, carried aboard it twenty three people protected by a shield of astrophage, that great threat that would nonetheless keep away the radiation sickness that had originally claimed all but one of those lives. Rocky walked through the halls, as they did each day, counting the crew silently. As much as they needed to go on this voyage, they also hated the thought of being left alone out here again.
Fortunately, the astrophage was doing its job. No one had gotten even slightly sick.
So, they turned aside into the Labs, where the scientists were hard at work with their various projects. In the corner of the third lab, there was a tank, in which rested a small Eridian. It wasn’t part of the crew, but rather it was the Gift.
Rocky had had far too much time to worry about all the ways this could go. Just because they remembered a future that hadn’t happened yet didn’t mean Grace would remember too. Rocky had saved their crew, but Grace might still wake up alone.
Rocky remembered the fear of watching Grace deteriorate on their way to Erid the first time, and Grace’s certainty that he would have experienced the same pain and hunger if he’d gone to Earth instead.
Only worse, he’d told Rocky several times over the years, because I’d have made that trip alone.
He would not be alone again. Rocky was more than willing to ‘die on that hill’ if need be. If Grace was unable to save his own crew, whether he remembered or not, Rocky would take him home to Erid.
And so, the Science Thrum had worked long days to make the Gift, a small, adolescent-aged Eridian body, an empty shell to fill, along with a device to transfer Grace’s consciousness into it. That way the trip home would be safer, and he would not need to be stuck in an enclosure for the remainder of his days.
(That he would also have the lifespan of an Eridian was definitely a bonus.)
The Gift, still silent and empty, should have been alarming. Only the dead were that still, but for Rocky, the Gift was a reminder that things were different this time. They would not lose their crew, and they would not lose Grace.
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When they made contact with Hail Mary above the planet Adrian, Rocky only heard the voices of two humans they didn’t know at first. It sent a bolt of panic through them. Was Grace not onboard? Had something gone terribly wrong? Fortunately, the panic only lasted until they heard Grace say he would record the radio conversation.
They interrupted the captain to say, “Grace?”
It wasn’t much of a risk. Either Grace remembered, and he’d understand them, or he didn’t and they could proceed in the way they needed to, when dealing with humans who didn’t know them. They realized abruptly they had not been truly prepared for either outcome, because the joy of hearing their human name had been overwhelming, like a tide sweeping them out to sea. If Eridians could cry from joy the way humans did, they would have wept.
But even that moment was not nearly as much a relief as being able to hug Grace again, to feel how healthy he was, no longer wheezing and far less fragile.
Missed you, too, bud, he said, holding on just as tightly, leaking all over their EVA suit like normal. His heartbeat thundered through them, alive alive alive!
From then on, they spent all their time with him. The ship and crew were safe, and Grace had ensured they’d have enough food, so the Gift wouldn’t be necessary—but that also meant they would only have a short time with him. That was fine. It would be fine. They had missed their Leaky Space Blob for almost as long as they’d had him by the time they woke up Before Tau Ceti, so Rocky would be happy to know that Grace was happy and healthy on Earth.
(Those last few years had hurt hurt hurt. Grace hadn’t lived long enough to lose his mind like he’d been worried about, but the sickness, the decay of his organs had been the worst thing Rocky had ever listened to. Worse still, to watch him push through the pain to smile and thank the doctors who couldn’t fix him. Never again. That was why they’d asked the Science Thrum for the Gift in the first place.)
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“What’s bothering you?” Grace asked on one of those rare days when the others were busy enough to give the two of them time alone. He was always so perceptive about them, and hardly ever turned that attention to himself (often the infuriating cause of many less than graceful falls).
“Nothing.”
“Uh-huh. Right. And the honest answer?”
Ugh. “I will miss you. I have been missing you for a long time, though, so it will be fine.” They did not want him to worry about it. “And I don’t want to watch my friend hurt again.”
“Rocky—”
They knew that tone and refused to entertain the foolishness, so they cut him off. “No. You and the humans will go home to Earth. You have a family waiting this time, and we can’t take you to Erid in the Blip-A.”
“That. Okay, yes, I know logistically that’s the only real option as it stands, but that doesn’t mean you have to pretend to be alright!” He scuffed a hand through his hair, frustrated. Kneeling to be closer to their level, he knocked his head against Rocky’s suit. “I know you hate being vulnerable, buddy. But you don’t have to pretend with me. Please don’t, in fact.”
Their carapace dipped, defeated. “I don’t want to give you back to the people who threw you away before. Even if they didn’t do it this time. Stratt doesn’t deserve you back.”
Grace’s whole frame shook with a wet laugh. “Yeah? I’d much rather go home to Erid, too. I’ll miss you and Adrian, your family. . . Heck, I’ll even miss Dr. House even if I don’t miss all the reasons she came to see me.”
“But you need to go back.”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
Rocky came to a decision then. It was technically beyond what the device had been made for, but they had to try. “I have a gift for you. The Science Thrum helped make it.” They pulled away to go back through the airlock into their section of the dormitory and grabbed the device from their bags. As they moved it, they spotted the hollow sphere that they’d carved to be a map of home. They took both back through the airlock and showed Grace.
“This is connected to a shell, a Gift from Erid for our savior,” they told him, handing him the device. “It will bond your mind with the brain inside the shell, so when your human body falls into the final sleep you can still come home to us.”
Grace sank fully to the floor, mouth opening and closing without speaking. It had been very worrying the first time they’d seen that behavior, but apparently it was not that unusual for humans, strange as they were. ‘At a loss for words,’ apparently. Rocky waited until he had words again, stowing the device inside the metal ball.
“Thank you, Rocky,” he said, bursting into tears. “I-I don’t have the words to tell you how much that means to me.”
They wrapped three of their arms around him and listened to all the squishy sounds inside him. It wasn’t possible for Eridians to forget, but they still ‘memorized’ each new moment to make damn sure they didn’t forget the slightest detail. (People only truly die when they’re forgotten, Grace had told him, wheezing around the pain and holding tight to one of their claws. So, I’ll always be with you, buddy.)
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Rocky skittered by the Gift, checking out of habit more than any real need—Grace was safe on the Hail Mary with his crew, after all. It had been nearly one human year since they’d said goodbye, and the distance between them grew by the second. (They’d known it would be hard to part, even knowing they’d meet again. Half a human year was nowhere near enough time after so long apart.)
The Gift twitched. Tap-tap. Afraid and disoriented, just like a new hatchling. Rocky chirped soothingly at it on instinct, but internally panicked. It was too soon! If the device had activated that meant—
The dangerous sleep still had ‘kinks’ in it, even if Grace had managed to save his crew. Perhaps the second dangerous sleep was harder on the body. It made them grateful they’d given the device to him.
“It’s alright, Grace,” they said, gathering the much smaller body close so he could feel better. “You’re safe now.”
Grace hummed softly and clumsily nestled closer before drifting back to sleep. How incredible, to hear the blood rush inside of the once empty Gift, truly alive now that it held the mind it had been made for.
“I’m taking you home,” they murmured, even though Grace was asleep again, “Adrian will be so happy to meet you.”
The humans would be sad, but well, as they themselves say, ‘finders keepers!’