Chapter Text
The planet sat right below the spaceship, its thick atmosphere spinning with dazzling blues and wispy clouds. Just a few anticipatory-filled hours ago they passed through the layers of dust and ice which make up the rings hugging the planet's exosphere, their voices overlapping in excitement as they inched closer and closer to their destination. Now, they were right in its orbit, moments away from finally stepping down on its surface.
Olivia floated near the window, her hand flat against it as a point of stability to stay in front of the glass, drinking in as much of the view as possible. She had to admit… begrudgingly… that this was pretty cool. It's not like she hated space. In fact, she was obsessed with it, or she wouldn't have become an astronaut in the first place. It's just that, well…
She still couldn't seem to understand Ryland Grace.
"Oh my…"
Olivia turned to see her crewmate floating towards her. He was on course to bump into her, but she easily pushed his shoulder so he rested beside her at the window instead.
Romero, her fellow scientist-in-arms, giggled and squealed as he looked at the planet. His grin was so wide, she feared his face would completely split into two across his cheeks. "I mean, Earth is beautiful and all, but wow! Erid really is just something else!"
Yes, Olivia and five other astronauts were currently on a spaceship orbiting Erid, the planet home to their interstellar neighbors: the Eridians. A species that looked so incredibly different from humans, yet shared the same determination to save their planet—turns out humans weren't the only ones to think up a crazy plan to conduct deep space field research. Great minds think alike, and all that. And soon enough, they would be meeting this other intelligent species face-to-carapace. This wouldn't be first contact, however.
That honor went to the man known as Ryland Grace. Everyone knew him as one of the brave and incredible astronauts from Project Hail Mary. The lead scientist of the mission where he discovered Astrophage, delivered Taumoeba, saved stars, and befriended aliens. Dr. Captain Ryland Grace, he called himself in his last video message to Earth.
Olivia knew him simply as Mr. Grace first.
It was his class, all the way back in her middle school years, that inspired her to become the scientist she was today. School, and especially Mr. Grace's classroom, was a safe space for her. A place where she could forget about her troubles and focus on the wonders of learning, absorbing everything she could about every sort of scientific discovery Mr. Grace could fit into his yearly curriculum. Then, the Petrova Line was discovered. Next thing she knew, the sun was getting eaten by space dots and her favorite teacher left one day and never came back.
It was then spite that fueled her to take her doctorate to NASA and the other space agencies, hoping to help delay the Astrophage problem while they waited for the beetles from the Hail Mary. She never doubted that Grace and the others would find a solution. Even as threats of an extreme ice age fueled tensions between people and weakened global biodiversity, her faith in them never wavered. She was so determined that they would succeed that she made sure she was there, front and center, when the beetles arrived. She was there when the probes brought proof that Grace was the only survivor of the trip and saved Earth alongside an actual multicellular intelligent alien being.
Things moved fairly quickly after that. They planned not only the release of the Taumoeba on Venus, but the trip to Erid to conduct intergalactic diplomacy as well. Olivia was the first to volunteer for that latter mission. She had some experience with space travel. Sure, maybe just up to Earth's orbit, testing lab equipment and experimenting with the Astrophage in zero gravity settings, but still. It was something. It was enough to get her on the ship to Erid. There were some concerns at first; she'd be the oldest person on the crew, in her mid-40's. Additionally, the mission would take approximately 15 years for the crew (most of it spent in comas), but nearly 40 years would pass on Earth by the time they reached Erid and returned. This wouldn't be another suicide mission. They learned from their mistakes in the past and figured out how to make deep space travel safer, no longer having to kill off their astronauts for the sake of progress. Still, there's no changing how relativity works. Time on Earth would continue to march on faster than what they experience out in space.
Olivia didn't mind. She had nothing to hold her back. She was never interested in having a romantic partner. She lived comfortably alone. She might as well take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
She said as much to Rekha, her best friend and closest companion in life, when they met up for one last dinner together. They sat across from one another at the table, wine glasses poised in the air as their elbows rested on the table. Bad etiquette, but no one really cared about that when they were celebrating a farewell.
"I'm really going to miss you, you know?" Rekha said, hiding her wobbling lips behind the rim of her glass. She was already an easily emotional woman, but alcohol never made it any better. Taking a sip, she blinked away the tears threatening to ruin her mascara. "I get it, though. If I had the brains for all that science shit like you and Mr. Grace, I'd go meet the aliens too."
"You did just as well as I did in his class," Olivia responded with a chuckle.
Rekha waved at the air dismissively. "Yeah, but that's just 'cause he made it easy. I couldn't understand a word from our freshman year bio teacher. Remember him?"
"Maybe that's because you fell asleep in that class basically everyday."
"Well, maybe he should've been more interesting and actually teach instead of just droning away all afternoon."
That was the main difference between Mr. Grace and their other teachers. He seemed to genuinely care about whether or not his students enjoyed his class. When one hot sunny day the school's A/C was down, all of them too overheated to comprehend his talk and PowerPoint slides about the water cycle, he brought them all outside to run around in the sprinklers to get hands-on experience. When Michael, one of Olivia's more annoying peers, complained about how lame physics was, he quickly changed his mind once Mr. Grace let him swing a bowling ball towards their teacher's face to demonstrate conservation of energy. Mr. Grace could always find a way to capture their short-attention spans, turning disinterested and apathetic pre-teens into inquisitive scientists, even if it was for just one period in the school day. His genuine care for his science, for his teaching, was infectious. It inspired them all into finding their own passions in life.
All the way up until he was gone.
Rekha pulled Olivia into a hug at the end of the night, hiding her face in the nook of her friend's shoulder. "Have tons of fun with the aliens in space," she whispered in a shaky voice. "But not too much or you'll give me FOMO."
Olivia tightened her grip around Rekha's shoulders. "Don't worry, the aliens have nothing on you and our wine nights. I'll tell you all about it when I get back."
"You better. I'll have a bottle with your name on it waiting until then."
She would never regret her decision to go on the mission to Erid. However, it was still the most difficult decision she ever had to make in her life. She wondered if it was like that for Grace, back then. Though, she had the decency to at least say goodbye first.
Yeah, yeah. She knew she was just being bitter. She was in space! About to visit a whole new planet! She should be jumping—floating—for joy with her crewmates. Yet, there was a voice in the back of her head that kept asking why? Why was it that Grace felt compelled to complete the mission the way he did, leaving everyone who cared about him behind without warning? Why was he okay with never seeing Earth ever again?
She blinked her memories away, focusing her attention back on Erid. Thinking about her mixed feelings towards Grace dampened her excitement a bit, but she could still admire the beauty of the planet. When talks of the mission first began, no one was sure what the crew would find when they got to Erid. Of course, they all hoped that Grace found Rocky in time. That he was able to save the Eridian and find a way to get the Taumoeba back to his friend's home planet too, before passing away. They hoped that they would arrive to find 40 Eridani bright and Erid filled with life as they were told. However, on the off chance that Grace failed, they wanted to bring some of the Taumoeba that they were able to breed from the population on the beetles for Erid's use. They couldn't just sit back on Earth, solution in their hands, while another planet continued to suffer the same fate they would have without it.
Luckily, it seemed like Grace was able to succeed in his final mission. Olivia and the rest of the astronauts woke up from their comas about two weeks ago, alive and well. 40 Eridani was shining magnificently when they saw it. Their crew arrived to a well-functioning planet filled with excited Eridians, eager to welcome their Sol neighbors. They'd be able to pick up where Grace left off and further cultivate this new, promising, relationship. All that was left was to wait to dock at the Eridians' space elevator.
Really fucking cool thing to have, by the way.
"Alright," Harrison called out with a clap of his hands. Olivia and Romero spun in their spots to look over at their commander. "We've been given the go ahead. Let's park this puppy!"
They worked swiftly and efficiently, getting the ship attached to the space elevator and putting their EVA suits on. Just for precaution—the Eridians were matching the atmosphere inside the space elevator to the humans', but there was no such thing as being too careful here. Apparently, the Eridians already had everything planned out for when the humans would visit. The space elevator would be clear of everyone but the welcome committee. They would then lead the humans down through an enclosed path all the way to something they called the "Biodome", which would house the humans for the duration of their trip. The Eridians guiding them would have to wear protective suits out of xenonite, but that was easier to do than create new suits for the humans to walk around with in their hotter, ammonia-filled natural atmosphere. These Eridians had these suits tailor-made for them ages ago. It'd take forever to get all of the specifics of the humans' measurements and carefully craft the suits piece by painstakingly small piece.
When they finally disembarked, Olivia and her crew were faced with four Eridians standing in a low-lit hallway. What a sight! She stared unabashedly at all of them, refusing to blink for even one second. One stood in front of the other three, cream-colored carapace held high and proud. Their ceremonial jewelry twinkled and sparkled as they swayed slightly and clicked a claw, doing their own Eridian equivalent of human staring.
"Welcome, Earth friends!" they chirped, their harmonious voice translating into English inside Olivia's ear.
All of the astronauts had real-time translators that sat snug right at the entrance of their ear canal. The technology was invented for human languages, but they were quick to include the Eridian language after the beetles returned. The Eridians were helpful in sending additional files for their translators while they were in orbit that downloaded an updated dictionary of the Eridian to English translations they've made over the years.
"We're so glad you've made it safely," they continued, bending the legs closest to the humans together. A bow. "My name is Selina. Will be in charge of your visit to Erid."
Harrison stepped in front of the other humans, leaning his torso forward with his hand resting on his chest. A bow in return. "I am Captain Harrison. I'll be putting my crew in your capable hands."
"Yes, yes, yes. We will be taking good, good, good care of you," another Eridian chimed in. They were slightly larger than Selina and a handsome shimmering purple so dark, it was practically black. "I am Dorian, Eridian doctor. Have been studying human medicine from laptop. Will assist in any health concerns while you are here with us." They threw jazz hands in the air, obviously thrilled by the prospect. Olivia thought it was nice they wanted to take care of them, but she hoped they wouldn't have to do anything more than a regular health check-up.
The astronauts' own resident doctor, Dr. Suzuki, quickly introduced herself to Dr. Dorian, promising to exchange notes on the differences in medical care for humans and Eridians.
Olivia and Romero gave their own introductions next, followed by their pilot and second-in-command, Quinn.
The third Eridian, a glossy blue-green in color, stood behind the rest. They were the tallest of them at a height that was close to Olivia's shoulders. "I am Adrian, environmental engineer. Help maintain the Biodome," they said succinctly. Their voice was calm compared to the others that Olivia's heard so far. There were less chords layered over one another that made it almost soothing. It was easier on her ears.
"My name is Boas," the final Eridian said. They were about as tall as Selina, with a red-brown carapace that was rougher in texture than the rest. "Study anthropology and dabble in linguistics. Technically, main topic of study is Eridian history and culture, but have branched out to humans since discovery of your species. Your history is very dense! Have many languages and we've only just begun to understand English fluently. I am learning others; Mandarin has caught interest as of late."
The sixth astronaut and one of their engineers, Zhāng, perked up. He gave his introduction and the two groups moved forward, away from the airlock entrance of their ship. As the Eridians began to lead them down the hallway, he walked next to Boas, speaking in his native tongue. The Eridian made high-pitched noises, no words, just expressions of excitement, Olivia assumed.
She turned her attention back to Selina, who was explaining a bit more about the plans during the humans' visit. They were going to be there for a short amount of time, so they needed to cram as much as possible into their tour. They would be on Erid for just one human week, hoping for the astronauts to return to Earth alive and relay the information they learn on the trip themselves.
"40 years will have passed on Earth by the time you return, yes, question?" Dr. Dorian asked.
"Right," Quinn answered. They took their helmet off since the atmosphere seemed stable, Olivia and the others following suit. It felt rude to keep it on at that point. "It's a long time. Most of the people we worked with back on Earth will either be retired or passed away by the time we return, but there will be others there to pick up where they left off."
Dr. Dorian hummed a low melody. "Sad, yet brave. Humans are very brave creatures, traversing through space even knowing how short your lives are."
"Dorian!" Selina suddenly shouted.
The Eridian doctor flinched and swiveled their body. Olivia thought it was subconscious, a meager couple degrees twist that shifted the shine of the lamps on their glimmering body. She followed the movement with her line of sight being led to Adrian, who somehow fell back a few steps behind the group. Strange. She could have sworn they were right next to her.
"It's alright," Harrison assured. He smiled awkwardly at the way Selina reprimanded Dr. Dorian with a light kick on one of their legs. "Human lifespans must seem so quick in the eyes—er, right, no eyes, uh—carapace of Eridians."
Olivia could feel a slow rumble build within her chest. It was like a car with its bass turned up, high enough to be felt by the driver of the cars around it, overwhelming their own thoughts. Where was that coming from?
Selina laughed a high trill and the feeling ebbed away. "Yes, no eyes. Humans visual organs are very interesting. You have this concept called 'color', question? Very amusing. We're excited to finally host other humans, perhaps get a second opinion on color choices on Erid."
All six astronauts froze in their steps. The Eridians stumbled for a moment, caught off guard by the abrupt stop.
Did they hear that right? Other humans? A second opinion?
"What's wrong, question?" Boas asked.
"Um," Harrison stuttered. He held his hands up in a T-position, as if asking for a timeout in a game. "Hold on a moment. We might have misheard you."
"Human translating technology did not seem broken," Selina commented, knocking a claw against the floor to hear better. "What are you confused about, question?"
Olivia tapped her translator twice with an index finger. A robotic voice told her it was working at 97% battery life. No issues with that. So…
"I think you said something about us being, uh, 'other' humans? As in, there were humans on Erid before us?" Harrison explained. There was a bit of disbelief underlying his tone.
"Yes…" Selina said slowly. "You are not first humans to have met Eridians. You do know of Savior Grace, question?"
Olivia felt a pressure building behind her eyes, heating her face. This was something she always wondered about. Something that kept her up at night when her mind decided it would think about every terrible thing it could conjure up.
How did Ryland Grace spend his final moments in space? Did he even get the chance to see Erid in all its beauty before he starved to death? If Olivia was interpreting this correctly, then Grace didn't die during the mission. Turns out, he not only got to see Erid, but experience it for himself. It seems he continued to take a lot of humanity's firsts. First human to travel to another star. First to meet an alien. First to live on another planet.
"Wow," Zhāng whispered, voice heavy with emotion. "Dr. Grace made it to Erid."
"What, question?!" Adrian squawked. It was the first thing they've said since their introduction. "Humans should know that Grace lived! He sent you messages on the beetles. We know Earth received them because Sol is back to its original luminosity!"
"Also because they sent humans to Erid," Boas tacked on.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Adrian said. "Humans know Erid is here for them to visit and that Grace came to save Erid and Rocky!"
Romero gestured back up towards their ship, towards the direction of Earth. "Yeah, we all saw Dr. Grace's last message; the one he recorded right before he turned the Hail Mary away from Earth. He told us he was going to bring Rocky back to Erid."
Adrian tilted their carapace up and down. Nodding.
"But," Romero carried on, "even if they made it here, he should have, well, there's no nice way to say it. He should have starved to death. There wasn't enough food on the ship for him to survive after getting to Erid."
Dr. Dorian raised a claw with a short tune to turn everyone's attention to them. "Grace was very malnourished and ill when he arrived. Body weight very light, very startling. However, most importantly, he was very much alive."
"Food supply low," Boas jumped in. "We had thrum to discuss options for saving Grace. Thrummed about atmosphere problems, food issues. Did everything to ensure survival of brave savior of the stars. Succeeded."
A gasp escaped from Quinn, their hand over their mouth. "You mean, you guys helped him? So, he's here now? On Erid?"
For a moment, Olivia's heart leapt in hope. Grace was there. He was there the whole time. No dying in space, counting down the inevitable days until his food ran out. There was a whole community, a whole planet, of beings that worked together to save their savior. He had shown them kindness. Kindness that Grace exuded so easily that not only his students could see, but also this entirely different species. The line between humans and Eridians continued to blur the more they spent time together. Of course they would show kindness in return by sheltering the man when he needed it.
Then… why wasn't he there to meet them? Olivia thought that if he heard news of humans arriving on Erid, he would want to be part of the welcome committee. It's not every day that he gets to see his fellow humans, after all. Yet, there was no Ryland Grace to be found.
Dread began to poke at the corners of her mind. She did the math in her head, calculating the amount of time Grace would have spent in space and eventually on Erid. Taking into factor the space travel, then the stress that would be placed on his body and health by Erid's atmospheric conditions…
Hm.
But…
Oh…
…Oh.
Everyone was silent, all coming to the same horrible conclusion.
"Dr. Grace survived the trip to Erid," Dr. Suzuki said softly, "but he's since passed away."
…Right.
The rest of the walk to the Biodome was somber. Obviously, Olivia and everyone else knew Grace was dead before. During those years after the launch of the Hail Mary and the start of the suicide mission, there were memorials for the astronauts. When the beetles came back with the final message from the remaining member of the Hail Mary crew, they held a remembrance ceremony. They all had time to grieve for Grace. Decades of it, in fact. Still, it was one thing to hear about his death in space. It occurred light years away from Earth, so far that the human brain couldn't even fully comprehend the distance. It was another thing to be on the same planet, surrounded by the same Eridians who knew him, in his time of death. It was more real that way.
So, the astronauts were silent while they walked the rest of the way. The Eridians remained quiet as well in respect for the humans' newly found grief. Or maybe, they were experiencing their own melancholy again as well; it's different when you could share these feelings with new people. How despite just meeting, they too could find some comfort in one another from the pain of loss, just by being together.
Their mournful march eventually came to a stop as the reached the Biodome.
The doors slid open and they all blinked at the sudden change in brightness. Where before they were led through tunnels with a soft yellow glow, now they were faced with the sheer brilliance of artificial mid-afternoon light.
It didn't take long for Olivia's vision to adjust. She stared out at the scenery standing before her: a shoreline of pebbles that were gently tugged by bubbly waves into blue depths. Cliffs stood tall around them, reaching up towards the foggy sky. Olivia squinted upwards. Not the sky. If she focused enough, she could make out the slight ridges of the large xenonite panels that made up the ceiling of the Biodome.
Somehow, Olivia felt the tension in her shoulders slowly ease. It was like she was back home. Back to the days of her childhood, those early years where she could still visit the beaches. Before it got too cold for anyone to withstand the biting wind and icy waters.
"Amazing," Quinn exhaled. They breathed in deeply, eyes closed. "It's like I'm right back on Earth!"
Adrian's legs straightened, causing them to stand a bit taller. "Thank. It took some time to figure out ideal environmental conditions for Grace. I helped create beach of many, many pebbles. Got assistance in creating mechanism for tides and waves. Nearly cracked carapace against wall thinking how to replicate fog. Grace said it was something he missed often. Apparently, it's common where he lived in—"
"San Francisco," Olivia blurted out. She tore her eyes away from the water to look at Adrian. "It's just like San Francisco."
Adrian tilted slightly. "You are familiar with area where Grace lived, question?" They were leaning towards Olivia. It's difficult for her to tell, having just met the Eridian, but she thought that this was the most interested she's seen them be towards the humans since their arrival.
"Yeah," Olivia finally answered, tone wistful. "I grew up there."
She couldn't find it in her to mention that while growing up in San Francisco, she was taught by the man the Eridians housed in the Biodome. How he wasn't just some celebrity to her, just a name and photo like he was for most people. He was her teacher, the type that wore fancy blazers with ties over jeans and looked at them over his glasses with an inquisitive, playful eye as he asked them questions before tossing bean bags at them.
Their group moved down the beach further into the Biodome, towards the humans' accommodations. The buildings sat upon the beach, away from the shore and nestled into the side of a cliff. They looked similar to a set of townhouses—actually, they were almost exactly like the townhouses in San Francisco with their brightly colored walls and bay windows. Yet, there were some inhuman qualities to them, such as the way the colors were patchy, as if they couldn't quite figure out the values to match in a single shade. The windows were also strangely triangular, more diamond shaped instead of being familiarly rectangular.
While they're quite eye-catching, Olivia couldn't help but notice the other unnatural building in the Biodome. It was some distance apart from the townhouses, atop the cliff on the other side of the beach. It's structure was even more bizarre, but still an obvious attempt at a human house, paired with something that looked to be a tree with minimal leaves clutching to the uppermost branches.
Olivia quickly came to the realization of who owned that house. She nearly tripped over her own feet as she continued to stare; watched as the fog rolled over it, concealing the darkened windows.