Chapter Text
Nobody could've prepared Dr. Ryland Grace for the day that came after his birthday, at 51 years old. Because nobody had expected a crash-landing into the middle of their favorite hero's biodome, almost killing him, by a spacecraft created by the planet he once came from.
But so it happened. Within seconds, Grace was gasping for air, only saved by the dome's tight security system and emergency training that Rocky had forced him into. At the time he'd dismissed it unnecessary with the amount of protection given to him from all of Erid.
Now, he was really glad he had such a good friend. If he hadn't trained for the possibility of being subjected to lung-burning ammonia filling his system while actively trying to escape to an oxygen bubble, especially while panicking, he'd probably be dead right now. Considering his luck though, he instead sat in the rescue capsule with an extra oxygen mask, hoping the Eridian scientists would quickly figure out what went wrong with his dome.
"Grace, are you okay?" Rocky's concerned trills flooded through his communication line.
"Yeah bud, I'm all good. I'm in the eastern security bubble with 15 hours of oxygen left and the food and hydration packets are also there.",
"Good. Murphy and Who are already working on restoring the habitat. Everyone's still a little rattled from the sudden impact. It's good to know you're safe." He didn't miss the genuine concern in Rocky's trills.
"I am, your training sessions did hold up—" Ryland heard the smug whoop through the transmitter, but chose to ignore it.
"So what happened out there? The only thing I remember is some kind of collision and then—BOOM, ammonia poisoning.",
"Severe poisoning?",
" Ah, no. No worries, my immune system should be able to clear it on it's own.",
"Do not overestimate the system, you're getting old—",
"I'm not that old yet, Rock. I promise you, I'm fine. Now tell me what's going on out there.",
"Alright. Murphy just sent in signal for the emergency repairs being finished. We'll clear out the atmosphere to make sure there's no lasting ammonia and the temperature drops again. Intel requests you join her in the lab once you're cleared to leave again.",
"Wow, the chief of evolutionary science wants to talk to me?",
"Yes, Ignorant buffoon. Intel reckons you can help figuring out what collided with the dome, especially given you can detect light.",
"Huh? Why would you need my help with that? Shouldn't you have already figured that out?" He noticed Rocky's avoidance.
Something wasn't right.
"Grace—we really shouldn't be bothering you with this.." Rocky sounded genuinely ashamed.
"Hey. I'm not bothered being asked to investigate what almost killed me. What was it? Some debris? A failed experiment? Come on Rock—",
"It's a space shuttle." What?
".. What do you mean by that Rocky?",
"It sounds similar to the Hail Mary. Besides being bigger and.. holy Lords of the thrum.",
"Hey! Seriously dude, what's going on out there?!" He hated that the capsules had never been designed for see-through spectacle.
"Grace. It sounds like a heartbeat." Grace followed with silence.
"Are you sure? Don't play some stupid butterfluff on me right now, okay?" He tried his best to stay calm.
If this was.. What if it was another alien species? What if he was going to make 4th contact? But then, what if it was from Earth? That question terrified him the most.
"House just confirmed it. It sounds exactly like your heartbeat, though elevated and slightly louder." He really wanted to burst into tears right now.
"Well then, get me out of this bubble as soon as possible.",
"Of course. Sit tight, Grace." Sitting tight, he was.
The following 25 minutes felt like agonizing hours, probably worse than the hours spent on unsuccessfully trying to synthesize tomatoes on Erid. Then, the opening call finally came.
The robot voice, similar to Mary's voice module, echoed and within seconds, the walls of the bubble retreated into the ground. The sight that he witnessed then, was terrifying.
In front of the now exposed Dr. Ryland Grace, sat a space shuttle approximately 3 times the size of the Hail Mary. Though, in comparison to the repaired and well parked, retired ship, this one was in rough shape. The outer hull was torn apart, leaving a giant hole looking right into the interior of the ship.
It looked well-made on the surface, though the interior told a different story. Upon further inspection later-on, Grace would discover that the entire shuttle had 0 health protocols, barely enough rations for a year and a 90% deceased crew. But in the moment, he only had one thing on his mind.
Luckily, Rocky already met him halfway, ushering him to the collection of Eridians on the other side of the wreckage, where they all surrounded something.
"Move, move, move! Savior Grace, present. Savior Grace top 1 priority, let through immediately, statement." He switched into his usual Eridian speech pattern, immediately catching the attention of everyone around.
The group dispersed and Grace finally got to see what they were so curious about. Truly, nobody could've prepared him for the sight before him.
An extremely skinny (probably human) female, approximately 23 if he had to guess, with dark, raven-like hair and warm-toned brown skin was laid out in front of him. Her face was bruised and the uniform she was wearing had torn in some places, showing jagged cuts into her thighs and arms. Some heat blisters due to incompatible atmosphere also made themselves visible.
"Holy fudge crackers.. We need medical attention! House, get her to my human-medicine team immediately." He, almost naturally, ordered.
He needed to help this woman. Wherever she came from and whatever her mission was in the end. He had to find out how she ended up here and how the accident had occurred.
———
"We won't make it! The planet's natural g-forces are pulling us in! Face it. This is the end for us! At least we won't have to starve to death this way..." Martin had spat.
Owen's still body remained in the empty storage compartment. Nobody was willing to let even a hint of the decay ooze out. Jacqueline had already given up and resorted to hyperventilating into a bag on the floor. David was still locked up in the lab. And her?
She stood in the center of the mess. Staring fiercely at Martin, who had resignation written all over his face. She felt dead. Yet, the ship was still rapidly descending, fighting the atmosphere of Eridani 40 A b, it was going to crash on a plant that hadn't even gotten a proper name.
"What will you do 'Commander'? How will you save us now?" Martin's voice dripped like poison into her ears.
"I—.." She didn't finish the sentence. There was nothing left to be said.
They were going to die here against their will. This mission had started against their will and would end against their will.
The impact felt distant. The world around her turned into nothing more than speedy lights, before flashing white. Her ears were ringing and the spot where Martin had just stood in front of her had been evaporated. She didn't even feel the impact. All she felt was her body shutting down and then—
Nothing.
———
"Eye movement detected." A robotic voice called out.
She groggily shifted her eyelids around until they revealed her pupils, letting the environment's light assault her eyes. Her vision was still steadily blurred, only differencing the stark contrast between the white blob in front of her and the black background behind it.
"Eye movement detected." The voice repeated it's notification.
"I got it, Armando. You can pipe it down.." A voice, slightly out of breath called out.
It seemed to belong to another blob entering her field of vision. It sounded pleasantly human, much to her confusion. The blob moved around until it was at a similar distance as the white blob next to her. God, what she wouldn't give for her vision to clear up right now.
The white blob retreats further up with a mechanic whirr. That's some sort of robot then. She can't muster up much more cognitive function at the moment, her mind feels like mush and her body is limp under her command. Is this hell?
"Hey there.. Uh, I don't know if you speak english—which I mean, would be great.. But then again you're from outer space and even if you're from earth, I wouldn't know where you come from so—" Holy shit, this blob rambled a lot.
She let out a groan, which seemed to pull him out of his rambling for the moment.
"Right—you're probably dying from thirst.. Here, try to take some sips." With his words followed a straw, made of some kind of metal, being placed to her lips.
That made her realize how truly thirsty she actually was. Her lips were drier than the Sahara Desert and had obviously started chipping. Reluctantly, she closed her mouth around the straws and tried take a few sips, getting faster upon noticing it was cold water. She drank so fast, she choked.
The blob, now slowly shifting into a more human shape, though it was still debatable what it actually was, shifted. It took the straw from her lips and gently rubbed circles on her chest while she coughed.
".. Thank you.." She roughly gasped.
The thing halted for a second. Obviously taken off guard by her voice, though it did recover fairly quickly.
"You do speak english! Wow, that's just my luck huh? How are you feeling?",
"Mh.. " She croaked.
"Right, sorry. You'll probably need to recover a little more before being able to speak again.." She agreed with his point, no use damaging her vocal cords any more.
Instead of attempting to speak again, she pointed at the metallic straw, which was now fully rendered in her vision, and made a motion with her hand. Without hesitation, the figure above her guided it to her mouth again. This time, she took a little more time between sips, letting the cooling liquid drip down her sore throat.
She'd concentrated so much on sipping that she'd closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the figure was finally a clear image. A 40—maybe 50 year old Man stood over here, with pale skin and tousled blonde hair that was kissed with some gray streaks. He wore a gentle expression, which fit with his glasses hanging crooked off his face.
"I'm Grace, Ryland Grace. Do you think, you could introduce yourself?",
She stared at him for a little longer, before nodding, slowly, her cognitive abilities were still highly reduced and it was showing.
".. Highland., Eva Highland." The man's expression shifted for a second before relaxing again.
"Alright. It's nice to meet you, Eva.",
Eva shifted her face to make eye contact with him and gave him a weak smile. She was in good hands. At least she thought so, which probably didn't mean much with her current state. Then again, she didn't really have the ability to leave anyway.
She would just have to trust Mr. Grace. Trust that he'd help her. Wherever she was.