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Eva is old.
She knows it, knows she’s been doing surprisingly well considering the conditions of the Earth by this point. They had received the beetles years back, but the world was still recovering. Just because they got the answer to the sun dimming, did not mean the world would be at peace. Just look at how it was before they found out about Astrophage.
But…
They saved so many. Not the whole world, of course. That could never be possible just based on the timeline, but Grace actually did it. He managed to find the answer and sent it back, along with his- his last message.
He had been alive. Had had the chance to return. And had chosen not to. Chose to save his new friend.
She always knew he had the ‘bravery gene’ as he described. Yao had as well. Most others on the project too.
And he did it with just the assistance of a single alien lifeform. Rocky, as Grace had called him. An alien from 16 light years away. She still had the xenonite figure sitting on her desk even after all this time.
Her job was done though. The Petrova Taskforce was no longer needed now that they had a taumoeba farm going, and the Petrova line was no longer causing the sun to dim. The rest of the team had either split off to do something else or had died since the start of the mission.
And yet.
Someone was at her door.
Don’t look at her like that. Yes, she has a door. Along with a house and a yard. She had gone to prison, for quite a few years at that, but had been released when the beetles returned and they needed her assistance. Now she lives fairly in isolation. Only a select few know her whereabouts, otherwise every Tom, Dick, and Harry would be trying to accost her and continue to blame her for things out of her control.
Anyway. Eva stands with a quiet groan, her up-do releasing a few white strands of hair as she makes her way to the door. Whoever was there knew her preferences. A single ring of the doorbell and the special knock to let her know who it was, and then wait. Any insistence would be met with no help from her. At the door, she was met with the most recent PR Director of NASA; a woman with chin-length blond hair, wearing a sleek business suit that showed she was here for more than a talk. She had badly concealed eye bags under her eyes.
“Director Stratt,” she began, a folder shifting in her hand pulling Eva’s attention for a moment.
“Just Eva, please. Or Stratt, if you must.” She was too old for these kinds of formalities now.
“Ms Stratt.” The woman adjusted her words, nodding. “It’s a pleasure. May I come in to speak with you?”
A sigh nearly escaped her. Something must’ve happened. “I suppose.” She moved out of her doorway, allowing the woman in and closing the door behind her. “What’s this about?” Straight to it, as she always liked.
“I’ve come here to inform you of a recent ping on our deep-space satellites.”
Eva glanced briefly at the woman’s badge. Annie Montrose. She recognized the name from her recent work in attempts to go to Mars, along with the astronauts already selected, the Ares III Crew. One of them reminded her of Grace, a bit.
“A probe?” Eva asked, curious. Maybe Rocky’s people had sent something to the solar system as second-contact.
“Yes…” Montrose began hesitantly “but surprisingly similar to the beetles.”
That caught her attention. “When will it be here?”
“It’s already available.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And I’m just now hearing about it?”
An audible sigh escaped the other woman. “I tried my best to get them to inform you sooner, I apologize.” She set down the folder. It was fairly thin, surprisingly. Eva reached out and took it into her lap, flipping it open as Montrose continued. “That is the recorded data that NASA could identify without opening the probes. I barely convinced them to wait until you could get on a video call. I’ve included the log in information for it, as well as the time and day.”
It was scheduled for the next day, early in the morning. “So soon?”
Montrose’s face somehow seemed even more worn out. “Doctor Grace’s possible survival has leaked faster than anticipated. We wanted to get a head start on any logs and information stored on the probes before the public can flay us for holding back.”
Ah. Makes sense. “Who first wanted me to be present for this?”
“The director of NASA, Theodore Sanders. He was the first to speak up and say you should be present.”
“Huh.” Surprising. Eva hadn’t gotten along with his predecessor, so she hadn’t been expecting him to bring her aboard. Especially since she was no longer part of any kind of task force.
“The other information in the folder is a rundown on the likely attendees, their jobs, and their… views of the Petrova Taskforce and its mission.”
Helpful. Eva gave a short nod, glancing through the compiled data. “I’ll be joining the meeting.”
Montrose’s shoulders relaxed just a tad, looking almost grateful. “We’ll be expecting you, then, Ms Stratt. I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me.”
She raised her eyes briefly, watching Montrose as the woman stood. Setting down the papers, Eva stood as well, even as Montrose tried waving her off. “I- thank you, Ms Montrose, for informing me of this development.”
A small smile graced her lips as she straightened her suit jacket. “It’s no trouble, Ms Stratt. I only wish we could’ve informed you sooner.”
Eva didn’t need much preparation for things of this nature. She was used to making snap decisions. Grace could attest to that. “I’ll see you out.”
Montrose nodded, following Eva back to the door. After it was closed and locked behind the other woman, Eva made her way back to her living room. The packet was on the coffee table where she left it, open on a picture of Doctor Grace’s face in a log she hadn’t seen.
She briefly wondered what else that man would show them.
“Oh yeah, and by the way, I’m keeping one of the humans with me.”
Eva watched, enraptured, as the video showed another human being with Doctor Grace. She watched as the man, Simon, looked at Grace, his expression and body language showing exactly how much he trusted and… dare she say adored- the man she had sent to die in space. Grace’s Eridian goodbye ended the video and began a heavy silence in the room that she was watching through her computer. She leaned back against her headboard, unable to hold back her first bout of laughter. It escaped her suddenly, and she quickly turned her head, hand coming up to hide her mouth as she barely hid her amusement.
Of course.
Of course this man would prove to the world that another universe existed. Of course he would save not only their world and an alien world, but also humans from an entirely different universe.
She could feel eyes on her. “No, don’t look at me, I’m not going to be alive by the time we have to deal with this. Maybe just do as your teacher says and play nice, yes?” Maybe a bit of Grace’s mischievousness rubbed off on her; she ended the call quickly and sat back in her bed, eyes on the ceiling as she continued to chuckle.
By the time either the promised probes from Doctor Grace would arrive, or the humans from another universe finally showed, she would be six feet under. Maybe she could send over some of the items she never had a chance to put in Grace’s original personal belongings. And maybe a little something for his partner too. Because that was what Simon was, even if Grace hadn’t explicitly said. She could see it in the man’s eyes.
A ding from her computer had her pulling her eyes back to the screen. A message from NASA’s director. Strange.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Probe logs
Ms. Stratt,
It was a pleasure to see you on the call. I hope that Doctor Grace’s videos can give you some semblance of peace, knowing he has lived.
We here at NASA will do our best to send Doctor Grace his requested items, and as such, decided to reach out to you for further items you believe he would like. You knew him best, out of everyone available.
Attached to the email is a log specifically for you, Ms. Stratt. Doctor Grace has encoded it to make sure that no one besides you could open it. I would appreciate it if you could inform me of the contents if it is anything that could assist us. Otherwise, feel free to ignore the request.
Best,
Theodore “Teddy” Sanders
Director of NASA
Another log? Exclusively for her? She had some feeling she would know what was on it.
And yet, she couldn’t stop herself. She opened the attachment, downloading it to her computer. It opened automatically and showed a login screen with what amounted to flavor text along the bottom edge that read ‘Your email during the time of the taskforce and the last thing I said to you’.
A heavy hit right away, huh Grace? Eva felt something in her chest tighten just a smidge. She still didn’t regret what she did. Yes, she wished it hadn’t come to that, hadn’t had to happen the way it did, but sending him had been her best option. And it obviously was the right one. Both for their universe and the other one. Eva really doesn’t think that any of the other ‘options’ she had at the time could’ve done what Grace managed.
She logged in.
The first thing that popped up was a preview of the video log, Grace’s face taking up a majority of the view. The amount of time of the video didn’t even show, and there was nothing else on screen. Eva pressed play.
The preview changed to show the inside of a house, the same as what Grace showed off during the other videos. In the middle of the view, Grace sat in that same chair with a blank face, staring down the camera. Behind the camera, that same voice from Simon spoke up.
“It’s recording, Angel,” his voice was soft, but the camera still picked it up.
Grace gave the man a warm smile, eyes only on him for a brief moment before he turned back to the camera. “Stratt.” He began, his hiked shoulders curling in towards his chest as he leaned forward. “I still don’t forgive you.”
She let out a soft breath through her nose, a smile twitching at her lips. Of course he wouldn’t.
“But.” Grace sighed, turning his eyes back to where she assumed his partner was. “Simon told me this would help. Would help me… get over it, in a way. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. I figured it was worth a shot.” He tilted his head back, throat bobbing as he swallowed, staring at the ceiling. “It was the right choice, in the end. We both know it. I was the leading expert on Astrophage. I had the necessary training- for the most part.” His head came back down, eyes hard. “I still hate what you did to me. Breaking my trust. Forcing me on the ship. Giving me amnesia.” Fingers came up as he told her what she had done. She remembered.
“It hurt. Both emotionally and physically. I wish my last memories of Earth weren’t of me being forced to the ground and sedated. I wish my last time touching the Earth wasn’t me digging into the dirt trying to claw my way from under those men. I-I-” he took a steadying breath “I wish I hadn’t remembered your betrayal. Or Carl’s. I know he was only doing as he was told. If he’s still alive when you get these, please tell him I forgive him.”
He wasn’t. He had died a few years back. She had gone to his funeral.
Grace stood, pacing in front of his chair. “My time in that other universe gave me a bit of perspective. I met a woman there named Ava, a Captain. She reminds me a bit of you, actually. Loyal to humanity, doing everything she could to try to save it, even if it meant- even if it meant pulling the lever and moving the trolley to the other track. She didn’t want to let me go. I was an asset, someone that could help them survive.” He turned again towards Simon, another soft smile on his face. “Luckily I had someone there with me that I could trust. He was actually the first person I met there.”
She could hear shuffling to the side of the camera, and watched Grace’s eyes follow movement, face relaxed and- Eva had never seen him look like that before. He seemed… content. Happy. Loving.
“Anyway. I recorded this one for you, Stratt. Kind of like a last goodbye. I did the math after we recorded those videos. It’s been… a long time on Earth comparatively. Gosh, you’re probably old and gray by now, huh? I can’t imagine you died yet, even with how long it’ll take for these probes to arrive. You were always stubborn. Almost to a fault. But, I’ve found that stubborn people can be some of the most kind.” And again, with a glance to Simon. Must be a stubborn guy.
He walked closer to the camera, reaching out and grabbing it from where it had sat. “I won’t forgive, and I won’t forget. But- I can let it go. I know your reasonings, I know the end results. I’ll miss Earth, I’ll miss my kids, I’ll miss the Sun, the grass, trees.” A shaky inhale. “I could go back too. The Eridian’s fixed up Mary, fueled her, and we’ve got a good supply of food. It would be possible. But- I don’t want to. I like it here on Erid, with Rocky, the other Eridians, my class, and- and Simon. We’ve got a good setup here, in our little enclosure. I’m sure you saw the other videos before watching this one. There’s more to it than we showed. Simon’s garden-” Grace paused, breathless for a moment. “Beautiful. He’s done an amazing job.”
“Angel, please,” the soft, deep voice of the other man sounded… bashful. “Enough about me.”
Doctor Grace laughed. A light, airy thing that brightened him considerably. “I just had to brag about you a bit, Si. I get to keep the best human from that universe, why wouldn’t I boast about it?”
A sigh; fond, adoring- Grace was obviously special to the man too. She had been able to tell since that small glance of him in the other video.
“Make your video, Ryland.” His hand came into view for a moment, pulling Grace’s face out of frame for a few extra moments. When Grace returned, he had a blush high on his cheeks and his lips were stretched in a wide grin.
“Right, right,” Grace still had his eyes on Simon, seeming like he forgot what he was doing, until that same hand returned and gently poked the scientist between his brows. “Right-” He was still grinning, but he did return his focus to the camera. “I think I’ve got it pretty good here on Erid. A best friend, a partner, no taxes,” he chuckled. “They treat me as a hero, which- you’d probably know how I’d feel about that. You’re lucky that you won’t be meeting Rocky. He’d have a lot to say to you.”
“He’d do more than say,” Simon murmured, “and I’d be right there with him.”
A roll of his eyes and a soft smile showed how Grace wouldn’t stop them if they had had the chance. Good. He needed people that would stand up for him. Help him. Love him.
“But! If you want to get a little bit of leeway with them, I’m sure you still have a decent amount of sway in the world- We don’t have a lot of things here on Erid, and man, I’ve been craving Skittles since I got back from the other universe.” He winked at the camera, finally moving to put it back down. “I know it probably isn’t worth much to you, since I’m sure you’re close to-” his throat bobbed as he swallowed, his words faltering “Anyway. It would still be a nice gift, y’know. It’s not like we’ll be handing the recipe out to the rest of Earth after all. Make some for yourself while you’re at it. You’ve got connections, you’re smart.”
Well. It’s not like she had much else to do anyway. She already had an idea of what she could do to get that recipe. And maybe a few others.
“So.” He sat back in his seat, shoulders slumped and expression tired. “This is probably the last time you’ll hear from me, but… it could be nice to hear from you. If you wanted. You don’t have to, of course, it’s fine-” That same hand came back into frame and gently rested over Grace’s lips. His eyes crinkled as he turned to the other man, reaching up to pull the hand off and link their fingers. “I’d… like it if you did, though. If nothing else, so that I can see how you’ve changed. I’m sure you’re still the same Stratt as back then, but I want to know how your life has gone. Maybe send me an amendment of the internet too. We’ve got a lot here, but it’d still be nice to get an update on everything.”
Hm. Yeah. That could be a bit harder, but not impossible. If she waited until after the public saw the probe videos, she just knew that a good majority of the world would see Grace and Simon’s relationship and run with it.
Maybe when she sends in the items to NASA, she’ll include pictures and information on his brothers that she only found out about approximately three months after the original launch. Just to return the favor of him introducing a new universe.