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The vast darkness of space continued infinitely, practically none of it visible from the window of the Hail Mary. It contained no intermissions, no pauses, save for the small white stars that speckled the sky. The pattern simply went on forever, unceasing.
At least the ship had a good view, if nothing else.
A tight yawn escaped Grace’s lips as he stretched, arms popping as he held them above his aching head. Taking another small bite from the crappy breakfast burrito, he simply basked in the moment of blissful silence.
“What Grace doing, question?”
“I’m eating breakfast.”
“Grace staring at wall.”
“Looking out the window, Rock.”
“Why, question?” A small tapping noise sounded from behind Grace’s back as Rocky tapped one of his legs lightly on the glass of his tunnel.
“It’s cool.”
“Not cool. Boring.”
“C’mon, we’re in space. How is that not cool?”
Rocky chittered in a sort-of sarcastic form of annoyance, a low, strangely melodic sound. “Boring boring boring. Rocky bored.”
“Okay, okay, I get it.” A light chuckle escaped his lips as Rocky cartoonishly hit his head into the side of the tunnel to demonstrate his boredom.
Tossing the half finished food to the floor, Rocky’s annoyed chitters only increased as Grace strolled through the ship. As he stepped over the threshold of another room, he could hear small skittering noises as the alien tagged along behind him.
“Grace so messy. Is all humans messy as Grace, question?”
“Oh, yeah. Believe it or not, I’m actually on the cleaner side, by human standards.”
Rocky’s scrambling legs paused at this statement, a very low, dissatisfied noise emanating from his body. “Erid better. Eridians keep planet clean always.”
“Wait until you learn about global warming.”
“What that, question?”
Deciding not to provide him with a response, Grace continued forwards as the clambering behind him picked up once more. As much as he knew Rocky wanted to continue speaking, he ended up remaining silent, simply following him through the different rooms.
Reaching the control room, Grace collapsed into the pilot’s seat with a tired sigh as he slid his glasses on, blinking as his eyes adjusted.
An automated voice came to life, filling the room in such a fashion that Grace felt very briefly claustrophobic. “Pilot detected.”
“Yup. I’m the pilot. Sure.”
The walls of buttons and lights that coated the room flickered to life, bathing the space in bright spots of yellow and red lighting.
“Alright, Mary. How long do we have until we reach Tau Ceti?”
“You will arrive at Tau Ceti in roughly: twenty-two days, eleven hours, and seventeen minutes.”
Half-lidded eyes widening slightly, Grace’s shoulders stiffened as the monotone voice read out the numbers. “That can’t be right. How the hell did-”
Rocky, who had switched to his ball, rolled across the floor, bumping into a wall as the alien inside forced the ball to a stop. “What wrong, question?”
“That…doesn’t make any sense. How did we…?”
The voice that emanated from the ball raised in frequency. “Grace, what wrong, question?” From a glance at Rocky, it seemed that he had raised the sort-of carapace part of his body to rest higher than usual, the Eridian version of becoming tense with worry.
“I think we’re…heading the wrong way?” Grace shoved his glasses up the bridge of his nose as Rocky chittered in anxiety. “I could’ve sworn that we only had seventeen days left to go yesterday.”
“Grace sure, question?”
“I-I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong, but I really thought…” As he trailed off in thought, eyes distant, Rocky’s ball tumbled around the floor as he looked at the many screens. Finding nothing of note, he turned back to Grace.
“Maybe Grace need sleep, question? Human stupid when need sleep. Grace not sleep for many days.”
“Yeah, well I had good reason not to. I’m sort of focused on saving my entire species at the moment.”
“Grace sleep now. Rocky watch.”
“No, I’m not going to stretch out and take some leisurely nap while we drift away from our destination. I don’t even understand how we-”
“Grace sleep. Grace stupid.”
The scientist grunted in annoyed acknowledgment of the words, but made no move to rise from the seat. “Maybe. But I would rather be stupid than be dead.”
“Rocky no understand. Cure for stupid is sleep.”
“Well, I don’t care right now. I need to figure out what is going on, and fix it before both our species collectively drop dead.”
“Sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep slee-”
“Alright, Rock. Give it a rest.” He abruptly shoved up from the pilot’s seat with more force than necessary, nearly kicking Rocky. “I will take a ten minute nap, and then I don’t want to hear you say the word sleep for at least twenty-four hours. Got that?” Shoving a finger toward the ball at his feet, he swept from the room, not waiting for a response.
“Agree agree. Rocky watch Grace sleep.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Reaching the unmade bed, Grace kicked his feet up before collapsing, head slamming into the pillow. Rocky took his place above, chittering contentedly as Grace shifted to pull the blanket up to his shoulders.
“Are you happy now?”
“Yes. Rocky happy Grace sleep.”
Though the scientist had been planning on faking a brief slumber before resuming his duties, Rocky had not been lying when he said that it had been days since Grace had last slept. Despite his best wishes, Grace had already fallen into a restless form of sleep before Rocky could even finish speaking, though something about it didn't feel quite right.
—
“ce.”
“Grace.”
“Grace wake up now.”
Incessant tapping filled the bedroom, accompanied by Rocky’s pitched-up voice.
“What? What is it?” Head swaying strangely, Grace sat up, slurring his words as he “woke” from whatever kind of slumber he had just experienced. Rocky’s tense carapace came into view as it bounced up and down on adrenaline-filled legs.
“Wrong planet wrong planet wrong planet. Rocky no understand. Grace follow follow follow.” The alien’s quick words repeated themselves in the fashion of a mumble as he took off, scampering through his tunnel, evidently expecting Grace to chase after him.
“H-huh?” Forgotten blanket falling to the ground, Grace shoved away from the bed, stumbling slightly and leaning against the wall as he ran a hand down his crumpled shirt.
“Rocky?” The name echoed strangely, reverbing off the walls as he stared down the long tunnel, though no reply called back. Grumbling as he stood from the wall, Grace ran into the ominous darkness that filled the hall.
Eventually slowing down and holding one arm in a protective position in front of his head whilst keeping the other stretched out in front of him, he ungracefully shuffled through the darkness, occasionally tripping over his own feet. Outstretched hand finding a wall, he kept his fingers on the anchoring surface as he proceeded forward with no light to guide him.
“Rock? You down there?” These words echoed more than previously, though Grace was still only greeted with silence. “What did you mean by ‘wrong planet’? Hello?”
He had not been expecting the random shout to receive a response, though it got one before the words could even finish leaving his mouth; albeit not the one that he was expecting. Blinding white light filled the room, illuminating every possible corner in the small space. Grace yelped, head instinctively snapping downwards as both arms flew to cover his face in a fruitless attempt to shield his eyes.
Blinking exaggeratedly as his eyes inched open, he did a quick scan of the room. It seemed that Rocky was nowhere to be found, though the room itself made it difficult to focus on that fact. A massive window took up the space of the entire wall that Grace was currently facing, the glass taking the form of an almost spherical shape.
And visible from that window, was Earth.
Earth, in all its green and blue glory, sitting innocently outside of the Hail Mary.
Though it looked…different.
The entire planet contained a pale blue-ish tint, as if it was being viewed through a colored lens.
It was obvious what this was, but Grace simply sat there, expression entirely flat, staring at the wasteland from high above.
“What?” The word numbly left his mouth in a tone that he had never heard from himself before. It wasn’t even truly phrased like a question, for he already knew the answer.
…
The Earth had frozen over.
They were too late.
—
“No. No, no. That’s not…I didn’t-” A wheeze escaped his lungs. A strange, disconcerting noise, as if he had tried to laugh without oxygen. His feet stumbled backwards, tripping over something that had been lying out on the floor. Head slamming into the ground, he coughed pathetically as the air was knocked out of his lungs. As he recovered and pushed himself up from the grimy floor, one hand went to rub at the back of his head.
And then his eyes fell to the ground.
“Rocky?”
The alien’s many legs were splayed beneath him, carapace resting on its side. There was no movement in response to his name as Grace clumsily scrambled over on his hands and knees.
“Hey, Rock? We’ve got a problem here.” Grace’s trembling hands shook him gently, and then picked up in force at the complete lack of movement. “C’mon, buddy. You’ve gotta wake up and help me.” Choking on unreleased sob, his eyes flickered between the window and the alien.
“I can’t do this without you, Rock.”
His back slammed against the wall as he fell backwards, beginning to hyperventilate. Clutching at his head and forcing his blurry eyes closed as he bent over, he tried those worthless breathing techniques that he had taught his students so long ago.
In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out. In-
“Dying-”
In, out. In, out. In, out-
“No no no.”
In, out. In-
“Grace wake up Grace wake up Grace wake up.”
In-
"Grace wake up. Statement statement state-”
—
Air flew into his lungs all at once, and he gasped as his entire body flew upwards without his consent. Hand clutching at his chest, he panted, perspiration dripping down the back of his neck. At a sudden movement to his right, he flinched, gasping once more.
Grace watched as Rocky’s entire body bounced up and down, high pitched chittering overlapping with his words as he spoke. “Grace live! Amaze amaze amaze!”
“What?” The word left his mouth as more of a breath, barely audible.
“Grace talking and rolling in sleep. Rocky thought Grace dying.”
Another overly large breath left his mouth, and Grace dropped his head to rest in his hands. Focusing on his breathing, his fingers rubbed at his face as Rocky remained silent.
“Grace okay, question?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” He was able to make the words sound relatively normal by focusing on the enunciation as he spoke. “Did you…ever tell me that I was being stupid? Or ask me why I was staring at the wall?”
“Rocky no say that.”
“Okay…okay,” Grace muttered more to himself than Rocky. “Just a nightmare.”
The alien cocked its whole body to the side, conveying confusion. “What that, question?”
“It’s like…thoughts or images that play in your head while you sleep, but they’re all negative. Dreams are…the nicer version of nightmares.”
“Grace hallucinating, question?”
“Yeah. Something like that.”
Still trembling slightly, Grace pushed himself out of the bed and began towards the control room, the alien in his ball at his heels.
“What Grace see when hallucinating, question?”
His steps faltered, just enough to be noticeable, as his gaze dropped to Rocky. “Nothing important.”
“Grace sad. Very important.”
“I…” He stopped just before the control room, watching Rocky as he hitched himself up in interest. “Just…give me a second.”
Climbing up and dropping into the pilot seat, he involuntarily shivered at the sense of dé·jà vu that he got from doing so. The buttons and switches chirped to life around him, and he sucked in a breath.
“Pilot detected.”
“Mary, how long do we have until we reach Tau Ceti?”
“You will arrive at Tau Ceti in roughly:”
Grace’s breath caught in his throat and he squeezed his eyes shut.
“Sixteen days, eight hours, and fifty-seven seconds."
Eyes remaining closed, he dropped his head back into the chair with a grateful sigh.
Somewhat predictably, Rocky’s panicked voice rang through the room. “Grace, question? Grace dying, question?!”
“Nope, still not dying, Rock. I’m fine.”
“Hallucinating, question?”
“Not asleep either.”
Rocky’s anxious chittering subsided slightly, but it continued nonetheless.
“What Grace dream about, question?”
Grace’s eyes drifted open, cutting to the alien before he pinched the bridge of his nose. “You really want to know?”
“Yes yes Rocky want know.”
“Fine. We…I guess the ship got turned around somehow, and we ended up near Earth, but…we were too late, and it was frozen over. As well as…I-you…” His eyes cut to the floor. “You died.”
“Rocky died, question?”
“Yeah. I know, it’s…stupid.”
The alien’s carapace tilted slightly downwards as he considered this. Almost immediately, Grace began to regret sharing this information with him. Eridians evidently didn’t dream, therefore there was no way that one could completely understand. This could have some serious consequen-
“Rocky not dead.”
Grace’s lost attention returned to Rocky.
“Rocky very not dead. Rocky feel amaze!
Eyebrows raising slightly, Grace waited for him to continue, not wanting to interrupt.
…Grace feel better now?”
“Sure, yeah. Thanks, buddy.” He allowed himself to smile as Rocky did a small spin of celebration, and happy chitters overpowered the previous anxious ones.
“Amaze amaze amaze. Grace happy now.”
Silence filled the room as Grace watched Rocky throw his little celebration, though it suddenly came to an abrupt stop.
“Grace still sad.”
“What?” He stretched the word out theatrically, chuckling slightly. “No, I’m not.”
An annoyed noise sounded from the alien.
“Follow Rocky.”
His ball took off through the doorway as Grace stood from the seat, sputtering. “Rocky? Where the hell are you going?”
Sighing exasperatedly at the silence that followed, Grace took off after the tumbling ball, the nightmare still all too fresh in his mind.
—
The scientist panting slightly at Rocky’s metaphorical heels, he finally slowed as Grace bent down and put his hands on his knees. “Geez, Rock. Slow down.”
“Grace look.”
A light gasp escaped his lips as he brought his head up, and the details of the room overtook his vision. They were in the space from the nightmare, Rocky positioned just in front of the window. His leg beckoned him over in a motion that he had likely learned from Grace.
“Wow, okay. Yup. This is…great. What am I looking at?”
“Window. Grace look out window.”
Hesitating for only a brief second, his aching legs moved to join Rocky. Space stretched on infinitely outside, the familiar white stars occasionally standing out against the continuous background.
“Grace sit.”
Raising a judgmental eyebrow at Rocky, Grace obeyed, sitting with his legs folded beneath him as his eyes continued to linger on the vast stretch of space. His knee touched Rock’s ball, though neither of them acknowledged it.
“What Grace see, question?”
“Uh…not much?” He glanced at Rocky, though he was only met by silence. Evidently, he expected something more. “I see…space? Stars? I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“Grace see Earth, question?”
“Well-no?”
“Not going to Earth. Grace Rocky going to Tau Ceti, going right way. Grace understand, question?”
A strange form of comfort dawning on his face, Grace nodded, gaze drifting back to the alien with a sad sort of smirk. “Are you actually trying to comfort me right now?”
“Grace sad. Rocky help.”
“Thanks, Rock.” Head drifting up and down in a slow nod, Grace found that he was actually grateful. Who knew that an alien who barely understood the basic grammar rules of English could be comforting?
“Grace feel better now, question?”
Sure I d-
“Grace really feel better, question?”
Much to Grace’s surprise, the usual monotone voice somehow conveyed worry, even though that was hardly possible. Rocky pressed his body slightly against the ball, coming as close to Grace as possible as he waited for an answer.
The scientist actually stopped, taking a moment to ponder this. “Yeah…yeah, I do.” Another small smile overtook his features as Rocky chittered happily.
“I do.”