Alone in the Sea of Stars

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. Not that it mattered.. Screaming had never done her any good on Earth, why would it make a difference in space? When she was crammed like a sardine in a dingy apartment full of people and her screams went ignored, why would the cold sterile vacuum of space be any different?

For Evelyn Miller screaming was a waste of breath that only ever made things worse. She learned that there was no one to save you but yourself. A lesson hard taught, but learned none the less.

She stared at the poster. A sanitized workplace poster warning of danger and the need to stay in contact and keep communications running... because as the cartoon image of an astronaut screaming was captioned... no one would hear you scream in space. So keep those comm systems up and running, the cheerful bold colored letters stated below.

Her gaze moved past the poster, it wasn't worth an eye roll. She stared out the giant widow that stretched from floor to ceiling. An unobstructed view into the great void, that ocean of darkness speckled with stars.

And Evelyn smiled, not a big smile, not a grin, barely a smirk. It was a smile for herself. While some would gaze out into the void of space and be terrified of the enormity of it all, the seeming

endlessness of it, the isolation. The fact that you could be alone with no one around you for an incomprehensible distance as far as the human mind could conceive.

She gazed closely at a specific section of the black void, she lifted her hand and held her index finger and thumb out in front of her eye. She lined up the empty dark space between her thumb and finger and slowly pressed them closer to each other. That dark space of nothingness was where she knew Earth was. Somewhere among all that darkness, so many lightyears away, so many star systems away... sat Earth.

Her finger and thumb met as she watched the space where Earth was disappear behind her pinched finger and thumb. She smiled, this time noticeable if anyone had seen her. And she knew something did. It always did.

"Would you like me to provide the exact distance the Eden is from Earth Evelyn?" Came a voice from around her. The voice was calm, a well mannered and polite tone oozing from it's every enunciation.

Evelyn's smile evaporated as the deep rumble of the ship's intercom spoke to her. The faintest hint of a metallic or synthesized background to the otherwise normal English accent that spoke to her. Always letting her know in the back of her mind the person speaking to her was not a person. That was the only element that gave Evelyn comfort.

"No SETH." She replied. Her voice empty and sterile. Her hand and fingers moved towards her head as she rubbed her eyes and temple before running her fingers through her brown hair.

"If I have disturbed you, I apologize." SETH responded with a sincere apologetic tone. "You appeared quite happy seeming to contemplate the distance we are from Earth. I only wished to provide you with more information to make you happier. Your comfort and well-being are part of my primary directives.”

SETH paused speaking for a moment, as a person would when trying to broach a sensitive subject with a friend. "And you have not been happy for quite some time...”

Again SETH paused, as a person fishing for a response would. Evelyn still stared into the black void out the window. She had to give SETH credit, for a computer, he could sound and act so

human at times. But this was not a conversation she wanted to have, no matter how many times SETH tried to start it.

"I'm fine SETH." Her reply was plain, neither happy nor sad. Not empathetic or curt. Neither professional nor casual. No, the voice she used was one she learned to use a long time ago. When she spoke, she wanted someone to hear and understand, but then forget about her. She wanted to be ignored, to attract no attention, and leave no memory of her in the minds of anyone she met. She had enough of dealing with the interest other people had in her, she’d do anything to avoid it. That was why she took this job.

“Let’s just focus on our mission SETH.” Evelyn continued in the same guarded tone.

“As you wish.” SETH replied, his voice betraying no disappointment or skepticism all too many humans would’ve given her.

It was one thing that made the job bearable. SETH was not a human; he was a machine. An artificial intelligence that ran and managed the Eden entirely. Ship External Telemetry Hub was the actual name. Evelyn didn’t know if someone came up with the name Seth first and made up an acronym for the letters or if it was just lucky it made a name. She was never curious enough to ask.

SETH was the ship for all intents and purposes, Evelyn was a guest inside of him. The downside was that he was everywhere. His cameras and sensors watching and monitoring her constantly. An intercom in every hall and room to speak to her through. And even a personification of himself in the form of a shimmering blue triangle that pulsed when he spoke to her.

Evelyn had chosen that avatar for SETH when she boarded the Eden. SETH was surprised she wanted a form for him that was so abstract rather than one of the hundreds of thousands of human appearances he had in his system to appear as. Most humans preferred to see him as another human, especially being the only other person onboard the ship.

But Evelyn was not most people. The job she took was one few took willingly, which made it all the more surprising that she volunteered for it immediately. Much to the initial confusion and then elation by her interviewer.

Evelyn was a Ship Minder. Her job was simple. Keep her ship and the AI controlling it functioning and provide any repairs or maintenance as needed. SETH was her AI counterpart, and the ship they worked on was the Eden.

The Eden was a McPherson Class cargo and transport vessel. A colossal vessel stretching over four-hundred meters in length from the tip to the rear. It’s shape resembled that of a long cylinder, sections rotating to generate the artificial gravity for the rest of the motionless sections of the vessel. The only breaks in it’s otherwise smooth and sleek design was the slight rise and bulge in the middle top of the ship that held the living quarters and bridge. The vast majority of the ship was giant hangers and warehouses and storage rooms, each designed to manage specific kinds of cargo. Liquid storage chambers, grain storage chambers, seed storage, chemical storage, and a dozen more Evelyn couldn’t think of filled the lower sections of the ship. Above that a large warehouse full of conventional items like vehicles and common consumer goods, always in demand at the far-flung colonies on distant worlds or sprawling space colonies. And at the top and center of the Eden lay the personal quarters and habitation. The bridge, medical bay, gym, observation deck, kitchen, living quarters, baths, showers, and restroom facilities, all leading into a central common area.

The Eden could support a crew of ten at most and still not seem cramped. Evelyn couldn’t believe she had all of it to herself at first, her only homes on Earth were a quarter the size of the smallest closet on the Eden. The company representative explained they wanted their Ship Minders to feel at home and not feel claustrophobic or undergo cabin fever. For Evelyn it wasn’t an issue, the Eden had a near endless library of books, television, movies, video-games, and even the sounds of crowds of people in a multitude of different scenarios. The latter option Evelyn had never made use of and never planned to, but the former she had gorged herself on. She couldn’t remember the last time she was able to read and study while feeling… safe.

Safe was what the Eden felt to her. While it certainly fell short of its namesake to most people, for Evelyn it was as close to paradise as she could get. Instead of moldy dilapidated walls of peeling wallpaper all around her, she had interiors that were walls of smooth white panels on a light grey floor under a white ceiling with the same smooth square panels. Instead of a dirty mattress full of stains whose origins she didn’t want to imagine, she had crisp clean linens every day. For the first week onboard Evelyn couldn’t believe she was actually being paid to do this.

Despite the size of the ship and the spacious and luxurious living conditions, there was not much that made the Eden different from the transports that delivered goods on any other world. Be it the great ocean-going vessels or trains or atmospheric bound planes or even the common and unassuming truck that still drove across the ground and roads on any world. The need to move goods from one place to another was a seemingly constant in human history, the means of doing so never really changed. Humans just became more and more efficient and grander in scope. The Eden was one of the latest examples of that, capable of transporting by itself what a fleet of ocean-going ships would take.

The Eden went from one planet and space station to another, delivering supplies and goods, picking up new cargo, and repeating the process. The Eden was in near constant motion, never stopping or resting longer than it took to refuel and deliver. As such, the Eden and her sister ships made her corporate masters at Wolfe-Dewitt very happy.

Wolfe-Dewitt was not the largest company, there were far larger ones out there. It was not the most profitable, there were companies that made far more money. What Wolfe-Dewitt had was efficiency and speed. They catered to the worlds at the fringe of trade and shipping networks. The brand-new colonies and space stations whose success or failure depends on getting supplies on time. And that is where Wolfe-Dewitt excelled. They would deliver to those colonies no matter how far out they were and no matter how long a voyage it would take for their ships.

Evelyn knew that currently the Eden was only 23% through the great scheduled route that was planned for her. Each stop was carefully chosen to be the quickest and most efficient use of fuel and time. Evelyn also knew that she was not even the first Ship-Minder for this route, there had been four before her, each one contracted only for a few months to a year, each one leaving at their last stop as their replacement waited there to take over. The whole process was so streamlined that Evelyn never even saw her predecessor, not that she wanted to.

With the advanced computer systems and programs onboard the ship, repairs or maintenance were rare. SETH, could handle almost everything himself. The only time Evelyn would truly be needed was when SETH had no option but to reboot himself, in that event Evelyn would have total control of the ship while SETH updated and booted back up. But even then, the ship’s systems mostly ran themselves. Confirming coordinates on the bridge would be all she would need to do.

In years past the job of Ship Minder was far more intensive, took far more people, it was a genuine partnership between man and machine keeping the ship running. But AI advancements slowly decreased the needed number of crew as the years went on. Now there only needed to be one.

Certainly, there were other companies out there that still kept larger crews. Families were popular choices. Parents taking their children onboard the ship, homeschooling the children while the parents or parent managed the ship. Other companies still kept multiple people onboard each ship, not wanting their employees to have to deal with such long-term isolation with no other human contact.

But that was not what Evelyn wanted. The job posting asking for a Ship Minder for the Eden caught her eye immediately. They needed someone willing to take the Ship Minder post while the Eden embarked on one of it’s longest voyages. The Eden would go nearly three years without encountering another human colony of any kind. It was the one leg of her multi-system spanning travel route that spent the most time away from any and all humans. They needed someone willing to go over three years with potentially never speaking to a live human, let alone see one, or touch one. Evelyn leapt at the opportunity.

Evelyn made the silent ten minute walk from the observation deck to the bridge. There was no rush, and seeing firsthand the silent and lack of people through her walk gave her a sense of peace and safety. She saw the small pool with it’s calm waters, the mess area full of round tables and empty seats. And she heard silence. The low hum of the ship’s systems and mechanics being the only sound she ever heard on these walks.

When she reached the bridge section she ascended the small set of stairs leading up towards the large command center. Rows of computer stations were all around here. Spaces for a human crew to take over and control, all redundant with SETH.

Still, this was her one daily task. She came to the seat in the middle of the room. The large captain’s chair that oversaw everything else in the room and had the best view out the large panoramic windows that went all around the bridge.

Evelyn eased herself down into the chair’s soft leather and stretched her arms and legs as she readied herself for another ‘hard’ day at work. That thought making a slight smirk escape her lips.

“Daily report SETH.” Evelyn asked as she had done every morning for nearly three years now.

“All systems are fully operational. All cargo is secure. All navigational updates are received and approved.” SETH replied in his calm but confident cadence.

Evelyn was surprised. “Navigational updates? Are we changing course?”

For nearly three years the Eden has maintained the original course that Evelyn had started on. Not once was there a change to that route. With as tight as their schedules were a detour would cost millions in operating costs and rescheduling and rerouting other ships.

Evelyn wasn’t part of this business long but she knew this was strange, there were no other worlds here, there were no colonies or space stations. This route was just space, empty space, until they finished and reached Murdock IV’s orbital station at the end of this route.

“The Eden had received a new course.” SETH replied, not showing any hint he found any of his strange. “We are to change course and rendezvous with another vessel, the Prince of Exiles, and receive supplementary cargo that Murdock IV has requested.”

Evelyn thought all of it over. The cargo would have to be very important to warrant all of this. “How far out will this detour take us SETH?”

“The new route has already been entered into navigation three hours ago.” SETH replied. “Our diversion is well within our safety parameters. We will still reach Murdock IV without having to tap into any of the Eden’s emergency reserves.”

Evelyn was still thinking all of this over, each word only processing in her mind after a few moments. “Wait… we’ve already changed course? But… Why… Shouldn’t I have been made aware of this?”

“You were still sleeping.” SETH replied politely, no hint of malice behind his voice. “I did not see a reason to alert you when you would find out at our morning briefing.”

Evelyn listened to him as her face still expressed confusion and a crawling feeling of fear creeping along her spine. She knew she could do nothing about objecting to the course, being told before would not change that. “I… see.”

“You have not been sleeping well recently.” SETH told her as the blue triangle of his avatar flickered on the bridge monitors. “I noticed you had finally managed to enter a prolonged state of REM and wished to let you have a full rest. If you wish me to inform you of any changes in the future I will do so.”

“No.” Evelyn replied, not even thinking. Her mind was still going over the change and the silent dread that a new ship would cause.

SETH’s blue triangle flickered briefly as he watched her, her uniform and implants giving him a full breakdown of her heart rate, pulse, blood pressure, brain activity. “Do not worry Evelyn.”

Evelyn snapped out of her thoughts and looked back to SETH’s avatar. “We are not receiving any new personnel or crew, are we?”

“No.” SETH told her, sensing her fear of other people coming onboard. “All cargo will be transferred via ship umbilical., I will communicate and manage the transfer with the Prince of Exile’s own SETH unit.”

The cold sweat that Evelyn had felt slightly dissipated as her heart rate slowed. No new people. She’d still be alone for a while longer.

“Thank you SETH.” Evelyn told the AI, a rare moment of genuine thanks SETH was here. He would handle everything with the new ship.

“You are welcome, Evelyn.” SETH replied, his voice carrying the slightest hints of genuine happiness for that rate gratitude from his human partner. “We will not reach the rendezvous coordinates for another ten hours. The transfer should happen well within your sleeping schedule, and I estimate based on the telemetry we should finish the transfer within two more hours.”

Evelyn listened intently. From what SETH described by the time she went to bed and woke up it’d be over and they’d be back on their original route to Murdock IV. “Don’t I need to be awake to monitor the transfer?”

SETH was silent as though he was thinking about what to say.

“SETH?” Evelyn asked, not sure what to make of this pause in the normally unflappable AI.

“Technically you should monitor the transfer…” SETH responded as if he was a child caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. “However if you are unwell and not fit for duty…. It can be exempted and the ship AI can oversee it.”

“I’m not sick SETH.” Evelyn told him firmly. She didn’t want to pretend to be sick to get out of her duty. She hated herself enough for how her… past… made being a normal person difficult.

“I understand.” SETH replied. “If you wish to oversee the transfer then you need only observe from the observation deck overlooking the umbilical on deck thirty. Though if you do not wish to I can submit a sick report on your behalf.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes. The only thing worse than dealing with uncaring people were people who cared too much and wanted to baby her. Evelyn wanted to be left alone, not coddled. “I’ll do it SETH.”

“Very well.” SETH replied, seeing the debate ended. “I would advise then that you complete your daily tasks early and get an early sleep for the transfer.”

“Of course.” Evelyn replied getting up from the chair. “I’ll get right on completing my tasks.”

She walked over to a console and tapped a few keys. “Present cargo analysis…”

Her eyes glazed over the ocean of numbers and readings the screen presented. She clicked and tapped a few more keystrokes. “Expected cargo…”

More numbers and data filled the screen. Evelyn ignored it all, focusing only on the bottom row of numbers. “And we are still matched.”

Evelyn leaned back from the console and clapped her hands together as she stretched and arced her back. “Well… I’m done for the day.”

“I will note a successful report in the systems log Evelyn.” SETH replied contently.

Evelyn smirked. She sometimes couldn’t believe that was her only real task for this job. For someone who liked being alone, this job seemed too easy. But people like her where rare, finding someone willing to be alone with only an AI, even if living in relative luxury, most people broke and requested cryo sleep till the end and got a big fat pink slip at the end of the route. But not her, everyday here was another day not… she didn’t want to think about it.

She shook off the bad memories in her head and focused on the here and now. “Well after this hard day’s work I’m off to rest in the bath, I’ve got a book I’m dying to finish.”

“I will begin heating the water for you.” SETH replied quickly and politely.

“Not to-“ Evelyn began speaking when SETH interrupted.

“Not to hot, I remember your temperate preferences Evelyn. It will be to your satisfaction.” SETH told her, anticipating her comment.

“We’ll see.” Evelyn said, letting the last word linger. She remembered the last time SETH told her he had her temperate preferences memorized, it took a week for him to get her soup right.

“One last thing Evelyn.” SETH said as Evelyn was at the stairs to exit the bridge. “If the Ship Minder of the Prince of Exiles wishes to speak to you, what would you wish me to tell him?”

“Tell him I’m sick.” Evelyn replied with a smirk as she descended the stairs.

“I see.” SETH replied, a slight confusion to his voice.

The rest of the day passed like any other. Evelyn finished her breakfast, she finished her latest romance novel in the bath. She got dressed again and finished an early lunch and then started a new book, some work by some ancient historian. She listened to the audio speakers as the narrator recited the book as Evelyn sat on the couch listening.

This was surely going to let her take an early sleep. The droll tone of the narrator reciting names of ancient cities and people went on and on as Evelyn listened and closed her eyes as she reclined back further on the couch.

Observing all of this, SETH carefully dimmed the lights in the room as he monitored Evelyn’s progress of getting to sleep.

Around the chapter where the narrator began reciting the lineages of an ancient Greek king, Evelyn finally drifted off.

Sensing she had fallen asleep SETH dimmed the lights nearly all the way.

The next thing Evelyn knew the ship’s speaker began ringing as she blinked her eyes open and rubbed them. Stretching her arms and legs she began sitting up. “Ughhh… is it time SETH?”

Evelyn rubbed her eyes more as they struggled to cope with the bright lights of the common area. However her vision soon began to return as the blurry shapes returned to their normal appearance.

A low rumble and shaking suddenly rocked through the common area. Evelyn’s heart rate spiked. “SETH?!”

Instantly SETH’s blue triangle appeared on the monitors in the room. “I apologize Evelyn, the docking procedure with the Prince of Exiles was quite complicated at our current speeds, I was not able to respond immediately. We are however linked. I have already communicated with the SETH of the Prince of Exiles and we have linked. The cargo transfer is already beginning. The rumble you felt was simply the umbilicals linking and the convener system being started for the cargo transfer, it is a quite substantial amount of cargo we are being delivered.”

Evelyn was finally mostly awake as she heard SETH speaking, she wasn’t really paying attention as she stood up and brushed herself off. She rubbed her eyes one final time as she rotated her head around and ran her hands through her hair to push it back behind her eyes and ears.

“I understand SETH.” Evelyn told the AI as it was still going on about the amount of cargo they were receiving and how much was going to each section of the Eden. “I’ll make my way to the observation deck and make sure we don’t lose any of our new inventory.”

“Understood Evelyn.” SETH replied cheerfully. “I will await your report.”

Evelyn began the walk to the Observation Deck. It ran to an angle of the umbilical letting someone see down to the outstretched windowed bridge with a conveyor belt running down the floor. From her vantage point Evelyn would see every box, create, and barrel roll by. A scanner counting and categorizing each item and entering into the Eden’s inventory and assigning it to a storage room or floor.

She had only done this once before when she boarded the Eden and monitored the cargo it was given for her voyage to Murdock IV. SETH and the Eden’s other systems did it all themselves, but corporate needed a human to sign their name to the inventory for legal purposes, and a human needed to ‘observe’ the transfer at least partially.

The walk to the Observation Deck took only ten minutes with the elevator ride taking another thirty seconds to reach the giant windows that showed the vastness of space. This time they were taken up entirely by another Murdock Class transport. The Prince of Exiles.

Evelyn could see it’s name printed on the hull of the vessel. The cost it’d take to paint those giant letters was probably more than some planets spend on paint. The brief musing past and she dragged a chair over close to the window and sat down.

She crossed her legs and got comfortable as she got a good view of the cargo being transferred from the other ship to her own.

Her eyes sometimes darting up to the monitor explaining what was in each barrel and crate, and how much was in each one, and what was going where and so forth. But the rest of the time Evelyn just watched the two umbilical arms, watching crates show up at the end of one side, and then enter her ship.

It was a lot like counting sheep she realized.

Evelyn sighed to herself. She was still drowsy, her early sleep didn’t last nearly long enough and this was not intensive enough work to wake her up fully.

For the next two hours Evelyn must have blinked and fallen asleep a dozen or more times. Each time, jerking awake and shaking her head trying to stay awake.

SETH was busy managing the transfer and keeping the Eden at the same speed as the Prince of Exiles. She knew she could try and get SETH to talk to her to keep her awake, but she didn’t want to risk even the slightest risk of SETH making a mistake here.

The last time she oversaw a transfer the Eden was stationary and docked with a space station. There was no need for precise calculations at every millisecond. Now SETH needed his full processing power to handle a task that a human crew would likely find the most stressful task of their lives.

So Evelyn would just have to keep herself awake.

It was a battle she waged but did not win. She drifted off, woke up, struggled, and drifted off again. Evelyn tried standing and walking around, but she soon returned to the chair, it was just too comfortable to pass up.

Criminally comfortable really. Evelyn couldn’t believe how soft and yet supportive it was as she relaxed again and sank down into it.

Her eyes blinked slowly. Her vision filled with the umbilical, still processing cargo. Her eyes closed shut. Her eyes opened again, more cargo, more crates and boxes. Her eyes closed again. Her eyes opened, more crates and-

Evelyn rubbed her eyes. Her heart rate spiked. She blinked quickly as she looked into the umbilical arm connecting the two ships.

Nothing. Did she imagine it? Her eyes frantically scanned the entire arm, crates, barrels, boxes, nothing more. She had to have imagined it… had to be a trick of the eye.

Evelyn’s grey eyes still scanned the length of the umbilical arm, she was wide awake now, her heart pounding. She barely noticed the umbilical arm emptied to nothing. No more cargo.

The ship rumbled and she saw the umbilical of each ship slowly retract back into the hulls of each vessel. They were no longer connected.

Evelyn stared at the space where she thought she saw-

“We have completed our transfer Evelyn.” SETH said, causing Evelyn to jump.

“Are you alright Evelyn?” SETH asked concerned. “Your heart rate is quite high right now.”

Evelyn caught her breath and stood up. “No, no… I’m fine.”

She swallowed and then smiled for SETH. “I… just was surprised, was just so used to the quiet for the past few hours. I guess you just startled me.”

“I understand.” SETH replied apologetic. “I will endeavor to make my presence known before speaking again in the future.”

“Oh you don’t need to do all of that.” Evelyn said running her hand through her hair trying to get her mind off of what she thought she saw. But she couldn’t. She needed to know.

“SETH…” Evelyn asked as cold sweat ran down her back. “About the cargo…”

“Is there something you wish to know?” SETH asked curiously.

“There was… nothing…” Evelyn paused trying to think of how to ask this. “There was nothing living in it… right?”

SETH was silent for a moment as Evelyn saw the blue triangle flicker as it watched the entire transfer log over again and analyzed every single item that came through. “No living organic organisms beyond food products. Are you referring so an organism outside of that category?”

Evelyn was silent for a moment and then asked. “SETH tell me how many human life signs are aboard the Eden right now, the entire ship.”

SETH paused again as Evelyn saw the cameras and sensor pods in the room blink. SETH was analyzing and seeing every room and every compartment of the Eden all at once. A slight hum and whirring was heard as the more intensive scanners measured every inch of the ship for anything not there before.

After what seemed like an eternity to Evelyn that was only five seconds, SETH spoke. “There is one human life sign onboard the Eden. Evelyn Miller, currently is in the Observation Deck for ship Umbilical.”

Evelyn felt like she could breathe again. “Thank you SETH.”

“You are welcome Evelyn… but may I ask why did you ask?” SETH asked, more concerned than curious. “Did you see something?”

“No!” Evelyn said immediately. She caught herself and lowered her tone. “No, I didn’t see anything. I was… dozing off a little and I think my eyes were playing tricks on me… or I dreamed it or…”

SETH paused as he waited for Evelyn to finish speaking. The blue triangle flickered as Evelyn knew it was analyzing her biometrics and physical health for any signs of illness or anything unusual.

Evelyn watched the blue triangle waiting for a reply. “It’s nothing, just didn’t get fully awake before I started monitoring the transfer.”

“I see.” SETH finally replied, a measure of concern and worry behind his calm and sincere tone. “I would recommend you try and get a good night’s rest then. Your sleeping habits have been abnormal for the past week. Your heart rate is still high as well. I will provide some sleeping medication to help you get to sleep and monitor your biometrics further for tonight.”

“You don’t need to go through all that SETH…” Evelyn tried saying, the worry still in her voice. “I’ll be fine, probably just like you said, sleep was all messed up, and it finally caught up with me.”

SETH tried speaking to her but Evelyn was already in the elevator and making her way back to her quarters.

She wasn’t going back to the common area. She was going to her quarters and she was closing and locking the doors behind her.

Maybe she was wrong, maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her. Maybe SETH was right and there were no other humans onboard the Eden. Maybe she was safe.

But Evelyn still had the image burned into her brain. That split second seared into her memory. It was all she could see, playing over and over and over.

The walk to her quarters felt like a blur. Her mind was racing imagining everything that could have happened and could still happen.

She heard SETH speaking to her and nodded her head absent mindedly as she grabbed the pills that came out of the flashing dispenser unit in the hallway. She swallowed them with a drink of water and continued on her way.

Her quarters were not far from there. She walked in and immediately closed the door and pressed the lock button on the door panel. She could feel the medication taking it’s effect on her as she sluggishly walked to her bed and crawled into it.

Her thoughts were a torrent of worries and dreads. Each one coming from what she saw in the transfer. She knew she had to be wrong. That SETH was right. That this was all in her head. She would go to sleep and wake up and everything would be back to normal.

Yes. That was it. She’d go to bed and fall asleep and when she woke up she’d have SETH give her a replay of the entire umbilical transfer, she’d see for herself she was wrong.

She didn’t see someone crawl behind a crate in the umbilical. She didn’t see someone sneak onboard the Eden. She didn’t.

And with that final thought, Evelyn fell asleep.