"Weightless" (Gemini)

=Chapter 9: Weightless= “If we’re talking the best games, then it had to be Chess. Definitely, always Chess!” Wells and Rosie walked through the corridor, discussing their favourite board games with each other.

“Chess? Really?” She smiled at him, “I always preferred to turn the board over and play draughts!” He raised his eyebrows at her, “Ohhhh… So you’re a draughty kind of gal then?” He immediately regretted his corny remark, though Rosie found him sweet still.

The bittersweet moment was interrupted as Rosie’s attention was redirected to something outside – shock and awe filled her face. “Wells… Look!” She pointed to the window. As Wells turned around, he noticed an astronaut wandering outside, bound to the station by a tether. The astronaut spun around, revealing Sonia was inside the suit.

“Sonia!” Wells ran at the window, throwing his hands against. Sonia waved back at him with a huge smile on her face. “What’s she doing out there?” Rosie looked terrified.

From behind, Sonia pulled out a pair of scissors. She placed them over her tether. “It’s her space dementia… It’s going to get her killed! Quick Rosie! With me!” The two ran to the air lock as fast as they could…

“Some Christmas this has turned out to be,” Roger remarked to Kristina, still tied up inside the medical bay. “Still, could’ve been worse…” He added. “I can think of one way it could’ve been better,” Kristina joined in with him, “If we’d have just been allowed to fly out into space! Crikey, I’m literally envying Seth right now. Lucky bastard got to die. Yet here we are, forced to stay alive!” She was literally complaining about being alive.

“Nah, the best way it could’ve improved: Is if we were back on Earth. I’ve never missed America as much as I do now…”

Outside, Sonia continued to float around. The scissors were weak, making it difficult for her to cut away at her tether. “Having trouble there, sis?” She looked across, noticing her sister standing at the window on board the space station. “Let me join you,” the hallucination of Alison simply stepped through the window and out into space, floating towards Sonia.

“It’s so quiet, it’s so peaceful. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Alison looked down at the Earth, but Sonia was fixated on her. “Wait…” Turning around, she noticed she had the scissors over the tether, “What am I doing?” She threw the scissors away, as they began drifting off.

“Now that was a very silly thing to do, sis. You are bound to this… prison forever more now! You could’ve floated freely with me for the rest of your life!” Sonia was starting to come to her senses, remembering that the hallucination of her sister was just the embodiment of the space dementia in her mind.

“No!” She dived and rapidly clawed her way back to the air lock – as though she was swimming in the air. As she returned to the air lock, she banged on the door, noticing Wells and Rosie at the control panel. In a hurry, they opened the door to allow her in. Once she was safely inside, the door closed again, as Wells pressed the green button to pressurize the chamber.

Nadia and Byron had packed and loaded everything they needed on to the escape pod. “See? It’s not even that tight in here!” Byron reassured her about their transportation. “Yeah I mean, if anything, it’s actually kind of snug… I’m sure I could do well in here. Question is, how long’s it gonna take us to return to Earth?” Nadia examined the pod.

“Well theoretically, it should take us about ten minutes or so. By the time we actually get within Earth’s atmosphere though, we should fall a lot quicker. You ready?” He took Nadia’s hands, as she breathed in deeply and nodded. “Right then, strap in!” Byron turned to the controls.

Sonia piled everyone in to the medical bay. “Right, no one leaves this room, understand? We don’t know who is and who isn’t affected by the space dementia yet. It’s likely all of us, but we’re all affected in different ways.” She explained.

“The hell are you talking about?” Roger asked astoundingly, “Space dementia? You’re kidding me right? People wanting to die equals a mental space disorder? I think not, Sonia. Look, just throw me out the air lock already. Please!” He motioned to his zip-ties.

“I’m sorry Roger, but I don’t know if that’s really you talking… Same rules apply for all of you. No one lets those two free. Understand?” Wells and Rosie nodded.

“Right. I’m going to divert all oxygen to the vents in here.” As she went to leave the room, Wells called her back, “Wait, but then… How will you breathe? Sonia?” She sighed at him, “I won’t…”

Kristina laughed, “Damn, girl! You’re worse than us!” This comment prompted Roger to join with the laughter. Rosie began laughing slightly as well, “Rosie?” Wells noticed this.

“What? What’s wrong Wells? Afraid to die?” He leant back, crawling away from her. “She’s been affected by it…” He turned back to face Sonia, “Do it. Save them.” He understood that Sonia would be giving up her life, but knew it would be for a good reason. She nodded at him, “Look after them…” He in turn nodded back at her in confirmation.

“Rear thrusters, check.” Byron prepared to disembark. “Tracking system, check.” He flicked several switches. “I’m kind of nervous,” Nadia fiddled with her hands. “Hey, you’re gonna be alright. I’ll get us back to Earth. You know I will,” Byron reassured her. He turned back to the controls, but before he fiddled with any other switches, he stopped momentarily. He then leant back against his seat.

“Byron? What’s wrong?” Nadia saw him relaxing. “I’ve got a better idea…” He said slowly, unstrapping himself from his seat. “Come with me,” he unbuckled Nadia, and grabbed her, forcing her out of the escape pod. “Byron? What are you doing?” She tried resisting his grip, but he was being too firm on her. “You’re hurting me!” He continued dragging her back on to the space station.

“Sonia!” Using her free hand, Nadia activated her earpiece. “Help me! Byron’s gone mad!” Before she could give any more details, he grabbed her ear piece and threw it beneath his feet, stamping on it.

“Don’t be frightened, N’. We’re going for a walk! A walk… in space.” He cruelly smiled at her, as her face flooded with terror.

Sonia arrived at the Green Room. Though she wasn’t too confident that she knew what she was doing, she kept doing it anyway. There was a panel on the wall which she used to close off certain vents and direct the air flow. “Easy does it, easy does it. And… There!” She pressed one final switch, as the ventilation made a deep rumbling sound. “Sonia!” She heard Nadia’s voice in her earpiece, “Help me! Byron’s gone mad!” The earpiece then dramatically cut out, as though it had been crushed. “Nadia? Nadia!” Sonia called back several times. She cursed under her breath, before running off to try and find her.

“It’s working…” Wells noted upon feeling a large blast of oxygen entering through the vent. “Why does she care so much?” Roger asked. “Why doesn’t Sonia just let us die already? It’s inevitable at this point…”

Wells spoke out against him once again, “Even before the apocalypse, it was inevitable that we would die. Not just us, everyone. Everyone dies eventually, genius. The apocalypse changes only one thing: The amount of people left who are still able to die. But that doesn’t mean you can’t at least try to live. Some people may want to live for as long as possible – People like me. People like you, at least once your space dementia is gone.”

Everyone else in the med bay laughed – Roger, Kristina, Bertie, Rosie – They had all been affected by the space dementia. “Sonia will fix you. She’ll make all of you better again. Then, it’ll be up to us on how we survive. We stay here, or we return to Earth.” He had no doubt that Sonia’s plan was working.

“I feel… weird?” Rosie remarked. “That’s ok babe,” Wells rushed over to her, holding her in his arms. “My head… Wells… My head… What’s happening?” She was torn between her true self and her infected mind. “Come back to me baby, come on. You can do this.” He held her tightly.

“Don’t listen to him, Rosie!” Kristina shouted out. “Remember, we’re all gonna die anyway! Join us in our pact!” Wells covered Rosie’s ears, “You’re ok… you’re going to be fine…”

She was struggling to keep her eyes open. “Go to sleep… Rest your eyes. When again you awake, you’ll be fine.” He gently rested her head against the floor as she fell asleep. He then kissed her on the forehead, before turning back to the others.

“Why the hell did you do that?” Roger looked at Wells in awe. “She could’ve died peacefully! You’ve just booked your girlfriend in for a far worse… a far… worse…” Roger became drowsy and started yawning, he then too fell asleep. Looking at Bertie and Kristina, Wells noticed they had fallen under as well – He assumed this was the space dementia’s effects wearing off, and that their bodies were ‘restarting’.

Wells had forgotten about one important person however, “Sonia…”