"Final Hours" (Gemini)

=Chapter 7: Final Hours= Eight Months Later

25th December 2026

“Alright, so I made a promise to you all several months ago,” Sonia reported down her earpiece as she headed to the deck. “I promised you all that a certain luxury would remain unconsumed until this day…” She deactivated her earpiece as she returned to the deck.

“This!” She produced a large silver packet and planted it on the table. “It’s… A bag?” Roger examined it. “Not just any bag – It’s rotisserie bag. Who wants to do the honours? Anybody?” She looked at each member of the crew, though they all seemed to be confused.

“Alright, fine. Guess I’ll do it myself,” She pulled up a pair of scissors, cutting the bag open. She pulled out the contents inside and placed the object on the table – it was a cold roast chicken. Everyone’s faces lit up.

“Finally! And there I was thinking our last meal was going to be bloody vegetables!” Wells jokingly remarked.

“Remember everyone, sharing is caring! The Earth may be dead, but the morals and principles created down there live on through us, and through the poor souls trapped and surviving on the desolate world down there.” She pointed out the window, towards Earth. “So, tuck in! But be kind, to one another. We’ve used up all our fuel barrels now. These may very well be our final hours. Let’s go out on a positive note, together.” She warmly smiled, but everyone was busy ripping parts out of the roast to notice or acknowledge what she was saying, “Huh, enjoy…”

She found herself lying down on her bed again. Looking out across the Earth. She recognised her home country beneath the station – Australia. “I just want to go home…” she mumbled to herself, wiping a tear away from her face. She sat upright, holding herself.

“I never wanted this… I never wanted any, of this. I should be with my sister right now. I should be with my family. I shouldn’t be up here! Six months, they told us. Yet we’ve been up here for fifteen! Over an entire year that is! I can’t take it anymore!” She threw the photo frame on her bedside at the window – Only seconds later did she realise how important that object was to her.

Running over to the window, she picked the frame up again. The glass had shattered, shards all over the floor. She slipped the photo inside out from under the broken glass.

“Alison…” She brushed the photo with her hand, longing to return to her sister. “I’m so sorry,” she placed the photo against her heart as she broke down into a fluster of tears.

In contrast to Sonia, everyone on-deck was enjoying themselves digging in to what they believed would be their last meal. “So, that’s when I told him, I didn’t actually have any medical experience at all!” Wells was telling a joke, which made everyone around the table laugh – except for Kristina.

“Kris? You alright?” Wells noticed something was up with her. “No… No, not really,” She looked at everyone’s jovial expressions, which confused her. “How can you all be so happy and upbeat? Everyone down there is dead!” She reminded them all of the bitter truth. “Not to mention, we ourselves are all about to die… And I don’t care about bravery, I’m not afraid to admit I’m scared to die! I don’t want to die! But I know I have to… And I know I’m about to… We’ve lived up here for over a year now. Aren’t you all tired of living yet?” She stood up, pacing around the table, slightly concerning everyone.

“Do you even remember the first sacrifice? Seth? Hmm? Don’t any of you remember him? Because I’ve thought about him every single day since his death…”

Wells stood up in front of Kristina, “Kris, we all think about him… We all miss him. But he did what he had to do. Like Roger said, it’s how we must survive…” The only response Wells received was a laugh from Kristina. “Seriously? Because, I remember, when he said that the first time, you called him out for bullshitting! What’s changed, Wells? Why don’t you hate his guts anymore?” He didn’t say anything, but swallowed hard, with a reddening face.

“Oh… that’s right!” Kristina continued, “Rosie came along! I must say, I’m happy for you two. I really am! Damn, Wells. She must really mean a lot to you if she made you no longer hate Roger!” She turned to face Roger, who looked guilty. “Yeah that’s right… You had better have a look of guilt on your face! Poor Seth. I mean, imagine if his family are still alive down there? You know what, I hope you do get back to Earth Rog’, just so that you have to explain yourself to them! Sure, it’s unlikely that they’re alive, but it would be all kinds of funny if they were!” She clearly wasn’t taking the situation seriously anymore.

“Anyway, I side-track... Where was I? Oh yes, the next victim of that wretched lever: Augustus! Poor Gus. He had it rough! I mean, he was stabbed, betrayed, and thrown in to the air lock all in the exact same moment! His last words were literally the name of his attacker! But one more sacrifice wasn’t enough for you Roger, was it? No, you had to dispose of Julian as well!” She turned back to face Wells, “And you forgave him for that? Wells, you were as close to Julian as I was! How could you possibly just forgive and forget like that? Oh, right… Rosie? Yeah? Am I beating around the bush or am I dead on it?” She continued to taunt him.

“Putting Gus aside… We then had another one who went out on a rough note: Neil! Oh, that poor, poor guy. He was stabbed and then bled to death whilst covered in fuel! But to top it all off, he faced death by Roger’s hand as well! What a way to go… I didn’t speak to him all that much, but I wish I had of. He seemed quite, well… banterous, I think is the best way to describe him. Or, second best way at least. Of course, the best way to describe him now is dead! Thanks to you!” She went back to taunting Roger instead.

“Alright Kris, that’s enough!” Byron was fed up. “Oh! Byron! I love your accent, but that’s about it. England seriously couldn’t have picked a duller person to send up even if they tried! It really should’ve been you who went out that air lock first, not Seth.” He clenched his fists, but then released them again – He knew Kristina didn’t really feel this way, and that she was just angry.

“Anyway… I’m nearly down now! Here we get to a point in which I agree… Amanda! That bitch kind of deserved to die! Hey, Byron, if you die as well, this Station might actually be worth dying on! Na, I’m just kidding. I can’t be bothered to wait for death anymore… Besides, I more or less hate all of you. So, may the stars – bla-bla-bla, whatever Roger says all the time.” With those words, she looked around the table one last time, before leaving the deck.

“Ok? What was that about?” Nadia asked. “Isn’t it obvious?” Wells passive-aggressively responded, “She’s giving up her life. At least that’s what I can deduct from what she was saying.”

“Wait…” Roger’s eyes slowly widened as he came to a realisation. “If she’s going out of the air lock, how is she going to close the door behind her?” Everyone squinted their eyes at Roger, curious about what he was trying to say.

“Think about it: She isn’t going to close that door! She’s going to open and we are all going to be sucked out!” Now, everyone’s eyes were widening. “Ain’t anyone gonna stop her?” Nadia and Byron both looked distressed.

“She made a good point…” Roger didn’t look panicked anymore. “What’s the point in living up here when we’re just gonna die anyway? We don’t have enough fuel to survive.”

Byron and Nadia looked at each other, both equally bewildered. “If you want to die, that’s fine… But some of us don’t. So we’re not all going to die just because you want to. In fact, why don’t you go in the air lock with her in that case?”

Roger threw his hands – Something which the others did not expect. “It’s only fitting, right? The fact that I was the first one to throw people out of that air lock. I should also be one of the ones who goes out of it as well. Fine by me.” He left the table, and headed out of the deck.

Byron and Nadia looked at each other, “What do we do?” She asked him. “Only one thing for it… We give him his wish. Two pricks out the air lock, two problems solved, I say.” Byron then too left the table, planning to operate the control panel.

Nadia looked to Wells and Rosie, “Don’t just sit there Adam and Eve! Go and stall him!” It took them several seconds to jump up, and chase after Byron. Nadia then activated her earpiece.

“Sonia! Listen to me, I need you at the air lock right now! This cannot wait!” Nadia transmitted, but Sonia ignored her. “Sonia? You there?” Nadia persisted, but Sonia merely took her earpiece off, throwing it across the room. She continued looking out the window, watching Australia beadily.

“Kristina and Roger,” Byron began as he shut the air lock door with them inside. “It’s a ‘pity’ that you both have to go… But your decision is respected given the circumstances…”

Kristina rolled her eyes at him, “Just get it over with already!” Despite how fearful she was of dying, it also appeared she was eager for it to come for her.

“Very well… May the stars take care of you. Safe flight, our acquaintances.” Byron placed his hand firmly on the red lever…