“Have I arrived?” Althea repeated, and reached for the edges of the pod. She pulled herself upright with considerable effort, her face and arm muscles straining with the effort, beads of sweat appearing on her face.

Breathing heavily, she held on to the pod and glanced towards the trio watching her. She squinted as her eyes locked on Shea, and she leaned in towards her. “I know you,” she whispered without taking her eyes off Shea. “You look different, but I know you.”

Shea nodded and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “I’m Shea. I’m your granddaughter.”

“My grand—“ Althea said, and then paused. “She frowned and took a deep breath. “I haven’t seen you since you were a little girl.”

Shea nodded gently. “I remember. The last time was at your Departure ceremony,” Shea said.

Althea’s eyes widened as she also remembered. “Yes, the Departure. I remember. But wait,” she said and furrowed her brow. “There were two of you, weren’t there? Where’s your sister?”

Wared looked up, his eyebrows raised. He noticed Randee had the same surprised look on his face. Shea, on the other hand, looked down on her suddenly fidgeting hands.

“Where is she?” Althea continued and she pushed herself further upright. She leaned closer to Shea. “Where is your sister?”

Shea avoided Althea’s gaze and glanced at Wared, pleading with her eyes. “How do we get her out of the pod?” she asked.

It was the first time Wared had seen desperation in Shea. He took him aback and confused him. Shea’s grandmother, that she requested to be awoken, was in front of her alive and awake. Yet, she was avoiding her question and looking to him for help to do so. What is happening?

Before Wared could react, Randee stepped up to the controls of the pod. He tapped a few buttons on the control panel to position the pod in it’s exit configuration. The pod slowly tilted from a horizontal to an almost upright position, allowing Althea to step right out of the pod. Randee and Wared supported her as she took her first steps and guided her to one of the chairs in the control room.

Althea grimaced as she was lowered onto the chair and took several deep breaths and put her arm on the nearby table for support. The others pulled up chairs and sat down around her, Randee keeping a close eye on the computer screens.

“Tell me,” Althea finally said, “What is going on? This is not exactly where I expected to wake up,” she said and made a sweeping gesture towards the room.”

“I’m afraid it’s a long story,” Wared said.

“And we don’t have a lot of time,” Randee said immediately. “They’re probing the system.”

Althea raised her eyebrows. “They? What is happening?”

Shea sighed as she looked from Wared to Randee, hoping one of them would take the initiative. When they simply returned her gaze, she moved closer to Althea and took her hands. She told her grandmother about how she’d met Tarun and his brother Wared, how Tarun’s departure had failed and why they had been forced to flee the city. The drive through the wilderness and the hike through the jungle she mostly glossed over. She finished with the discovery of the facility, the pods and the dilemma they faced with the Protectorate camped outside, trying to get in.

Althea’s eyes never left Shea’s. She took every word in without interruption, with only the occasional change of facial expression as she acknowledged a certain part of the story or another. When Shea was done, Althea leaned back in her char and crossed her arms. They sat in silence for several minutes waiting for Althea to respond.

“You were the Candidate?” she finally said and pointed Wared.

Wared shook his head. “My brother was. I’m here because he couldn’t leave the city.”

Althea raised her eyes towards the ceiling and slowly shook her head. “Something has gone very, very wrong, hasn’t it?” she finally said.

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“What do you mean?” Wared said and leaned closer.

“Like I said, this isn’t exactly where I expected to wake up. Just like your brother, I was supposed to end up at our final destination, our new Eden.”

Wared nodded. “Yes, we’re supposed to transition through the gateway in orbit, the mothership.”

“Yes,” Althea said and nodded. “But I’m not there, am I? I’m here. Why?”

“You and many others,” Randee said. “I don’t know how many thousands of colonists are in the bowls of this facility. We don’t know how long the process has been disrupted.”

“The larger issue is that the Protectorate is pretending like everything is fine,” Wared said. “Departure ceremonies continue on a weekly basis with colonists departing a on a regular basis. They all end up here, in their cry pods, far from their final destination.”

Althea raised her eyebrows. “Why would they do that?”

Wared shrugged. “Control. Power. What would happen if the colonist found out that the Departure is a sham, that it—“

“It’s not a sham,” Althea said firmly, a finger wagging in the air. “It sounds like it’s dysfunctional, but that doesn’t mean it’s a sham.”

“I stand corrected,” Wared said and raised his hands in the air. “It doesn’t change the facts of what’s happening though, as well as the fact that the colony in itself doesn’t know.”

Althea nodded and rubbed her chin. “You are right, of course.”

A beeping sound from the terminal interrupted their conversation. Randee rushed over to his chair and scanned the screens. He tapped a few keys on the keyboard and let out a grunt.

“We’re out of time,” he said as he turned to face them. “The Protectorate has breached the Core.”

Shea jumped to her feet, worry on her face. “We need to leave, immediately.”

Randee nodded. “Yes, we do. Fortunately, they don’t know where we are, but it won’t take them long to figure it out. Ma’am,” he said and turned to Althea. “Are you up for this?”

Althea furrowed her brows. “That depends.”

“Grandmother,” Shea said and knelt next to Althea. “We woke you up to be our evidence, to be a real life witness to what is happening. There are many alive that knew your, or of you. If they see you—“

Althea held up her hand and nodded. “If they see me, they’ll understand something isn’t right.”

“Exactly. Are you up for hit?”

Althea grinned with a glint in her eyes. “If I can help set things right, yes, I am.”

Shea embraced her grandmother with a smile.

Wared turned to Randee. “If they’ve breached the core, I think it’s time we take a closer look at that garage you found. Why don’t you lead the way and I’ll help Shea with Althea.”

“I’m perfectly capable of walking by myself,” Althea said and stood. She took a step forward and her legs wobbled. She would have fallen to the ground if Wared hadn’t stepped in quickly to grab her arm. “Ok, maybe I’m a bit rusty,” she conceded as she supported herself against the wall.

“I’ll help you, don’t worry,” Wared said while suppressing the worry he felt inside. It was clear Althea was in no condition for a quick escape. They had to take it slow, there was just no other option.

“I have a plan,” Randee said. Wared looked up and saw him and Shea huddled together on the other side of the room.

“I’m all ears,” Wared said.

Shea stepped forward, her arms crossed across her chest. “I’ll go first and create a distraction on the other side of the Core. I’ll draw them over that way and clear a path for you.”

“Shea—“ Wared started, but he was interrupted by the hand Shea held up.

“It’s not up for discussion. It is vital that my grandmother survives and she can only do that if you help her to the garage while I distract the Protectorate elsewhere.”

“I don’t like it,” Wared said and rubbed his chin. “How are you getting to the garage?”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Get her back to the colony,” Shea said and gestured towards Althea.

“But I do worry,” Wared said. “I don’t like leaving you behind.”

Randee stepped up to Wared and put a hand on his arm. “Listen, Wared, she will be fine. We found what we were looking for, right? What’s more important?”

Wared sighed and look at Shea. He felt a strange sensation in his stomach, an uneasy churning of emotions he wasn’t sure how to describe. When he looked at her determination, he felt admiration. She was willing to risk her life to save them. It was admiration well deserved, he reasoned. But was it more? As their eyes locked, he felt a shiver run down his spine as he spotted a tear in the corner of her eyes. Did he have feelings for her? Did she have feelings for him? Was she walking away without them having a chance to talk about those feelings? Or, was he just imagining things.

“Are you there?” Randee said and leaned in front of Wared, moving his hand across his field of vision. “Hello?”

Wared blinked and looked up, surprised. “I’m sorry, what?”

“What just happened? I was just saying that we need to move and you just zoned out.”

“It’s nothing,” Wared said and glanced towards Shea. “I was just thinking about the road ahead, you know, getting out of here.”

Randee looked at Wared for a few moments, then at Shea. His face didn’t reveal what he was thinking and Wared had no intention of giving him any more information. Instead he just nodded and gestured towards the door.

“I’m ready when you are,” he said.

Shea stepped over to him and another silent moment passed between them. She reached out and put her hand gently on Wared’s shoulder. “Take care of her,” she said and nodded towards Althea.

“You know I will.”

“And one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t wait for me. I mean it.” Before Wared had a chance to protest, Shea turned and walked out of the room.