Worlds Apart

Uncertainty

"What am I doing?"

I stir slightly at the sound of a deep voice, quiet, but clearly in distress and find myself grunting in annoyance at the realization that it must be Eadric's before burrowing further into the covers. But I unconsciously leave my ears uncovered, focusing on the voice even as I tell myself to do everything in my power to try to find sleep again. It is futile. The room is dark, I can tell even with my eyes closed, and I know he is not in the room. But it cannot have been that much later as once I slowly open my eyes and they begin to adjust, I can see through the cracks in the door that the sky is still dark, meaning it must be sometime in the middle of the night.

"What is that supposed to mean, Eadric? She's fine. Your wife is fine. You need to relax." A female voice responds, surely belonging to Eerika. Ugh, I really, strongly, very much dislike her. "Why did you even call me here anyways? You could've had Kiche come here or something, someone actually qualified for this-" The voices. They are coming from the patio, where moonlight is currently seeping in. It acts to light the otherwise pitch black room as I listen from the bed, the door leading outside having been left partially open.

"You know why I came to you, Eerika. You're my sister, I always want to talk to you."

"Yeah right."

"Look, I just needed to talk to someone who doesn't hate me, I guess."

"Wrong person, then."

"Shut up." Eadric scoffs, causing his sister to giggle, goddamn giggle before she finally begins to listen to him again. "I just... I don't know what I'm doing, Eerika. I don't know how to be married, how to live with someone, how to learn to trust her when she doesn't tell me anything... I'm just messing all of this up."

"For god's sake, Eadric, you need to stop this, whatever it is, and face her head on. Tell her how it is." She concludes, and I have to do everything in my power not to scoff at that. "It's her choice not to tell you anything, so why should you have to do the same?"

"Because I started this! I forced her into this mess, tried to set the record straight earlier today. But it's like the harder I try, the more she shuts down. The way I talked to her was... despicable, Eerika. I didn't even know what I was saying until it was too late to take it back and by then, all my anger was out into threats that disgust me to think back on. It's because of me that I'm losing her..."

The moment of silence that follows leads me to believe some form of recognition of how permanent this arrangement between Eadric and I has been made for Eerika, or maybe she just really feels sorry for her brother. But regardless of which it is, her next comment surprises me. "Okay. Okay, Eadric, I'll talk to her."

"No."

"What? What does that mean? Why can't I?"

"Because you two have done nothing but bicker with each other since she's arrived."

"Look, Eadric, as much as it pains me to admit it, she's smart, really smart, and observant. But above all else, she's cold and she's calculated. She knows how to make decisions and get the job done. She's killed hundreds of our people, Eadric. It was her ideas, her plans, I'm sure of it."

"I know. But so have we. Her people didn't know anyone was on the ground when they landed, and there are more of them up there who may just have the ability to wipe us out within mere moments. I can't mess this up, I can't let our people down. Not with our situation."

Our situation? What the hell does he mean by that?

"So, let me talk to her. Get her on board with our ways. Has she been learning to fight as the crew leaders expect?"