Wonkru ☣ Bellamy Blake [3]

Ascension

They stood around the command center looking out the window down at the home they had hope to be theirs. What was once a beautiful world with vibrant colors was now a dead and dull world. But that's not what Nia was focusing on.

Her eyes were looking at all of them and assessing each one. She understood why they were all there, but she also realized that one day she would need to turn to others for advice, and those others would be the ones beside her. She need to be cautious of who they were and how they might advise her.

"It's gone, guys." Bellamy stood by the window with his arms folded.

To his left stood Monty and Harper. A few feet behind stood Clarke with Madi. Shaw sat in the pilot seat with Raven by his side. Murphy in the captain chair flanked by Emori and Echo. Nia stood toward the back with Tate behind her and Fox sitting in the seat beside her. Atlas sat between her legs while Jade and Lynn stood on the other side of Nia.

"Close it up, Shaw." Raven instructed before Shaw pushed a few buttons and the window closed shut.

"Like our ancestors on the Ark, we're the last of the human race." Bellamy began to conversation.

"Our ancestors were wrong. We're not." Clarke added in at how they were differences among the group.

"412 people on this ship. Thanks to Nia, we saved who could be saved." Bellamy pointed out the wounded that they had taken from the gorge who were recovering from their injuries. "Now it's our job to keep them alive. How do we do that?"

Monty stepped up and pulled the cylinder from his pocket. "Algae?"

"Oh, float me now." Murphy stated making a smile to appear on Nia's face.

It wasn't the best solution they had, especially when it wasn't at all appealing to their taste buds, but it was all they had. Nia's main concern was Atlas. He had taken so well to the berries from the valley but had made another fuss when they had to switch to rations. If this was his only form of nutrients then it wouldn't be easy.

"Can I?" Shaw spoke up from his seat unsure at how they might take his input. "From what we know about the half-life of Hythylodium, it'll be at least 10 years before that valley comes back. This ship does have a small water recycler and a few weeks of rations, but that's it. Cryo is the only option. There are 500 pods, which is more than enough for what we need."

Nia listened intently to his facts. They had stuck a few people in cryo for medical purposes but they hadn't thought about using it for themselves.

"I agree with Shaw. The tech is amazing. We go to sleep, we don't age, we wake up the next morning, it's 10 years later. And Bob's your uncle." Raven supported.

Monty and Raven exchanged a smile over the fact that she had spoken the phrase. Nia was thinking the thought through and watched as Atlas stood and waddled his way to Bellamy.