The Dark Side of Space

Chapter 19

Adam comes into the lounge with his laptop tucked under his arm and a bag of chips. He kicks the door shut behind him. "Guys," he says quietly. Naomi looks up from her schoolwork. I've realized I can only really focus in the evenings. Any time I get semi-comfortable, either Naomi wants to hang out and talk or ACTS has something for us to do.

"What?" she asks.

Adam sits down on the floor and props his laptop open on the coffee table. He opens his bag of chips. "My mom wrote me back. I saw this morning."

"It took her three weeks to respond to an email?" Joseph asks. Adam glares at him then looks away. He hasn't really gotten back in our good graces yet.

"Aren't you going to tell us what she said?" Naomi asks.

Adam nods, and logs into his email. His face falls. "I mean, she thought I was playing a joke on her but the good thing is-"

"How is that a good thing?" Naomi demands. She sets down her pencil and leans forward to see the computer.

"Because at least I know I can talk to her. I'll just explain things better next time. It's not like all this doesn't sound like bullshit anyway to be fair." Adam's pvertaken by a coughing fit.

"You should ask someone to check that out," Naomi says. "It doesn't sound good."

Adam shrugs. "It's probably just a cold. It's freezing up here."

Naomi looks at me. I can tell what she's thinking. Before I can say anything she says, "Well shit, I want to talk to my parents too. I'm gonna tell mine to call the damn police or something."

"And what? Send them to space?" Adam asks. He looks at Naomi like he wants to laugh at her.

I turn to look at Naomi. "It's not a good idea," I tell her seriously. "If they wanted us to talk to our parents, they'd tell us we could." I know Naomi isn't stupid, but she misses her family. We all do.

Adam narrows his eyes at me. "What other choice do we have?" He asks. "Who knows if we'll ever get to go back home-"

"We will," Naomi says firmly.

"Not if they think we're going behind their backs," I argue. "You said it yourself. They could do anything to us and lie about it being an accident."

"Well if that's the case then I'm already dead," Adam says with a shrug. I can tell by the look on his face that he regrets his lapse in judgement. He'll never admit it to us, though.

"No," I persist. "I just, I don't think it's a good idea. I could be wrong, though." I know I'm not.

"I'm surprised you're not leaping at the opportunity to talk to your family," Adam says accusingly. Turning things around on me isn't going to change what he did.

"What? Why?"

Adam shrugs. "I mean, you sounded super close to your mom and boyfriend when we were at the hotel." His green eyes look cold.

"They're my mom and boyfriend. Of course, I'm close to them. So I don't want to put them in danger, even accidentally." Adam looks dumbfounded. Thankfully, he doesn't have a response. I glance up at the clock overhead. "I have to go see Rebecca."

I guess they've figured that if Naomi and I don't show up for our appointments, it's not like we could run away anywhere.

"See you at dinner?" Naomi asks. I nod to her, even though it's not like we have a choice.

I leave the lounge. I try to remember the directions Rebecca gave me. When I get to the middle of the base, I stop. I've never had the opportunity to just be by myself and take in the sight of the moon. I stand so close to the window, it feels like the moon is under my feet. Far off, I can see the tiny pinhole that is the sun. I wish I could see the earth. It would make me feel less like I'm out in the middle of nowhere, even if just a tiny bit.