My naked toes play in the cool soft lawn, teasing the individual blades of sweet emerald grass. It is apparent that the sun has just set, but I really couldn’t tell you how many suns there were on this world. I don’t remember ever having seen them. The rich earthy smell is infused with a sweetness, not grass exactly, but something more like an apple, maybe a pear. There is also something spicy, but it is coming from the ground, not anything nearby. Is there anything nearby? All I can see are the hills of grass, rolling out all around me. It’s so dark I can’t see all that far. The stars are about to come out. Stars... I would know where I was if I could just see the stars.
It’s absolutely dark. Not even a digital panel with a standby light. The image of the green hill is still floating in my memory, somehow distant now. I think I’m going to be sick. My stomach is a tight knot, like the distance between that place and here is compressed in a memory there. Sitting up, I try to find a light panel. That’s when I realize I was laying on a counter. Well, more correctly, I realized it as I landed face first on the floor. At least it’s dark, even if there is someone here, they surely didn’t see that move.
I need to wake my brain up before I go on any further. I’m not sure my body can handle much more of this “space exploration.” Untangling myself, I sit up and try to think. What do I remember? Grass. Well that’s no help. There was the counter I was laying on. I guess that’s more relevant. Reaching out there should be something then.
That’s when the lights blinded me. The thud, the boom, the change of pressure as the hatch opened, the lights, the faces, and the guns, they all flooded my senses instantaneously. Before my vision cleared I found my entire body behind cover and my eyes had already locked on to a series of vials that when mixed in just the right quantities would create a smoke and irritant that I could throw towards the hatch and distract the faces while I make my way out. But out into what? I still had no idea where I was! I could get the vials, if I moved fast enough. If I kept my head down I’d barely be out of cover.
Now, where was I? I guess I’m a prisoner. The image of the hill resurfaced in my memory. Stupid grass, what good did that do here? The faces weren’t familiar at all. The faces didn’t look happy to see me either. The lead guy was mad. I don’t think he likes me. Next to him though, the old guy, he looked more intrigued than angry. Like he was hiding a joke because he knew it’d just make the angry man more angry. He might be useful. He didn’t have his gun up, maybe that was because he was slightly behind the other guy, but he didn’t look like he wanted to shoot me. Projectile weapons, and a hatch, neither of them probably wants to shoot me. Missing might be a very bad idea, especially if the vibrations on the floor really were an indication that we were on a ship. Somehow I knew the grassy hill was a very long way away. I was a very long way from home.
“Jarret, stand down.” the old man quietly ordered the younger man, as he placed his hand on his shoulder and holstered his own weapon. “I am Dr. Theodore Gune, you are safe.”
He looked right at me. The amusement on his face grew, he seemed to think this was funny. Was I funny? I looked down at myself, I didn’t see any cuts. I wasn’t bleeding. I was draped in a simple blue dress that covered the tops of my long bare legs. I didn’t feel very disheveled, even after falling off of the counter. Maybe I wasn’t at my ideal, but I don’t think I had an appearance worthy of the amusement Dr. Gune was expressing. Dr. Theodore Gune was starting to scare me just a little.
Jarret lowered his gun, and leaned to the side, but it was hardly going to stop him from shooting me. Now Dr. Gune was fully in the doorway. He had his hands out like he was trying to catch raindrops. If he wasn’t so scary, it would be my turn to be amused. In amazement, I noticed that I hadn’t moved, not at all. I hadn’t grabbed any of the vials. I was just sitting there, watching the door like it was a holovid drama. Dr. Gune and Jarret, my own personal comedy duo. The thought did make me smirk, just a little. It was easy to see that Jarret was the straight man, which means Dr. Gune was lethal, my smirk vanished immediately. Unfortunately, Dr. Gune saw it, or he was just that damn frustrating. He’d obviously mistaken my moment of mental weakness as an invitation. He was now well within the confines of the hatch and moving towards the counter behind which I was sheltering. Too late for smoke screens.
“Don’t get too close, Gooney!” This time it was Jarret, whose voice boomed and echoed around the room. Unlike his older partner Jarret didn’t mind being heard. He began to raise his gun again. “You don’t know what she is!”
“And yet, you insist that she is a she.” snapped back Dr. Gune. “You fear her as the unknown, but assign her the feminine gender. You are already making far too many assumptions about our visitor, and worse, you are not quantifying any of them. It is not enough to open your eyes, you must engage your brain as well. Miss,” he turned towards my counter, “we will not hurt you.”
They are just scared. Even Dr. Gune, he fears me, or is he perplexed? He’s not even sure of my gender? Is he blind? He doesn’t act blind. Surely he was involved when I came on board, surely he’s seen me clearly? How did I get onboard? I am on a ship, right? So many questions. Why can’t I remember anything. The grass, the hill, the cool moisture of the night, it floods my mind again. What could it possibly mean? Why is it the only thing I can remember? It’s maddening. I can’t keep crouching here. Slowly, I find my feet, smoothing the blue gown-like cloth as I stand, I present my empty hands to the duo. “I am safe?” I ask them.
“You are indeed safe,” stated Dr. Gune, “very safe. Can you tell us who you are and where you are from?”
It was enough to make me want to scream! Of course they want to know who I am, but I’d really hoped they knew. Or where I was from, at least that! I couldn’t have just materialized here, someone has to know something, don’t they? I wanted to shout, “No, I know nothing!” I wanted to tell them about the grass and the hill and the sky, but I never saw the stars, it doesn’t help; it doesn’t make sense. The words though, the words never materialized in my throat, my head throbbed, the tiny lab began to spin. I fell forward, my hands on the counter, my hair falling before my face. How could I tell them what I don’t know.
Just then I felt a hand on my back, tentative at first and then with a firm reassuring pat. I raised my head and to my surprise Dr. Gune was standing opposite me, across the counter. Next to me was the burly young man, Jarret, who had been so afraid, wanting to shoot me just moments before. He met my gaze, a smile dancing in his eyes. Then he turned to Dr. Gune, “Gooney, I don’t think she remembers a thing.”
“Jarret, we need to awaken the captain. She needs to know our guest is awake. Please tell her I request her presence in the lab.” Dr Gune gently ordered.
Jarret turned to me. He wasn’t sure if he should reclaim his hand. I wasn’t sure I was ready to give up it’s steadying comfort either. Slowly I stood to my full height, and tried to be confident as I walked to a nearby chair. Even without talking, it seemed to be enough for Jarret and he silently escaped through the hatch, turning back only once to make sure I’d made it to the chair. Dr. Gune came and kneeled next to me. He held out a scanner, explaining it would not hurt me, but it would tell him about how my body was functioning, and he also explained that after they had found me he had used the scanner, but it had indicated that I was at a low, but steady level of functioning. They had not known if I was really alive or not. He proceeded to wave the device near me, touching my body in several places with the machine.
As the scan finished an intimidating woman in her mid-forties entered the lab. Despite the late hour, her appearance was crisp. Her posture and attire made it obvious that this woman must be the captain that Jarret was sent to seek even before she introduced herself. She glanced at Dr. Gune, not saying a word and walked straight up to me. Something in her manner changed as she knelt before me. The silver specks in her dark hair looked like a star field. A curiosity burned in her eyes, but so did a softness, a compassion. “I am Captain Susan Marx, welcome aboard the Lutrina. I promise that no one will harm you, so long as you are here. Do you understand?”
“You will not hurt me.” I said, slightly startled at the calmness in my voice. I feel way less sure of myself than I sounded, but I really want to trust these people. I want to feel accepted and safe and the captain seems so, I don’t know, honest maybe? There is something about this place, this ship, Dr. Gune, the captain, even Jarret. I want them to like me. The Lutrina, could I really be safe here? Would they help me find that place with the grassy hill?
Jarret had entered the lab slightly behind the captain, but I barely noticed him. He still had his gun, but it was hanging from its strap now and not in the active aggressive posture it had assumed the last time he’d entered. The captain turned momentarily to mark his presence next to Dr. Gune before she continued, “Do you remember anything from before? Anything from before you woke up here tonight?”
Yeah sure I thought, there’s this dream I had of a grassy hill in a black sky, I have no idea where it is, but I feel like going there. Instead I just told her a quiet, “no.”
“Can you tell me your name?” she pressed on.
Tears filled my eyes. The exhilaration of the evening was gone and I was exhausted. I didn’t mean to get all weepy, but the mental gymnastics of trying to focus, an overwhelming sense of exhaustion, and the gamut of emotions I’d experienced in such a short time left me with no reserves to answer questions. Especially questions to which I had no clue of the answer! What kind of girl doesn’t even remember her own name? I felt horrible. How was I ever going to find, wherever it was where I belonged, I had nothing, no name, no home planet, no idea of who I am or was, and it looked like they knew nothing about me either.
The captain softened even more at my exhaustion and despair She really is a most attentive and alert woman, especially if Dr. Gune was right and Jarret had really pulled her from her bed. She turned to look at Dr. Gune and Jarret. “Ted,” she addressed Dr. Gune, “do you need to run any more tests on our guest?”
“No, Sue, I have everything I need for now, but I would like to see her again in the morning. And someone is going to need to give this sweet lady a name so we can address her properly,” replied the older man.
“I understand Ted, but that too can wait until we’ve gotten the chance to get to know her a little better, or at least all had some rest,” stated the captain. She then turned to Jarret. “Mr. Huang, will you please escort this young lady on a brief tour of the essentials she will need to know on this ship, the showers, where she can get a snack, and some safe quarters where she can rest for the night. There is an unclaimed berth next to you and Mr. Weston’s quarters, I think. That should do nicely for her needs, at least until she has had a chance to get to know the rest of the crew. Give her some privacy for a bit.”
Apparently, Jarret was also Mr. Huang. I had no idea who Mr. Weston was, nor anyone else on the crew, but the idea of having at least one person I knew close by was a comfort for tonight. Captain Marx then turned to me again.
“Please go with Mr. Huang,” she requested. “He will see to all your immediate needs.”
Her voice was almost the soft tones of an angel. The feeling of trust she embodied grew within me. I shakely rose, and saw the Jarret was right there to help me up. The captain stepped back away from us and let him lead me out into the corridor of the Lutrina.