Dr. Amelia Brand headed back to the base, wiping away a stray tear.
"CASE?" she called out to the empty, white room.
"Yes, Dr. Brand?" the robot got up, its screens scrolling through lines of blue text.
"I'm going to sleep now for a year. Make sure the base is functioning the entire time and finish conducting the tests I've set up outside. If all goes well and no one arrives, I'm starting Plan B," she instructed, striding over to the large sleep machine. She took one last look at the setting sun outside of the window, the last ray of light falling onto Wolf's plaque in the makeshift grave she had made him.
"I will do that. Goodnight, Dr. Brand," CASE lay back down and the screens turned dark.
"Goodnight, Case," she replied softly.
Goodbye, Wolf, she thought sadly, laying down in the machine, letting the warm waters wash over her face. Cooper, come for me, she pleaded in her mind as she fell asleep.
Amelia awoke, coughing out water. She opened her eyes, seeing Cooper's face hovering over hers.
"Cooper!" she gasped. "Cooper!" She threw her arms around him, giving him a tight hug, letting tears flow down her face.
"Hey," Cooper whispered. "It's okay. I'm here. Earth is safe. We're all good." Amelia let go of him, a puzzled look on her face.
"How did you survive the black hole? Not even light escapes from there," she frowned, tracing the angles of his face with her finger. "How are you alive?" She stepped out of the sleeping machine.
"I don't know," Cooper replied. "I went into this place and ended up in one of Saturn's bases, where Rangers had found me."
"So she did it?" Amelia smiled. "Murph saved them all."
"Yes, she did," Cooper said. "But what about you? Where is Edmund?"
"Edmund's dead," she replied flatly. "We were too late; this planet's time is only the slightest bit faster than Earth's. One day here is about one and a half on Earth, but to Wolf, he's been on this planet for about thirty years and the sleeping machine can't sustain life that long."
"I'm sorry," Cooper told her softly, hugging her gently. "Have you started Plan B? Because Plan A is working."
"I haven't. I was going to, but I have not yet," she informed him.
"Good. Have you explored this planet at all? Is it capable of sustaining life?"
"CASE was performing some experiments while I slept. I haven't had a chance to check on it yet; you just woke me up," she said. "Now let me change and take a shower. I'm soaking."
Amelia returned from her room dressed in clean clothing, her hair still slightly damp.
"CASE says that everything is in order. As you know, the air is breathable, the planet has rudimentary plant organisms, and the days, while much longer than Earth's, are of a moderate temperature and the nights are cool, but very short," Cooper looked up from a report that he was reading off of. "So, definitely capable of sustaining human life. I've sent out a message to Saturn saying that they can come."
"Without a pilot?" Amelia questioned, sitting down next to him. "How are they going to pilot the ship?"
"Very carefully," he got up. "But, I have another question. How long were you asleep?"
"I set the waking date for a year," she stood as well. "But you may have woken me earlier."
"Amelia," he began, "you've been asleep for seven years."