"Alright, so I need to tinker with the drone a bit," Raven said while she placed a large drone on the table in front of them. Bellamy and Clarke could barely look at each other or at Raven or Shaw.
Raven really didn't seem to be too affected by the events the previous night. However, Shaw took to himself and tried to avoid eye contact and any further interaction. And then there was poor Jordan, completely unaware of the entire fiasco.
"The drone was actually in pretty good condition, considering it's been stored away for a century and who knows what else this thing has gone through. It appears to run on solar power, so we got lucky. If it ran on batteries or something, it would have eroded. I need to check to the oxygen sensors to make sure they are reading correctly, and the sample collector needs to be adjusted slightly, the hand had come loose," Raven explained. "The next step is going to be finding a sun lit place for this thing to charge. Since the windows here likely provide some UV protection, we'll need to attach it to a rope and launch it out into space to charge in direct sunlight for a while."
"I know where we can find rope," Jordan cut in.
"Excellent." Raven clapped her hands in front of her and smiled.
"Jordan, how is the algae farm going?" Bellamy asked.
"It's currently defrosting. I had to turn off the cooling mechanism, but left the heating mechanism off," Jordan started. "I could turn on the heating lamps to speed up the thawing process, but the algae is sensitive, and could potential be dried out or burnt by the lamps."
"Can we try heating up a specific section to see if we can warm it up successfully?" Clarke asked. "If we ruin that isolated area, we'll be alright since the rest of the farm will be coming along. And if it works, we'll then have that section producing before the others. We could then decide to warm up the other sections."
"I don't perceive that to be a problem." Jordan nodded and Clarke gave him an approving smile.
"Shaw, how are we looking as far as landing?"
"I don't think it would be wise to try to land the entirety of the ship since we lack the correct mechanisms and, since we don't know what's going on down there, we should keep a place to retreat to as a precaution," Shaw began.
"I agree," Clarke said. "We should just take the smaller ship you guys used to get on Earth. How many will that hold?"
"It'll hold about 50. So we will need to make multiple trips," Shaw said. "The smaller ship should be working as it's supposed to, the only thing we will need to do is refuel it since it's running low on fuel. I need to check how much fuel we have in storage."
"What happens if we don't have a lot of fuel in storage?" Bellamy asked.
"Let's hope there's enough to get us to the group and then we'll need to start drilling," Shaw told him. "I need to check first before I comment more. This may be a non-issue."
"Knowing our history, it'll be an issue," Clarke said with a stern look in her eye. "That may determine who send to the ground first."
"What do you mean?" Raven asked.
"We shouldn't wake everyone at once and bring them down. There would be chaos. We need to establish a food source and shelter before we bring them all into this," Bellamy answered. "I was hoping we would only have to wake maybe a dozen others, but if the fuel is limited, we'll need to maximize our first trip and bring some of the prisoners."
"If we do that, we need to wake Diyoza," Clarke cut in. "I don't know what to expect from the prisoners. She's likely the only one they will listen to."
"Even then, many of them no longer are loyal to Diyoza, so we'll need to find a way to only wake up the ones that are," Shaw said with a sigh. "Which won't be easy. These people are used to pretending. They will say they are loyal to Diyoza and then they will run as soon as they have a chance."
"Then we don't give them a chance to run." Clarke's eyes were determined.
"I will go check the fuel reserves once we're done here," Shaw said.
"So the three of us know what we're doing," Raven started, "what will the two of you being doing?" Raven looked from Bellamy to Clarke and then wiggled her eyebrows, making some sort of implication.
"We will be making sure that the the of you are doing what you're supposed to be," Bellamy said in mock stern tone.
"Once we've run the tests and we know what to expect, we will start putting together a plan for waking the others," Clarke responded. "In the meantime, we're gonna try to start thinking about what we're gonna do if the descendants of the Eligius ship are here."
"The drone doesn't have any cameras attached to it, but I may be able to get one on there and functioning," Raven commented. "But until then, we won't know if there's anyone down there."
"Could we put out something on the radio to tell them we're here and ask if anyone is down there?" Clarke said. Up to this point, they had all been standing around a table, why they haven't sat down, none of them knew. However, now Clarke sat, supporting her elbow on the table and resting her chin in her palm while she seemed to be thinking.
Bellamy pulled out the chair next to her, and he sat down as well. "If we do though, and they're hostile, we'll lose the element of surprise and they will be expecting us."
"What if they're peaceful?" Clarke threw out.
"When has anyone ever been peaceful about some strange people landing in their home?" Bellamy reasoned.
"Either way, I can definitely create a radio signal, so once the two of you decide, you let me know." Raven grabbed the drone off the table and looked to both Jordan and Shaw. "Let's get started."
The three of them left the room, leaving Bellamy and Clarke sitting at the table. "We could bring soldiers down with us," Clarke said.
"We should do that either way. We just have to be smart about how many," Bellamy stated. "We need enough soldiers to protect us, but also not too many, because it may appear like a declaration of war."
"That's why we should radio," Clarke started. "We need to let them know we mean no harm."
"Clarke, my gut is telling me that trying to communicate with them ahead of time is a bad idea. If they're peaceful, they'll be receptive and helpful to our landing." Bellamy looked her in the eye and held her gaze strongly. "But if they are threatened by us, and they know we're coming, they could ambush and wipe us out."
"Bellamy…" she started, but he shook his head, showing her just how concerned he was. "Okay. No radio signal."
"Thank you," he said, and he grabbed her hand and kissed the top of it.
Clarke felt her blood rush to her face and she pulled her hand out of his grasp. She glanced away, but it was hard to miss the look on his face. He had a slight downward turn to his lips and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion and then lowered in rejection. But he quickly covered it up with an illegible expression.
Quickly masking her discomfort with a yawn, she said, "I'm gonna go relax. I'm getting tired. I didn't sleep real well after that horror story we witnessed."
"Okay," Bellamy continued looking at his hands instead of at her. "Sleep well, Princess."
"Thank you, Bellamy." She stood up and quickly exited the room, leaving behind the dark haired man following her path and staring at the door.
-100-
Bellamy had returned to the room that he had claimed last night shortly after Clarke had retreated to hers. His room was across from the one Clarke claimed, so he had left his door slightly ajar in hopes that he would wake when she left hers.
However, he now awoke to the sound of a TV down the hall in the living area which told him he had missed her. He got up and went to his bathroom real quick, splashing water to rinse away the sleep from his face and eyes.
Since they had awoken from cryosleep, Clarke had been acting weird. One minute they were back to how they once were, and the next she seemed to hate him for some reason. He was completely dumbfounded by it all, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't experiencing some confusing feelings towards her of his own. It was just that he was always able to control his feelings better and hide them. He knew that when Clarke felt something, she would become entrapped in an inner battle. She was used to using logic, so when her feelings were being illogical, she would jump back and forth. Her thoughts and actions reflecting the constant fight for domination between her head and her heart.
Bellamy could hear the sound of recorded laughter echoing from down the hall into his room. He followed the sound into the living area and saw the back of Clarke's blonde hair poking out above the back of the couch. He could hear her chuckling along with the show.
He turned his attention to the screen and saw that she was watching some sort of comedy that had aired in the early 2000's. It seemed that their current ship kept archives of old television like the ark had.
Bellamy slowly leaned over Clarke and she made no sign of noticing him. He lowered his lips to her ear, only an inch or two of making actual contact. "What are you watching?" He whispered.
She jumped and was nearly on her feet, ready for combat. "What the fuck, Bellamy! You scared me!"
A roar of laughter escaped Bellamy's mouth and, to that, Clarke launched herself off the couch and over the back side to jump of the man in front of her. She playfully punched him until he raised his hands in mock surrender.
"I should've known better than to startle the great Wanheda," he said with a smirk on his face.
"Yeah, you should've." She threw one more punch at his shoulder, He hissed and went to grab it, making a big show of how much pain he was in. Clarke sat back down on the couch and patted the spot next to her, looking at his expectantly. "And to answer your question, I'm watching a show called 'How I Met Your Mother.' Ever seen it? My dad and I used to watch this all the time up on the ark. It was his favorite. I don't really understand most of the references, neither did he, but the relationships between the characters are awesome. They're all like family."
"In my station, we could hardly afford a TV and even if we could, we never had the time to watch it. Always working," he commented. "So, no, I've never seen the show."
"Watch it with me then, please?" She once again patted the spot next to her and he sighed, moving around the couch to sit next to her. She raised the blanket she was using to let him under, and once she was, she just barely let herself rest of up against him. "You see that tall guy there? That's Marshall and the redhead next to him is his wife, Lily. They're the perfect match. The blonde there is Barney. He's my favorite because he's awesome and there's no denying it. And the guy right there is Ted. He's the protagonist and the pretty brunette is his love interest."
"Does she have a name?" He inquired.
"Robin," she answered.
"What's a Thanksgiving?" He asked.
"I don't really know to be honest. Some sort of holiday they celebrated long ago." She shrugged. "This is my favorite episode because of the slap bet."
"What slap bet?" He turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Maybe we should just start from the beginning." Clarke lifted the remote and scrolled through to the very first episode. "I really hope you liked this show."
"I'm sure I will."
After a few episodes, Clarke's eyes became heavy and her head started to bob. Eventually it found its way to Bellamy's shoulder and planted itself there. He eyelids remained firmly in the closed position and Bellamy refrained from moving and jostling her.
He looked at her sleeping face, enjoying the bit of peace that rested there. The crease that normally wrinkled her forehead was flattened out. He felt a twinge of guilt as he looked at her lips. They we soft looking, and completely relaxed. He shook his head and tried to disentangle himself from her.
It was then that he heard footsteps approaching. He turned his head to see where the sound was coming from and he saw Shaw. Shaw nodded at him and continued forward, slipping into a room, minding his own business.
Moments later two more sets of footsteps of appeared. The voices of Raven and Jordan overtook the room as they discussed the topic of their deep conversation. However, upon seeing him, she excused herself from Jordan and walked over to Bellamy, taking a seat in the chair adjacent to him.
"Hey there," he said quietly, so as not to wake the sleeping girl next to him. He felt as Clarke shifted a bit in response to his voice. She nuzzled deeper into his side, her nose burying itself in the crease between his arm and side.
"Bellamy," Raven started. "I don't know what's going on here…"
"There's nothing going on here," he insisted.
Raven gave him a skeptical look. "Don't forget that I was there when we had to leave her six years ago. The two of you have always been orbiting around one another, but the timing has always been off. Everyone can see it. But don't forget that you have a girlfriend."
"Raven, there seriously isn't anything going on between Clarke and I."
"I pride myself on knowing the two of you better than you know yourselves. So maybe you have yet to admit it to yourself, but there's something between you two. It's like gravity." Raven sighed. "You know I love Echo. She's like family to me now. But even throughout all those years, I could tell that you never loved her entirely. Not as much as you loved Clarke."
"I don't love Clarke." His voice was hard and he gave the brunette a very stern look.
"Fine, keep lying to yourself." Raven stood up, her brace briefly locking up. He wanted to reach out to help her, but he was too stubborn to let that weaken his resolve. She eventually made it to her room, but she turned back to look at him. "I'll support you either way. But you need to be careful. You have two hearts in your hand. And unfortunately, both of those women know how to kill with a single glance. So make sure you don't hurt them." She finishes and then goes into the room.
Once he thinks he's safe, he lets out something resembling both a sigh and a groan. He shifts Clarke and lifts his hands to his head. He can feel the beginning of a headache coming on from grinding his teeth too hard.
"What episode are we on?" He hears the girl next to him ask.
He once again sighs. "I don't know, Clarke. I got distracted," he bit out. Clarke furrowed her eyebrows, trying to see what was wrong and why he was being snippy. Bellamy softened at her look. "Sorry, I'm just tired."
"It's okay," she said. "We should probably go to bed."
"Yeah, let's do that." Clarke slowly stood up and he followed suit. He reached out for the remote and turned off the TV. They walked together to their rooms and both stood facing each other as they came to their facing rooms.
"Goodnight, Bellamy," she said and she leaned up and kissed his cheek.
"Goodnight, Clarke." They both turned away to go to their rooms, but he stopped just as they were about to disappear from each other. "I saw the episode where that guy Marshal and Lily were stuck in the bathroom while Ted was getting it on."
She smirked at him. "That's a good episode."
"I found it horrifying," he smiled and she chuckled.
"Goodnight, Bell. Try not to have nightmares about it." And with that, she disappeared from view.
