** Day 2,019**
Roan had been keeping a close eye on Clark since the five-year-anniversary had rolled around. So far. 185 days passed the date, with no word from her mom or her friends she appeared to be doing okay. He could tell it was wearing on her though. She still did all the things they had been doing, training, foraging and taking Maddi to the hot springs for daytrips, but with each passing day she became more and more resigned to it being just the three of them. She'd stopped cleaning the extra quarters they had set up initially. When she thought they were watching her, she would sit outside and stare at the sky, occasionally wiping a tear from her cheek.
Today was one of those days.
Maddi had been in bed for a while now; Clarke sat outside watching the stars. She wanted to believe that they were trying to find a way back, but what if they never made it to space? What if she had failed to get the communication tower working and they died due to lack of oxygen waiting for her to fix something she wasn't equipped to fix? "You're doing it again" Roan sat down beside her. She sniffed "doing what?" she asked trying her best to hide the fact that he was right. "You're thinking so hard I can hear the wheels in your head turning" he replied unconvinced by her statement.
She sighed "what if I screwed something up and they never made it to space?" she asked "or worse, what if they did and they ran out of oxygen?" He shook his head "Or what if they had to grow something to somehow make a Raven-like concoction to get them back home and it is taking its time growing?" he countered. Maybe they are waiting for the earth to turn to get them in the right position to land here instead of half a world away? Did you say they dropped you guys in the wrong spot the first time?" he asked. She blew out a breath of air "Ok, so why haven't they opened the bunker yet?" she looked at him.
He took her hand into his "We could ask a thousand why's or who's or how's and all we would do is depress ourselves trying to answer questions we don't have answers to; and wont answers to until someone either drops from space or walks from Polis" he told her. "Driving yourself crazy with questions you don't have answers to is not the best way to approach this situation," he declared. "I suppose you have a better idea" she sighed. "As a matter of fact I do" he replied. "You know how Maddi wants that oasis here at the ark. I say we give it to her." Clarke cocked her head back "and just how do you propose we do that?" she asked.
Roan told her about his plan and what it would take to make it happen. She thought he was crazy, but she did need a distraction; and while his plan was a little off the wall, everything else he had done worked, so why not give it a shot. "Why not?" she agreed "It beats staring at the sky with more questions than answers" she sighed. "Good, we'll start tomorrow. Now get some sleep, tomorrows going to be a long day," he said standing up and holding out his hand for her to take it. "You're just doing this so that you can distract me aren't you?" she grunted. "If I was, would that be such a bad thing?" he countered, leading her inside "besides it's more productive than staring into space for answers that will come when they are ready" he pointed out.
Bellamy had started camping out in the communication lab again. He barely left the room or the radio unless Echo or Raven forced him to do so. The last couple of days, they had yet to hear anything from anyone, including Clarke, which didn't help his mood at all. "Eat" Echo sat a plate of food down in front of him and took the seat next to him. She crossed her arms over her chest and watched him intently. Bellamy tried to ignore her, but after a few minutes it was clear she wasn't going away. Reluctantly, he started eating the algae salad she'd brought him "I'm so sick of algae" he grumbled, "we all are" she replied "but it's all we have until we get home" she reminded him. "IF we get home," he said barely above a whisper.
Echo shook her head "I wonder if Roan is having as much trouble with Clarke as we are with you?" she asked. "I doubt it" he chortled, "She was always better at processing things than me." Echo had to admit he'd gotten better at using his head, rather than his heart to make decisions, except where Clarke was concerned. If he wasn't in here trying to get anyone on the radio, he was in the Griffin quarters or on the observation deck. He barely spent any time with the rest of them unless Echo or Raven drug him wherever they were going. Lately, he'd been so surly the others went out of their way to avoid him, including Murphy, who could be quite surly by himself.
The radio crackled and Bellamy turned his head "Eligius corporation to Ark Station, do you read?" Bellamy stilled "Go get Raven" he told Echo, who was already on her feet. "Eligius Corporation to Ark Station, do you read" the voice repeated. Bellamy picked up the mic "this is Ark Station" Bellamy said; "Elgius Corporation we hear you, come back," he answered. "Ark station, this is Colonel Adam Santos, Eligius Corporation, we have heard your SOS. What is the nature of your emergency?" he asked. Bellamy leaned his head back against the chair and sighed, "Colonel Santos it is good to hear your voice" Bellamy replied, "I am Bellamy Blake. We need to get back down to earth, but are lacking the rocket fuel to do so. We are willing to make a deal in exchange for safe passage to earth," he told the man.
Raven came running into the room just in time to hear the man's response. "The way we heard it the earth was destroyed by nuclear reactors" he said. "It was five years ago" Bellamy confirmed "but we have people living down there in bunkers" he decided not to mention the three people at the ark. His head said work with them because they were the ticket home, but his gut said something else entirely. "We might be able to work something out, Could we board your space station an talk about it?" he asked. Bellamy looked to Raven "Eligius this is Raven Reyes, how many of you are there?" she asked. "Six including myself" he answered "How many are there of you?" he asked. "Seven" she replied.
"Can you give us a minute to consult our people?" Bellamy asked. "Certainly" Colonel Samtos replied. By now the others had gathered "Well?" Bellamy looked at them. "What do we have to lose?" Harper asked. "My gut tells me they want something more" Bellamy told them. "Then we'll be ready for that, too" Murphy replied, "But they are our current best option to go home. "Ok, you guys gather the weapons and valuables, stash them where we can get to them quickly if we need to" he instructed. Murphy, Monty and Harper left the room to do as he said. "Okay Colonel" Bellamy spoke into the mic "you may board, but be advised we have no weapons and very little food. We don't want trouble, only to go home" he said. "Understood, We will be near you in a few days and will radio you then." Bellamy sighed, "10-4, Ark station out" he said laying the mic down on the desk.
"I know this is the first real hope we've had" Harper looked at them trying not to ruin the positive vibe in the room, but what do we really know about these people?" she asked. Bellamy nodded in agreement "I get your concerns" he said "but hope is hope" Bellamy said "and we need to cautiously engage this group, but be ready to defend ourselves if necessary." He looked into a crowd of hopeful, but worried faces "I know we don't know about these people, but this is as close to getting home as we're going to get" he told them "so we need to have a little hope and a little faith."
Raven looked at them "Bellamy's right" she said, "This may be our only chance of getting home, so we need to take the chance. Be prepared to defend yourselves and each other. If it comes down to it, we will take their ship by force" she told them. "I would say pack up anything you want to take with you, and leave the rest. We may need to resort to bribery" she shrugged. Everybody but Echo, Bellamy and Raven left the room. "Well, what do you think?" she asked them. "My gut tells me this is going to cost us something, but with any luck we can make the best of it and get home."
He turned to Echo "I need you to use your special skills" he said "If something is amiss, you are the one who can get around without getting caught" he told her. She nodded "I can do that" she said. Echo had spent a lot of time walking around the ship in the last five years. She had found lots of spaces she could squeeze into where she would not be seen. This was her moment to prove to Bellamy that after all they had been through she could be trusted to look after the rest of them.
Murphy stood in the hall talking to Harper, Emori and Monty. "I know this is our best chance, but I think we need to have a plan just in case whatever Bellamy's plan is doesn't work," he told them. They all nodded in agreement. "First let's gather the stuff we want to take back home and store it in one of our rooms" he said "then we'll meet back here in an hour."
