The Nightmare moaned and began drifting closer. Desperately, Samus jumped at the wall and grabbed onto the hand rails there with one hand. With her gun extended, she began pummeling the Nightmare's drooping face with missiles; and in disgust, she watched as the face drooped more and began oozing green slime. But the monster still crept closer. It was going to crush her. She was going to die—
Samus jerked awake, gasping, and sat heaving for a minute. Even though it had only been a dream, the monster still seemed to loom before her eyes. She shuddered, remembering how only a few years ago she had fought with the Nightmare, a deadly creature with only a face and metal arms. It had been infected by the SA-X virus and turned into an even more dangerous monster. And it had almost killed her. Fortunately, her missiles had destroyed it before it could crush her, but the terrifying memory remained.
Slowly, her breathing steadied. Samus began studying her surroundings, not sure of her whereabouts at first. She was sitting in a bed, and on the other side of the room a little girl lay asleep in another bed. At its foot sat a pile of small teddies and dolls, while a stack of books towered precariously on the floor near the end of Samus' bed. Opposite from the beds stood two doors. The closed door on the left presumably led to the hallway, while a door on the right opened into a walk-in closet that contained shirts and skirts haphazardly hung up. Baskets full of clothes and toys sat on shelves in the closet as well. Behind Samus, windows let in morning light through cracks in the blinds.
As Samus gazed at the girl across from her, she suddenly remembered the events of yesterday. She was in a house. The girl over there was Angela, her sister. Her sister… if Angela was her sister, then the boy and woman here must be her brother and mother, her family. The idea seemed so strange, yet at the same time comforting. Maybe if she always stayed with her sister or her mother or her brother, she would not feel lonely and could escape the fear and dread that haunted her whenever she was alone. For a moment, Samus felt determined to not let her new family out of her sight. But then her wary thoughts returned; I don't even know these people, so how can I trust them? Besides, I've always been independent, and I don't have to rely on anyone. Then another voice in her quietly said, But you do need someone. You needed someone when the Largonak almost killed you…
Breaking into Samus' thoughts, Angela suddenly sat up, like a jack-in-the box toy, rubbing her eyes and yawning. She glanced over at Samus, and a wide grin spread across the girl's face. Jumping out of her bed, she eagerly cried, "Good morning! Today is going to be great; I'm going to show you all over the farm, and I'll teach you how to garden and gather eggs, and I'll show you my dolls, and we'll have so much fun!"
She ran to the closet and pulled out a pair of trousers and a shirt. "I gotta get dressed and brush my teeth first. You can come with me, and we can do it together if you want! We're sisters, so it's okay!" Angela said. Samus followed the girl out of the room to the bathroom, unsure of what else to do. Last night she had learned what brushing teeth with an electric toothbrush meant- brushing teeth had never been important on her missions, and machines had always taken care of her hygienic needs when she was not on a mission, so the experience was new to her—but it still felt awkward to put a vibrating stick in her mouth and move it around. Nor did Samus have any clothes except for her zero suit. Fortunately, Angela kept up a constant chatter and did not seem to even notice that Samus lacked another outfit.
At last, they headed down the stairs to the kitchen, where River stood at the stove frying eggs. "Good morning, Mom!" Angela cried and ran to hug her mother.
Turning with a smile, River squeezed Angela and said, "Good morning, my angel." Looking up at Samus, River said, "Good morning, Samus. Did you sleep well?"
Samus nodded. "Good," River said, then glanced at Samus' clothes. Her zero suit, which was a tight, one-piece space suit that covered everything except her head, apparently did not fit River's liking. The mother frowned a little. "Hmm, we'll have to go shopping sometime to get you some new clothes. I'm afraid that suit looks a little too tight. For now, you can borrow some of my clothes; I'll get you some after breakfast," River said.
Inspecting River's clothes, Samus felt a little uneasy. The mother was wearing a long skirt and yellow blouse, both types of clothes Samus had never worn and which looked uncomfortable to her. How could one move freely in them? At that moment, Sam, carrying a bucket full of white liquid, trudged into the room just as River turned off the stove.
"You're just in time for breakfast, Sam," Angela said cheerfully.
"'Morning, sis. 'Morning Mom," Sam said. He glanced at Samus and mumbled another good morning. "Food smells great, Mom," he complimented and began pouring the white liquid from the bucket into an empty pitcher on the counter.
"Thank you," River said as she plopped an egg onto each plate. The ladies sat down, and once Sam finished pouring the liquid, he placed the pitcher on the table, washed his hands, and sat down too. While the others began helping themselves to the food on the table, Samus watched. First, she inspected the food. A bowl in the middle held what appeared to be fruit; four of them were round, red, and shiny and three of them were bright yellow and crescent-shaped. Next to the fruit sat a basket containing what looked like a rock, but when River took a piece out of it Samus could see it was cut in slices and was obviously very soft. There was also a rectangular, yellow substance on a white platter and a purple jelly in a jar, both of which the others spread on their rock slices. At least Samus recognized the eggs. She sniffed the air. Though all the scents were new, they did not seem bad.
Cautiously, Samus took a piece of the rock, which the others were calling bread, and bit into it. It felt soft and chewy, but also a bit thick. Imitating the others, Samus tried putting some of the yellow substance and the purple jelly on the bread and found that the bread became moist and sweet. The white liquid, though, felt strange to her. Thicker than water, it stayed in her throat and left an almost sweet almost bitter taste in her mouth. Taking one of the round fruits and biting into it, she found it sweet and tangy, reminding her of the sap sacs on planet Tallon IV. Except the skin of this fruit was a lot harder and crunchier.
Though River tried to initiate some conversation, the others made breakfast a quiet affair. Angela, for once, was too busy eating to say anything; Sam, with a sullen look on his face, kept up a stolid silence; and Samus, focusing on the new tastes and textures in her mouth, gave only miniscule answers to River's questions. Giving up, River also fell silent. When Sam finished his food first and got up to go, though, she and Angela said, "Have a good day at school!" Sam nodded and hurried out the front door, picking up a bag that Samus had not noticed lying next to it.
As soon as Samus finished eating, Angela dragged her outside to see the farm. "Come on Samus! Let's go feed the chickens first!" the little girl, carrying a small basket, cried, running towards a white tent that stood some distance from the house. Samus followed more slowly, glancing cautiously all around her. Behind the house was a garden plot, surrounded by a neat, white fence; and beyond the garden the edge of a forest grew. To the right stood a small wooden house, the barn, and beyond that was the white tent where the chickens stayed.
Inside the tent, Samus saw dozens of strange, feathered creatures. They bobbed their heads back and forth and stuck their feet out straight in front of them when they walked, and it looked to Samus as if it were a trial for them to move anywhere. "Buck, buck, gobble, gobble," they said when she came in, examining her with beady eyes. One of them had a red piece of skin that swayed beneath his beak whenever he moved. His large feathers glistened dark green, in contrast to the other poultry's drab brown colors. At first, the chickens scattered when Angela and Samus came in, but once Angela started to grab handfuls of seeds from her basket and throw them on the ground, the chickens flocked to the humans.
"They love breakfast," Angela beamed. "This big one is Harry. He's the only male; Mom said if we got 'nother male, they'd fight, and we don't want that. This one here with the pale feathers is Flighty, 'cause she gets spooked by everything; and this is Ray, and this one we call Patty, and here's Bobba…"
As Angela rattled off the chickens' names, which Samus had no way of remembering since most of the chickens looked the same to her, Samus gazed around the chicken coop. On both sides of the tent stood columns of small, wooden cubbies softened with hay on the bottom of each. Hay also littered the ground, and in one corner was a large bowl filled with water. Peering into one of the cubbies, Samus saw a small egg.
"Oh, did Bobba lay an egg?" Angela asked, noticing Samus' interest. Reaching up, the little girl took the egg and laid it carefully in the now empty basket. She went to the other cubbies as well, reached in, and if they contained eggs she took them. "Every morning we check for eggs and then we use them for our breakfast and baking," Angela explained to Samus. "Sometimes we sell extras at the market," she added.
After they brought the eggs back to the house, Angela wanted to show Samus the garden. Leading her out the back door, Angela exclaimed, "We have the best garden ever! We've got carrots over here, cauliflower over there, and these are tomato plants. They taste so good! Just wait until you have one! And this is lettuce, and corn way in the back, and radishes, and we also grow zucchini and cucumbers."
The plants stood in neat rows of dirt, some of them already growing, some not in season yet. Samus looked curiously at the green tops of the carrots and the round, red tomatoes, wishing she had her scanner with her. Then she would have been able to know the plants' structure and function. They did not look much like the plants she had seen on other planets, many of which had developed features, such as tough skin or a carnivorous mouth, that allowed them to survive in harsh environments.
Next, Angela led Samus to the barn. In contrast to the bright sunlight outside, inside the barn was dark and cool, and Samus blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light. When they did, she took a step back in surprise. Right in front of her stood a massive creature, chewing and flicking its tail. It stood on four bony legs that ended in hoofs, had massive sides that looked as thick as walls, and two large holes for a nose.
"This is our cow, Maya," Angela explained. She reached out and began stroking the animal, which turned its head to her. Seeing Samus' wary look, Angela encouraged, "Come on, you want to touch her? She's real nice and gentle."
Samus reached out a hand and touched the cow. Maya turned her head towards Samus, blinked, and let out a very strange sound. To Samus, it sounded like an angry moan.
"She likes you!" Angela cried. "I bet you'd do great milking her! Mom says I'm too young still, so Sam always does it, but I can't wait until I get old enough. It looks fun! Oh, over here in this corner we keep tools like hammers and stuff, as well as the milking buckets and brooms," she continued, showing Samus around the barn. Before Samus could really inspect the objects, though, which stood in a particularly dark corner of the room, Angela was towing her outside again.
"Let's go to the creek! It's real fun to stand in and feel the water run over your toes, almost like it's tickling them. I'm so glad we have a creek right behind our house!" Angela said, leading Samus behind the house into the woods. Not far from the edge of the trees was a small, shallow stream, which ran parallel to the forest edge and trailed into its depths. The bottom was covered in small pebbles with a few larger stones breaking the surface. Angela slipped off her shoes, stepped into the water, and giggled. "Come on Samus, why don't you try it?" the little girl invited.
Samus glanced at the water. Instead of putting her feet in the water, she bent down and let her fingers touch it. Though she could not feel the wetness through her leather suit, which covered even her fingers, she could sense the coolness and smoothness of the water. Not many of the places she had been had calm water; often, monstrous creatures filled whatever water resource the planet contained.
The two girls stayed at the creek until lunch time. Angela splashed about in the water and showed Samus how to skip pebbles, while Samus mostly watched the young girl and listened to her chatter. At last, River came to find them and told them that lunch was ready.
"Yay! Lunch time! I'm starving," Angela cried and ran towards the house.
"Make sure you dry yourself off!" River cried after her. She and Samus followed the child at a slower pace. "Did you enjoy your morning? I hope Angela didn't wear you out; she is very excited to have you here, and I think she really does believe you are here to stay as her sister," River said with a laugh.
"Mmm," Samus grunted, uncertain what to say. She felt awkward around River and unsure of how to act. Plus, she was still trying to understand her own feelings about being called a sister and having a family… She had an odd feeling that she wanted to stay here, but at the same time wanted to leave.
"By the way, I have some clothes laid out for you to try on. Maybe if we can keep Angela from dragging you away, you could try them after lunch," River said. Reluctantly, Samus nodded.
"I'm home!" Sam yelled as he stepped into the kitchen. He plopped his backpack onto the ground next to the door and set a pail of milk on the kitchen counter; he had stopped at the barn on his way back from school. River smiled at him through a cloud of steam that rose from a pot of boiling potatoes.
"How was school?" she asked, flipping off the stove and rummaging through a drawer for her potato masher.
"I found a job!" Sam replied, quickly shoving off his shoes. He began pouring the milk into a pitcher. "There's an old man who runs an appliance store in town, and supposedly he's looking for someone to help clean his store. It would be eight dollars an hour, not bad for a janitor job," he told his mother eagerly.
River glanced at him with a worried look. "But what about your school? Won't that take time away from homework? How many hours would you have to work?" she queried.
"I'll make sure I get all my homework done, don't worry," Sam assured his mom quickly. "I can go to the store right after school and work for an hour, then come back and do homework after supper. I can even give up my hour of reading before bed, if I haven't got homework finished yet. Please, Mom? Can I take this job?" Sam pleaded.
River sighed. "I just don't want your school to suffer," she said as she transferred the mashed potatoes from the pot to a white bowl. "But I guess you can give it a try. If you can't get all your school done, though, you stop that job, understand?" she said.
Sam nodded eagerly. "Oh yes, thank you, Mom!"
"Supper!" Angela bounced into the room with Samus trailing behind, a slight frown on her face. Instead of her blue space suit she was wearing a blue skirt and blouse that used to belong to River, but judging from her expression and movements Samus would have preferred to wear her old outfit. "What are we having, Mom?" the Angela asked, pulling out her chair, as River set the mashed potatoes on the table.
"Look and see yourself," Sam chuckled at his sister, putting the milk pitcher onto the table as well. Besides the milk and potatoes, a bowl of beef and a basket of bread sat invitingly on the table, with a bowl of broccoli in between. Sam noted Samus' mystified look at the food as she sat down. Did she not know anything about normal food? Well, it didn't matter; Sam was too happy about his job to be annoyed by Samus. He had wanted so badly to help his mom pay for expenses, unlike his father, and now he could. And he would make sure that he got his schoolwork and chores done, too; he was sure he could do it.
After supper, Sam started immediately on his homework. "Math, start with math," Sam muttered to himself, pulling out his school iPad from his backpack and sitting down at the kitchen table. Though he did not hate math, it often took the longest and could be the most confusing subject. Better to get it done first. Behind him, Sam could hear Angela jabbering away as she helped her mom wash dishes. Even though dinner was over, the family usually ended up staying in the kitchen; the house was too small for another table, so Sam worked on homework in the kitchen, while his mother and sister washed dishes. With Samus in there too, apparently because she had no idea where else to go, the room felt crowded.
Sam glanced uncomfortably at Samus. Why couldn't she just go to the living room or something? She couldn't really help with the dishes in such a small kitchen,
and she wouldn't know where they went anyway. Sam shook his head, focused on his iPad, and began working on his math problems.
"No, no, Samus! These are weeds, don't pull up the flowers!" Angela cried. Samus jerked upright, startled by the little girl's outburst. That afternoon, River had put both Angela and Samus to work weeding the front yard. After showing Samus what the weeds looked like, River had instructed her to pull them up by the roots, so that they would not grow back and choke out the flowers. Samus shook her head. She should have been able to keep the flowers and weeds apart; perhaps she was still weak, or else that drug the nurse had told River to give her had more sedative than she thought.
Samus tried to focus more on the work at hand. But for some reason, her mind kept wandering; she felt very confused. It was now her fourth day with River's family, and she found herself falling into a familiar routine. After breakfast, she and Angela went to feed the chickens and gather eggs, then they spent some time at the creek, then they had lunch, and then River would give them a task either inside or out in the garden or front yard. To her surprise, Samus found herself enjoying these things. In a way, it was comforting to do the same thing every day and to be surrounded with River and Angela's smiles. At the same time, she felt restless and uneasy, and sometimes wished eagerly that she could board her ship and get away. One part of her seemed to want to stay with River and her children. Here there was safety, kind people, and routine. Yet another part of her screamed that she should leave, that she didn't need to feel safe. Wasn't she a bounty hunter? She should take care of herself and leave this peaceful place so she could get back to hunting space pirates. That was where she belonged, right?
But if she did leave…A shiver ran up her spine as Samus thought of the dark emptiness that stalked her whenever she was alone. No, she realized, she could not leave now. Not with that fear of loneliness and helplessness. But as soon as she conquered her fears, she would leave. If she could conquer them…