Chapter 5
It had been several days since Hannah had learned of the death of her friends. Her burns had healed with the help of nanobots, and with minimum scarring. Meals that she hadn't touched sat on the table in her quarters. She couldn't stop reliving that day in her mind. The argument with her father, the explosion, being rescued. Again and again. Why wouldn't it stop?
Someone knocked at her door. It was Seamus Harper, the engineer. She had met him yesterday, or was it the day before? He had brought her one of her meals.
"Hello?" he said as he peeked in, "I've got some food here for you, but I guess you're not that hungry..." he said glancing at the tableful of plates. "Ummm, well I guess I'll leave this with you," He struggled to find a place on the table that would fit another plate. He settled on putting it on top of an older meal. Hannah just sat and stared straight ahead. "Say, um, did you know your name is spelled the same backwards and forwards?" his attempt at smalltalk failed miserably, and the girl didn't appear to hear him. "OK then, nice chatting with you. See you later," and with that he left.
Out in the hall Harper made his way to the command deck.
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Harper walked in as Captain Hunt just finished reviewing some messages from the commonwealth. Tyr was reading a book, and Rommie stood at a console.
"How is she?" asked Dylan
"How should I know? She still doesn't talk, or listen. It's like walking into a room and trying to make conversation with a rock,"
Dylan sighed and said, "I guess I'll go see if she's ready to answer questions now,"
He had been trying to get something out of her for the last three days, but she would barely look at him. It was driving his patience.
"Captain Hunt," came the voice of Tyr, "I would like to try my hand at conversation with this girl,"
Dylan turned to look at him, "By all means you can try if you want, but I don't know if you'll get anything out of her. And don't hurt her," he added. Just a precaution.
Tyr just nodded and left Command with the whoosh of the doors closing after him.
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Sighing, Hannah supposed she had better eat something. After all, she didn't want to die of starvation before she even found out who had blown up the Goldensun.
Maybe not just yet. She felt as though her grief was too strong for her to move, or speak, let alone eat. Besides, she didn't feel hungry, and she felt she could wait a little longer. She clenched her teeth, vowing to find whoever had done this to her.
The doors slid open. Hannah briefly felt indignant at the fact that they hadn't even bothered to knock. This startled her out of her trance and her head shot over to look at the intruder. It was a man she had never seen before. He was tall, maybe taller than Dylan, and very muscly. He had a frown on his face that looked ominous. Her breath quickened, then slowed as she realized he wasn't going to hurt her. He just sat down at the table, pushing the plates out of his way. Most of them fell onto the floor.
She waited for him to say something. It never came. He just stared straight at her, penetratingly. A few minutes passed, and still nothing. Hannah felt that this man had no right to barge in here and act this way. For the moment her sorrow was gone and anger replaced it.
"Well??" she demanded. Her voice felt raspy after all that time without using it. Still he stared. "If you've come in here to say something, then say it,"
The man stood up, smiled to himself, and left. Just like that. It was disturbing. Hannah sat for a moment, puzzling. 'What a selfish man!!' she thought. At that moment her stomach growled and she realized that she was ravenously hungry. Getting up from the bed, and wobbling a little, she made her way over to the table and sat down. The seat was still warm from the man. She barely gave it a thought as she chose the freshest meal she could find and tucked in.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had been several days since Hannah had learned of the death of her friends. Her burns had healed with the help of nanobots, and with minimum scarring. Meals that she hadn't touched sat on the table in her quarters. She couldn't stop reliving that day in her mind. The argument with her father, the explosion, being rescued. Again and again. Why wouldn't it stop?
Someone knocked at her door. It was Seamus Harper, the engineer. She had met him yesterday, or was it the day before? He had brought her one of her meals.
"Hello?" he said as he peeked in, "I've got some food here for you, but I guess you're not that hungry..." he said glancing at the tableful of plates. "Ummm, well I guess I'll leave this with you," He struggled to find a place on the table that would fit another plate. He settled on putting it on top of an older meal. Hannah just sat and stared straight ahead. "Say, um, did you know your name is spelled the same backwards and forwards?" his attempt at smalltalk failed miserably, and the girl didn't appear to hear him. "OK then, nice chatting with you. See you later," and with that he left.
Out in the hall Harper made his way to the command deck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harper walked in as Captain Hunt just finished reviewing some messages from the commonwealth. Tyr was reading a book, and Rommie stood at a console.
"How is she?" asked Dylan
"How should I know? She still doesn't talk, or listen. It's like walking into a room and trying to make conversation with a rock,"
Dylan sighed and said, "I guess I'll go see if she's ready to answer questions now,"
He had been trying to get something out of her for the last three days, but she would barely look at him. It was driving his patience.
"Captain Hunt," came the voice of Tyr, "I would like to try my hand at conversation with this girl,"
Dylan turned to look at him, "By all means you can try if you want, but I don't know if you'll get anything out of her. And don't hurt her," he added. Just a precaution.
Tyr just nodded and left Command with the whoosh of the doors closing after him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sighing, Hannah supposed she had better eat something. After all, she didn't want to die of starvation before she even found out who had blown up the Goldensun.
Maybe not just yet. She felt as though her grief was too strong for her to move, or speak, let alone eat. Besides, she didn't feel hungry, and she felt she could wait a little longer. She clenched her teeth, vowing to find whoever had done this to her.
The doors slid open. Hannah briefly felt indignant at the fact that they hadn't even bothered to knock. This startled her out of her trance and her head shot over to look at the intruder. It was a man she had never seen before. He was tall, maybe taller than Dylan, and very muscly. He had a frown on his face that looked ominous. Her breath quickened, then slowed as she realized he wasn't going to hurt her. He just sat down at the table, pushing the plates out of his way. Most of them fell onto the floor.
She waited for him to say something. It never came. He just stared straight at her, penetratingly. A few minutes passed, and still nothing. Hannah felt that this man had no right to barge in here and act this way. For the moment her sorrow was gone and anger replaced it.
"Well??" she demanded. Her voice felt raspy after all that time without using it. Still he stared. "If you've come in here to say something, then say it,"
The man stood up, smiled to himself, and left. Just like that. It was disturbing. Hannah sat for a moment, puzzling. 'What a selfish man!!' she thought. At that moment her stomach growled and she realized that she was ravenously hungry. Getting up from the bed, and wobbling a little, she made her way over to the table and sat down. The seat was still warm from the man. She barely gave it a thought as she chose the freshest meal she could find and tucked in.
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