AN: Another chapter for you guys, and we've reached The Talk - you know, the one about those radio calls... Well, eventually, first we're going to get to know a bit more about this new planet, and wake someone else up!
Again, the technical aspects of this chapter aren't exactly founded in science, so let's just pretend they make sense, kay ;)
As usual, I don't own anything. Oh, and this is still not beta'd, so any mistakes are mine!
-7-
Jordan asks Clarke about Madi as they leave the apartment, and they've reached the bridge, Clarke telling him everything she can think of about the girl, by the time she realizes that Raven and Bellamy aren't behind them.
"Where did they disappear to?" she wonders as she turns around to look back the way they came, craning her neck as if that could help her see further along the labyrinthine corridors.
Jordan shrugs. "Maybe Raven needed to check something on the way?" he suggests.
"Maybe…" Clarke agrees hesitantly.
"I can get everything set up while we wait for them," Jordan says, opening the door to the bridge.
Figuring the others will join them soon, Clarke follows him into the room.
The two suns have risen outside the window and are illuminating the planet below once again. The sky seems to be clearer today, and Clarke can see patches of green and blue – land and sea, she assumes.
Jordan starts tapping away at the computer Raven used to launch the drone earlier, the click-clack of the keys echoing slightly in the large space, and Clarke leans against a desk a few feet away and watches him work. She sees Monty in the way his eyebrows draw together as he focuses on the screen, and Harper in the way his eyes light up when he apparently solves something.
She wonders if it will ever really sink in that they're gone for good.
Before she has a chance to lose herself in depressing thoughts, the door to the corridor swooshes open again and Raven and Bellamy enter.
"What happened to you guys?" Clarke asks as Raven joins Jordan by the computer and Bellamy claims his own spot leaning against the desk next to Clarke. His arm brushes against hers as he shrugs, sending shivers up and down her arm.
"Just wanted to check the system stats on the tablet," Raven says quickly. "Don't want to suffocate while we're focused on the drone."
"I thought you said all the systems were in good shape," Clarke counters suspiciously, and Raven shrugs.
"And they will remain in good shape as long as I keep an eye on them now and then. Who's the mechanic here, huh?"
Clarke has a feeling that Raven's not being completely honest, but she also knows that there's no point insisting when the brunette is determined not to let anything on. Maybe she can get Bellamy to give whatever it is up later.
"Right, let's get this show on the road," Raven announces as she crosses to a large pipe made of grey plastic that stretches from the floor to the ceiling along one of the walls. She opens a hatch in the pipe and pulls out what looks like a miniature rocket, maybe two feet long and with a diameter of around six inches. She brings it back to the desk and lays it down carefully before twisting the bottom of it and pulling out a metal canister.
"There we go…" she mumbles, mainly to herself Clarke suspects, as she opens the canister and pulls out several objects that look to Clarke like sealed up petri dishes. Each of them has a few pieces of dirt inside them.
"That's it?" Clarke says, almost reverently, because this moment can actually make or break their entire future. If it turns out this planet isn't a viable option for them… she doesn't really want to think about it. "Samples from our new home."
Raven nods slowly, perhaps picking up on Clarke's solemnity.
"This is it. I just need to load them into the analyzer and we'll know within a few minutes."
She doesn't have to specify what exactly they'll know, it's clear to all of them.
"OK then, might as well get things going," she continues, opening some sort of tray on the machine she calls the analyzer and inserting the petri dishes into slots clearly designed for them. She closes it back up and pushes a few buttons before stepping away. "It'll be a couple of minutes, I'll plug the oxygen probe in and get the readings from that in the meantime."
Since Clarke has nothing to really contribute to Raven's monologue, she just nods and watches her friend insert a cable in a port on a little orb on the nose of the rocket and click a few buttons on the computer.
"OK, this looks good at least, so far," Raven says after a moment. "The levels are basically the same as on Earth, and no hint of radiation or anything else that might be harmful to us."
"Great, first potential problem gone," Bellamy notes. "Only a million others to go."
Clarke nudges him in the side with her elbow. "Don't be such a downer," she says.
Before he has a chance to respond, the machine beeps and Jordan grabs the paper it spits out, handing it to Raven.
"OK, let's see what we've got here…" she mumbles, scanning the page. "I think I need to give you a visual of the area we've tested to be able to explain this properly."
She opens a new window on the computer and clicks a few buttons, which makes twelve dots appear on the screen in a rectangle which is wider than it is tall – four dots in each row and three in each column, at equal distance from each other.
"OK, so these are the spots we've tested," Raven explains, gesturing at the screen. "They're each one mile apart, so it's two miles from the bottom to the top, three miles from left to right and the whole area is six square miles."
"OK, so big enough for a settlement with maybe some farms around the main living area," Bellamy says, clearly already going into planning mode. "And how does the land look?"
"The humidity level is higher in these three spots," Raven says, indicating the three spots along the left edge. "I'd say that means there's a body of water fairly close by, but we can't know that for sure until we're down there, of course. It could just be that the ground water is closer to the surface in that area, which still means it should be fairly easy to drill for wells, even if there isn't a ready-made water source waiting for us."
"It's a good indicator," Clarke agrees. "And how about the soil itself, will we be able to grow stuff?"
Raven turns to Jordan, who has remained quiet off to one side during their discussion. "I'm not an expert on that part, that was usually Monty's area," she says. "What do you think, kid?"
Jordan bends over the paper, taking a closer look for a moment.
"Well, all the macronutrients are there in good quantities," he says thoughtfully. "Micronutrients look good as well… and the level of silicon seems good, it'll help the crops handle stuff like draughts and any pathogens better, as well as give a better yield."
The other three just stare at him for a moment.
"It looks good," he summarizes. "The soil should be good for farming, giving tough crops that can handle periods without rain and any vermin there might be."
"Great." Raven slumps back in the chair, seemingly deflating now that her task is done. "Now what?"
"Well, there's still, what, 36 hours of automatic radio calls left?" Clarke says, glancing at the little clock at the top of the computer screen. 3.12. "Should we wake Shaw up so you two can prepare whatever needs preparing on the transport ship, so it's ready when we need to get down there?"
Raven shrugs. "There's not much to prepare, really. We fueled up when we docked with this ship, so all we need to do is turn on the systems and we'll be ready for takeoff." She pauses for a moment. "But we'll need to bring him up to speed with everything before we do that, so might as well wake him up and get that done."
"He might have an easier time adjusting, considering he's already spent a century in cryo before," Bellamy notes. "So do you want to take care of that on your own, or…"
Clarke catches a teasing note in his voice and scrutinizes Raven for a moment, noticing a slight reddening of her cheeks and neck. Was there something going on between her and the Eligius pilot before they left Earth? Clarke hadn't noticed anything, but then again, the only times she'd been in the same room as Raven and Shaw they'd always been in… let's just say extreme situations. Not like she was on high alert for signs of romance. She files the information away for possible future use, though, if Raven gets to be too much to handle about the whole Bellamy situation at some point. It can't hurt to have some blackmail material of her own.
"Hell no, you two were the ones Monty wanted woken up first, I'm taking that as a sign it's your job to handle the whole explanation part," the brunette says.
Clarke sighs and gives Bellamy a side glance.
"Should have seen that coming," she says, and he snorts.
"Probably," he agrees. "But don't think you're off the hook, Reyes. We'll do it together, just like we did with you. That way we can all jump in if someone forgets something important."
"Fine," Raven grumbles, as if it's an actual hardship, but she turns off the computer screen and gets up from the desk. "Lead the way."
As with Raven yesterday, Jordan pulls up Shaw's file on the control panel in the cryo chamber and pushes the green button. They all watch as the pod opens and the man inside open his eyes.
"Morning," he greets them before jumping down from the pod, clearly having an easier time than the rest of them so far. He gives Raven a smirk. "What, I don't get a hug?"
Clarke pointedly turns away from the couple to give them some privacy, Bellamy and Jordan mimicking her movements next to her. It's only a moment before Raven clears her throat.
"OK, losers, you can turn around, I promise we won't ruin your fragile virtues," she says drily.
As Clarke turns back around, she can see the confusion spreading on Shaw's face.
"Why are we the only ones awake?" he asks, glancing around the room where the majority of the cryo pods are still inhabited and closed. "I thought the system would be set to wake everyone up at the same time."
"Well…" Raven starts. "There's been a slight change of plans."
-100-
"So you're telling me that the Earth is gone, we've been asleep for 125 years, and are right now orbiting a planet in some other solar system that's supposed to be safe for humans?" Shaw summarizes the long explanation that Clarke and Bellamy have spent the last few minutes giving him, with occasional help from the other two.
"Basically, yeah," Bellamy confirms with a shrug.
"We sent down a drone earlier and just finished analyzing the results, and based on them, the air should be breathable and the land suitable for farming," Clarke continues. "We already know that the planet is equivalent to Earth in all other aspects, meaning life should be possible. So the next logical step now is to get down there and actually see what we have to work with. We're just giving any potential inhabitants a little longer to respond to our radio calls before we land in their backyard and piss them off."
"Right, right." Shaw nods, running a hand over his face. "And you need me to fly the transport ship?"
Raven snorts at that. "Please, I can fly the ship fine on my own. We just figured two pilots might be better than one, to be on the safe side. And someone should probably stay with the ship while we're down there exploring, just in case – if there's five of us the other four can split up in pairs to cover more ground."
"So you didn't need my amazing expertise?" Shaw counters with a smirk. Clarke decides that she likes him – anyone who can stand up to Raven and get away with it is someone she wouldn't mind getting to know better.
"Or your big head," Raven replies with an angelic smile that Clarke knows is a sign of danger.
Apparently, so does Shaw. Good for him.
"Right, let's get started then, shall we?" he suggests. "I want to run a complete system check on the transport ship, just to make sure everything's good to go."
Raven frowns. "We ran a check when we docked," she reminds him.
"Which apparently was over a century ago, so I want to run a complete system check on the transport ship," Shaw repeats.
"Fine," Raven agrees with a sigh. "If you want to waste your time, go right ahead. We've got Friends to get back to."
"I thought we were the only ones awake?" Shaw says, which makes Raven sigh, turn on her heel and march out of the cryo chamber. He turns to Clarke with a confused look. "What did I do?"
Clarke pats him comfortingly on the arm. "Not your fault. We were watching TV, the show Friends, while we waited for the drone to get back. Raven's just… a little on edge, I think."
As if to prove her point, Raven's annoyed voice floats through the open door to the corridor. "Are you coming or not? You're the one who wants to do the damn system check."
Shaw takes a deep, exaggerated breath and blows it back out slowly. "I guess we're doing a system check on the transport ship," he concludes, voice slightly lower to avoid Raven hearing him. "We can handle this on our own, if you guys want to get back to your show."
Bellamy immediately shakes his head. "I know from experience that Raven will not hesitate to give you the silent treatment for weeks if you cheat on her – her words, not mine – with a TV show. We'll just come with you and make sure you don't kill each other."
"I heard that, Blake!" Raven's head pops in through the door. "Let's get a move on."
Shaw and Jordan immediately follow her out into the corridor, but Clarke and Bellamy hang back a little.
"You'd think we didn't still have a day and a half to kill up here before we can do anything," Clarke notes, voice low so as not to anger Raven even more.
Bellamy chuckles. "You know Raven, she's just not happy unless she has something important to tinker with."
"Maybe I hoped she had mellowed out while you all were up in space," Clarke replies.
"Wishful thinking."
Clarke snorts. "Clearly. Come on, let's catch up."
Bellamy hesitates. "They don't really need us, though, right? One mediator is enough, Jordan will make sure they play nice."
Clarke raises her eyebrows. "Did you have something else in mind?"
"We could go back to the apartment, relax, watch some TV… I think we've earned a bit of a rest before we set out to explore this new, strange planet, don't you?"
"I thought you said Raven wouldn't be happy with us if we did that?"
Bellamy shrugs. "We can watch something else. We didn't finish that game yesterday."
Clarke considers her options for a moment. She can insist that they join the others, avoid being alone with him more than she has to, which is probably the smart option, if she's being honest with herself… or she can make the most of the time they do have together up here, because soon enough there will be others who will make demands on his time.
It might be selfish, and could possibly come back to bite her in the butt in the future, but she doesn't care. "OK, that sounds good," she says, getting a big smile in return.
"Lead the way, I'm ready to continue my soccer education," he says with an exaggerated gesture at the door.
"Shouldn't we let the others know that we're abandoning them?" Clarke asks as they leave the bridge.
"Nah," Bellamy replies. "They're smart, they'll figure it out."
He's right, of course, so they take the path back to the apartment – they only take a wrong turn once, which Clarke considers progress. They might be able to figure out their way around this ship after all.
When they get back to the apartment, she flops onto the couch, grabbing the remote before sinking down so she can lean her head against the back of the couch and putting her feet up on the table. Bellamy continues into the kitchen.
"Want some water?" he asks, pulling glasses out of the cabinet before she even replies.
"Sure," she says, turning the TV on and finding the interrupted game. She starts it just as the players return to the field after half time and turns the sound down a bit.
Bellamy hands her a glass before joining her on the couch and mimicking her position, and they watch in silence for a moment.
"Listen…" he starts after a while. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about."
Clarke feels her heartrate pick up a little – has she been too obvious, is he going to ask her to back off? Remind her that he has a girlfriend? Still, she turns her head to look at him, finding him already watching her. "Yeah?"
"I already told you that Madi asked me to not be mad at you," he says. "She said something else too… that you used to radio me? While we were up on the Ring."
Really, she shouldn't be surprised by this – of course Madi would tell Bellamy, she'd probably felt guilty that they were on the outs over the whole Flame thing, which she thought was partly her fault since she hadn't refused to take it. Of course she would try to appeal to Bellamy to get him to go easier on Clarke, and telling him about the radio calls had probably been what she thought would work best.
Clarke lets out a long sigh, relieved, in a way, but on the other hand she's not exactly looking forward to this conversation either. "Of course she did."
Bellamy looks away from her, eyes falling to his hands in his laps, and starts fiddling with the hem of his shirt.
"I was just wondering why you didn't say anything yourself?" he asks after a moment.
"I guess… it never felt like the right time," she replies, even though there's more to it. She had planned on telling him when they had a moment to breathe but, well, then there had been Echo.
"I guess I can see that." Bellamy nods, eyes lifting to the TV again.
Clarke relaxes a little and turns her attention back to the game as well, hoping that was all of it.
But of course not.
"Just… why me?"
Clarke feels him watching her and has to fight to keep her eyes straight ahead and not turn back to him. Because she knows if she sees the pleading look in his eyes, she'll tell him everything – and she can't do that.
"Well, apart from the fact that I missed you, all of you, of course, I just… I guess you were always the one who kept me grounded," she says, which isn't a lie, per say. Just not the whole truth. "It was what I needed then, especially in the beginning… sometimes I pretended you replied and helped me figure out whatever problem I was having that day. But mostly I just talked…"
"About what?" he asks, voice low.
"Everything," she replies. "Nothing. I'd tell you about my day, about something funny that Madi had done, after I'd found her, about the animals we saw returning in the valley and the new fruits or berries we found… Other times it was just short check-ins, if I didn't really have anything to report. Just to let you know I was still there, in case you did hear me but just couldn't respond for some reason."
"Part of me wishes that I had," he says with a sigh. "At least I would have known that you were alive. But then… maybe that would have been even worse? To hear you and not be able to talk to you, or even to hear you and be able to respond, but not help you when you were struggling because I was trapped thousands of miles above you."
She can't resist it anymore, and she pauses the game before turning her entire body towards him, leaning her cheek against the couch.
"There were days when I was glad you didn't hear me," she admits. "Especially in the beginning."
"Will you tell me about it?" he asks, voice urgent. "If it's too much, I get it, I just… I'd like to know what your life was like during those years, good and bad. How you did it…"
Clarke gives him a scrutinizing look. "As long as I'm not contributing to some sort of guilt trip," she says warily. It would be just like him to ask her about those six years and then use it as an excuse to bury himself in remorse over leaving her.
"Of course not," he assures her. "I'll always feel guilty for leaving you behind, even if I know it was what we had to do. Nothing you say is going to change that, but trust me, you can't tell me anything that will be worse than what I imagined."
Remembering some of her worst days, Clarke's not so sure of that. But she can skirt over some of the more grisly details.
"OK, well, I guess I might as well start from the beginning," she says, and Bellamy relaxes against the couch as well.
"Please do."
AN: There we go, the radio calls are out there... let me know what you thought! Reviews are always welcome :)