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It was a cool and clear night, perfect for stargazing. Ryland sat out on the porch, eyes pointed upward to the sky. It was a long day at school, and he just wanted a moment to himself. Adam Harrison decided it would be fun to steal the book he was reading, and almost destroyed it in the bathroom sink. Luckily another boy was able to stop Adam in time, but it was still too close of a call. Ryland just wanted one day of peace, but for now, this is the most he’s gonna get until summer vacation.
"Ryland! It's time to get ready for bed!" Maria told him from the doorway.
"In a minute, Mom! I want to keep looking at the sky!" Ryland whined. It was only 8 o’clock anyway, and he likes to be in bed by 9.
"For 5 more minutes then, then bedtime!”
Ryland gave a thumbs up before turning his gaze back upwards. In his science class the other day they learned about the different types of stars and the constellations. While he prefers when they're learning about cells during the biology unit, astronomy and space was a close second. He traced the shapes in the sky. Ryland thought it would be fun to memorize the constellations, so he was practicing. First, he found The Big Dipper, well, more accurately Ursa Major, but the city lights made the rest of the constellation dim. He followed the edge of the spoon to Polaris, the North Star. Then from there he found the W-shaped Cassiopeia, and the Giant Square of Pegasus. He crossed the loops of Pisces, and found himself stopped at the constellation Cetus.
Cetus, The Sea Monster. In class they talked about the origins of the constellations. How they were used to tell stories and pass them down from one generation to the next. Ryland stared at the constellation for a while. The story goes that Cassiopeia was a vain queen, so she was punished by having her constellation hung upside down in the sky. Her daughter Andromeda was then chained to a rock to be devoured by the monster, until the hero Perseus rescued her. It was one of his favorite stories. Ryland wished he was a hero, someone brave. Maybe then he wouldn’t be picked on by Adam Harrison, or maybe have a friend. But he wasn’t a hero, he wasn’t brave, he was just himself.
Trying to move on from those thoughts, Ryland focused back on the stars. His teacher said almost every star most likely has at least one planet, and they might have a possibility for other life. There could be someone else out there, someone like him, someone lonely. No one understood him here, he was just too… different. Ryland only felt at home when he’s learning, socially… well, who wants to be friends with the weird nerd kid? But maybe out there he’ll fit in.
Ryland sat under the vast stars, gazing out into the void, and wondered what was out there.
—
It had been a long time since Rocky had someone to watch it sleep. Every time it felt its movements slow, it panicked, it shouldn’t sleep alone, it’s wrong, it’s scary, it’s lonely. The last time Rocky had someone watch it sleep was when Captain Amelia was still alive, and that was so many orbits ago. Rocky could only stave off the sleep cycle for so long, of course. Eventually it had to sleep.
Rocky needed to keep going. Just because it was the only member of its crew doesn’t mean Rocky’s a slacker. It had a job, to fix things. Controls, engines, maintenance, every cycle, controls, engines, maintenance, the monotony creates an escape, helps keep Rocky’s mind off of the grim reality of its current life. Controls, engines, maintenance, controls, engines, maintenance, controls, engines, maintenance, controls, engines, maintenance, keep working, don’t stop. Don’t think about them… just keep working—
An alarm blared through the ship. Hull damage. Rocky immediately took control of the robot arms to assess the damage. It looked on the texture screen to find the problem. The edge of the ship had a small chip, but if it got any worse then the ammonia would escape into the void. Rocky immediately mixed up some xenonite, and repaired the chip. It did its job.
But there was one thing Rocky couldn’t fix… itself. It was too broken. Rocky could do its job for any mechanical issue, but for issues with it? All the medical personnel were the first to die from the cell-killer. Rocky huffed air through its vents, patheticly flopping on the floor of the ship. It felt so useless, the one thing Rocky is supposed to do, and it can’t. Rocky needed to find a solution, but it can’t. No, no, Rocky can’t mope, it has a mission, it has to keep going, for its crew, its home, Adrian.
Rocky got up and gave its attention to its star map, tracing the Star-Sick paths of each star. So many worlds, so many systems that were taken over by this tiny death. Rocky wondered if there was something else trying to stop the Star Killers, if there was another world desperate enough to face the unknown to try and fix the plague that bodes destruction. Or maybe Rocky is going to be alone for the rest of its existence, and it would never go home again, never see Adrian again, never have someone watch it sleep again. Rocky shook those thoughts out of its carapace. It can do this, it will go home one day, Rocky promises itself that. And maybe, it won’t be alone anymore. Someone might find it, and Rocky will have someone watch it sleep again.
For now, Rocky curled its legs under its body and settled into its nest, trying to pretend the hum of the engines were the songs of its crew, but to no avail, and went to sleep alone. Rocky went to sleep afraid, hoping someone could watch it again.