Chapter 7 Eve’S Beginning

• “Six months and thirteen days,” she counted the days on the calendar.
• “If I were you, I would stop doing that. I have been there, I do that too during my first months here. You’ll just miss them even more.” It was Eula, one of her closest friends in their team.
• “Oh, come on, Eula. When will you get tired saying that?” she chuckles.
• “As long as you are doing it, perhaps?” Eula laughed.
• “I can’t wait to see them,” she sighed out of the blue.
• A friendly tap on her shoulder comforted her. She smiled as she tapped her back. It is no longer new to them, though they have no choice but to strictly follow the set rules.
• “Let us just think they’re having a good life by us doing this, Eve.”
• This time, bitterness mixed up with her smile.
• “Did you received a letter from your family?” she changed the topic.
• Eula shrugged her shoulders, “Not for two consecutive months now. You?”
• “Not for four months now.”
• “Have you ever asked the uppers why we’re not allowed to have a contact outside?” Eula query.
• From seriously checking the monitors in front of them, Eve impatiently comb her hair as she shook her head.
• “I wasn’t told why. Have you?”
• “I did. But don’t you think their reason is quite unreasonable? What Lux told me was that to keep us focused on our mission.”
• “That’s it?!”
• “That is it. Just that.”
• Her brows furrowed. After years of staying at the university camp, never did she tried to ask beyond what was she had agreed upon the contract she had signed. All she is sure of was that the university is only exclusive to the ones working for it. It isn’t even publicly known to everyone.
• “When were you brought here again, Eula?”
• “Hmm, just two years ahead of you.”
• “That was—”
• “Never been out since then,” the woman cut her off.
• She nodded understandingly. It is so obvious that she doesn’t want to prolong the conversation about the topic.
• “Well, that goes the same for all of us here…” she paused.
• “Except for Lux and his men, of course—the uppers. That man, he is so unpredictable,” she continued.
• They laughed in unison before going back to their chores. It actually bores them, but that is part of their job as their graduates. She checked out the controls of the ship as the other one checking out the suits while the rest of their company discussing the plans to be executed months from now.
• —
• “Eula, Eve, come here guys!” Eulysis called, the father of the team.
• Everyone is serious. No one even noticed that they seated among them. Eulysis looked at them one by one. She can tell that there is something wrong because he is a man of smiles and never did he curved his lips yet for that day. What she sees is a pressured man.
• “Where did we leave again?” he asked the others and picked up his felt-tip-pen.
• “Eulysis, don’t be hard on yourself. You’ve been awake for straight more than forty-eight hours now,” Epharil said in concern.
• He took a deep sigh and smiled, “It is nothing compared to the incoming sleepless and restless days and nights that awaits us two months from now.”
• They were frozen for a moment. They were not informed about the sudden changes in their schedule.
• “T-two months?!” everyone almost asked in surprised except for Epharil and Eulejius.
• The man nodded and can’t look at them again. He feels responsible for what happened.
• “Is two months enough to prepare?” she asked and glanced at Eula.
• “It should be,” Eulejius mingled.
• “The spaceship is still in…”
• “Then work in double time, Eve. Days won’t wait for us.”
• Eula held her hand. It isn’t easy. It is not a joke if the ship failed. The two of them would be the blamable ones if that happens.
• “Can’t you do something about the ship, Eula?” Eulysis looked at the woman.
• “Eve and I will make sure that it is in perfect condition. Give as a month.”
• She doesn’t know if she can agree to what she said, but they have to do everything they could. Eulysis nodded and tapped the table.
• “A month. Okay, a month. We entrust you the safety of our journey.”
• The sudden throbbing of her chest make her gulp. She hates the feeling of being responsible for something that has failed. She can’t afford it if ever they fail to do their part in their voyage. She remained silent but agreed in her thoughts.
• The meeting continued. That was the first time she has seen the members of their team in different versions of themselves. But what makes her wonder, neither Lux nor his uppers have been present to any of their important meetings.
• “Where are they?” she asked unconsciously.
• She got their attention and are now staring at her with the question of ‘who’ plastered on their faces. She looked down as soon as she realized that she has just interrupted the discussion.
• “They don’t have to come,” Eulysis answered.
• She sighed. In a place with CCTV’s and recorders, of course, their physical appearance won’t be needed anymore. Besides, the leaders have to report also to the President’s office whatever had been settled in every meeting. She shook her head in dismay to herself for spacing out.
• “Are you okay?” Euno asked in a whisper.
• “I am. It’s just that…”
• “You’re nervous and pressured,” he cut her off and tiredly smiled.
• “Yeah. I think so, too.”
• “I am too. Let’s just hope that it’ll be successful.”
• He’s more like a brother to her. Though, his story is completely different from hers. He came from a wealthy family. He’s not after with the knowledge of space, neither to be a scholar nor he has the reason that they have. He just simply wanted to make a difference for himself. To run away from the business traditions of their family. So, he decided to live in his own. But at night, whenever everyone seems to be already sleeping, she always hears his sobs, and she had to act like she is not awake to not ruin his time to weep. She sees his siblings in him. How they hurtfully cry in their sleeps. It is tormenting for her to think that even in their dreams, reality is still following them to keep them awake that it won’t leave.
• “After this, when we come back, let us have a whole year celebration,” she suggested that was only heard by her.
• She actually felt sorry for him. Unlike them, he has no home to come back to. It might be even more fine with him to stay in there than to leave.
• “That is all for now. Let’s have some rest today. And, Eve, can you stay for thirty minutes? I have something to discuss with you after this. The rest, this meeting is adjourned.”
• She stayed in her seat while everyone else is obviously excited to be dismissed. Will Eulysis lecture her again?
• “What’s wrong?” he asked.
• “Nothing. I am just tired.”
• “It is not just about tiredness that I see on you, Eve. Tell me, what’s bothering you lately? Do you think we don’t notice? We do.”
• She bit her lower lip as a tear fell. She misses those kinds of conversation with her dad and hearing it from this man makes her feel it sadder.
• He stood up and turned around, making her face his back. She cups her face and in silence, he let it all out.
• “It is okay. It is just the two of us. You don’t have to do it. Cry it out loud,” he hushed.
• Gave her the cue, she took his words. Among their members, he’s the one who knows most about her. Thirty minutes wasn’t enough, that it took her more than an hour to realize that she’s not the only one who’s crying. She lifted her head and in a blurry vision, he saw the man that they thought was made of steel, both shoulders are shaking.
• She suppressed hers and let his filled the solemness of the room. He seems needs it more. Tightly closed her eyes, she reminded herself to put her all in their expedition. She has to take her home safe and sound, all of them.
• “Did you cry?” Epharil asked as soon as she came out of the conference room.
• “You should be rejoicing, Eve. Six months and thirteen days was just shortened to two months, that’s a good news to us. All we have to do is make our work get done, and we are good to go home.”
• The woman walked meters away from her and lit her cigarette. She’s the second most secretive, next to Eulejius. They rarely talk too. All she knows about her is that she is just a one call away whenever they need something from her.
• “You’re thinking too much. That’ll make you fail if you keep on thinking complicatedly. Want to try?” she offered to her pack of what she called ‘life support’.
• She kindly refused and went on her side, “Since when did you start filling your lungs with smoke?”
• Epharil laughed and dabbed the health threatening stick on the ashtray.
• “Since I came here.”
• If she can remember it right, it is prohibited to them. But this woman must be really an exceptionally exempted that she was never been kicked out.
• “Lucky you, you have been thrown in a wonderful team. My previous teams were nothing but a bunch of big-headed and self-centered people. Those contemptible days with them are obnoxious.”
• “Do they allow such here? I mean, the behaviors.”
• “Who knows? I don’t know. What else matters to this institution than the benefits they get from us? That simply means, as long as they do their jobs, not even the president will mind it.”
• “Why were you separated from them?”
• “In my first team, I don’t really know what happened. One day, I woke up, and I was told I am no longer part of their group. The second one…” she smokes her cigarette and puff its fume.
• “I am no fit for them. It was like I has been in a group of high-ends. I was thrown away again. For the last one, I got injured the day just before the team’s mission. I will be just a burden if they insisted on taking me. They were not been that nice too, though they were better than the first two.”
• “Then? What happened?” she curiously asked.
• “That’s when I was noticed I will be moved to another team again. In your team.”
• “What happened to your former team?”
• “I don’t know.”
• Epharil then turned sideways to face her and looked away as she puff once more.
• “We are not allowed to have any contact with the other teams. Don’t you know that?”
• “I-I know.”
• “I don’t know what happened to them. You know, different teams, different missions. Mind your own business. Period. That is how things worked here.”
• “Have you tried to ask the uppers about them?”
• “I did. But I got no response.”
• A cough interrupted them. Eulysis motioned to Epharil to follow him. There he goes again, keeping his poise.
• “Want to keep this?” Epharil handed her the opened pack of cigarettes. She let out a smile of refusal, but she insisted.
• “Keep it.”
• She looked at them as they walked away from her. They seemed to be talking about something not to be shared with anyone. Before they turn, the woman look back at her and smile. That was the first she did that to her. She looked at the thing she gave her. She is really not into bad habits, and she really has no plans to keep it either. But, the note written on it made her keep it.
• “I will,” she muttered.
• The wind blows and the smell of smoke spread around her, but surprisingly, it didn’t smell suffocating. She looked up at the sky and closed her eyes.
• “I won’t let you take any of them. I will bring us all home.”