Ad Meliora

There was no way for them to know how bad things would get. Three months after landing on Planet Delta, Exploratory Mission IV was hit by a colossal, turbulent electrical storm – producing lightning bolts that stretched for hundreds of miles. However, the deafening cracks of the lightning strikes were the least of the colony’s concerns. 

Jo had watched the emerald green sky quickly turn to black. From her tent, the camp outside appeared distorted – blurred from the downpour. Yet, now and then, she could see flashes of light coming from the canopies of the trees just outside the camp, even when there was no lightning present. Each flash momentarily cast a soft glow on the trails she had grown to love over the past three months, almost luring her to abandon all rationale and run into the eye of the storm. 

Her trance was swiftly disrupted by the sight of her father running towards the tent. She could hear him yelling over the relentless drumming of the rain on the ground: Everyone get inside! Get inside!

Behind him, people were scrambling left and right, slipping and falling through puddles and mud as they made their way to safety. But Jo couldn’t help noticing that some people were headed in the opposite direction – towards the forest. 

Jo’s father had keeled over when he made it back to the tent. His clothes were soaked to the bone, he was shivering uncontrollably and out of breath. She had never seen her father so out-of-sorts in the seventeen years of her life. 

Jo’s mother, Vera, rushed to his side and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders.

“Marcus, where have you been? What’s going on out there?” Her mother’s voice had seemingly raised several octaves, something it always did whenever she became severely panicked. 

“I was out collecting water with Miles, he’s been worried about his youngest – little Nellie – and I figured I could lend a helping hand and an ear. We got caught in the storm. Then, on the way back, we tried to stop others from running off.”

“Running off? Where?” Jo was in disbelief, sure, she had been tempted to follow the mysterious light, but she never would have run out in the middle of the storm. Would she?

“The woods. The Pierce twins said they kept seeing lights coming from the trees, and Simon’s sons were going on and on about hearing voices telling them to run,” he sighs, running his fingers through his soaking wet hair. “I didn’t see any lights. I didn’t hear any voices. But they ran into the woods, and they just kept running.”

Memories of Jo’s parents and fellow mission members racing to be the first human on Planet Delta’s foreign soil came rushing in. She had watched them excitedly inhale the planet’s air for the first time. Unlike the others, she held her breath until her body screamed for air, and it was only then that she let the foreign air fill her lungs. It was crisp, somewhat sweet, and she was unable to control how the corners of her mouth curled upward by the inviting sensation. 

It had been her first mistake on Planet Delta. 

“We should try to call Acquisition Exploration Co., maybe they can help us–” Her mother suggested.

“We haven’t been able to make contact since we landed. We’ve tried and tried again. I’m afraid we’re all each other has now, my love,” her father muttered. 

Jo looked away from her parents and glanced outside, unable to make out anything in the dark until another flash of light appeared on the edge of the woods, revealing the silhouette of a familiar figure – tall, lanky, red hair…

“Oliver!” Jo’s legs took off after him before her mind could catch up. Her parents’ screams were drowned out by the pouring rain and the pounding of her heart in her ears. She tried to keep up with him, darting through the trees and stumbling over the uneven, wet terrain beneath her feet. Her platinum blonde hair was drenched, with cool droplets dripping down her face and neck. His unruly ginger hair was finally in sight when she tripped over an overgrown tree root. The force of the impact knocked the air from her lungs, making each breath agonizing. The world began to spin as black spots filled her vision.

She didn’t know how long she had laid there – disoriented, confused, and in pain – but by the time she came to, Oliver was gone. 

The storm raged until sun up, slowly revealing the familiar and mesmerizing green hue of the morning sky. Those who had remained in the camp began peeking out from their tents, almost as if making sure the storm was truly over. Once it was deemed safe enough to step outside, Jo followed her parents out to assess the damage. 

The camp was in disarray. Tree branches, blue and orange leaves, and other debris littered the ground. Several tents had blown away, and others had broken poles and torn fabric. The dining area had collapsed under the weight of the heavy rain and strong winds, damaging the chairs, tables, and cooking equipment along with it. 

Jo scanned over the path she had taken in her attempt to stop Oliver. It was now blocked by fallen trees and other miscellaneous debris from the camp. She stared hard at the path, trying to convince herself that she could still see his footprints left behind, but she couldn’t make anything out. 

By mid-morning, a search began for the missing members who had run off during the storm. The colony split up into smaller groups to cover more ground, while a few stayed behind to aid in the cleanup and repair of the camp. Jo immediately volunteered to help search for the missing – for Oliver. As the hours went by, those who were lost began to be found. Many were found lying in ditches or at the base of trees, completely disoriented and unsure of how they ended up in the woods in the first place. 

Jo watched Mrs. Emerson’s face fall every time it was revealed that none of those discovered lying in the woods was her beloved son Oliver. Jo tried to ease the fear rising from the pit of her stomach by imagining his goofy lopsided smile and the way it always reached his eyes. 

She had first seen Oliver on the first night aboard the Acquisition Exploration Co.’s space station. The hundred or so mission volunteers had just endured several hours of seminars going over the station’s procedures as well as a glimpse into what their schedules would entail for the next several months. The incessant lecturing by the AEC’s CEO Graham Hargrave had ended around 6 PM, after which everyone headed to the dining hall for a meal and official introductions to their future colony members. 

Oliver had been easy to find in a crowd, standing tall at 6’1”. Jo had been afraid to admit that she found him attractive, as lanky and slender as he was, though she had no room to talk – considering she was rather petite for her height of 5’6”. Regardless, Oliver’s body type had proved to be no obstacle in any of their physical evaluations or fitness exams. He was quite fit for a seventeen-year-old boy. Yet, what enticed her the most about Oliver was his mind. Jo had suspected that he was more athletic than academic and was pleasantly surprised when he was able to pass every aptitude test and summative assessment with ease, even surpassing her own score in mathematics. Despite her observations, she had never actually spoken to Oliver until they landed on Planet Delta.

She had been in the middle of documenting a peculiar beetle when the booming sound of stomping and snapping of twigs startled the insect away. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me—“ Angrily wiping the dirt from her knees, Jo quickly rose to confront the intruder, but was stunned when she spun around and had to raise her head to meet their olive green eyes; It was Oliver, and he towered over her. 

“Shit!” His eyes widened and his alabaster skin began to shift into a deep, red hue. “I am so sorry, I didn’t know anyone was out here. It was so quiet.”

Jo huffed, disappointed. “Yeah, that’s sort of the point.”

Unable to meet his gaze, Jo sat on the ground next to her unfinished documents and drawings of the beetle. 

Trying to break the ice, Oliver leaned down and gestured to the papers on a pile on the ground. “Can I look?”

She nodded her head, watching as Oliver gently lifted the stack of papers so as to not mix up their meticulous order. Jo noticed the way his eyebrows furrowed as he read through her notes, and couldn’t help the smile tugging at her lips when his features relaxed upon looking at her drawings. 

“You’re talented,” he said as he looked up from her papers. “Do these beetles really communicate through sonic pulses?”

The question had taken Jo aback. She hadn’t expected him to read through her notes so thoroughly. 

“I think so. It seemed like they were able to produce a series of vibrations through these specialized plates on their exoskeleton—“ She gestured to the sketch of the insect in the middle of the pile of papers. “But, since someone scared them off, I’m not entirely sure.” She had been joking but quite enjoyed the flash of panic that crossed his face.

“I truly am sorry about that.” He nervously ran his fingers through his ginger curls. “Do you think they’ll come back if we’re quiet enough?”

Jo took a moment to contemplate her answer. Realistically, it was likely that the beetles would return if they remained quiet. Yet, she almost wanted to say, “No, they won’t,” simply so they could talk some more. After a moment, she turned to him and nodded her head. Though she wouldn’t have minded hearing anything he had to say, deep down she knew that she wanted to finish her notes. Damn beetle. 

Oliver scooted his way over to Jo, sitting himself next to her. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Jo closed her eyes and focused on the sounds around her — the wind rustling through the trees, birds chirping, the sound of her heartbeat gaining momentum every second she thought of Oliver’s presence next to her — until finally, her ears recognized the beetle’s unique vibrations. 

She opened her eyes before softly nudging Oliver’s shoulder. Raising her finger to her lips to ensure his continued silence, she gestured upward. Several of the beetles were slowly making their way down the tree trunk behind them. Carefully grabbing a pencil from her pocket, Jo resumed her notes: One to two inches long, six legs, antennae, and a hard multi-chrome exoskeleton that color shifts between a metallic silver to a deep blue. Specialized plates on the exoskeleton produce intricate patterns of vibrations that serve as a form of communication. 

In the most hushed whisper she could muster, Jo turned to Oliver and asked, “What should we call them?”

Oliver was quiet for so long that Jo worried that he hadn’t heard her at all. Right as she went to repeat her question, he responded in a whisper, “Sonic Pulse Beetles.” 

Sonic Pulse Beetles. Sonus Pulsus Cicindela. She liked that. 

Now and then, Oliver would accompany Jo as she worked on logging new species. He would bring her sour berries he had foraged on his way over, as well as extra pencils and paper in case she ran out. He insisted on walking her back to camp as soon as the sun began to set and even taught her how to make her paint colors from minerals and plants so that she could add more detail to her sketches. 

His endless supply of knowledge and consideration left her in awe. 

Every search party was looking for him. They searched at the bottom of cliffs, in standing water, under logs, behind bushes — everywhere that they could think of. As the sun began to set, Jo couldn’t help but think that this was around the time he would be walking her back to camp after a long day of documenting foreign wildlife. 

As the teams began to lose natural light, a unanimous decision was made to continue search efforts in the morning. Jo’s heart sank. Her mind went to the worst-case scenarios. What if he was out there, hurt, and unable to get back on his own? She secretly promised herself that she would return to the woods after everyone was asleep.

But her plan was fleeting. As the teams began making their way back to camp, a shout was heard in the distance — We found something! — followed by a bloodcurdling scream. Jo’s legs carried her as fast as she could but she was stopped dead in her tracks by the scene in front of her. 

Mrs. Emerson cried out in anguish as she pulled her son’s lifeless body from the stream. Her husband rushed beside her, pulling her body to his chest as he sobbed into her hair. Resuscitation efforts were performed, but it was too late. Oliver Emerson had run into the woods during the storm — perhaps he had lost his footing or hit his head — and ended up drowning in the stream. Oliver Emerson, the same boy who would bring Jo berries, distract her from her work, and insist on walking her home at sundown, was gone.

Jo dropped to her knees. She couldn’t bring herself to look away from his face – his expression was so peaceful, as if he had just found himself in a sweet dream that he would awake from at any moment. But Jo knew he would never wake up from this dream. 

Three months after landing on Planet Delta, Oliver was dead. 

Abiit nemine salutato.

He went away without bidding anyone farewell.

In the following weeks after Oliver’s death, Jo kept her head down and hustled through her work. Every day she would wake at sunrise and gather her paper, pencils, paints, and rations before trekking out into the woods. No one would see her until sunset when she finally returned for dinner, after which she would leave pages upon pages of logs on the foreign flora and fauna on her parents’ makeshift desks. 

Nobody knew that she spent countless hours by the stream where Oliver’s body was found – every single day. She used it as an excuse to study the wildlife on the river bank, but that was simply a cover. Each day she would sit down on a particular rock on the water’s edge and call out to Oliver. The same few questions terrorized her: Why did you keep running? Why didn’t you stop? Why did you leave me?

When the tears in her eyes dried up and she could no longer bring herself to speak, Jo would lay on the ground and close her eyes. She became increasingly aware of the slightest movements and sounds – the trickling water from the stream, trills of insects, leaves rustling against one another in the canopies. 

During one of her many stints by the stream, Jo had fallen asleep on the ground – the day quickly bleeding into the night as she slept. When she awoke, she was not only confronted by the stars but by a soft symphony of sound. She lifted herself off the ground, leaning on her elbows as she tried to track the source of the noise with her eyes. It gradually became louder and more intricate until finally, Jo recognized the sound. Her eyes welled up upon the realization that it was a swarm of Sonic Pulse Beetles.

She let out a quiet sob, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably with each uneven breath. In her distressed state, there was no way for her to notice the faint footsteps inching behind her. One second she was alone in an endless void full of despair, and the next she was being scooped up into familiar, welcoming arms. 

Through tear-filled eyes, she looked up to find two warm, hazel orbs staring down at her – her father’s. Without a word, he pulled his daughter into his chest. He lightly rocked them back and forth until her cries shifted from sobs to soft hiccups. 

When all that was left were sniffles, Jo finally garnered the courage to speak to her father. “What were you doing out here? How did you find me?”

“It was getting late, Jo-bug, your mother and I were worried when you didn’t come back home at sundown,” He inhaled a shaky breath, his anxiety persisting. “I had a feeling you would be here, by the stream, where Oliver…” His voice drifted. 

Silence fell over them. There was no need for explanation. Jo buried her head further into her father’s chest. She closed her eyes and tried to match her breathing with the slow beat of his heart. 

After some time, Jo could feel her father’s body shifting. He was looking up at something. Before she could even decide whether or not to lift her head from its comfortable position, he leaned down and murmured, “Jo, look.”

Reluctantly, she looked up but was quickly overcome with childlike wonder. What looked like ordinary moss in the daylight had now revealed itself to emit a soft bioluminescent glow at night on every tree lining the stream. And what was crawling on the mesmerizing moss? Sonic pulse beetles. Hundreds of them. 

Jo’s father hoisted them up off the ground and led her over to the trees. They both reached out to touch the moss, watching it twinkle beneath their fingertips. At that moment, a small beetle inched from the tree to Jo’s index finger, the plates on its back creating vibrations that reverberated through her hand. 

“This is incredible, kid.” Marcus turned to his daughter, grinning from ear to ear. 

“We wouldn’t have found it if I hadn’t stayed out longer than usual.” She attempted a chuckle but mentally wasn’t ready. “It’s all thanks to Oliver,” she gestured at the beetle perched on her fingertip. 

They watched the insect tip-toe on her finger for a few more moments before it flew away. When it was reunited with the rest of the swarm, Jo’s father wrapped one of his arms around her, pulling her into a side hug. 

“What do you want to name this moss, Jo-bug?”

“I don’t know,” Jo rested her head on his shoulder. “I’ll figure it out. More importantly, I think we need a name for this place. Planet Delta, I mean.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“How about… Ad Meliora? Latin for “toward better things.”

Tears began to pool in her father’s eyes.

“Toward better things, indeed. We’ll make sure of it,” he replied. 

The wall Jo had constructed to keep everyone out and to keep her emotions locked up finally began to break down. Rather than sneaking out of camp at first light, Jo would sleep in till mid-morning before joining the rest of the colony for breakfast. There, each family shared their agenda for the day over small bowls of assorted berries, nuts, and filets of freshly caught Spectral River Gliders and Glowfin Piercers from the stream. The songs of Opalescent Crested Songbirds served as background music for the beginning of the day. 

The conversations among the members of Exploratory Mission IV remained relatively the same day by day. Jo’s parents were always boasting about her latest discoveries, Nellie Sullivan and Sadie Walker whined about how they missed the food back on Earth, and the Pierce twins rattled on and on about how desperately they wished to wash their hair with normal shampoo. Jo couldn’t help but chuckle to herself as she eavesdropped on everyone’s conversations, initially feeling too out of place to join in. 

After a few days of keeping quiet, Jo found the courage to make comments here and there, to the surprise of her fellow colonists. Each word she spoke took effort – her mouth immediately becoming dry and her breath hitching as she tried to form a single sentence. Yet, with each smile and sincere response she got, the more outspoken she became. She started going on long tangents about how each discovery led her to have a deeper connection to their new planet. 

Irene Sullivan, noticing the growing excitement in Jo’s eyes, asked if she would like to join her on her journeys down the stream to see where it flowed. Jo hesitantly agreed, unsure if the offer was genuine. To her surprise, the two teenage girls quickly bonded over their love of nature. They were in awe of each new bird, fish, and plant they encountered as they followed the river downstream. Jo felt giddy as she cataloged unique bioluminescent algae growths from the stream and developed a deeper connection with Irene. 

Soon, there were days when Jo chose not to go into the woods at all. Rather, she would go around asking her fellow colony members if there was anything she could do to assist them. She spearheaded the rebuilding of the dining area, at the request of the Pierces, and created a more secure space for the equipment and furniture in the event of another electrical storm. Jo felt a sense of pride when the project was completed. The Pierces praised her ingenuity, but she had simply felt glad to be useful to others. 

What shocked Jo the most was the liking she took to little Nellie Sullivan, Irene’s younger sister. The young girl begged to accompany them on their trips down the stream, and when she was gently refused, she would wait by the edge of the woods with a handful of flowers she picked especially for them when they returned. Then, she would squeeze herself in between Jo and Irene at dinner, her strawberry blonde locks bouncing as she animatedly recalled the day’s activities. Jo admired Nellie for how well she had adapted to life on another planet, considering how young and innocent she was. 

But the light and innocence radiating from Nellie would soon be put out. Five months after landing on Ad Meliora, Nellie Sullivan went missing. 

Jo had been with Irene when the news first broke out. 

“When did you last see her?” Irene pressed, her eyes wide and filled with panic. 

“This morning,” Miles Sullivan inhaled sharply. “No one has seen her since.” He leaned one arm against a tree, attempting to catch his breath after running for two miles to catch up with them downstream. 

“We’ll find her. She can’t have gotten far,” Jo exclaimed, praying to some God for it to be true. 

The three of them trekked back to camp as speedily as they could. The entire colony was in a frenzy. Once again, they found themselves splitting up into smaller groups to widen the search for the missing girl. 

Jo couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu – it was Oliver’s disappearance all over again. Her heart hammered through her chest, and when she looked down she saw her hands shaking furiously. She didn’t know what she would do if something had happened to Nellie, fearing she might lose her as she lost Oliver. She swiftly put her jittering hands in her pockets when her parents beckoned her over. She had to keep it together. Not just for herself, but for the Sullivans. 

Jo and her parents led the search along with the Sullivans. As the sun continued to travel across the sky, the further they found themselves in the woods and at the base of a large mountain range – each peak a kaleidoscope of colors, from fiery reds to deep purples. Blue leaves, with hues ranging from the palest azure to the deepest indigo, intertwined with vibrant orange leaves, crunched under their feet as they marched beneath towering trees – their gnarled branches reaching out towards the green sky. 

Out of breath and distressed, Miles stammered, “I don’t think Nellie would ever walk alone this far. She knows not to leave camp unless she’s with one of us.” His voice wanders, his eyes suddenly growing wide. “Unless…” He looks at his wife, Nyla, whose expression began to mirror his. 

“Unless what?” Irene spat, frustrated. 

“Unless she went in search of those,” he paused, “voices.”

“What voices?” Jo asked. 

Hesitantly, Miles admitted to both families that Nellie had told him and Nyla of voices she heard coming from the woods. 

“She said it sounded like her voice calling out to her,” Miles shivered as he recalled the conversation. 

“We had brushed it off as some sort of figment of her imagination, or perhaps even an animal making strange noises but–”

Nyla was cut off by the sound of a young girl’s voice yelling: Mom! Dad!

It was Nellie’s voice. 

Everyone hurried in the direction of her voice, calling out to her things like “We’re here!” and “Come to us!”

Nothing could have prepared them for what they saw next. 

Laying in the middle of a grove was Nellie. Her clothes had been shredded, blood dripping from several deep cuts and staining the leaves beneath her body – turning them to off-purple and deep bronze colors. Some torn flesh lay in the middle of a growing pool of blood. 

The harrowing scream that erupted from Nyla was gut-wrenching. It tore through her entire body, causing her to collapse to the ground. Miles couldn’t look away from the sight. His body felt numb and was incapable of moving. Irene’s eyes flooded with tears. She ran to Jo, who pulled her into an embrace, shielding her from the grisly scene and allowing her to sob in her arms. 

Jo didn’t understand how something so ghastly could happen to someone as sweet and pure as little Nellie. Her heart physically ached at the thought of Nellie’s last moments – the fear that must have overwhelmed her. 

Their cries were suddenly broken by the sound of Nellie’s voice once again. The hope that flashed across everyone’s eyes was short-lived. On top of a massive boulder sat a large panther-like creature. Its fur looked like polished obsidian with eyes whose orbs were the color of molten gold. Glowing with an unearthly luminescence, the panther’s eyes scanned over the group before opening its mouth – mimicking the sound of Nellie’s cries and screams. 

Rage consumed Nyla who unexpectedly charged at the creature.

“You bastard! What have you done to my baby!” She howled hysterically. 

Both Jo’s father and Miles ran to hold her back, physically restraining her even as she kicked at them, her attention solely focused on the creature. Frightened by the woman’s display of aggression, the creature raced up the mountain, leaving a broken family behind in its wake. 

Everyone turned their attention back to Mrs. Sullivan, trying to calm her with comforting words and embraces. However, Jo couldn’t help but notice a strange whirring sound coming from where the creature had been sitting. When she looked in its direction, she could briefly see red lights, resembling those of a sniper red dot sight, moving in the distance. She rubbed her eyes to clear her vision, but when her eyes readjusted to her surroundings, the strange noise and lights were gone. 

Jo’s mouth opened to speak, to ask if anyone had seen what she just saw, but she stopped herself. The Sullivans were too distraught and out of their minds to hear about anything other than the loss of their daughter. Even Jo’s parents were in tears as they attempted to console the family. 

For now, she would keep what she saw to herself. Right now was about Nellie and remembering her as she was. 

Inis vitae sed non amoris.

The end of life, but not of love. 

48 hours after discovering Nellie’s body, the Sullivan family, along with the company of the rest of the colony, buried her in a shallow grave next to Oliver. Her tiny figure was wrapped in sheets, and as she was lowered into the ground, each person in attendance laid a single flower atop her body. Watching Nellie’s figure disappear underneath piles of dirt made Jo feel an overwhelming sense of suffocation. She struggled to inhale each breath, the air around her feeling thick and stiff. Her limbs were heavy and seemed to drag as she tried to walk away from the graves. 

How could any of this be real?

Night was falling fast, the sky rapidly turning from emerald green to almost black. The colony walked the mile or so trek back from the grave site to camp together. Everyone was relatively quiet, with only a few measly whispers flowing through the wind. Jo didn’t realize how far she had fallen behind until she looked up from her dragging feet and saw that almost everyone was out of sight. The only person she could make out clearly was Simon Walker, who seemed to be stumbling a few hundred feet ahead of her. 

“Mr. Walker?” Jo called out to him, trying to quicken her pace to catch up with him. “Are you alright?” 

He turned to look at her with an unfocused gaze. She watched as the color drained from his face. He cocked his head to the side, nervously biting his bottom lip.

“Can you hear it too?” His lip quivered. 

“Hear what?” She lifted an eyebrow. 

“That godforsaken buzzing noise, a whirring of some sort,” His right hand touched the base of his neck as he began to pace back and forth. “It won’t stop, it won’t stop.” 

Jo frowned. Mr. Walker had always been a level-headed man but he seemed to be losing it. Where was his wife?

A sudden strong wind blew from above them followed by a rustling in the trees. Mr. Walker’s eyes went wide, his pupils flaring. 

“The noise! That’s it!” He pointed upward, and Jo followed his gaze. In the trees, a familiar red light was whizzing past. Then, she heard it – the same mechanical whirring sound she had heard after they found Nellie’s body. 

Mr. Walker began to run after the object, keeping his head up toward the canopy to track its movement. It zoomed overhead. 

“Wait!” Jo yelled. “Where are you going?”

He didn’t stop running. And he ran in the opposite direction of camp. 

Jo didn’t have time to think. She sprinted in the same direction as Mr. Walker, determined to find out what this mysterious object was. 

Suddenly she was transported back to the night Oliver disappeared. Running after Mr. Walker, she remembered how the raindrops pelted her face and her lungs gasped for a full breath of air. She sped through the trees, ignoring the ache in her chest and calves as she continued to chase Mr. Walker and the object in pursuit. 

Finally, he stopped running at the edge of a clearing. He swiftly crouched down and hid behind a tree, peeking at the object. Jo lowered herself closer to the ground and crawled a couple of hundred feet away from Mr. Walker. Even from her spot in the woods, Jo saw the scene in front of her clearly. 

The clearing was covered in green grasses and multicolored wildflowers twinkling in the moonlight. An occasional breeze rustled through the grass, creating a mesmerizing wave-like motion. In the middle of it all was a drone hovering in the air, unmoving for several minutes. Then, it began to turn in every direction, emitting a focused beam of red light that moved across the ground of the clearing. Once it had completely turned away from them, Jo spotted letters on the back of the drone. She squinted, trying to make them out. 

Jo’s hands clasped over her mouth as she tried to conceal her gasp.

The back of the drone had the letters “AEC” painted in red. 

Acquisition Exploration Co. The company that had sent them here in the first place. The company they couldn’t get into contact with after landing on Ad Meliora. 

She heard Mr. Walker shout. She looked to where he had been sitting to find him gone, only to see him running toward the drone. 

“Why won’t you answer us!” He screamed at the drone. “We’re dying. Our children are dying!” 

The drone rapidly turned toward his direction. A red laser beam focused right on his chest. Then, an invisible bullet – too fast for Jo to see. A sharp crack ripped through the clearing as Mr. Walker dropped to the ground, his body disappearing in the tall grass.

Jo screamed – A scream that showed she had never known true fear until that moment. 

The red laser pointed directly at her forehead and charged. 

Jo scrambled off the ground and bolted back toward the direction of the camp. The AEC had been watching them all along and ignoring their cries for help. She had to warn everyone. 

Adrenaline rushed through her veins as the drone pursued her. She felt intensely focused as she navigated through the woods, leaping over logs, ducking under low-hanging tree branches, and sidestepping every rock that jutted out from the ground. Jo’s chest tightened as her heart and lungs desperately pleaded for a reprieve, but she did not stop running. Pushing through the familiar pain in both her chest and legs, Jo sprinted back to camp. 

But she was too late. 

Several AEC drones had flooded the camp and were emitting a green gas. People shrieked as the gas burned their skin, making it flake and peel off in seconds. Others fell to the ground in turbulent wheezing fits, unable to breathe. Jo pulled her shirt over her mouth and inhaled as little as possible, desperately searching for her parents. 

As she made her way through the camp, Jo stumbled across limp bodies on the ground. The Pierce twins were lying face down in front of their tent, holding hands. Jo almost tripped over Irene’s body, who was lying on her back in the middle of the pathway connecting all the tents. Her eyes were wide open but glossed over. Jo doubled over upon seeing Irene’s lifeless body. A whimper clawed at the inside of her chest. 

Jo sped away from Irene’s body and rushed over to her family’s tent. Inside, her mother was sitting upright in the corner, already succumbed to asphyxiation. Jo made eye contact with her father, who was lying on the ground next to her mother. She hurried over to him, holding him in her arms as he coughed viciously. 

He tried to speak, but Jo stopped him. 

“No, don’t try to talk, Dad. You’re going to be okay,” she pleaded as tears rolled down her cheeks. 

He began to seize. His body shook uncontrollably, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Jo screamed in terror before coming to her senses and turning him on his side. As he foamed at the mouth, Jo began to feel the effects of the gas. Her head started spinning, her eyes going cross-eyed, and each breath she took burned her throat. 

Her father’s body went limp in her arms. In her disoriented state, Jo tried to shake him awake. When his eyes didn’t open, she screamed – It was a guttural scream. 

This planet had taken everything from her.

She had enough. 

Wheezing and struggling to stand, Jo used all her strength to tear down the poles holding up their tent. She watched as the tent cover concealed the bodies of her parents, then turned her attention back to the drones. Weakly, Jo leaned down and picked up one of the tent poles. She took as deep of a breath as she could manage, letting the burning sensation fill her body and fuel her anger, before lifting the pole and swinging it as hard as she could at one of the drones. 

She screeched as she struck the drone over and over again. It shattered beneath her blows, bits and pieces littering the ground by her feet. With one last strike, it smashed into the ground.

And so did Jo. 

When Jo opened her eyes, she was blinded by an intense light. The only sound she could hear was a constant, unchanging beeping noise. As her eyes slowly adjusted, she realized she was lying in a completely white room – white walls, white ceiling, white tiled floor – connected to some sort of monitor by a plethora of cords, wires, and an IV buried deep into her arm. Her skin itched from the hospital-like gown covering her body. Dread filled her chest as she questioned whether she was in a dream, a nightmare, or dead. 

Flashes of the dead crossed Jo’s mind. Oliver’s peaceful face. Nellie’s body lying in a pool of her own blood. Simon dropping out of sight after being shot. Her mother dying of asphyxiation. Her father dying in her arms. These haunting thoughts echoed endlessly, bouncing off the colorless walls in an infinite loop. Jo was unsure of how long she had been there or how much time had passed since she opened her eyes. 

Then, she heard a voice – a familiar, calming voice that cut through the haze. 

“Jo,” the voice whispered. 

She looked up, the figure’s face coming into focus. She took in the sight of tear-filled olive eyes and a half-smile.

“Oliver?” She tilted her head to take a good look at him, her eyes becoming moist. 

“It’s me, Jo.” He nodded his head and blinked his tears away. 

Without a word, she closed the distance between them despite the wires pulling her back, wrapping her arms around him with a sense of longing. For a few moments, they simply held each other. Then, as they reluctantly pulled back, their eyes met once more, filled with a mixture of joy and relief. 

“You’re alive,” Jo sniffed, her hand reaching up to rest on his cheek. 

“We both are.” Oliver rested his hands atop of hers. 

Her hand slowly dropped from his face. Jo’s nose crinkled, and Oliver noticed her smoky eyes surveying the room. 

“What’s wrong?” A look of concern sweeps over his eyes. 

“Where are we?” Her brows drew together. 

Oliver went to answer but was interrupted by the door opening. Jo shifted her gaze from Oliver towards the figure standing at the door – a man in his late 60s or early 70s, with pale, blotchy skin and hair streaked with gray. He didn’t tower in height, standing at 5’7” or so, but his hunched shoulders made it difficult to gauge accurately. 

He approached Jo, leaning close to observe her face before turning his attention to the monitor. 

“Everything looks good, Miss Hillcroft. Vitals are normal. We should be ready for another run in a few hours or so.” He smiled, showing off a chipped front tooth. 

Another run.

“Another simulation?” Everything came back to her at once. The first night aboard the AEC space station. The physical and mental training courses. Hargrave’s promises of actual exploratory missions after participating in a series of simulations that would serve as extra training and data collection. 

“Yes, Miss Hillcroft. You were the last to wake, but now that you are, we will begin making the preparations to put you and everyone else under again.” He pauses. “However, we would appreciate if you didn’t disrupt the simulation as you did last time.” He snarled. 

“There won’t be a next time,” Jo hissed. 

Hargrave’s eyes narrowed at her before a deep hearty snicker erupted from his chest. 

“Is that so, Josette?”

“I’m not doing that again.” Jo’s jaw clenched. 

The old man’s mouth set in a hard line. 

“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice,” the man strode toward the door. “You and your family signed a contract. You agreed to participate in these simulations to test human capabilities to survive on foreign planets. Only after completing these simulations will you be allowed to join our impending exploratory missions.”

“You never told us how bad the simulations would be.” Jo’s nostrils flared, completely enraged. 

Hargrave opened the door and stepped out into the empty hallway.

“We told you to be prepared for anything.” The door slammed shut behind him. 

Baffled, Jo sat in silence for a moment. When she finally willed herself to look up at Oliver again, his face was pale. 

“Oliver,” she muttered, “What happened to you? After you ran into the woods?”

His eyes welled up and he frowned. 

“I heard voices calling me into the woods. There were screams, others calling for help,” He lowered his head, avoiding eye contact. “I don’t remember falling. All I remember is the feeling of icy, cold water filling my lungs. The way I tried to lift my head and scream, but couldn’t.”

He raised his head to Jo once more. His chin trembled as he fought back the tears. 

“It felt so real, Jo. I thought it was over. I didn’t want to die,” Tears fell from his eyes. “I could still feel the pain in my chest when I woke up. Then all I could do was watch how you and my family continued to suffer, and there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it. I watched you die, Jo. I watched everyone die.” He squeezed his eyes shut, droplets running down his cheeks. 

Jo clasped his hand in hers. 

“You’re never going to go through that again. No one is. I’m going to make sure of it.” Jo jerked the various cords and wires from her body, flinching as they tried to stick to her skin. She ripped the IV out of her arm, letting droplets of blood trickle down onto the spotless white floor. After getting untangled, she stood and made her way toward the door.

“What are you going to do?” Oliver trailed behind her. 

“First, I’m going to find my parents, and then I’m going to shut this down from the inside. What they’re doing is torture. Screw space exploration, screw Graham Hargrave, screw the AEC,” Jo roared. “Nothing is worth what we just went through.” 

“How are you going to do it?” He nervously raked his fingers through his hair. 

“I’m not sure yet, but I’ll figure it out. We’ll figure it out,” she corrected herself.

She outstretched her hand to him. He took it without hesitation.

“Never again,” she breathed. 

Aut inveniam viam aut faciam.

I shall either find a way, or make one. 

About the Author

Bella is from Northampton, PA and came to Arcadia to refine her skills in writing and editing. She enjoys writing most in the genres of science fiction, horror, and thrillers and hopes to continue writing in her future endeavors. Her hobbies include reading, journaling, scrapbooking, and playing multiplayer games with friends.