Andromeda: The Last Descendants

Ch.16

I've been in the lab for hours. Half the day has passed and I still can't find the missing piece to this cure. I have tried everything I can think of and nothing has clicked. I already have the base for the antidote made. The clear liquid sat on my desk like a joke taunting me with my failures. I've been everywhere collecting samples that could hopefully be the key to our future as a race, however, nothing has worked. I've tried many samples of plants, swabs from different species, and even soil samples from comets and planets that we've passed through. Nothing has triggered the reaction for the cure.

Nothing is left of our planet to take samples from, however, I have used samples from the colonists. Everything has failed. Not a single specimen has brought on a reaction to the base material except for a murky black goo. Black is the color of death and every time I see that color all I can think about is our impending death and the deaths that have come before. It's frustrating to know that I am so close to this cure, but so far at the same time.

The door to my lab opens pulling my attention away from my work. I look over my shoulder to see Az coming through the doorway. What? How did he get down here? I told him to stay in my room. What if someone has seen him and has reported to my father of an alien running around the ship?

"What-What are you doing here?" The door clicks shut behind him as he continues to walk toward me as if on a mission.

"You've been gone a long time. I needed to see you." He wraps me into a tight hug that has my eyes bulging in surprise as well as melting into his touch. It's a confusing feeling for me. I've never felt so much affection in my life.

My father rarely gives me hugs, he's too busy running the ship and I'm always working. When he does, it's normally after yelling at me for getting myself into a predicament that could have injured me. But this hug, it's different. It's warm and comforting. The feeling of his strong arms wrapping around me like a cocoon has me feeling safe in his embrace. Like a home, I'm meant to be in. I like these hugs.

Pulling my head back to look into his swirling purple eyes, "Did anyone see you?"

"No, no one else is on the ship. We are the only two here. Your people are outside working or in the woods running the perimeter." Well, at least he wasn't caught.

We have cameras that run 24/7. There's no doubt that he's been spotted by them on his way here since there's one around every corner. We have rarely checked them though during my life on this ship. The only times we do that is if we have a suspicion of someone doing something or have an alert about someone who doesn't belong on the ship. Luckily no one has suspected a thing so far, and if they did I would be one of the few that would know about it first. At least I hope so since my father has been keeping a lot from me lately.

My lips turn into a frown at that thought, "How did you know where I was?"

His eyes glance down at my lips as his own turn into a frown as he hugs me closer, "I followed my senses to you. Also, this room is directly connected to your healer quadrant that we were in yesterday." What does he mean by senses? Like smell or something else? And how does he know that everyone is outside and better yet in the woods? My mind reels with question after question which makes it hard to focus. I have to focus. My mind can't wander in this room, if it does bad things can happen.

As if hearing my thought he pulls his arms away from me sending that emptying feeling into me again, but it allows my head to clear and focus on my task. He pulls a chair up next to me plopping himself down in it. He's now so close to me that a single movement will have his limbs touching my own.

I look into my microscope trying to find anything amongst the base mixture and one of the virus samples. Luckily this one is very dead, unlike my other jar. It was almost impossible to get my hands on them in the colony. They didn't want the virus anywhere near them. Luckily Dr. Pete had sway in the council seeing the benefits of having the virus on hand to find the cure. He was the only one who believed finding the antidote was our only answer to surviving.