The Expedition Begins

Expedition Epsilon Part 4 | Choice 1 - A farewell to all that was lost

Oct 13, 2023

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Expedition Epsilon

Part 4.1: The Expedition Begins

Observation Deck 3

“Goodbye Mommy,” Olivia sobbed while watching the Earth fade, now the size of a pinhead, it could hardly be differentiated from a star now. Her arms wrapped around her small frame, attempting to feel some semblance of comfort. Flanagan thought she more than likely imagined her moms embrace, something he longed for as well. He kept his distance and allowed the kids to have a moment alone with their thoughts. He worried that reality was now just settling in for Olivia, at 5 years old maybe not in the way that she understood death, but she knew that her mom was still on Earth and that she would not see her again since the ship departed.

Alex stood at the thick quartz glass window that wrapped around the observation deck, his hand pressed firmly to its surface. He stared out into the void, eyes blinking back tears and lips quivering while whispering his last goodbye to his mother. Flanagan was not attempting to pry, but he overheard the last thing he said, “–I’ll protect them. Rest easy mom, I’ll never forget you.” Tears fell as he took his hand from the glass, painting the floor with drops of the unconditional love that a child holds for their parents. Flanagan thought that for an 11 year old, Alex was very mature and wise in the way that other kids weren’t. Daniel and his wife must have been great parents.

Most of the people in the room paid no attention to others, signifying that they knew this was a moment that required the weight of silence. One of them paid no mind to this, a child that was slightly older than Alex. He went around the observation deck looking at space talking about how boring it was, flipping the bird to the Earth and ignoring the grieving of others. Eventually he came upon Alex, who now sat in front of the window still observing the ever-shrinking Earth, his mom’s image in his mind. Flanagan watched carefully to see what would happen.

The kid walked up and stood between Alex and the Window, crossing his arms and looking down at Alex with a smirk on his face. “The hell are you sad for? The Earth was a shithole, full of poor, disgusting people that wasted their lives,” The kid started in. “Up here, people are either smart or rich. Ain’t no room for anyone that is a waste of space. Let me guess, you lost someone? Well, they probably didn’t belong up here anyway.”

“Mommy did belong up here!” Olivia shouted after overhearing what the kid told Alex. She returned her face to her hands and continued to sob.

“Aw, you lost your mommy?” The kid mocked Olivia with a fake sad face, rubbing at his eyes and pretending to rub away tears. He chuckled at his own antics before returning his gaze to her brother.

Alex rose, calm and controlled. Tears continued to well up in the corners of his eyes, but the ones full of love and grief had been replaced with droplets that were full of rage. His quivering lips were replaced with a clenched jaw, obvious by the subtle movement in his temples. He held his fists in balls, so tightly that blood blossomed around his knuckles under the skin. Alex looked at Olivia, who was still bawling, before returning intense eye contact with the boy. “Say it again.”

The boy stepped closer to Alex and lightly pushed his shoulders to further instigate him. “What are you gonna do about it? She. Did. Not.” The kid began, mockingly. “Belong. Up–”

Their dad’s voice flashed into his mind, “Remember, if you ever need to defend yourself you have to make sure that your first strike counts. Put them down at the start if possible.” Alex picked wisely and made sure that his first strike would put this kid in his place. With no warning, he channeled all of his rage, grief and pain into his fist and planted it firmly into the boy's nose. A satisfying crunch let Alex know he had broken it before the kid had even landed on his ass. The kid screamed while holding his nose, blood running through his fingers. When he took his hands away for a moment to assess the damage, Alex saw the bridge of his nose shaped like a crescent moon.

“Parker!” A woman shouted as she and a man ran up to the screaming boy. She looked at Alex, who sported blood on his knuckles, “What the hell did you do?!”

“Come here boy,” The man, what Alex assumed to be his father, demanded. The father took heavy steps towards Alex while the mom tended to the piece of shit she had birthed. When he was within arms reach, the father reached out and grabbed his arm tighter than he had ever felt and pulled Alex towards him. Now Alex was smirking, staring the father in the eyes. This caused the man’s rage to boil over and he winded his arm back to strike Alex, “What you did to my son, you will feel ten times over.”

Click-clack

“That was teh sound of meh hand gun being cocked, which now sits against yer skull,” Flanagan stood behind the man, finger on the trigger. A few people ran out of the observation deck, others gasped and some watched closely to see what would happen.

“Ye listen close. Yur little gobshite with teh cracked face decided te bully kids who just lost their Mum.” Flanagan side-eyed the kid, Parker, and his mother. “Their Da lay in teh ICU after tryin’ teh save the ship from one of teh monsters from Earth and even saved meh life. I’ve done in many blokes like ye, and am not afraid to add another teh meh list. So, kindly lower yur arm and let go’a teh kid, unless you’d rather tint teh window red.”

The man obeyed immediately, still scowling at Alex who had not stopped smirking, even in the face of danger. Once Flanagan lowered his gun, the man turned around to face him and started to open his mouth to say something. Flanagan quickly connected his hand to his face with a crisp backhand slap.

“Houl yur wisht!” Flanagan roared at the man, spit flying from his mouth. The man stared at him, veins popping in his forehead, rage burning within his eyes. “Tat was for raising a piece’a shite. If it were up teh me, we would have left yer scummy arse and family down on teh surface. Tis bullet has yer name on it If I see ye raise another hand to anyone on teh ship, Now, get lost.”

The family took their leave, carrying their son off, probably to medical. Flanagan faced Alex with a serious face, one that meant a lecture was coming. Nothing of the sort happened, and his stone-cold face broke into hysterical laughter.

“Holy shite kid, I am so proud of ye!” He said between chuckles.

“Really?” Alex asked him, face awash with pride and relief.

“Yes, little wean. Ye defended your sister, yerself, and your mother’s memory.” Flanagan offered him a high five, which Alex accepted. “Wait till your Da hears about tis. Speakin’ of which.”

Flanagan turned his comms on, which really only required a thought, “Dr. Ricci, how is Daniel doing?”

“Flanagan, I was just about to contact you,” Miranda responded in his head, as clear as if she was speaking to him in person. “Daniel is awake, irate, but awake. He wants to see his kids, but he doesn’t want them to see him. He’s having trouble adjusting to his new…additions.”

“Understandable. I’ll bring ‘em down,” He replied before ending the comm link. “C’mon kids, yer Da is awake and want’s teh see ye.”

Olivia jumped into Flanagan’s arms, excited to finally see her father. Alex walked up to him and looked him in the eyes, “Thanks for defending me. I am going to protect everyone from people like that, just like you did for me.”

At this moment, Flanagan realized just how important his actions were to Alex, even though he only did what he thought was right. He couldn’t let that go to waste, “Aye, yes you will, I’m counting on ye and so is everyone else. Now, let’s go see yer Da.”

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