“Miss Bellamy?” Ophelia quietly called, stepping into the penthouse bedchamber. The aetherwave star was sitting at the computer and typing away, but stopped and looked to the Investigator.
“Investigator, it’s nice to see you.” She said, and cracked a small smile. “I can’t thank you enough.”
Ophelia smiled back after a minute.
“What will you do now, if you don’t mind me asking?” Ophelia asked. She shut the door behind her and meandered over to sit on the bed.
“With Belinda gone, I think I’ll be leaving the colony.” Ruth sighed, and tapped a few keys to quit her session on the computer.
“Yeah? I hope you find somewhere nice. Somewhere far from this mess.” Ophelia smiled, she had done the same thing when she left Earth. Originally planned on working a remote botany outpost, and maybe running away with a few sweethearts.
“You care so much for such a stranger, inspector.” The actress smiled and leaned in. “I don’t know anything about you, but you’ve already found out more about me than anyone else has in many years,” she confessed.
Ophelia blushed and rubbed her neck. She had a talent for rooting out secrets.
“Well, I’m certainly an open book for you, Miss Bellamy.” Ophelia said, and leaned in a little more.
The actress was silent, and studied the form of the inspector relaxing on the unmade bed.
“Who are you really, inspector? Not the person you show to people, but the real you.” Ruth asked. She thought it was fair, the inspector hadn’t even offered her real name, preferring investigator, or captain.
Ophelia stopped smiling after a second. Then she started to turn pale, and a flighty look appeared in her eyes.
“O-oh, it doesn’t really matter.” She stammered.
Ruth hummed noncommittally, and squinted at the squirming captain. She had been so calm and composed in their previous chats.
Ophelia let silence fill the room.
The actress didn’t offer anything else.
“You just wouldn’t believe me if I told you, it sounds almost like the plot to a horror movie back home.” Ophelia sighed, and shifted to get comfortable.
“A horror movie?” The actress repeated, now interested even more. No one called them movies anymore… Serials dominated the aetherwave.
“Yeah.” Ophelia sighed. “Straight out of my worst nightmares.” She patted the bed beside her, it was going to be a long story.
Ruth joined her after a moment.
“My name is Ophelia Amana, former botanist, and Hope colonist. I was selected by Spacers Choice to board the Hope for my ability to make things grow.” Ophelia said. Her heart sped up, pounding like a jackrabbit in her chest. “I was going to be placed on Terra One, or what’s now called Monarch, and I was to build a greenhouse and make the Earth crops grow in the alien soil.”
Ruth frowned, the Hope was still lost.
Ophelia kept going after a moments pause.
“But… As you know, the Hope got lost. Very lost.” Her heart was pounding faster and harder. Her head swam. “Seventy years late kinda lost.” She was going to spill her story, all of it. Ruth couldn’t do anything against her with it, if she even believed it.
“I got rescued recently, got thawed out. Scientist said he needed someone with the right amount of grit and brains, and I fit the bill almost perfectly. The botanist part ended up as just a footnote compared to what I do now…”
Ophelia felt a warm hand on her cold, cold shoulder. It felt like a vice was slowly wrapping around her throat.
“I don’t do botany, anymore.”
She had so much more she could say, so much she wanted to say, but it was like her heart was shattering.
“I’m sorry, but I’ve got- I’ve got to go check on something.” Ophelia wiped her cheeks and dashed out the bedroom door.
“Investigator, it seems you’re ready to leave Eridanos. I can’t say I blame you, I’ll also be leaving soon.” Ruth said, delicately touching Ophelia’s arm to get her attention. She had been waiting for the elusive girl to pass by.
Ophelia jumped, and squeaked.
“Ah! Hello, Miss Bellamy!” She stammered, flustering quickly. She had a duffel bag in the crook of her other arm and was on her way back to her home on the Unreliable. “I’m more than ready to take a hot shower on my ship and park out somewhere alone.”
Ruth smiled sweetly back at her, and started walking with her.
“You still have yet to tell me about yourself, Ophelia.” Ruth chuckled, leaning against her, “I hope you didn’t plan on leaving without telling me…”
Ophelia stopped at the ramp to her ship with a defeated sigh.
“I…” She muttered, “I’m no one special, really… Just Ophelia.”
“That can’t be true, you certainly seemed to have a lot to say last time I asked.” Ruth teased. She turned Ophelia’s head to face her, and she smiled at the pink dusting her pale cheeks and neck.
Ophelia shook her head.
“I’m just a freelancer now, Miss Bellamy. I run supplies and end problems.”
“But how are you faring, if you are from the Hope, you must be experiencing some culture shock, maybe even…”
Ophelia yelped and shook her head.
She nervously chuckled, “I came to Halcyon with a blanket and a dream, but I woke up so late… My first memories here are less than fond, and my dream has long since been shattered to dust. I woke up without my blanket, and was hurtling towards Terra Two before I could think.”
Ruth gave her the same look Max, ADA, and even Zora had given her.
Pity.
“This colony chewed me up and spit me out like a piece of old gum, and it’s done the same to you and your sister.” Ophelia muttered, leaning closer to the actress on her arm. “You’ve got the same chance I had seventy years ago, Ruth, take it before you can’t.”
Ruth didn’t have much to say after that, so she just nodded a few times.
“Goodbye, Ruth. Be careful out there.” Ophelia gave her a strained smile. It hurt. It hurt to let go of the star she just met.
She felt a cold gun get pressed into her hands, Ruth giving her a sweet smile.
“You’ll need this more than I will, Ophelia. And who knows, maybe you’ll be a botanist again.” Ruth said. It was the Needler, her personal sidearm. And she was giving it to Ophelia.
The aetherwave star leaned in and gave Ophelia a chaste goodbye kiss, then walked back into the mess of the shipyard.