He opened his eyes despite sleepiness trying to keep them shut. The fluorescent painted his room a subtle sky blue. He tried to sit up and felt a thousand and one needles pierce his sides. He looked down and found his entire torso covered in bandages. His arms and legs were in pristine condition. He looked to the side and found an empty seat with a hint of vanilla. Next to it was a glass of icy cold water. He ignored the pain and reached for it. He downed it, ignoring the searing pain in back molars. He looked to the other side, reeling from the pain in his mouth and found the calendar he used. He found 8 new dates crossed out. It then dawned upon him what had happened.
He looked down at his torso, the bandages were fresh and slightly reeked of alcohol. He hovered his hand over his stomach and remembered where he had been impaled. He could feel a strange tingling. It was as if the arm were still in him. He tried to picture the face of the being that attacked him but all he could remember was the white flames, the misery, the hopelessness that it seemed to induce in him. His mouth went dry and he sunk into that all too familiar hole of bleakness. His breathing quickened as his breathing became lighter. His mind seemingly couldn't escape the spiral. Until the sound a plate breaking and some loud swearing brought him back to earth.
"Tis my fault." Said one loud familiar voice.
"No, no I distracted you" replied the other voice softly.
He followed the voices and entered the kitchen. It was as white and cool as the last time he entered it. Ayla and Inyanga were on the floor picking up pieces of a broken plate. Behind them was the succulent aroma of chicken in a pot. Anan was lost in her portable computer searching through it's memory on the main table. Across from her was Nike who was equally absorbed in his book.
"Since when was meat on the menu?" Mwene said with a smile on his face. They all looked up and smiled. Anan shot up and made a beeline and hugged him tightly. Mwene, taken aback by the rare display of psychically affection from her, allowed her to have her moment. She abruptly broke the hug, slightly red, and looked at him directly in his eyes.
"If you died, I would have killed you."
"I know," he replied cheekily.
Nike walked to him and also gave him a tight hub but quickly broke it when Mwene grunted in pain,
"I'm sorry, I got excited."
"No. no. I never wanted that rib anyway." Mwene reassured him. He looked away from him at Inyanga who struggled to his feet. His leg was in a knee brace.
"Nikey reckons I'll be good in months' time. By then It'll be a new me."
"Think by then I'll be ready to fight anything."
"Ya on your own there mate. "Inyanga laughed.
"You're pretty shit." Added Anan.
"Food's ready." Announced Ayla. They all sat around the table as Inyanga served them. The smell belied the actual contents of the meal. It was a thick clay red soup with sprinkles of green throughout. Mwene inspected his hot bowl and the other one's of his friends. He looked into the pot but found no meat.
"No meat." Mwene said out loud.
"Unfortunately no and welcome back Mwene." Stated Patience.
"Hi Patience." Said a pained Mwene.
"Stop being dramatic, Ayla and Nike outdid herself if we're being honest."
"No. It was all Ayla, I was just the food taster." Nike
"Makes—the – grub—a – step –above –edible." Inyanga slurped loudly in-between each slurp.
"I found the plants we collected had numerous properties, medicinal, nutritional and cosmetic, you name it." Anan explained.
"It's her handiwork that helped your healing. My work healed your wounds just fine but it was her herbs that helped with your nightmares."
"Nightmares?"
"Aye. Ya had bad ones. Had to hold you down at one point."
"It was risky but worthwhile and now we can enjoy food that tastes like what we had on Terra without actually eating it."
Mwene ate a spoonful of spoon and was genuinely surprised at how much it tasted like the rich flavourful chicken that his mother would make. He quickly devoured the plate in such a manner that even made Inyanga blush. He went for seconds the finally thirds. It only dawned on him quickly afterwards that he had not eaten a meal since he last left the ship.
"Easy there, let's not forget about the desert."
"Ice cream?" Mwene's eyes lit up as he searched around the room for any containers.
"I wish." Sighed Ayla.
"No but this is better." Anan whipped around her portable computer and showed him the holographic screen. A galaxy map was on display. A small dot was on the bottom left of the screen and in the middle was a large dot.
"Before we left the disk Patience managed to direct us to a server station. We downloaded data and once we got on board and left, we analyzed it." Anan explained.
"Unfortunately their systems had the same virus as ours so most of their files are locked for now but we did manage to uncover something. "
"They were workin on somethin'."
"They called it project Padma." Added Ayla.
"And this was it's last recorded location." Pointed Anan. Mwene smiled. He was this much closer to finding his father, this much closer to figuring out what exactly he was in.
"What's our ETA?"
"13 days and 5 hours." Patience announced.
Mwene smiled to himself. Even in the unknown, he knew there were people he could rely on. He knew that even in his search for answers he had a foundation to stand on. He knew he wasn't alone as he found out just how he was going to pay the sins of his father.
He felt glass crumble underneath his military shoes. Jet engines and military vehicles around him filled his ear drums. He knelt down and dipped his finger into a pool of cold, blue liquid. He rubbed it in between his index finger and thumb. The texture was familiar, a quick whiff confirmed his suspicions. With the ammonia still in his nostrils he switches on his radio.
"Bring in the collection team."
"Roger that."
A military vehicle arrives and soldiers in hazmat suits begin to collect body parts, both big and small and neatly packed in containers. He looked up to the stars and sighed, his brief moment of introspection interrupted by his radio.
"Commander Chase, we have a signal."
"Round up the troops. It's time to leave."
He looked down at his fingers and thought to himself.
"They've split my blood, and now yours brother. Its time to return the favour."