Ely frowned, she shivered as if she was disgusted by something. Nyoman knew exactly what Ely was thinking.
"You take it easy," Nyoman whispered to Ely again. "It's just rabbit meat."
The little girl finally smiled, she nodded. Then, half-running, Ely approached Tyana who was in the kitchen with Suzanne.
"You are great, man," Fraya patted Nyoman on the shoulder, then chose to sit on the bench on the left, to rest her body for a moment.
"Kid," said Nyoman, and stood back up. "What do you expect? It's no way we going to abuse a kid, right?"
"You are right. And, hey…" Fraya chuckled shaking her head. "Are you the incarnation of something holy? Gods, or the spirits of the ancestors, perhaps?"
"Damn you, Fraya!"
Nyoman laughed almost silently, then stepped towards the tank, placing the food in his hands. And then, sat on one of the benches on the same side as the other three comrades.
"Slide a bit, man," Nyoman patted Wong on the shoulder.
"Hey," Fraya sat on her chin, looking at Aldi. "Aldi, right?"
"Yeah," Aldi nodded, leaning back against the wall of the room, half lazy.
"How can you bring such a fierce little girl with you?" asked Fraya. "Where did you pick her from?"
Aldi laughed, shaking his head at the girl's question.
Yuma, Boris, Cinnong, and Naomi were also present in the same room. The four people who had just arrived took a sitting position on the right side, the same side as Aldi, one table apart.
"What can I say?" Aldi smiled faintly, lowering his gaze. "If you ask like that, I don't even know what to say myself."
"It seems that you two have interesting things to talk about," said Cinnong as she looked at Aldi behind her, then turned to Fraya and her friends on the left.
"Naa, it's nothing serious," Fraya waved her hand at Cinnong and the three people who were with the girl. "I'm Fraya," she introduced herself. Then, she pointed at the three comrades beside her. "This one is Guntur. That one, Wong. And that one, Nyoman."
"Hi," said Cinnong as well. "Greetings all. I'm Cinnong."
Cinnong looked at her three friends. With a head gesture, the girl asked her three companions to introduce themselves to the others.
"I'm Boris," Boris raised one hand.
"Naomi," Naomi raised her hand as well.
"I'm Yuma," the sweet-black-skinned man smiled with a nod of his head.
"You all know our two chefs over there?"
Nyoman pointed at Suzanne and Tyana. All heads nodded. Well, of course, they thought. It was the two girls who had told them about their respective rooms before.
"By the way," said Aldi a moment later. "That little girl is Ely."
Aldi pointed at Ely who was chatting with Suzanne and Tyana in the kitchen. The dining room and kitchen are only separated by a waist-high wall. Several pairs of eyes glanced at the figure shown by Aldi.
"Well," Fraya looked back at Aldi. "How's the story going?"
Aldi laughed softly. "Nothing special."
"Nothing special, huh?" Fray shook her head. "If it wasn't special, there's no way you'd take the little girl with you, don't you?"
"Aah, I see," Cinnong nodded. More or less, she understood what Fraya and Aldi were talking about. "I'm also curious," she said. "You just suddenly appeared out of nowhere, destroying the robots that were making things difficult for us—"
"That's true," Yuma spoke up.
However, the man in the left corner of the position he was sitting in had saved his life earlier, during a shootout with the robots and the Pangandaran troops.
"Thank you, man," Yuma held up the thumb of his right hand at Aldi. "You're doing a great job!"
"Naa, don't mention it," Aldi chuckled, shaking his head. "Don't bring it up again! Just a small favor."
"Then, about the little girl," Cinnong glanced back at Aldi. "What's so special about her?"
"Nothing," Aldi shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Just like the others."
"Oh, really?" asked Fraya.
"What I mean," Aldi moved his body slightly, folding his arms across the table in front of him. "All humans are the same, precious lives."
"So sweet," Fraya laughed softly.
"Damn you!" Aldi snorted, feeling that Fraya had snubbed him, then laughed. "I had refused Ely's request to take her once."
"Why?" asked Cinnong.
Aldi frowned, and took a deep breath. "You must know, I can't guarantee the safety of my own life, then how could I possibly have to bring someone with me? A little girl?" Aldi shook his head at the decision he had made while still on Earth at that time.
"But you still take Ely with you," said Fraya. "Isn't that something very special?"
"Yeah, that's true," Cinnong continued Fraya's words. "You're a good man. Can I come to your room later?"
"Damn it!" Aldi laughed again. It's also a form of satire against him if he doesn't want to be called a pedophile.
It seems that the light conversation adds to the intimacy between everyone who incidentally just got to know each other.
"I just had to," replied Aldi a moment later. "And yes, finally I'm taking Ely with me."
"Had to?" repeated Fraya with a frown. "Why do you say that? If you really mind, isn't it enough to just leave the little girl, there's no need to pay attention to her. Case closed!"
"Ely insisted to come with me," said Aldi.
"And you still brought her?" Cinnong chimed in. "Yeah, you did bring the little girl. Otherwise, she wouldn't be here right now."
"Hey-hey-hey," Aldi tried to interrupt Cinnong's words, who seemed to suspect him of something bad. "Indeed I'm an asshole. A fugitive. But, I never hurt children."
"Aww, you're so cute, mate," Cinnong looked at Aldi with sparkling eyes. "I'll definitely be going to your room after this. Just wait!"
Again, laughter echoed in the room. The laughter sounded so very friendly and warm. Even though they had no idea what kind of life they would lead in the future, it didn't seem like they thought much of it. The intimacy created in the dining room now is a very precious little thing for all of them, for the sake of experiencing a normal life again.
Then, several other figures also appeared in the room. Ujang, Victor, and Zein appeared first. Then followed by the appearance of Vivian, Wilma, Mince, Indra, and Jennie.
They get to know each other because now all of them have become one big family who rides the same SC45 spacecraft.
TO BE CONTINUED ...