Mission Day 4

DATE: 08/29/12119

TIME: 19:27

I stared at the spider man with wide eyes. He looked at me and tapped his earpiece again,"Is it working now? Hello?"

"You can speak?!" I asked incredulously. He looked at me as if I had hit my head.

"Of course I can speak," he said cooly, "I just didn't see the point since I knew you wouldn't be able to understand me."

A frustrated little laugh escaped me, "well excuse me for not thinking of that. I've just been woken 10,000 years into the future and the only being I have come across doesn't utter a sound. How was I supposed to know?" I crossed my arms and glared at him. His lips formed a tight line as he slowly sighed. I wondered if spider man is regretting our ability to communicate now. I should really stop calling him spider man.

My curiosity makes me give in, "what is your name anyhow?"

A small grin pulls at one side of his mouth, "my name is Geo."

"Geo?" I asked with a laugh. "That is a little ironic isn't it? Given that we are on a space craft. Unless...did we manage to save Earth?"

Geo shook his head no. My heart sunk a little. I knew that was a likely outcome, but there was a part of me that hoped things would get better and that everyone could be saved. "When did the Earth die?"

"No one knows for sure. You were on one of the last arks to leave Earth from the records I could find. Over the next couple of decades a few rogue ships made it out from what I read, but after a while communication with Earth stopped. And since it takes so long for the messages to reach our ships the further we moved away from each other it is hard to pinpoint the timing."

It took a minute for the information to sink in. "Wait, how did you know I was in one of the last arks?"

Geo's eyes widened a little at being caught. "I read your journal while you were still in hibernation," he admitted sheepishly. I glared at him for violating my privacy and he lifted his hands up in defense, "I needed to know who you were before I tried waking you. And your journal is what is allowing us to communicate right now."

"What do you mean?" I asked as I brought my hand up to the earpiece.

"These earpieces are nothing new for my people. Because there are many ships out in the universe languages have changed. With the separation and isolation between pods many dialects and languages have been created, and we needed something to bridge that communication gap. So long as we have a good sample of the other language these devices can break it down and translate it. Your journal was enough of a sample."

A scraping noise in the corner of the room startled me as I saw a tray slide into the room from a small slot near the door. Geo went to pick it up and brought it towards me. "Here, drink this. It will help keep the fever down." I took the cup from him and drank the bitter tasting fluid while trying not to gag.

I swallowed hard trying to get the flavor out of my mouth. "Where are we?" I gasped.

"Isolation," he replied bitterly.

"Isolation? What for?" I asked confused.

A soft dark chuckle escaped his lips, "because of you. Many are not happy with me for waking you."

I blinked in surprise. What do they think I am capable of? "I'm not dangerous. I don't wish harm on anyone."

"But you're sick. They don't know what you carry and what you are capable of. I told them it is most likely illness from our ship. You are not familiar with our viruses and bacteria. You are bound to become ill, but they don't want to listen."

I didn't really think about that, but it makes sense. Who knows what I could be harboring that they are no longer adapted to. They don't want to expose their people, especially in confined quarters like a ship. "I can understand why they put me here, but why are you here then?" I asked. Geo's piercing blue eyes looked into mine and I felt my breath hitch a little - what was that about?

"Because I have been close to you while you've been sick. That, and I think they want to punish me a little for waking you."

Still looking into his eyes I hesitate for moment before asking, "why did you wake me up?"

Time felt still as he look back at me but he suddenly broke eye contact and cleared his throat. "You should get some rest. Once you are well there will be a trial to decide our fates. They will want to know who you are and what are your intensions. I suggest you thinking about what you can offer this pod. There is no room for dead weight." I was too afraid to ask him what he meant by that. What would they do to me if I had nothing to offer?

Geo got up and laid down on a small cot. He hit an orb and set an alarm for himself, and for the first time since I woke from hibernation I saw a date: 08/29/12119. There are many things I do not know from where I am to how I came to be here, but at least I know when I am. With that little piece of knowledge I laid back to rest with some comfort as I thought about what I could do for the pod.