Chapter Text
Considering everything that had happened recently, Grace was rather confident that there was little that could genuinely surprise him anymore.
In what had felt like a whirlwind, he’d learned that the Earth's sun was dying, then he’d been hand-selected to be the first human to study alien life, even if at that point it was because he had been seen and expendable. His entire life was uprooted shortly after for becoming a little too important in studying said alien life form. Then waking up several years later and several light-years away from Earth with no memory and two corpses who were supposed to be his crewmates. Then, to top it all off, he’d encountered Rocky, a whole new type of intelligent life form who was here at Tau Ceti with the same goal as him. To save their dying stars.
Yet all that confidence went out to airlock as he stared up at the blinking console, the ship’s monotone alert ringing out. “Radio Transmission in Progress, Accept Transmission? Y/N”
“Grace still communicates with his people, question?” Rocky asked as he rolled up to nudge against Grace’s leg. “How communicate, question?” In his stupor at the flashing screen, what was probably meant to be a little tap to get his attention sent Grace flailing to catch himself before he could crash to the ground. “Grace balance bad, statement.”
Sighing once he’d righted himself, Grace once again looked up at the message on the screen. “You just surprised me, buddy, I’m not supposed to be able to communicate with anyone from Earth, so I'm not sure who this could be,” Grace said, switching over to an adjacent screen. “And it doesn’t look like any other ships are near us. Think we should answer them anyway?” “Yes! Maybe need save star too!” Rocky chirped, rocking back in his sphere and tilting himself in a way that could be assumed as looking up at Grace eagerly.
“Alright then, let’s see what they have to say.” Speaking a bit louder, Grace gave the command to accept the transmission.
“Ava-…. Goddamn it, I’m-…. something-… here with me!” The voice on the other end of the transmission was deep, and even through the shoddy connection, Grace could hear the fear and panic laced in every word. He wasn’t sure who this Ava person was, and whatever connection they seemed to have didn’t extend to her… but whoever this was spoke English; whoever this was, they were likely human. Another human out here? Would Eva have sent out another crew so soon after the original? Had things gone so badly on-
“Connection bad bad bad! Rocky try to fix.” He declared, and before Grace could even ask how he planned to do that, he’d already rolled off towards the tunnel that connected their ships. Shaking his head, Grace turned back to the screen. Rocky was brilliant, he was sure that if there was something to figure out, then he would. Until then, Grace found himself glued to the screen in front of him. Another human.. just the thought had Grace feeling a strange sort of relief. Of course, having Rocky around basically saved his sanity, but even then, it’s human nature to crave community, crave connection, and touch. With another human around, maybe more than just one, even, he wouldn’t have to spend his last years alone; maybe they even had a way to return to earth.
He didn’t have to wait long before that same deep voice came through the speakers once more, louder than before. “..our deal-.. No you swore!.. don’t!...” Grace winced, the person on the other end of the line sounded desperate, for what he didn’t know but Grace couldn’t imagine it was anything good. “Ava, please! “The voice cried out again, and this time, Grace couldn’t stop himself from answering.
“Hey! Uh, I’m not Ava, don’t really know who that is… actually, my name is Grace, or uh, Ryland Grace… my ship got ahold of your transmission and uh.. you sounded… are you ok?” Releasing the button that allowed him to speak, Grace gripped his hands together, twisting them nervously as he now waited for a response. He didn’t have to wait long; mere seconds later, the crackling of the speakers returned.
“Ship?-.. down here too?” Came the same deep voice, hesitant as if whoever it was on the other side didn’t believe they were talking to another person. “I’m not really sure where you are; you aren’t showing up on the scanners. Did Eva send you out here?”
“Don’t know-… Eva. Sent down-.. chance for freedom… Bullshit.” The last word is spit out, and Grace has a sinking feeling that whatever this guy was sent out here for is not good. Before Grace can come up with a response, there’s a series of loud crashes that come through from the other side, followed by faint groaning.
“Hey! Hey, are you ok? What was that?” Grace calls out, face inching closer to the screen as if that would help him discern what had happened. Darn, he wishes he’d gotten the other man’s name. He tries again, just praying that the man on the other side is ok. “If there’s any way you can send me your location, maybe I can help!” He offers, but there’s no answer to his call, and a few minutes later the transmission cuts out, leaving Grace with a sinking feeling of dread.