Derelict 6: Waiting for Nothing

“How do people fill an entire day?” Amelia wondered. She knew she was stuck in a holding pattern, waiting for something. Every day was the same. There was gardening, painting, and cooking. Sometimes in different orders, sometime she ate before gardening.

She’d even started doing some yoga poses that she remembered Electra and her mother doing.

It was a struggle to remember the poses even though she’d used to watch her mom and Electra practicing in the morning. The two had always looked so serene when they practiced, not all wobbly like she did.

Sometimes everyone would join in for a routine with Electra leading the class.

Electra had told her that yoga helped everyone focus on the present, the difficult poses brought you into your body and helped clear your mind.

Amelia did not find the practice mind clearing. She’d no sooner adopt a pose than her mind would hurtle her backwards in time.

Her mother had taught her how to play chess and how to use the diagnostic machine downstairs. She used it sometimes to check her health. She hadn’t been sick yet, at least not that the machine could tell. She wondered if that was what had happened. Had the machines not been able to tell when people were sick? Then people wouldn’t know there was a problem until it was too late.

“Mom, are you really going?”

“Yes, people are sick down there and they need a doctor to help figure out what’s wrong.”

“What if you get sick? Al got sick.”

“We didn’t know anything was wrong when Al took off his suit. And he’s not very sick. He’ll be better in no time. Plus we’ll be following standard decontamination processes. You know what that means, right?”

“It means no taking off your suit while you’re in an infected area. And decom before and after.” Amelia recited, but it didn’t make her feel better.

“It means I won’t get sick,” her mother assured her.

“I want to come too. I can help you.”

“Aw, honey. You’re going to help your father and Mr. Winters run the ship. They’ll need someone to help watch the relays. And we can talk on the com whenever we need to.”

Amelia opened her eyes blinking away tears. No yoga did not help her stay in the ‘now.’ She packed up the mat.

There had to be something she could do that wasn’t just waiting around. But waiting for what? Nothing. She was just waiting. It was worse than useless and she was tired of it.

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Chapter 7: Air, Water, and Electricity >

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