The Final Expedition

Day Fifty-Six

We were all congregated in Zvezda for our evening meal, each of us chewing thoughtfully on our food. Natalya was sitting next to me at the galley table, all pretence of the secrecy of our relationship abandoned, though we were heeding Karpov’s advice not to flaunt it. The others were sitting or floating around the module finishing their own food from the silver packets. Aki was gazing at the surface of the Earth through one of the windows in the floor, deep in thought.

“What do you think we’ll do when we finally run out of supplies and head back to Earth?” She asked, finally turning away from the window. “Do you think we’ll go our separate ways or stick together? I know it sounds morbid, but realistically we aren’t likely to find anyone we know still alive.”

“I know it’s a forlorn hope,” Morrison replied. “But I think I would have to at least try. I’d need that closure, that peace of mind.”

“I think staying together will depend on the state of things when we do return.” Karpov said. “I think it would be wise to try and stay together, at least until we are safe. Law and order are likely to be non-existent at this point.”

“It could be like the wild west down there.” Flynn agreed. “Survival of the fittest.” He shot a sideways glance at me.

“It will be a very different world, that much is certain.” Morrison nodded. “I think in the long term we will recover from this. I think the human race is too strong to die out. We will adapt and survive. Look at the harsh climates in which humans have already settled such as the arctic regions, the desert, the mountains, the oceans and all kinds of other environments you wouldn’t think we could possibly endure. It will be hard, but we can survive. We will survive.”

“It’s true.” Karpov drained the last of his water. “My Grandparents lived in Siberia. I am used to cold winters, but Siberian winters were something else.” He shuddered theatrically before smiling. “I used to visit with my parents when I was a boy. I hated it. It seemed no matter how many layers I wore, I never got warm. My grandparents used to call me a soft city boy and when I complained about the cold they would tease me and tell me that if I complained again, they would feed me to the huskies! Tough people, but survivors.”

“Sergei Karpov, the soft city boy.” I grinned. “I can’t imagine that.” The others laughed.

“Well, I for one, think that no matter what we find, we should stick together, at least for a while.” Aki told us, floating over to some footholds and hooking herself into them. “I don’t want to be alone down there.”

“You’d probably be much in demand.” I told her with a smirk. “After all we’ll…”

“…have to repopulate the Earth.” Aki finished with a passably droll impression of my English accent before rolling her eyes. “The classic post-apocalyptic male fantasy. How predictable!” We all laughed, though I didn’t like the leery look Flynn cast at Natalya and almost subconsciously slipped a protective arm around her waist. Natalya shot me a surprised glance and remembering my conversation with Karpov, I let go of her.

“Even though it will be hard, it will be good to get back to Earth.” Morrison said wistfully. “This tin can is starting to feel like Purgatory.” Though we all nodded our agreement, I wondered, extending the metaphor further, whether it was damnation that ultimately awaited us on the surface.