Into the Eternity Vault Chapter Five

We finally begin to unravel the mysteries of how Madeline and Jaydon SKyland ended up where they did. And it all starts in a space station up in Earth orbit.

Chapter 5

2241 AD

“Good morning to all employees and guests aboard Path Research Station. The local time is now seven-thirty AM. The time in New York is three forty-four PM. The time in London is eight forty-four PM. The time in Hong-Kong is three forty-four AM. Breakfast will be served from seven-forty to eight-twenty. You will be expected at your workstations by nine. On behalf of ASATA, I wish you an enjoyable and productive day.”

Maddy peeled her cheek away from the table, where it had stuck to the plastic with sweat. She groaned, staring up at the speakers as they fell silent. She’d done it again. A half-hour more, she’d told him, just thirty-minutes. But time had a way of slipping. A half-hour became a whole-hour, which then became two. And now here she was, pulling herself up from where she’d fallen asleep in the lab like a drunkard. Not her proudest moment. She needed coffee.

She cricked her neck, and pulled the reading glasses from where they sat crookedly across her face. She didn’t have time to fetch another jumpsuit, so she’d just have to keep what she was wearing. Maddy shrugged. Nobody really smelled nice aboard Path Station. But a shower would have been lovely. She picked up the pen from where she’d dropped it to the floor, and rested it atop her notepad. Her work from last night was right there, barely coherent beneath an exhibition of her many sleep deprived scribbles and footnotes. A single black line plunged down the page at the end of a sentence, continuing onto the table. It was like a bookmark, showing the exact point where she’d fallen asleep.

On her way out of the lab, she took the time to grab a cup of water from the cooler and looked back at their experimental machine. It was perhaps the most expensive piece of tech she’d ever worked with, but there wasn’t a single thing they could do to make it work as they wanted. Well, there was plenty of time to decipher its circuits. Another two months to be precise.

As Maddy passed quickly through the empty corridors of the medical facility, she took the time to fasten her stiff hair into a rough ponytail. It wasn’t going to impress anyone, but she could at least attempt to make herself somewhat presentable. There was nothing she could do about makeup.

In the lobby, she stopped for the briefest moment. This was one of the most comfortable looking rooms in the entire station, like the reception of a hotel. A chandelier even hung from the ceiling, flooding the space with light. Faux leather couches sat at carefully plotted locations, each one especially placed to capture the incredible views. Maddy didn’t sit down though, she didn’t have time. Instead, she stood there, taking a moment to admire the splendour from where she stood. Her brief time at Path Station didn’t do it justice. She wanted to live here, and look upon this exact sight every day, forever.

A hand tapped her on the shoulder, and Maddy jumped three feet into the air.

“Woah!” Jaydon quickly backed away, “you’re skittish today… why could that be I wonder?”

Maddy sighed, and rubbed her eyes. It was too early for this kind of thing.

“I’m sorry,” she said. She meant it too. Her work would stagnate if it happened too often.

“I hope so,” Jaydon folded his arms, “half an hour, you said. Thirty minutes of I-dotting and T-crossing. I waited two hours for you to come back to bed.”

Maddy winced.

“I’m making strides…” she trailed off. The hurt on his face was agonising. “I’m sorry Jay.”

Jaydon gave her a small, genuine smile.

“I understand,” he said, and reached out his hand. Maddy took it in her own, and they gazed out at the world together. “I’m excited too.”

For another minute, the two of them looked through the massive windows, staring out at the blue planet before them. Bright lights shone from almost every part of the globe, clustering at the big cities and dispersing where nature reigned. White clouds drifted over everything like a tablecloth, teasing them with glimpses of the land below. This was beauty, in its rawest, truest form.