ANDI let them know we were about to land on the planet, but not all communication had been restored, so Ricky still doesn’t know I’m here. I fight the tears that want to flow down my cheeks, knowing … hoping he’s possibly on the other side of this ramp when we land.
Destiny showed me on the holopad how she saved the others. I saw him get out of that pod on screen, and my heart hurt when the first words out of his mouth were, ‘Where is my wife?’ But my mind simply won’t settle or believe this could all be coming to an end until my eyes see him again.
The massive shuttle ramp starts to lower, and fresh crisp air hits me, its coolness making me shiver. Suddenly, I find that my legs won’t move. I watch in a daze as Dawn and the others go around me. Comforting pats land on my back as they all walk down the ramp when they realize I’m scared.
Finally, I make myself take a few steps, looking around. Instantly, I recognize the Commander as the one who’d talked to us on the holo screen earlier. There are people standing everywhere, many laughing as they greet those waiting below.
Then I see him … and my heart hits my throat. Ricky’s back is to me. He’s holding something in his hand, and I have to smile as I watch him use his other hand to talk with, pointing and discussing something that must be important. I watch him glance toward the ramp, his eyes skimming right over me initially, and then everything stops.
It’s like everyone who’s been standing there has turned their attention toward us, and then I see his head snap back and his eyes lock onto mine. I don’t know how I get to the bottom of the ramp or how he’s in front of me in two steps, but my entire world finally comes together when his arms grab me, yanking me off my feet.
Wrapping my legs around his waist, I grasp onto him tightly. His familiar smell, suddenly filling my lungs, has me sobbing with relief. He’s real; I finally found him, and he’s okay. Ricky falls to his knees, his hands everywhere. He’s saying something to me, but I’m still in a fog of tears and disbelief that this is really happening. He pulls on me gently, trying to lean me back, but I just hold on tighter, terrified that if I let go, he’ll disappear.
“Baby, look at me, let me see you. Are you okay? Have you been hurt? God, where have you been?”
Reluctantly, I pull back only for our lips to crash together so hard our teeth hit, but I can’t get enough as his lips devour mine, messily and almost in a frenzy. Ricky leans back, both of us breathing heavily as he rests his forehead against mine.
“Hi, beautiful. Where in the hell have you been?”
“Oh, you know, I like to make an entrance … thought I’d tour the cosmos before heading back to your old ass.”
“You planning on staying awhile?”
“Yeah, I missed ya just a little.” I hold up my almost touching fingers, and his laughter echoes all around. Before he can say another word, huge gray hands reach under Ricky’s arms, picking us both up like we’re kids.
“No playing on the ground, you two. The last thing we need is for you to get sick since the ground is still frozen and everything is wet. Ricky, take your female home. I will cover your shift for the next few risings. Kira and I will stop in once you two have had some time to yourselves.”
When I try to untangle myself from around Ricky, he spanks me lightly and pulls me closer. I’ve lost some weight, but I’m still quite a handful. Nevertheless, if he wants to carry me, I have no objections. Ricky’s hands cup under my bottom familiarly as I wrap my arms around his neck, one hand grasping his hair tightly. I know I’m being silly, since we’re both grown-ass adults, but if I could crawl inside him right now, I would. No matter how firmly I hold him, I can’t get close enough.
I’m terrified that if I let go for even a second, he’ll disappear. If this is a dream,please don’t wake upI think to myself as I’ve dreamed of this moment for almost a year now. Tucking my nose into his neck, I can hear people saying things as we walk past, but I couldn’t care less about the others, all I want or need right now is Ricky.
I can feel his tears on my neck, and I know he’s as overwhelmed as I am. Caught up in my own thoughts, I have no idea how longhe’s been walking, holding onto me, until the world suddenly gets quiet, and I feel him sit down, situating my legs so that I am now straddling his waist, but still lying against his chest.
Neither of us says anything. For the first time in forever, I allow my body to relax, and I just lay there, my head tucked into his neck, while his large hands rub up and down my back. His sudden words jerk me back to reality.
“Every shuttle that landed, I dreamed I would see you walking toward me. I’d almost given up, as the days and months continued with no word of any other survivors. I told them you were out there. I just knew it. DaR promised they would keep looking when I begged him to, but I doubted him. I can’t believe you’re really here in my arms. Ginger baby, look at me.”
I lean back and run my hands down his face, tracing the familiar contours while noticing the new lines around his eyes and a raw patch on his cheek. “You have not been taking care of yourself.”
“I didn’t have anyone to remind me to. You see, I lost my best girl. She wandered off, and I couldn’t find her.”
“She was lost but never stopped trying to get back to her main squeeze.”
“What happened, Ginger? Where have you been all this time? Did they find you in a pod like they did us?”
Ricky picks me up, only to stretch us both out onto this large, soft couch, before reaching up for a blanket, throwing it across us. We lay there facing one another, my head settling on his arm as his warmth sinks into bones that have felt cold for too long. His hand finds the naked skin on my side where my shirt has ridden up, settling there like we’d never been apart.
“God Ginger, I’ve missed you. From the moment they woke me up, I have been going through the motions, but life had lost all luster without you. I tried to smile and be part of the things they were all celebrating. To be proud of the world we are trying to make here, but it was all hollow without you.”
“Destiny showed me how they found all you guys. I saw you walking up to the Commander, personally demanding they go back out again to find me. Once we got on ANDI, he played some recorded feed of you working on fences and building things, but my mind couldn’t truly believe it was you. Deep down, I wanted you to be alive so badly that I was scared I was making it all up just to keep going from day to day.”
“Do you know how you got separated from the rest of us?”
“No, I have no clue. I woke up to a beeping sound, and the pod was split almost in half where it had crashed through the trees. I was soaking wet and felt like a truck had run over me. My bruises had bruises, but thankfully, nothing was broken. It took me a few tries to crawl out of the pod. I called out for you several times, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize I was alone. I remember grabbing the backpack you made me tuck between my legs, then I started walking. I had no idea where I was, and everything around me was alien; you know that feeling that you are no longer in Kansas? Yep, I was having all those moments as I walked alone and scared on my way to nowhere. I’m pretty sure I cussed a few people, even told Earth just what I thought of her evicting us. To say I was a little fussy is an understatement.
Seemed like I walked for hours before I came upon a clearing, only for two huge-ass Ruk female scouts to find me. To say they scared the hell out of me is an understatement. They were green, had to be a good foot taller than me, and looked mean as hell with their spears and all that braided hair. I was convinced theywere going to sacrifice me at first because I couldn’t understand a word they said … everything was growls and snarls. But thankfully, they could understand me, and with a little coaxing, they got me to follow them to a compound carved into a hillside. It took a little while for my translator to learn their language, but the other Earth girls helped me until it did. I don’t know who was more shocked, me finding others like me, or me, finding out how differently we all got to where we were. At least I knew I was going to wake up in Never Never Land. They were not so lucky. All of them were taken from their lives. Then, when I told them what had happened to Earth and why I was in that pod, I watched the light in their eyes die because the dream of ever going home was no longer dangling in front of them.
Anyway, that’s where I met Mam. She was wonderful, and I can’t tell you how many tears I shed on that woman’s shoulder in the beginning. Because of her, I finally stopped feeling sorry for myself and started helping where I could. The Ruks were survivors themselves, having crash-landed on Deapra a few years earlier. Their horror story was worse than ours if you can believe that.
