The Solar Flare Read Online Free PDF Page B

what would happen. She felt emptiness consume her. She lost her home, her job, and now the hope of her future with the man she believed she loved. He was not what he appeared to be. The thoughts devastated her. Her life, or the life she knew and the life she had hoped for was over. How could their relationship go on from here? Did she want their relationship to go on? She wasn’t sure at the moment.
         When she didn’t speak Wesley figured that he had lost Ava to her thoughts. “Ava, I know this isn’t at all what you expected to hear . . . “
         “Wesley?” She interrupted him. She’d had enough for one day.
         “Yes?” Her abruptness surprised him, it wasn’t like her.
         “ I want to be alone now.” She seemed preoccupied with her thoughts.
        “Okay. . . I’ll walk you up.”
         “No . . . thank you, I just want to go and lie down for a while.” With that Ava got up and silently left the room. All Wesley could do was helplessly watch her leave.
         Ava left the common room and instead of going up to the quarters she and Wesley had shared for what seemed like the longest time, walked down the ramps to the room that used to be her old quarters. She leaned back against the door after it slid shut behind her with her eyes closed. She could not stop the hot tears from coming. It had been a very long time, since perhaps the death of her husband, that she had felt this lost. Slowly, she walked over to the bed and laid down on it, wondering what was to become of her. Wesley remained in the common room, having not moved since Ava’s departure. For the first time in his human existence he feared rejection. If Ava could not accept him, he would have no choice but to let her go.

 
     
    Chapter 4 : Home
     
         Ava laid on her old bed for several hours without moving, trying to process the confusing explanation Wesley had given her. As strange as things had turned out, she did not fear him they way that she had only a few hours ago. Ava knew she was upset. This extra energy she carried only seemed to amplify things. She wondered if she were only experiencing a fraction of what Wesley and his crew felt all the time, how in the world could they stay sane? She did not sense anger or hostility from her conversation with Wesley, only his hope. Smugly, her thoughts went back to Dr. Tom. He had been right; he was smart enough to figure it out, too bad for him he’ll never know. She never wanted to see him again.
         She sat up and wiped the remainder of the tears off of her face. I must look awful, she thought, feeling her warm, puffy face. After all that had happened to her in her life, somehow, she always found a way to get back on her feet. She thought of Nathan, her beloved deceased husband. What would he do? He always looked on the bright side of things. Perhaps she could do the same, but she wondered how. How bleak exactly was her situation? She had only a few clothes on the ship. She had her ID badge that was linked to her accounts, but if she used it somewhere on another station, the authorities on Capri could locate her and she could face the consequences of abandoning her job and perhaps worse, Dr. Tom could find her. Even if she did try to start over, she did not have tons of credits saved. The only people Ava could think of to go to were Alexis and Marc on Antares. Surely they could help her. She just felt like she wanted to run far away from everything.
         Ava jumped as a she heard a light knock on her door, pulling her from her thoughts. She didn’t feel like company at the moment, and she knew she didn’t want to see Wesley right now. After all, he had lied to her from day one, they all had. A small part of her understood that, while the rest of her felt betrayed.
         “Ava, it’s me, Naomi.” Her voice sounded muted through the heavy steel door. “May I please come in? I’m alone.”
         Ava pondered this for a few seconds