I followed them as we left the rec room and continued checking through more bedrooms. I let my mind wander over Lunëne’s words as I absentmindedly peered into the next few empty rooms.

                My joke about the first room being the luxury suite seemed prophetic as we moved down the hall, which seemed to be sectioned into smaller and smaller rooms. Two sections later, the bedrooms began to look like the rooms on our ship. The hallway ran in a familiar loop, and we ended back at the cafeteria after only a few minutes empty handed.

                "Ugh, I want to just sit with you here for like another hour. The others are probably waiting though." Lunëne lamented as they sluggishly shuffled to the back of the room and reluctantly pressed the button to return to the lower level.

                We soon arrived back to the familiar exit room to find Lunëne was right, we were the last team back. There were several members in a huddle by the door. Two were sitting on fairly large boxes, and the rest were standing around restlessly.

                "Oh, did you find something?" I guessed, eyes fixed on the unfamiliar box.

                "...Yeah. Emergency food, medical supplies, and bedding." The person sitting replied in an odd tone of voice.

                "Nice! So... um, did something happen? Why is everyone so... glum?" Lunëne asked, looking around.

                "It's the door.... it won't open. Andres thinks it needs some kind of admin override." He dejectedly leaned his forehead into his hands obscuring his face.

                I looked at the door and realized the group wasn't just huddling, they were messing with the button, looking for ways to open it, anxiously discussing options in a hushed tone. One person was trying to pull the door open. We stood motionless, silent. We were trapped.

                “What about the group outside?" I questioned.

                "They're not outside anymore. They finished looking around and wanted to join us in here." I did a doubletake and began counting.

                "There's only eight people here though?" Lunëne probed while I finished counting.

                "Yeah... the group that checked out the top floor remembered there being some kind of a control room. Five of them went to check it out, see if they could find some switch to turn the door on, or unlock it, or whatever."

                "Has anyone tried radioing Milton? He might know how to get it working." Lunëne continued.

                "No luck, signal doesn't seem to pass through the walls very well, if at all." We stood motionless again, minds racing but silent. They had a head start on solving this and hadn't gotten anywhere. I walked over to the wall where my helmet was left and sat down next to it. I slid it on and clicked it into place, leaning against the wall. And I tried desperately to call Milton or anybody. Unsuccessfully.

                Lunëne walked over and sat next to me. I took my helmet off and put it next to me. I rested my head on their shoulder and we sat there, waiting.

                A group member, Lillian, came back from the control room to confirm there was indeed a central system that had controls for everything. Then she left. Then back again with another update, they had gotten access to the system and were trying to figure out the controls.

                We offered to help, but the control room was only meant to accommodate three people and was already crowded. The best option was to let the ones already working on it to keep chipping away at the issue. Meanwhile we waited, stuck in a painful test of patience.

###

                After nearly two hours, out of seemingly nowhere, the door opened. As if nothing had happened, as if we hadn't been pulling at it in futility and cursing at it for two hours. There was a mad scramble to get past the threshold before the door closed, although it quickly became apparent that there was no need to hurry. The door remained open, even as we waited for the five heroes to return and join us in the airlock. And a few nerve-wracking minutes later, we were all back outside. Enjoying our freedom.

                I took a slow, deep breath as if I wasn't breathing the air from my suit again. I caught a glimpse of a few others do the same out of the corner of my eye, making me smile. Lillian almost immediately got Milton on the line to give an update. An overwhelmingly relieved Milton confirmed he could finally hear us.

                "Well, it's a nearly five-hour hike back. You have the choice to hike back tonight or tomorrow. Up to you all."

                I squinted towards the sun only half visible with the shadows around us already long and darkening.

                "Well... we already spent a few hours in the ship, and now we at least know how to get out. We might as well get a full night's sleep before heading out." There were a few nods and a shrug or two. A few people sat down lethargically.

                Lunëne and I made our way over to a nearby boulder to lean against and watch the sunset. The colors were less spectacular than our home planet, but honestly... it was probably the best sunset I had ever seen.

                We all chose to sleep in the ship that night despite some nervous looks when the doors shut behind us again. Despite our exhaustion and the eerie atmosphere on the first level, it felt like some strange sleepover as we went in search of beds in the best rooms.

                We weren't awake for long, falling asleep almost as soon as Lunëne and I cuddled up next to each other in bed with one of the spare blankets found.

###

                I woke early the next day, sore but energetic. Everyone was already moving quickly to ensure we got back to home base as soon as possible, and I joined the fray.

                The door had been set to let anyone through as soon as the button was pressed, leading to the steady sound of people entering the airlock as soon as they were ready. Even as hurriedly as I was moving, I was one of the last out of the ship.

                We waited around at the bottom of the stairs for a few minutes, in our own huddles making small talk until the last person exited the ship. The light of the sun peaking over the horizon was a welcome sign, signaling the beginning of our long journey back.

                "Hey, why are there only thirteen here?" The question over the helmet's speakers got everyone's attention, stopping conversations and turning heads. I started to count, and confirmed it. We were a person short.

                "You didn't see anyone else in the airlock room?"

                "No, nobody."

                "Should we go back in, or mayb-"

                "No, we should do a roll call to see who's missing."

                "I'll add Milton to the call for that... Milton, can you do a roll call? We're short a person and trying to figure out who it is."

                "Understood, one moment... Andres?"

                "Here."

                "Audrina?"

                "Here."

                "Destin?"

                "Here."

                "Lillian?"

                "Here."    

                "Lunëne?"

                "Here."

                "Rose?"

                Silence.

                "Okay, thanks Milton. She's probably just sleeping in; we'll go get her."

                "I'll go, I remember which room she was in." Audrina chimed in while she stood up. "Be back in a minute."

                Fifteen minutes later she returned alone.

                "I... I couldn't find her. I looked in every room, I was calling for her, nothing. I don't think she's here." Audrina faltered.

                "Maybe she went to a different floor?"

                "Her helmet is gone too. We all left them in the airlock room, and hers isn't there."

                "If she has her helmet, I can radio her directly." Milton interjected. There was an anxious pause, "Rose?"

                None of us moved a muscle. I held my breath as I strained my ear.

                "Rose? Can you hear me?" Milton repeated.

                "Oh my g- I ca... I'm so s- and got- the... a mile or so, I wish-"

                Silence again.

                "Rose?! Are you still there, it's breaking up. Rose?"

                "...ah fuck- sorry... die-"

                I exchanged worried glances with Lunëne. The word 'die' rang in my mind, echoing hauntingly.

                "Shit. Okay, so she's still alive, with her helmet, we just don't know where. It sounded like she said something about a mile, so that's a start. We can work with that. The signal was probably just a bit out of range or something, so we should begin a quick search and rescue. Just out about a mile in each direction. I'm getting drones in the air now. We can do seven teams of two." Milton spoke hastily, close enough to frantic that my heart sped up.

                Milton was always calm. This was the first I had heard his voice sound desperate.

                "Ok, I'll read off teams. Andres and Zoey, North. Audrina and Soelli, West. Camilla and Nova, East. Everett and Nathan, South. Grayson and Madelyn, Northwest. Lillian and Lydia... and Lunëne, Northeast. We'll have the drones focus on Southwest and Southeast. As always, avoid dangerous risks and check in with any info you get."

                The urgency in Milton's voice motivated us. Each team swiftly joined up, checked their compass directions, and set out almost immediately.

                I ended up walking a few steps behind Audrina in silence, trying to distract myself from the uncomfortable atmosphere between us by looking for any sign of Rose. There really wasn't much to go on. No footprints in the dirt that I could see, and scarce vegetation. We were surrounded by a mostly barren, rocky wilderness.

                We had already walked half a mile when a glimmer of light suddenly caught my eye. I glanced in the direction but didn't see anything. I stopped for a moment, looking more intently. The shape was hazy but... when I took a step back, there was something reflecting sunlight in the distance.

                "Audrina– I think I see something..." I motioned to the glimmer as she turned to look at me. She followed the direction and leaned her head forward ever so slightly.

                "Hm. Yeah I see it." She glanced over her shoulder back at me for a second, before starting off in the new direction.

                There was a dip down in the terrain before rising again, turning into a sizeable hill. The glint of sunlight was a small square on the side of the hill. As we got closer, the edges of the shape became clearer. We trudged along wordlessly, straining to make sense of the object.

                We didn’t realize what it was until we were close. We looked at each other with bewilderment despite ourselves. We both unconsciously sped up until we were right in front of a closed door built directly into the side of the hill.

                "Should... should we knock?" I asked incredulously. Audrina gave me a strange look for a second before turning back towards the door.

                "We should check if it's locked. This is obviously the other crew's settlement, so Rose is probably inside too. Makes sense that the signal had trouble going through all that soil." She reached out, then hesitated. I could see her draw in a large breath, then continue to grab the doorhandle firmly and pull. The door easily swung open.

                Inside was a small room, with the label 'Airlock' painted vertically up the right wall. We walked in cautiously, and I pulled the door behind us closed. A bright light above us illuminated the controls for continuing further into the base. Audrina pressed the button without hesitation this time. A slight hiss and the door in front of us opened as well, sliding into the wall.