Documents

Thanh eyed Geo for a moment, his expression hard but calm. I immediately knew where Thana got her mask from. When his eyes made their way over to me a slight shiver crawled up my spine. Thanh noticed my reaction and his expression softened.

"I found some things that might be useful," he said, gesturing to the bag of documents under his arm. He came up to the dining table beside me and shrugged the bag off as carefully as he could with one hand. He then fished out a glove from his pocket and tried slipping it on his hand with his teeth. Just as I was about to help him, Geo caught my eye and shook his head. It didn't feel right not to help, but a part of me understood Thanh's need to be independent.

With the glove in place Thanh carefully took out the first item from the bag. "Here is the original manual for the deep freezer," he said softly as he placed it on the table in front of me. I looked at the familiar cover and stared at the dry, discolored pages between it, acknowledging all the time that has passed.

"And here is something about Earth," Thanh said excitedly. "It was a rare find," he said proudly to no one in particular as he lovingly placed the geology book on the table. He took out several more documents. Some covered microbiology, others were just scraps of old texts he had collected about a range of subjects.

"Here," Thanh said as he handed me a pair of gloves. "Put these on when you handle the documents, and please be careful."

"I will, Archivist," I said formally. A small smile appeared on Thanh's face.

"Please, call me Thanh."

My eyes widened a little with surprise by his casualness. "I don't want to be disrespectful," I said cautiously.

"I hold no power anymore. The only things I have now are these ancient texts and my knowledge. What I can access of it anyhow," he said with a laugh, but I could hear the bitterness in it. "Besides, it looks like you are becoming close to my children, so there is no need to be formal, Ancient One," he said with a teasing, warm smile. Despite his unkept hair and worn appearance, I could tell he must have been a charmer when he was younger.

"Ok, Thanh," I said as I returned his smile.

"Ok, Flora. We will leave you with the documents. I need to talk to Geo for a moment," he said pleasantly, but I could tell from the look they shared that their conversation was going to be anything but pleasant.

All I could do was nod as I watched them make their way down the hall to another room. I was very curious to know what they were talking about, but I knew I shouldn't try to listen in. I didn't need Thanh catching me giving into my desires again, at least not so soon.

I slipped the gloves over my hands and carefully cracked open the yellowed deep freezer manual. I looked over the instructions, and based on everything I had heard and seen, Nera had done everything right. The microbes had survived the freeze for thousands of years just like they had in Earth's permafrost, but unfortunately some diseases survived in this batch as well.

I scanned the manual and tried to find the origin of the soil, but I did not find much other than that the soil was rated organic. The rest of the contents on the page had faded too much for me to make out. Disappointed but not discouraged, I opened the geology book.

I smiled as I flipped through the pages, the pictures and graphs reminding me of my time at university. Even without the hibernation it had been years since I last looked at a geology book, but the topic has always interested me. I took particular interest in the chapter on rock formations and tried to recall the map I had seen on Albin's computer. How I wished I had a tablet where I could pull it up with a brush of my finger. It seems like in some areas technology has improved, but in others it has actually reversed here.

I sighed in frustration and nearly jumped when I heard a light chuckle next to me.

"How long have you been there?" I screeched in surprise.

Geo's amused smirk widened into a smile. "Long enough. Are you having trouble with something?"

"I just wish I was able to access all the information I need in one place," I said with a sigh.

Geo felt around in his pocket before pulling out a small drive of some sort and handing it to me. "Use this," he said. I took it and examined it for a moment.

"Thank you, but it won't help me with these," I said gesturing at the documents on the table. "I doubt Thanh will let me walk away with them."

"No, I will not," I heard him shout from across the room.

Geo let out a small laugh. "I think I can help with that," he said as he pulled out a small camera. He took several images of the pages I needed, but the process was long and tedious.

"I do not think we can get it all today," I said tiredly. "Will I be able to come back?" I asked as I turned to Thanh.

"Of course, Flora," he said with a smile. I looked over to Geo and he nodded as well.

"We should go," Geo said after taking the last picture.

I nodded, and as quickly and as carefully as I could, I packed up the documents and placed them back in Thanh's bag. Thanh followed us to the door, and just as Geo was about to open it, Thanh's expression hardened again.

"Remember what I said," Thanh warned. Geo nodded, his expression unreadable, before he opened the door and ushered me out.

I watched him out of the corner of my eye as we made our way through the now empty courtyard. His body was tense, his eyes still guarded, and I wondered what Thanh could have said to make him react like that. It wasn't until we had both taken a seat and closed the car door that he let out a sigh.

"Is everything alright?" I asked. Geo looked away from me and stared out the window for a moment before slowly nodding.

"We should get back to the lab," he said as he avoided looking at me. I grimaced at the thought.

"I- I don't want to go back," I said.

Geo's eyes snapped to mine, wide with surprise. "You do not want to go back?" he said, slightly hurt.

"At least not yet," I said quickly. "I have been stuck inside there for so long, I just want to be outside for a little longer."

I could see the uncertainty on his face as he looked away again. "I do not think that is a good idea," he said at last.

"Please," I pleaded. "My health is better, and I will wear the mask the whole time." He must have heard the desperation in my voice and looked back to me. "Please," I asked softly.

Geo looked at me and after a moment sighed in defeat. "Ok, but only for a short trip," he warned as I broke out in a wide smile. He started the car and entered one of the tunnels. I wasn't sure where we were going, but I didn't care. So long as he was by my side, I knew I was going to be ok.