The bridge was enveloped in a tense silence that wavered around the group like a cloud. For the first time in his life, Hongjoong felt watched by the stars in no positive sense. Where they usually meant safety and compassion in the loneliness of the cosmos, they now seemed like curious, mocking eyes. They gauged the crew's efforts, giggled over every wrong judgment they made.

As Hongjoong put down his mattress next to Seonghwa's, his eyes were vigilant of Jongho's every movement.

In the twenty years they had grown up with each other, Hongjoong had found nothing off about him. Granted, Jongho had always had a few extra rules to remember and Hongjoong's parents had struggled through a tough time introducing him to schools and other kids. But Hongjoong had always suspected that to be the fault of him being from Mars, and for being adopted.

It made sense the longer he thought about it. And the evidence lined up. But Hongjoong knew they had nothing definite. He knew the circumstances could easily paint someone a murderer who wasn't.

The majority of Hongjoong's brain didn't want it to be Jongho. And it supported his blatant denial of it.

If they all stuck together and the alien had no option to kill anymore, they would reach the planet in harmony and forget about this as if it never happened. None of them would have to expose themselves and ruin a significant relationship. They all could peacefully part, that was the promise.

Although Hongjoong would get caught up with Jongho again since they were siblings. But he wanted to doubt. Doubt was the only thing that kept him sane.

Seonghwa had brought his tablet. He sat next to Hongjoong with a hunched back and scrolled through logs and information. Just like Hongjoong, he'd rather double-check every detail than decide prematurely.

Deciding someone was a murderous alien was a tremendous step to take. Especially if that person belonged to the same family.

Hongjoong didn't want to know what would happen to Jongho if they returned and had to hand him over to explain their predicament. If he didn't get locked into a research institute for scientific purposes, he would likely be executed for his crimes.

Hongjoong swallowed harshly at the thought. He didn't want that. Not for sweet Jongho and his round cheeks. No matter what he did.

Glad that the crew agreed with him on those matters, Hongjoong tried to shove the thought aside. They still had a lot of time to spend until they would return to the station. And as long as they stopped regularly so the alien could return to its usual secret ways, they would make it out.

At least, that's how the optimal situation would turn out. Nobody could promise it would go like this.

Hongjoong slumped against Seonghwa's back to lean against him. As he caught his weight effortlessly, Seonghwa peered at him. He lowered his voice to a gentle whisper so it wouldn't bother the other two.

"Tired?"

"Exhausted by the situation. What are you looking at?"

Seonghwa glanced at the tablet.

"Medical logs. I figured if we could at least bring back an alien egg, the government might forgive us this mishap. But well, they seem precarious to transport from how fast they develop."

Yunho piqued up when their conversation travelled to him.

"You would want to bring that creature to a place full of humans?" The disbelief in his voice showed in his haggard face. By now, not even Yunho dared to smile. From time to time, he glanced around nervously as if he expected tentacles slithering up to them from any direction.

"Contained, of course. It's without question extremely risky. But if we brought it to a research lab? The same thing wouldn't have to happen again at the next expedition."

Yunho hummed. His eyes flickered over to Jongho, who sat in his corner pitifully. He had distanced himself from them as if scared he might hurt them.

If he really carried the alien, then he didn't know of it. And Hongjoong would do anything to free him from its clutches. As long as the alien left them the time and chance, they would figure this out. It didn't seem to be killing out of spite or to get rid of them all at once. Maybe it would understand that they tried their best.

"We ejected Wooyoung's body earlier. I would rather hope that nobody else gets hurt rather than waiting to receive another cluster of eggs." Hongjoong cringed at the memory of the sheer amount of little embryos they had found in each of their friends. If all of those were born, entire space stations would get eradicated. Yunho was right. They better kept it far away from any humans.

"I also fear that there might be leftovers stuck anywhere on the ship. Where we just can't see it, but as soon as we land, we'll contaminate the place."

Seonghwa and Hongjoong nodded grimly. Then, Hongjoong glanced out of the window. They were still too far to spot Ginda in the distance, but they had entered its sun system already. If nothing interrupted them, they would arrive there in a week. Salvation seemed so near now. Hongjoong hoped all four of them would be able to set foot on the dusty blue planet once more.

"We'll have to dial in and inform them of our emergency. Maybe if they clean everything with fire and acid, we can still use the ship. If not, it's the safest to throw it to the metal trash and they give us a new one," Seonghwa said. Hongjoong patted the ship's floor with a reassuring hand.

"You did well, Elysium. Thank you for bringing us so far and for taking us back home although so many horrible things happened on you," Hongjoong muttered kindly. The ship didn't reply. It only steered them through the vast cosmos safely.

When Hongjoong glanced back up at Yunho, the man had started to fiddle with his hands nervously. He chewed on his fingernails, something that Hongjoong had never seen him do.

Picking up on his gaze, Yunho let his fingers sink. A nervous chuckle escaped him.

"Sorry, just anxious. Having the goal so near and yet so far is torture. I never felt so trapped."

All of them nodded to that. Space was claustrophobia-inducing already, but the added terror in their confined space mixed to a gruesome broth of mortal fear.

Yunho didn't stop his fidgeting. Even when he and Hongjoong assumed their places at the commando panel later to check in with the ship, his fingers thrummed on the hand rests of his chair or played with each other. His jittering sprung over to the others like a spark, and soon Seonghwa paced around the room restlessly.

Hongjoong feared one of them might break down and drag the others with them into hysteria. Their sanity dangled on a thin thread, and losing it would mean losing all sense for survival they still had.

When Hongjoong couldn't take the tense air anymore, he spoke up without looking up from their coordinates.

"Seonghwa, could you make a portfolio folder with the pictures we took of the victims? We'll need to show compact data since we don't have their bodies or egg samples to hand in."

"On it," Seonghwa breathed relievedly before Hongjoong had to add to it. Within moments, he sat at an unoccupied working station and fumbled with his tablet.

Jongho showed up in front of Hongjoong's console.

"Do you have a job for me, too?"

Until they would accompany Jongho to his waste and oxygen tasks, the man had been cursed into doing nothing and just watching the rest of the group in silence. The lack of distraction could drive anyone mad.

Hongjoong glanced at the frantic look in his eyes. Eyes that had once been so familiar to Hongjoong but seemed like those of a stranger now.

"You could collect the letters we wrote for them in a folder and write an introduction for their families once we send them," Hongjoong suggested quietly. Instantly, Jongho scurried off to sit back in the middle of the room on their sleeping camp and work on it.

Hongjoong still had to write the letter to Wooyoung's family as well. He would go right to it as soon as he found the time. If he died before they reached Ginda, he at least hoped that his good wishes would reach their families.

Idly, Hongjoong stared at his screens.

San's family would get a letter from Wooyoung, the fiance they never knew about. But in return, Wooyoung's family would never get to know San personally. They could only hear of the tale if one of them lived and delivered Wooyoung's personal logs.

With a deep breath, Hongjoong dived into doing Yeosang's work to the best of his ability. He let the AI help them, and its artificial voice cut through the solitude occasionally to react to his performance. None of the other crew members minded. The only one who would have complained would be Wooyoung, but they wouldn't hear him complain ever again.

Hongjoong rose his head to blink at the window for a moment. As his mind eased, the nagging remorse and guilt also left him alone.

For a while longer, all of them worked in mutual silence. Once Yunho was finished with his part, he rolled his chair over to sit in front of the panels that belonged to Mingi's and Wooyoung's Engineering sector. After some consideration, he also asked the AI for help and it guided him through the necessary system checks.

Their work finished without further casualties. In a group of four, they then followed Jongho around as he emptied the chutes, cleaned the oxygen filters and checked the systems on all three floors to ensure the circulation worked as it should.

Afterwards, the group assembled for dinner in the kitchen. They had no appetite, but all of them supported each other to gulp down at least a few bites to sustain the bare minimum of their bodily functions.

As they retreated onto the bridge, they locked the doors to the corridor and set up the application to watch any changes on them.

"Maybe it's best if you wake us for your nightly check-up. Not as if we catch too much sleep anyway," Hongjoong suggested as they all settled down. With how close they laid, they would notice any stirring and jerk up at every noise. Their vigilant minds wouldn't let anything slip.

Jongho changed into his sleepwear and pulled his blanket over his feet.

"I can do that," he promised with a cordial smile. Glad to have given him another chance, Hongjoong huddled down to press against Seonghwa's back. He pulled the other man close to hug him tightly and feel his warmth.

Outside of the window, the stars still watched them. They didn't shift, never changed in their eternal frozen state. Hongjoong tried to see them as his friends as he pressed a kiss to Seonghwa's shoulder.

If the stars were on the side of their extraterrestrial visitor and mocked the crew of fragile humans with it, he would never want to visit them again. Instead of grand travel and adventures, Hongjoong would rather stay behind in a boring office job and never think about alien organisms in the bodies of crew members.

Under the light of those stars, Hongjoong napped for a few hours. His consciousness remained watchful of his surroundings and prepared to startle him awake any second. The little sleep he got wasn't perfect, but it was something.

When Jongho's alarm sounded to remind him of his tasks, all of them rose with instantly awake eyes.

Together, they shuffled through the entire ship again and checked their oxygen that worked just fine after Jongho's magical touch. Blearily, Hongjoong noticed that if they actually had to lock the man away, this task would be the most crucial for them to fulfil. But at least easy as long as they remembered it on time.

After their nightly trip, they huddled into their camp again.

Nobody died that night. They woke up rested and still anxious, but with some new hope that they would make it through the last few days.

After breakfast, Hongjoong sat down to write his letter to Wooyoung's parents.