Rebirth Read online

Chapter Seven

  The Morning of January 16th

  Re-enactment

  Earlier that night Tyler went through the files of Paul Divine, but he got nothing more out of them that took them any further. Just the belief of Paul Divine that Mrs Clayton was not all that she was supposed to be, and that the other colonists who had come aboard the Constellation after the events at the Chichester Laboratories took place seemed to be genuine colonists. Therefore, Tyler closed up the files in the early hours of the following morning and tried to get some sleep. The six Orionists were sleeping on the hard floor of the crew`s rest area, something that Tyler was certainly not used to doing. A few hours later dawn broke, the internal clocks of Appolon, Tryon and Caroline woke them up as usual without the need for an artificial alarm system. Caroline looked down upon her sleeping husband and felt guilty at having to wake him from his sleep, but Tyler had asked her to as there was much to do that morning.

  "Darling it is time for you to get up from your bed, it is already well after dawn." Caroline said quietly, as she gently shook him until his eyes finally opened.

  Tyler awoke to find that his body ached from his hard bed, but as the others did not complain how should he do so, but he did silently anyway, but only to himself.

  "Good morning darling, how are you this bright morning?" Tyler asked still more asleep than awake.

  "I am fine my love, but you must rise for you have much work to do today."

  When finally Tyler did manage to get up he found that the others had all washed and dressed and were already on their way for a quick breakfast. He had a hurried wash and gulped down a quick breakfast before going down with the others to deck A to find Alice Tarraway also up and busy. At the moment she was using the public address system, she was informing the colonists that a re-enactment of Rosalyn Peterson`s last morning would begin at eight thirty that morning. If everyone would think back to the same time on the day before yesterday, and try to be in the places where they were then, the re-enactment would soon begin.

  Eight thirty came, and Caroline dressed in Rosalyn Peterson`s dressing gown, and carrying her towel and wash things walked slowly along the corridor to the showers with everyone looking on and talking together as they thought about that fateful morning. On entering the shower area she then entered one of the cubicles, but was told by one of the women who was already inside the shower area that Mrs Peterson had used the cubicle two spaces down, so Caroline moved down to this one. Caroline would have had to wait for at least thirty minutes to keep to Rosalyn Petersons movements that morning. However, Tyler had already asked Alice to use the public address system again to explain that Caroline would walk back to the Peterson cubicle now, something that Rosalyn Peterson did some thirty to forty five minutes later. A number of people were in the shower area talking over all that they could remember of that morning two days earlier. Once back at the Peterson cubicle, Caroline slipped off the dressing gown and was now ready to begin the next part of the re-enactment the walk to the galley and breakfast, for she was now dressed in the clothes that Mrs Peterson`s had worn that morning. Mr Peterson felt well enough to accompany Caroline for this part of the re-enactment, and so the two of them walked together towards the galley, after Alice had told everyone what was happening. Thirty minutes later found them back at the Peterson`s cubicle, and Tyler now thanked him for allowing them to use his wife things and telling him that they would now leave him in peace. Something Peterson must have appreciated for he closed the curtains and sat on his large bed to ask god why?