Chapter 7
Foreman cleared a section of the jungle, on the side of the main pool, away from most of the other trees. With the spade, he dug a shallow grave. From a locker, he had found a spare space suit, one of a dozen. He lay the suit in the grave, a helmet representing the head. Then he covered it up with the soil. To mark the grave, he planted a small seedling, an apple, he thought, where the headstone would be. Monkley watched from a distance, as Foreman laboured away. Words were needed.
'Right. Okay. Now, maybe there's a god listening. Maybe even the God. If so, you'll know I'm something of an agnostic. Nothing personal, you understand. I mean. You got your work cut out, right? You made one heck of a Universe to take care of. But, I figure I gotta say a few words. Commander Ashley Phillips, Science Officer, Elizabeth Mauler and Captain Donna Sanders were good people, you know? Yeah. Sure you do. They didn't deserve to come all the way out here just to...Well, it's true. Shouldn't have happened. And like that kid what's his name. Farley. Just a kid. A wannabe astronaut. A space cadet. I mean, what's that all about? He didn't deserve to...Maybe he made it. I hope he made it. The world needs kids like Farley. Look. I'm not blaming you. Shit. The ship was man made. The war or whatever the hell is going on is man made.' He wiped tears away. 'Right. For a start, I wanna say thanks for sparing me and Monkley. We don't deserve special treatment. At least I don't. Monkley is such a great creature. At least here he can be more like a proper chimp. I guess that's about all I gotta say. You got my friends off the ship, now. Look after them. Thanks.'
He stood and stared at the grave, his heart heavy, his future in the lap of the God he had just reached out to. Monkley walked over to him and took Foreman's hand, and then jumped up into his arms. Together they stared in silent contemplation. In some small way, ghosts had been laid to rest.