She turned again towards the man, "who's going to be leading us then?" She questioned, her brows curled in worry.

A silent ambiance filled the office.

"You're going to lead the field research team."

_____

The sudden declaration of her new position made her stumble uncomfortably in her footing. Johnson had dismissed her, shocked and confused like a student who was just given a last minute assignment by the teacher. She eyed the small cracks and dents on the aging metal walls of the facility, tracing every small signs of rust and a glimmer of reflection from the white light.

"Dammit Malory, you can't just throw your baggage at me," she murmured underneath her uneven breaths. Her heart was racing! Pounding like uneven drum beats! She was supposed to be excited, no, very proud of her new position, but something was dragging her down, stone weights and chains. She wanted to earn her new role independently not through someone else's resignation letters. She had hope she would lead her own team alongside Malory, as equals, but yet again the senior has proven Sahara's incapability to stand on her own two feet.

Sahara arrived at her quarters, the door automatically sliding open as soon as she swiped her card. She plopped her drained body on her bed releasing a distressed moan as she shifted on her back. Dust and sweat formed a messy glaze over her skin, but she didn't care. What was bugging her? Is she just imagining the feeling? Her head started to ache due to all the questions in her mind. How will she lead her team? She's barely getting along with her group now and to think she would lead them.

Her hand reached for her pillow, covering her face with it and letting out a scream of frustration.

_____

Malory packed most of her belongings leaving the things she needed for her team's expedition in a few days. She gasped for air nervously, thinking of a way of how to reassure her successor. Sahara would need to learn more about teamwork and leading if she was to become the head field researcher. She especially needed to teach her the ways of teamwork.

The woman stacked her bags of possessions at the foot of her bed. She directed her eyes towards the wall clustered with documents, sketches, and pictures. Family, friends, and coworkers were all alike on her wall of memories. Particularly, she eyed the picture of her and her field group.

She smiled at the sight of seeing Sahara in the group, the latter's smile was as mature as she could possibly make her facial muscles do.

"Sahara...you were so young back then. Look at you now, a grown woman," she briefly whispered to herself earning a few prickling sensations in her eyes.

The tears rolled down her red cheeks. She was going to miss them, her friends, coworkers, and more importantly her responsibilities. She was hopeful of course. Sahara learns quick, all she needed was pure guidance and she'll be leading them just like she did.

Her face a mixture of emotions.

_____

The next day, Sahara stretched out her limbs, the small window right beside her bed allowed the sunlight's entrance into her room. Her body groggily rolled to find comfort and hide her face away from the light but a certain knocking noise distracted her beauty sleep.

She squinted her eyes towards the door while sitting up. Scratching her corkscrew hair as she pattered her way towards the bothersome noise.

"What now?!" She screamed as soon as she opened the door.

Her face suddenly lightened up as she noticed a fair skinned brunette in front of her. She lightly rubbed her eyes and straightened her hair and attire.

"Malory!" She exclaimed.

"I just thought I'd come by to teach you some stuff, after all, you will officially lead the team on a three-day expedition. Your first task as a boss."

Sahara gave a low expression, a saddened version of her smile. Judging by her negative enthusiasm, she did not seem to like the role anymore or even the idea of becoming the boss, partially because she was just in luck, and the other, her friend was leaving.

Malory snooped into her jacket's pocket and took out a brand new and shiny card.

"Here's your new ID," she said while handing the object over to the mess-of-a-woman in front of her.

Sahara stretched her fingers towards it, hesitating at first before grabbing it and examining the letters that vastly covered the card.

"Sahara Jai..." she read, "head field researcher."

It was almost like a dream. It is a dream to her. Finally, if she kept her role for a few more years... she'll be able to get access Earth with a short-term residence. Oh how much she wanted to go back to her home planet. Although, she was conflicted.

Her small excitement was cut off by Malory's voice.

"Umm... Sahara, we still have to work on your skills," she chuckled before she signaled at the other woman to get dressed.

____

The two walked over the dirt path towards another building. As they entered, personnel wearing all kinds of uniform, from white lab coats to full body suits were united together. Welcome to the science department. Where research, medicine and almost anything to do with science is conducted. Most of the walls were pure white, rows of sanitizing machines in every corner possible, and very, very smart people.

They continued to a lab with clear glass as walls and behind those walls were the field team.

All eyes were glued to the new leader as she stepped in along with the former. They were quiet at first before someone spoke.

"Well... I was expecting something like this would happen," the man named Simon, said.

Everyone released a joyous clap to welcome their new boss. Some whistling through the loud gestures.

"Hopefully we won't get lost in the woods!" Another man yelled in a joking fashion.

Sahara sighed a little, "funny, speak for yourself, Roland," Sahara threw back earning another gleeful laugh from the rest.

As the noise died down, Malory switched the projector on. Her fingers wrapping around a stick which she used as a pointer. She pushed her hair behind her ears, taking a nervous gulp before starting. Sahara took notice of her action. She must have been nervous since this was her last presentation.

"OK," she started.

"I'm sure all of you know that the expedition is tomorrow and that we've already been through the plan before, this will serve as a refresher just in case someone has forgotten," Malory voiced out, raising her eyebrow at a certain person, namely Roland.

Malory continued on. "A few days earlier, this green liquid was found by the security squad in the swamp area. Biologists have been cracking down the code, as a result, they found out that the properties in the unknown substance are in fact... strangely, not from this planet and... well, they have been said to boost the rate of recovery." She paused, seeing her comrades' mouth gaping in awe.

Simon raised his hand in question, "that's impossible!" He protested, "have they tested the substance on a live subject?"

Malory blinked before speaking, "they have tested it on several live cells, starting with the rodents."

Simon shifted his eyes waiting for an answer.

"In contact with a sample of mouse blood, the substance seemed to have encouraged the production of white blood cells. I wouldn't necessarily call it a safe to-go medicine, but it would help those brainiacs to find out more about it, and whether it could be used on humans."

Another silence emitted in the room. Every personnel looked at their former leader in shock and amazement. Were they really hearing it right? Or was she just messing with them? 

It was unbelievable, what type of plant or creature can cause such a possibility? What on Eta70 could provide a bountiful source of a possible medicinal substance that can, perhaps, help to improve human recovery and development? It was a question the researchers were dying to ask.

"How is this related to our expedition?" Sahara suddenly asked.

Malory turned to her, "because the location of our expedition is close to where the security found the substance," she said.