Page 52 of May the Stars Have Mercy
“Every day I exist at your side, Aphrodite Kerso, I am amazed at you,” he exhaled, the arm around her back trembling.
“It’s not…it’s not that big of a deal, it’s the least I can do.” She fumbled with the words tumbling out of her mouth. “I mean, you learned my language and studied all kinds of things for me. The least I can do is learn yours.”
“You are doing more than the least, my mate.” He pressed his forehead to hers and she leaned into him. His warmth radiated through the fabric and off his chest. Aphrodite swallowed hard, scrambling to find words to say. Thankfully, she didn’t have to—the doors to the room snapped open and Quagmor stumbled inside with Reevar on his heels.
“Kannatch, Mphronatch, come quickly! You’re going to want to see this.”
Aphrodite and Xexis lurched into action, flying across the room. The group stormed out into the main living area where Xnasis was standing before a massive television screen. Aphrodite stopped moments before disaster. Xnasis stepped aside steadily and motioning to the screen.
Her heart stopped.
Breaking news: The Main human Space station, known as Frontier7, has crashed into nearby planet, Orvian, home of the Orv peoples. It is unknown why the space station fell, but rumors speculate that the station was purposely driven into the planet side. There is conversation arising that this catastrophic disaster had something to do with the death of Council Woman Barbara Finn. There is no definitive answer as to these rumors or speculations, however, the human government has declined to comment or even speak about this disaster. We will keep you updated with the rising death toll, for both the humans and the Orv. This is has been CSIN—your source for intergalactic news. More to come.
Xnasis paused the stream playing on the television. He stared directly at Aphrodite. All eyes, in fact, were on Aphrodite. Her body trembled as she stood, frozen from skull to toe. A shot from space, watching the massive space station crash into the side of a small, beige planet, sent her brain into overdrive. She’d known about Orvian; they’d landed there many times for trade. The Orv were the first beings humans ever met. Little salamander looking people who waddled around their planet, following their sun. Frontier7 used to sell little Orv plushies.
I had one in my bunk back on Apolo.Oh…oh no.
Her heart crumbled in her chest as she wrapped her arms around herself. Angry tears burned her eyes, but she couldn’t get them to go away. The perfectly held mask of control and composure tumbled off her face. Her lower lip quivered. Tears continued to well up, doubling in quanity as she rewatched her station fall from the stars.An entire station.The station she’d come from, the main one they used for scout missions; it’s where the major portion of the government was, it was her home before Xexis. Her stomach was torn apart, hollow, and sinking into her feet. Not even her breathers whirling to life could fix the tightness in her chest. Aphrodite stumbled back from those around her.
“Aphrodite,” Xexis breathed.
“It’s because they were found out, wasn’t it,” She squeaked, snapping her blurry gaze to Xnasis. “They only lash out when they’ve been found out. It happened with Fqa, when the researchers tried to bring him back to life. Max and the Council woman only freaked out when they were found out. Like a defense mechanism, they go rabid and lash out. That’s what happened, wasn’t it?”
Xnasis sighed, “We’re not sure why they crashed the station—”
“But you’re pretty sure that’s why!” she barked.
“Yes,” He diverted his gaze away from her, arms crossed over his chest. “We sent word back to your station, informing them we wanted to aid them and destroy all pests that may be hiding among their people. The entire human entourage except for Winrow and one other were infected. We found their Council shuttle pilot murdered in the ship and their engineer was infected.”
Aphrodite’s vision swirled as the traitorous, stinging tears spilled down her cheeks. “And we didn’t send people first, why didn’t wejust go out there and say ‘surprise inspection!’ instead of giving them a warning!”
Get it together. Stop. Calm down.
“Because it is protocol. We are the Council, not some tyrant that can storm into another beings station without approval. Your people were given the option to accept our help or not. We can not force them!” Xnasis spoke with such a cold distance, it snapped something within her. His eyes narrowed, his pincers crooked in anger.
They died because you let them! They died!
“You knew what was there! You knew the Council woman was infected! So you knew that likely others, especially officials, were probably infected.” She tossed her arms out to the side. Fury made all the hair on her body stand on edge.
“The Council followed protocol and your people declined our help. Our hands were tied.”
“Fuck protocol!” Aphrodite barked, clapping her hand between each biting phrase. “Fuck your hands! They killed thousands of people! And we don’t even know what they are or how to stop them. My people will not understand how you sat back and watched that station.My station! Implode and kill thousands of our peoplewhen. You! Knew!”
She shoved past the bodies blocking the exit and tossed herself out of the room. There were guards at the escalators, but they didn’t stop her as she flew out of the protective film and into the station. Her body ached as she came to one of the many rings and grabbed the railing for support.
Breathe and get in control.Fury pumped through her veins like acid.
They’re gone and you can’t change that.She dried her angry tears on the back of her arm.
Likely many people were infected.Panting for air, she tried not to dig her fingernails into the chrome.
They were already dead before they crashed.Her biceps trembled as she knelt onto the floor and hung her head.They were already dead.
“I justdon’t understand,” she moaned, sniffling.They. Were. Already. Dead.The reality was, there was no telling how many died in that crash, and how many were already dead before it hit the planet.
Buddy cooed metallically as he floated into her wavering vision. She dropped her hands into her lap, staring out into the swirling rings of the Council station. Aphrodite took deep, wet breaths in. Trying and failing to control her emotions, she hiccupped. “I just don’t understand, Buddy. Where did those things even come from? Why do they take over dead bodies? What do they even want from humans? Why? What could I have done?”
Buddy dropped into her lap. Text scrawled across her screen.
