Reevar broke away from Fqa seconds before she hit the rabid creature with a glob of soap. Her angler fish screamed, swatting at the soap. Heart pounding in her ears, Aphrodite lurched forward and smashed another glob into its face and extra eye. The being teetered backward, fumbling with the foaming soap in its eye. Reevar took the jar from her and poured it over Fqa’s head. Sunk to their knees, the rabid one shrieked. The tub already starting to fill once more. Thrashing back and forth until they tossed their head into the shallow water. Suds filled the tub. Reevar took Aphrodite by the bicep and led her backwards. Water rushed out, filling the tub rapidly.
With each slosh of water, she expected to see Fqa rise back up.
“Are they dead?” Aphrodite whimpered.
“No,” Reevar breathed. Only the screaming of alarms over their heads and the thunder of her heart against her ribs surrounded them. That’s when Fqa breeched the surface of the tub.
Fqa crawled from the bath, eyes red and angry. Screaming like a rabbit pinned to the floor, fingers scraping at the tile, theiraggressor blindly searched for them. Aphrodite could taste her heart and organs at the back of her tongue as Reevar backed her into a wall. Her drone scanned again with an orange beam. Her data pad showed a new statement.
Skull is brittle. Lifeform has deteriorated. Pest.
Aphrodite let out a heartbroken sob as she showed the screen to Reevar. He shared the same torn sentiment. She mouthed ‘I’m so sorry’. Reevar shook his head and returned his attention to Fqa. Backed to a wall, Aphrodite froze while Reevar flew over the angler fish creature. Landing majestically over them, Reevar snatched Fqa by the eye stalk and swung with his other fist. His knuckles landed square in the middle of the skull.Perfect aim.A sickening crack echoed within the bathroom, bouncing off the tile.
She cried out, tears spilling as she watched Reevar drop a limp body. Fqa smacked against the floor. Their skin squelched as it flattened to the tile. Aphrodite covered her mouth, shaking from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes. Xexis and Grooug appeared in the doorway shortly after. The doors had never shut, forced open by the body in their wake.
Aphrodite sank toward the ground. Xexis flew to her side, but she was staring at the body. Tears flooded her vision.Max.All she saw was Max, crumpled to the floor. His space suit suctioned to his body. Blood floating in the space, void of gravity. Sobbing, Aphrodite couldn’t blink away the vision until it ripped at her heart. Her data pad fell out of her hands. She grabbed ahold of Xexis and clutched him but couldn’t look at him. Not while the burned eyes of Max stared at her through the alien’s sockets.
“Kannatch,” Reevar exhaled, stumbling away from the corpse.
“Have the baths scrubbed,” Xexis snarled, lifting up his mate from the floor. Aphrodite shook, clawing at him as if to bury herself in his throat. She felt him bending to pick up the device dropped to the side. The familiar whirling of her drone over their heads was little salve to the pain in her chest. Finally able to control herself, she latched around Xexis and dug her fingernails into him.
Zhat muq brotesqu.
She let him carry her away from the baths. All thoughts of this morning or of breakfast were gone. The only words in her mind were Kiefgr’s prayer. She pressed her face flat against Xexis’ thick throat.
“My mate—”
“Don’t.” She hiccupped.
“I apologize, I wasn’t there.” He hugged her with two arms. “Mates should fight together.”
“How?” she croaked, pulling back. They were in the halls again but not headed for the room. Instead, they were headed to the rear of the ship. She straightened, furrowing her brow. “How did they get to the baths?”
He shook his head. “Air vents; they are very slick and fast. Escaping the research lab then disappearing, we searched for them. Only when I heard you, I accessed the sensors of the ship did I find an unknown person in the baths. I came, but the ship is large.”
They passed through a massive archway into a glass dome. Xexis stood still under the whizzing starlight, holding her tight. Aphrodite couldn’t stand the feeling. Not while…Max.She pushed from his arms. Xexis resisted for amoment only to place her down gently. Aphrodite shuffled away, chest tight and lungs like stone. Cupping her mouth, she stared out into the abyss beyond them. One last tear fell down her cheek as she clenched her eyes closed.
Breathe. I can’t control everything else. I can only control myself.
“My mate, I promise you never have to be scared again—”
“I’m. Not. Scared!” she bit out. Her mantra, her mask, fell and shattered across the floor like a vase that teetered off a high up shelf.It was only a matter of time.Spinning to face him, her hands shot out to her sides. “I amtraumatized!”
Xexis blinked slowly, brow knitted tight. “I do not understand.”
“Of courseyou don’t!” she hissed. Xexis crossed his arms over his chest. She hated how sharp her tone came out, but she couldn’t help it.
Everything was wrong.
She inhaled sharply, but it was broken and wet. Her insides shuddered. Gasping for air, she tried to speak.Everything is still wrong.Aphrodite blurted out, “I forgave you Xexis, I don’t blame you, and you didn’t even cause half of them; Tedros and Max weren’t your fault. But I still watched them die. Iwatchedmy crew die, and I have to live with that. I can’t stop seeing their faces. And when Fqa died, all I saw was Max.But you don’t understand.”
Xexis’ face pinched. His pincers writhed as he closed the space between them, showing her for the first time, his fury. “You believe I do not understand the pain?Aphrodite,I was the one who picked up his cry for help at the Council! I heard his pleas and raced to help him. Hebeggedme to kill him first. That he would poison the waters, his family, his mate and younglings. I promisedhim and his mate that I would find a cure. I whisked him away from his mate and stuffed him in a tube because Vroskrowz is an empire of greatness. We have saved and hunted beyond others, and I was confident we could save him. It isI, Kannatch of the Vroskrowz, who must now tell his mate I failed. And I bear that pain, my mate.Do not accuse me ofnot. Being. Hurt.”
Aphrodite stumbled back a step, hugging her torso. He softened. His face fell and he stepped forward again. She didn’t flinch. He closed the distance and wrapped two hands around her biceps. Stroking them tenderly, he studied her. Aphrodite exhaled steadily, trying to find words through the knot in the back of her throat.Way to go. Way to insult him. Heinous, conniving shrew, her mind went on and on, just trying to hurt her.
Finally, she croaked, “I’m sorry, it was wrong to say that to you. Of course, you understand the pain.”
He knelt before her, staring up into her eyes. “My mate, I know you bear the burden of your crew, and that pain will linger with you. The word traumatized, is that what this means?”
