Challenge #00436 - A061: Aftermath

*sigh* The latest Story Snippet just won’t leave my brain.

So I’ll inflict it back on the author. 

http://internutter.tumblr.com/post/75405951567/challenge-00396-a031-to-stop-human

Directly related to this, can we see either some from the human that snuck into the ship’s POV or Koq'riix’s waking up after they left the two items.

[AN: Heh. The OP need not be notified ;) ]

Koq'riix jolted into awareness as the airlock cycled shut. It had been the better part of a year since he’d left the cutting tool in the derelict. Since he had barely escaped with his life. Since he ended the life of a human.

And that was his cutting tool.

He’d worked with it for years. He’d personalised it. He knew its every bump and scratch.

He’s last seen it bloody and dented and lying under the mutilated arm of the presumed-dead human. Yet there it lay. Clean. The dent had been fixed. Someone had, with great care an attention to detail, taken it apart, fixed it, and put it back together again.

Koq'riix could tell by the relatively fresh tool marks.

There was a small, colourful rectangle. On one side, seven strange symbols, arranged in peculiar groups. One. Seven. Three. And only one recognisable, repeated symbol. On the other side…

An image of the dead human. Grappling with another human. Both were baring their teeth.

Was this a threat? Or a gift?

Alarmed and disturbed, Koq'riix checked the security feed.

*

Kesha listened for alarms as she struggled through the airlock. There were none. This was like working through a kid’s playhouse. In full space armour.

Best not to take any chances.

She could have done this in all-over Skins and a breather. Scanners said this vessel had the same air mix and pressure as hers, but…

They’d killed Steve.

Something else had taken the body by the time she got to the derelict. They hadn’t taken the blood. Or the grizzly scene. Or one of the weapons.

A toy cutter for toy people.

Sure, she’d entertained visions of revenge in the beginning. It was only human. But as she ran through the evidence, it became increasingly clear that Steve had encountered a fatal failure to communicate.

The weird little lizard-person was clearly terrified.

Usually, if she or Steve bumped into it on a wreck, they would show it they meant no harm and back off. This encounter had not ended as well. The creature had reacted as anyone would react when encountering something five times its size and apparently armed to the teeth.

It viewed Steve’s attempts to show it that he was harmless as a threat and attacked.

So when she stood (hunched, of course) over the little lizard’s sleep niche, staring at the form shorn of all protection, all she could think was, It looks so cute for a killer.

Then she saw how tense it was. Even in its sleep. Curled up tight. All its muscles bunched. Heard the note of distress in its mutterings.

PTSD.

What she was doing right now was probably going to scare its tail off, or something. What she was going to do might shock it into medical distress. But she still had to do it. She had to try. For the betterment of her soul.

She laid the tool down in the middle of the floor. She doubted it could read the message on the back of the photo, but this was what Steve would have wanted. He was all about finding forgiveness. And giving it.

It would be so easy just to reach out and crush that thing’s head. She could see it in her mind. But she laid down the photo and, as silently as she’d entered, left.

Only when she closed the airlocks and undocked did she de-suit and cry.

Kesha was still wiping her eyes when she recorded her log.

“I did it. I returned the lost property and left an olive branch in the form of our photo. God, Steve… that was the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life.” Sniff. “I know. I know. That’s why it’s worth doing. We chose to go to the moon and do the other things, not because they were easy, but because they were hard. I remember.” She wiped her face. “I remember everything you told me, Steve. I’ll remember it for the rest of my life. Your crazy theism finally rubbed off on me, love.” Deep breath. Sigh. “I’m going to head over to Hitizzy for a while. Go up to that cabin in the mountains and just… degauss. This has been intense. I need sky-time. I need you, but you’re not there. Guess my own weight in chocolate’s gonna have to do.” Illogical laughter. More tears. “Until the ever-after, then.” She cut it off. Set course for Hitizzy.

She’d done what she could in his honour. Now it was time to do what she could for herself.

*

Koq'riix kept the image in his personal spaces for the rest of his life. Kept the security footage hidden away for the same space of time. Evidence showed that he spent many hours puzzling over them both.

His last words, “They’re not evil, you know.”

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