Nathan Hystad: New Threat

I slumped to the floor, looking at the real Janine sitting on the floor of an alien outpost so far away from home. The dream from the other day flashed in my mind, and I recalled that day. I remembered how strange Janine had been for a few months after that day, and how I’d let it go because she’d always seemed distant and brooding. Now it all made sense. I married another hybrid, lived with her for years. Watched her die. I had loved that woman too, and I honestly think a part of her had loved me, but Mae was the real one. The woman I’d met at the Boathouse in Central Park so long ago, drinking Scotch with me under the twinkle lights late into the night. Choosing me to help their cause over the other guy. My life would have been a lot simpler without that night. Maybe I’d be dead… maybe everyone would be.

It was too much to take as the alarms around us rang, red lights flashing from the hall. “How is this possible?” I asked, slumping beside her on the floor.

Could we go back to Earth like this? How would we explain it to the others? How would I explain it to Mary?

“Dean, I’m sorry it all worked out like this. You can’t imagine my thoughts when I saw you fly through that door on the vessel ship last year. It was a sign. It gave me renewed hope, and I kept telling myself that you would recognize me, that you would tell me you were in love with me still. But then you were with Mary, and I stepped back,” she said. I thought of all the times Mae seemed down, in a dark mood, and it made even more sense.

I held her hand, squeezing her fingers just like I used to do, and she rested her head on my shoulder. I almost laughed at the insanity of it all. The woman I’d fallen in love with that night, so many years ago, wasn’t the same woman I’d married and watched die. She was beside me on a remote outpost of an alien race we hardly even knew.

“Do the Bhlat know what happened?” I asked her.

“About the humans? I talked with them right as I got here, but they didn’t communicate it out yet, as far as I know. They didn’t have time.”

“We go to the ship, blast this place to smithereens, go home, and pray they don’t come for us.”

“I don’t think they will. It sounded like they were in the middle of a serious galactic battle out there, a long way away. They have a dozen outposts like this set up to ensure they keep the bloodlines intact, just in case.” Mae seemed to know a lot about them. I looked at her, and suddenly found it hard to believe I hadn’t known she was really Janine. My Janine.

“Are you ready?” I asked, getting to my feet.

“How is this going to work? Will they take me back?” She took my hand and got up.

“We’ll tell them what you told me. You were going to sacrifice yourself to go to their outpost to tell them there was no point in worrying about the humans. You knew we wouldn’t go for it, so when you saw the opportunity, you took it.” It seemed like the truth, at least the version she’d given me.

“And what about the other part?” The question came with a look I’d seen many times that first year with Janine. A cute, coy look.

I loved Mary, but this complicated things. Every bit of me knew I was going to marry her, but having my first real love nearby wasn’t going to make travelling in close quarters an easy task.

“We tell her. It’s only fair,” I said. She didn’t press me on my feelings, and I was thankful.

“Thank you, Dean.”

“For what?”

“Just for being you.” She moved to the door, and I was about to transmit to the ship that I had Mae with me, and we were coming back.

Mae took a step through the room’s exit and into the hallway, taking the time to turn toward me and give me a small grin. Then she fell to the ground. My brain didn’t understand what was happening until I saw the pulse rifle wound through her uniform, blood spilling down the metallic floor grates.

“No!” I yelled, grabbing my rifle from the ground.

“Target down. I repeat, target down.” Slate’s voice echoed from my earpiece and down the hall.

“Nick, get your ass down here, stat,” I called into my earpiece as I ran into the hallway. Kneeling at Mae’s body, I checked for a pulse, and felt a light heartbeat.

“You okay, Dean?” Slate asked, setting a hand on my shoulder.

I swiped it off with an aggressive elbow. “You son of a bitch. You didn’t have to shoot her!”

“What are you talking about? That was our mission. I saw the target and took her down.”

I stood up, lifting my head to look up in the soldier’s eyes. Grabbing his collar, I pushed him against the wall, which normally would have been impossible, but he seemed to let me.

“It was your mission, not mine! I never asked for any of this. I’m an accountant from a small upstate New York city!” I shoved him a few more times, and he stood there, allowing the barrage of yells and abuse.

Nick came running down the hall, a panicked look showing even through his helmet’s face mask. It was one thing to green-beam down somewhere for the first time, but he walked into a place with melted aliens on the floors, a shot hybrid beside us, and me screaming at Slate.

He moved past us, going quickly into trained doctor mode, and opened Mae’s uniform up, seeing the gaping wound in her stomach. He checked her pulse and looked up with wide eyes.

“I’m sorry. She’s dead,” he said, his voice small.

“She had a pulse. Revive her!” I yelled at him now.

He shook his head. “There’s nothing I can do for this.” His eyes went from me to the deadly wound.

Mary’s voice came through my earpiece, and I couldn’t even comprehend the words. I was surrounded by death once again, and by all accounts, there was no one to blame but myself.

“I’m sorry, Dean.” Mary sat on the edge of the bunk where I lay curled under the blankets. Two days had passed since the outpost adventure, and I still felt like a mess. Slowly the fog was lifting, and like anything, I knew the pain would eventually dull and pile on top of the rest of my life’s memories, both good and bad.

I turned, looking her in the eyes. “Thank you.” I had told her everything that transpired between me and Mae. She went on the emotional rollercoaster alongside me, as I talked then, and I was so happy she understood. We shared a bond; we had both married a hybrid and were in very similar mental states about it. Only she had never felt like Bob was truly in love with her, especially after learning the truth of their motives.

“We’ve downloaded everything from their computer databases that we could. I imagine we’ll learn all we ever wanted to know about the Bhlat with it.” Mary slid her uniform off and slipped into the bed with me. Her body was cool against my warm, blanket-covered chest.

“All the explosives are in place. We can blast them and erase all the evidence we were here. I don’t see how they could track any of this back to us. Clare’s good to bring the Kraski ship back?” I asked. We’d discussed blowing it up with the rest of the outpost, and their ships, but decided it was a valuable resource we shouldn’t part with if possible.

Mary was face to face with me, her breath sweet and fresh as she spoke. “She is. Slate will go with her.”

At the mention of the soldier, I closed my eyes, seeing Mae fall to the ground. I couldn’t stop seeing it.

“That’s good. Probably for the best,” I said. “If we’re here, who’s setting the explosives off?”

As if on cue, Clare’s voice came from the speakers on the wall. “Are you guys coming for the show?”

“Just video-record it. We’re busy,” Mary said, and we heard the line of communication close with a beep.