Memory transcription subject: Daniel Stat, human virologist
Date [Standardized human time]: September 3rd, 2148
[Day 27]
The shuttle hummed and the windows displayed brilliant sparks of light and pops of vibrant color as we shot faster than light from Leirn to Skalga. I was always entranced by the stars skimming past. Watching the constellations shift as we cover distances once believed impossible. I turned my attention away from the window to my equally as captivating fianceé. Her gaze met mine, and she gave a smile.
“Have you given any thought to our honeymoon?” I asked.
She shook her head, “Not with everything that’s been going on lately.”
“Yeah, that’s fair,” I replied with a mumble.
“I don’t care where we go as long as we’re together,” Silvon smiled.
I ruffled the fur on her head, “We should also figure out where our wedding is gonna be.”
“Let’s talk about that after the funeral,” she sighed, staring out at the rapidly telescoping stars, “I can’t say I’m gonna be very receptive while we’re here.”
I put an arm around the venlil’s shoulder. “I know, hon. I’m sorry,” I said. She rubbed her eyes and leaned into my shoulder. “I love you-” My holopad began loudly buzzing. I checked the caller ID, Jakiv.
“Oh stars, we better answer that,” Silvon quickly adjusted to look presentable.
“You ready?” she nodded and I hit answer. “Jakiv,” I greeted, “And Nuri,” I smiled, noticing the yotul nuzzled up next to the arxur.
“Heyo,” he replied. Nuri gave a light wave. “We just wanted to check in and see how you two are holding up,” the arxur explained. “Is recovery going well?”
“As well as it can,” I replied. “My leg’s still a little screwy, but I’m fine otherwise. And Silvon’s been great,” I grinned, taking my fianceé’s paw.
“Thanks again for saving us, Jakiv,” she said. “I- I’m sorry for how shitty I was before.”
Jakiv waved a hand, “Don’t worry about it,” he said, “It’d be weird if you didn’t fear me.”
“Weird like me?” Nuri chimed in.
“Not nearly!” he laughed heartily, “You’re a freak of nature, Nuri,” She swiftly leaned in and kissed the arxur who, despite his scales, somehow seemed to blush.
“I could’ve sworn you said you two weren’t together, Jakiv,” I said.
“Things changed,” he mused.
“Aw, congratulations,” Silvon cooed.
“Hey, maybe we could have a proper double date now,” Nuri suggested. “If the offer’s still on the table at least,” she added sheepishly.
I looked to Silvon expectantly and she nodded. “Sounds good to us, but we’re gonna be off-world until the 6th, so it’ll have to be when we’re back,” I stated.
“Offworld? Where’re you going?” Jakiv asked.
I glanced at Silvon, who then looked at the camera and said “Skalga. We have some furniture and stuff to move out of our old place.”
“Ah, well, have fun then,” the arxur smiled. The shuttle jostled, and the inertia dampeners slowly began turning up to mimic the higher Skalgan gravity. The whine of the engine dying down overtook the cabin as the planet outside materialized with pristine clarity. “Sounds like you’ve arrived. I wouldn’t want to keep you,” Jakiv said.
“You guys take care,” I said.
“See you on the 6th,” Nuri chirped as the couple fizzled away.
I closed the holopad, “Sounds like we’ve got a date to plan too,” I chuckled.
“They’re so cute together,” Silvon said, staring out the window and watching as we burned through the upper atmosphere above Morva Falls. Her ears were lowered and she seemed slumped.
“I honestly thought they were a couple since we first bumped into them in that square,” I said, trying to lighten her mood.
“I guess I never really considered an arxur could love anyone,” she mumbled.
“Hey, hon, don’t feel bad about that. Jakiv said it himself, you’d be weird not to judge him. And besides, it’s all water under the bridge now, right?”
“Right,” she agreed hesitantly.
I put an arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek, smiling as her ears perked up a little. I turned her head with my hands and kissed her lips, she finally gave in and smiled. “Good,” I whispered, “Let’s go get checked into our hotel,” I said as the shuttle finally came to a stop atop a parking garage.
Silvon and I stepped out of the vehicle and I took a backpack with some spare clothes from the trunk. Soon enough we were out on the unusually quiet streets. Morva was a small town, but even here there was typically some bustle. I heard through the news that there was an outbreak being contained here, and assumed that was why.
We stepped into a decent hotel, the chipper receptionist greeted us with a warm tail flick. Luckily we made our reservations in advance, so we got to the room quickly. I shut and locked the door, then stretched and fell onto the bed, bumping my leg and yelping.
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“Danny,” Silvon giggled, “You’re supposed to be taking it easy.”
“I am, love,” I said, rubbing away the pain in my leg.
Silvon crawled under the covers next to me and kissed my cheek. “Goodnight, Danny,” she smiled.
“Goodnight, Silvvy.”
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Governor Maulo of the Venlil Republic
Date [Standardized human time]: September 3rd, 2148
[Day 27]
I was slouched in my office chair, for once with nothing to do. It was bliss. For the first time in nearly a month, it felt like the world around me wasn’t on fire anymore. An email pinged in my inbox, thankfully just a report on the quarantine procedures in Dayside, and a positive one at that.
Servaen knocked and entered, “The first major shipments of the vaccine arrived today. Mass production was a resounding success, and the treatment has shown a 99.98% success rate among patients,” he bounced lightly on the balls of his feet as he spoke, clearly just as excited as I was.
“Good,” I smiled, “And the supply has found its way into the major cities in the Qalugh Hemisphere?”
He nodded, “All accounted for. Beiton has begun reopening its starport to vaccinated venlil, and Dayside’s annual spirit festival is still on track for the end of the cycle. People are feeling good again sir, and they have you to thank for that.”
“Oh hardly,” I dismissed. “All I did was let Mesu’s men do the work. Those scientists are the real heroes.”
“I suppose, but it was you who went along with the plan, and you who authorized its use here.”
“Yeah, I’ll sure be the hero until the public realizes what’s in the needles,” I sighed. “Things are bad between humans and venlil, and they’ll probably get worse once the trial is publicized and people realize we’ve injected them with ‘predator DNA’.”
“Well, putting it like that certainly sounds bad, but I’m sure the public will be sound of mind when they realize it has saved millions of lives!”
“Wishful thinking, I’d say.”
“Maybe so,” Servaen agreed grimly.
“Whatever, I’m not dwelling on that now. Have we had any major complications lately?”
“No sir. The peacekeepers have been much better about quelling civil unrest. It seems clearing out Humanity First actually instilled a lot of confidence in us.”
“That’s good,” I spun in my chair, gazing at the Capital city’s awe-inspiring skyline, silhouetted by perpetual twilight. That’s one thing those Federation fucks will never take from us. The skalgan will to live, and to fight for what’s right. And fight I will.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Jakiv, arxur scientist
Date [Standardized human time]: September 3rd, 2148
[Day 27]
We got a lot of looks in public whenever we went out together. Thankfully at least, the bar we’d quickly become regulars at didn’t seem to mind our love that much. I took a shot of the most awful beverage to ever touch my lips, damn near spitting the bitter slop back out.
“Eugh!” I groaned, sticking out my tongue, “That was awful!”
Nuri recovered from her cachinnation just long enough to say, “You should’ve seen the look on your face!” before falling back into hysterics.
“Ah, fuck you,” I chortled. She wiped a tear from her eye, catching her breath. I started taking a long drink of beer to wash the bitterness from my mouth.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I spat the drink back into the cup, some of it going through my nose, and began coughing.
“Fucking- prophet!”
she started laughing again. “I’m just messing, Jaki,” the marsupial sipped her drink, some kind of Earth beverage called lemonade while I recovered from her assassination attempt.
“You’re one messed up yotul,” I grimaced, the spat drink burned in my nostrils.
“And you’re one weird prey-loving arxur,” she smiled, bumping my shoulder with her head.
“You’ve got that right,” my expression softened.
“Don’t get too shitfaced, Jaki. I wanna get outta here,” she told me.
“Oh? Where to?” I questioned.
“Well, home eventually, but I think it’d be nice to stop by the square again. We could have a little picnic out under the stars,” she mused.
“Since when are you so mushy?” I retorted.
“Since I met you,” she smiled, sipping her lemonade.
I waved the waiter over and paid for the drinks. Nuri took my hand in her paw and walked with her tail wrapped around my waist. I did the same, pulling her closer with mine as we strode together down the sidewalk.
Of course, we got stares. I noticed one venlil couple staring at me and couldn’t resist the urge to wink and smirk. I would never have done that before I met Nuri. “Jaki,” Nuri giggled, “that was evil.”
“Good,” I smiled.
The sun was just beginning to set, the lighter tones of the nebulae and the twinkling of stars were barely visible overhead, but I knew soon they’d overtake the entire sky in their brilliance. “I ordered some food to be delivered. Told them to ‘look for the arxur’,” Nuri expressed.
“Well, lucky I’ve been told I’m easy to pick from a crowd,” we sat down on the edge of the water fountain. The holographic fish weren’t active yet, but the water still gave off a light glow from the bioluminescent algae accumulating beneath. The glow of low-hanging tree branches in rows along the cobblestone walkways reflected in Nuri’s dark eyes, making my heart flutter.
“What’re you staring at, Jaki?” the marsupial asked. I just smiled dreamily, still infatuated with her eyes. I felt like the world around us was fading away, all that mattered was me and Nuri. I put a claw on her face, turning her head and leaning in to kiss her when-
“Excuse me?” I was startled, jumping back and falling straight into the fountain.
“P-prophet!” I cried, spitting metallic-tasting water.
The human delivery boy, who snuck up on me, set down the bag of food, “Sorry!” he muttered profusely. I put a hand on my chest, my heartbeat was erratic.
“You okay?” Nuri asked.
I clambered out of the fountain, sopping wet, “Yeah, just startled a bit,” I huffed. The human slowly backed away, breaking into a run as if I was going to pursue him. “Well uh, food’s here,” I chuckled awkwardly. Nuri grabbed the bag while I sat down to wring my hoodie out into the fountain. “So, what did you order-” I turned around and she jumped at the opportunity to finish that failed kiss.
“You hopeless arxur, you.”
I grinned. We got up to find a proper picnic table, settling on one in a circle of glowing green trees with sparkling blue flowers as vibrant as the sky. Above us, the sun was almost fully set, and the breathtaking nebulae shimmered overhead. Nuri opened up the bag, separating a pretty sizeable steak from her boxed salad.
“Welcome home, Jaki,” Nuri smiled.
“I don’t ever wanna leave.”