Illion

The Marillion engines are on full blast, turning us in a new direction, en route to the planet of Julipar and from there on the asteroid belt. We won’t arrive for another day or so.

The passengers have been informed that we’re taking a new route, but I haven’t told them why; can’t have panic. We need to keep everything in order – a divided ship will never make it.

I’ve sent the entirety of our guard squadron to floor two, (only a few, and taking them off duty might allow a few fights to break out, but it’s a small sacrifice). Here’s the plan: seal off the floor and open all the airlocks and decompress for a day.

According to the lab reports, the cybernetics contain biological components, so even if they don’t all get sucked out, the lack of oxygen and cold should take care of things.

With a dab of luck, we should make it to Julipar in one piece, and from there, the asteroid belt.

“Captain, the livebroadcast.” Lolli-N stands in front of my Captain’s seat, holding out a tablet. “The countdown’s started. Zyxien arrival at Osticara estimated in thirty minutes.”

I take it from her; it’s a livestream of the Leaders of Osticara giving their final speeches. “And preparations for the service…?”

“All complete.” She mutters, “as per protocol you and your wife are expected to be present.”

“And her sister?”

“Her sister will be with the rest.”

“No.” I set the tablet down. “Her sister will sit with us on the balcony. She’s the only family Aurelia will have left. Don’t separate them.”

Lolli-N sighs but doesn’t argue back. “As per protocol the captain and his family will be at the forefront of the balcony in the opera theatre.”

“Have a homebot get them. And send the crew to organise the passengers into the theatre and auditoriums.”

Watching the destruction of a planet on live television; it’s sick. But what can I do? It’s their planet; not mine, and if they want to watch the live invasion then I will let them.

Aurelia

As predicted, my phone is flooded with apology texts from Enea, swearing she’ll never ever put a guy before me ever again, and that she definitely will go to her shifts from now on. Yeah, right.

She even left me a voice mail of her drunk wailing about how pretty I am and how I’m such an amazing sister.

“Enea, pick up.” I grumble under my breath as my call goes to voicemail for the third time.

“Shall I call her?” The homebot sent to collect us peeks over my shoulder, “I have access to the passenger database.”

“Give me a minute.” I press dial again, and this time she picks up. Finally.

“Auri! Oh my gods, Auri, it’s happening!” She shrieks into my ear, and I have to hold the phone away from my face, “it’s horrific! The news have been on all morning and the Zyxien arrived and oh my gods…!”

“Where are you? We have to be in the opera theatre for the livestream memorial.”

“Auri, I can’t watch it!” I can hear her sobbing. I think she might still be a little hungover, “can’t we just go to the bar instead?”

Definitely hungover, and ready to get drunk again.

“Bring a tequila with you or something, but Illion needs us up there soon.”

She mumbles something in reply, but I can’t make it out; it’s just a bunch of muffled wailing through the speaker.

“Where are you?” I sigh.

“C-café.”

“Stay there, I’m coming to get you.” With the homebot in tow, I’m across the plaza in a few minutes, dodging children in strollers, and couples clinging to each other as they march solemnly to the auditoriums.

The café is nearly empty, save for a few homebots mulling around with brooms, and Enea sitting dejectedly at the furthest end; staring at her phone.

“Enea!” I call out, running to the table, and she turns to face me with bloodshot eyes. “We have to be there in ten minutes, come on!”

Her lip trembles and she buries her face in her arms.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Oh no, don’t do this.” I plead, sitting next to her on the bench. I can feel her body wrenching with each sob as I wrap my arms around her shoulders.

“I can’t watch.” She rasps, “don’t make me go, please, don’t make me go.”

“Okay, okay.” I mutter, rubbing her back so she’ll hopefully calm down a bit. “I’ll let Illion know we’re not going.”

She bobs her head up and down; a nod, and I reach for my phone to call Lolli-N.

“Aurelia, where are you?” Lolli-N’s mechanical voice rings in my ears, “we’re starting right away!”

“Tell Illion we’re not coming. I’m staying with Enea in the café.”

There’s silence on the other end for a few seconds, “okay. See you after.”

She hangs up before I can say goodbye.

“We left so many people behind.” Enea mumbles into my shoulder, “why couldn’t they send more ships?”

“I don’t know. They sent as many as they could.” I sigh, slipping my phone back into my pocket, “we did everything we could.”

“Really? Did we?” Her voice breaks, “this ship can hold more than two million people. We could easily, easily fit more people in and…and with some food rationing maybe…”

“I know, I know.” I hug her tightly, closing my eyes as I hear the announcement sounding; two minutes until the invasion. “But the Central Planets have regulations, and The Marillion has already pushed the limits.”

My heart is crawling up my throat, as the live broadcast transmission echoes through the cafeteria.

The television in the corner of the sandwich bar is switched on to the news channel. Two reporters stand in the middle of a metropolitan centre. A man and a woman, dressed in business suits with their hair and makeup done perfectly. I suppose if you’re doing to die, might as well die fashionably.

“We’re standing in Argena Central live.” The woman says, “the motherships have been overhead for about three hours now, and we’re receiving live reports that the first ships are descending.”

“We did the best we could.” I whisper. It’s a reassurance to ease my conscience. Perhaps it’s true, perhaps not, but it’s too late now.

“That stupid captain of yours could have snuck more people on!” Enea pulls away from me, clutching her phone to her chest as she glares at me, “who gives a shit about the rules? We could have saved so many people!”

“Enea, that’s not ho-”

“Did you know polygamy is legal on some planets?” Tears are streaming down her cheeks in angry rivers, “Illion could have officially married thirty women! Could have saved so many!”

“Oh gods. The sky is opening up and I can see…black objects descending towards Argena. Thousands. It must be thousands.”

“They’re going to fucking kill everyone, Auri! Women, children, grandparents, cats, dogs…”

“Our ships are attacking, my gods…the sky is on fire-” There’s the sound of a loud explosion in the distance; static bursts over the loudspeakers and screams erupt. The camera shakes and falls to the ground so we can only see the sidewalk and hundreds of shoes sprinting in the opposite direction.

“They could have fucking sewn every second person together, called them Siamese twins. That counts as one person!” Enea shrieks over the noise of the broadcast.

“Get a grip!” I try to grab her by the shoulders, but she wrestles away, and falls off the bench onto the ground.

Her hysteria grows with the growing chaos over the broadcast. The screaming, the hiss of rockets, the pattering of gunfire. “Move it! To the left, see that? It’s landing in the main street.”

“They could have faked the numbers!” Enea wails, curling into a ball on the cafeteria floor. “Could have lied to the government! Could have smuggled them in! Could have hired them as staff!”

I don’t try to stop her. There’s no point. We knew they were dead the day we won the lottery. Everyone knew.

“There’s something coming out of it. It’s massive, some sort of metal, I can’t see much else… It’s coming towards u-” The live broadcast cuts out, and silence fills the cafeteria, save for Enea’s wretched howling.

I bury my face in my arms, leaning on the table as my own tears drip down my cheeks.

It’s over.

Osticara has fallen.

Our home is gone.

Over the loudspeakers, a sombre requiem echoes off the walls. An ode to the dead. An ode to the unlucky.

I don’t know how long it goes on for, but by the time the requiem is finished, Enea wipes her eyes and stands up shakily.

“Right.” She says, her voice trembling, but her posture straight. Her mascara is smudged all over her cheeks. “Time for shift.”

I stare at her for a second through my cloudy vision, before I manage a nod, “yeah.”

She hesitates, opens her purse up, fishes out a makeup wipe and hands it to me. “Wash your face, Auri. No one likes a girl with mucky eyeliner.”

“Thanks.” I take it. I don’t make a comment about how she needs it more than me.

Illion

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. It’s the only thought I’ve had for the past half hour, since the livestream started. Everyone’s looking to you; don’t cry.

I don’t.

I sat next to Lolli-N in the prime seat in the theatre, watching the chaos unfold on the live transmission hologram. In the audience I saw the crying children, the crying parents, the crying grandparents. I saw their tears, and I saw them looking at me when the hologram failed, and the broadcast went out.

Then I gave the memorial speech. I prayed the prayers. I stood sullen faced during the requiem and not once did a tear leave my eyes.

I am the face of the ship. I am the hope of this ship. If I cry, it shows defeat. We are not defeated yet.

“Should we open the bars early today?” Lolli-N asks as we trudge back to the bridge. Out of sight of the public, I can cry now if I want to. But Lolli-N would see, and that’s equally as terrible.

I nod quickly, tugging at my sleeves, “yes. Open the bars, and the roller rinks, and the disco clubs. All of it. They need distraction.”

“And you?”

“There’s still work to do.”

“Illion, you need to take a break after this. Take a rest. The homebots and I can cover for yo-”

“No.” I wave her away, “and it’s captain to you. Organise the crew, we have to start cleaning up floor two. The depressurisation should be done by now.”

“Yes…Captain.” There’s a hint of saltiness to her tone, but I ignore it. As long as the job gets done.

“And can you check on Aurelia if you get the chance?”

“Why don’t you have her number yourself?” Lolli-N snaps, “she’s your wife. Not mine.”

“I only use my phone for business.”

“Not anymore, give it here.”

“No, don’t. I’m bad at texting.” I reach into my pocket, making sure my phone is still there – it’s not. Lolli-N already has it in her hands.

“Done and added.” She gives it back to me, and I see she’s added Aurelia into my contacts. “And I’ll let her know I added you too; no hiding.”

My face falls, “are you actually joking me?”

She blinks innocently at me, batting her snow-white lashes. “You want to know how she is; ask her yourself.”

I shove the phone back into my pocket, “get on with your job. I’ll deal with you later.”

“You can’t fire me, captain, I’m your favourite!” She chirps happily, and wheelies off down the hall, white braids flying all over the place as she rounds the corner and disappears.

I’ll handle this later. But right now I have floor two cybernetics to vaporise.