Abandoned

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say.

But they can see you convulse and twitch as the last vestiges of oxygen are depleted. They can see your eyes roll back, your mouth gaping as your back arches for the last time. They can see the skin become pale and blue veins twist beneath the sheeny surface of sweat.

This is what L’Norgal saw as he approached the suited creature. He reached out with is elongated arms, grasping at the cushioned shoulder of the now still creature. He wondered what the last thoughts were going through the creature’s mind as a final spasm coursed through its body.

L’Norgal could not contain his pity for the creature has he felt the tether to his own space suit being drawn back, pulling him towards the mother vessel.

How did this creature get out here? All alone, abandoned?

L’Norgal wrapped two of his four arms around the suited creature as he reached back with his other two arms, grabbing the line. Soon they were engulfed by the airlock doors and its irises shuttered to close. Already he felt the pressure against his own suit press against him as the atmosphere was replaced. His body, and the body of the creature settled as the gravity was slowly adjusted back to normal levels.

Well, normal for L’Norgal, but what was the creature accustomed to? Did it breathe the same atmosphere as L’Norgal?

The inner airlock doors opened and two others of L’Norgal’s species swept in with a levitating gurney. The other crew mates helped to lift the creature’s body onto the table, but L’Norgal could tell that the creature was not as heavy as he had thought it would be. They ushered the body down the hallway, another airlock opened and they brought the creature into the center of the well-lit room.

The science center.

Pressing areas on the smooth, white organic-like walls, articulated tools emerged, tubes, and monitors. L’Norgal’s crew members quickly worked on the suit, finding areas where the suit obviously was connected to refresh the creature’s atmosphere inside. They breached the connection and readings jumped up on the holo-monitors. The creature breathed a nitrogen-oxygen mix, not unlike L’Norgal’s own species.

The creature could be saved.

Other readings indicated biological hazards were at a minimum. They adjusted the room atmosphere and temperature, and next came the removal of the helmet and suit. They worked quickly. Lasers neatly cut away the thick fabric and fasteners. The suit was discarded for cleaning and sterilization.

Tubes dropped down from overhead and entered into the creature’s mouth. It’s structure, again, was not unlike L’Norgals. Rows of teeth, smaller, yes, were arranged in a semi-circle along the top, and then matched below on the bottom. It had a tongue, too, like L’Norgal’s, but thinner, longer. It had a protrusion that extended from between its eyes, and…two air-holes under it. L’Norgal’s species did not have that. L’Norgal’s species breathed from flaps behind its cheekbones.

The creature had five fingers on each of its hands, L’Norgal had four, but two of them were more like the creature’s shorter appendages. It had thick hair on its head. L’Norgal’s species was hairless with thick calloused skin. The creature was smooth and pale. Its skin was thin, pink.

L'Norgal examined the smooth, easy features. What did it believe? What did it think? Did it have family? How far away from home was it? Did it love, did it hate? It was out here among the stars. An explorer like himself? L'Norgal yearned to know more. He felt a kinship with the poor creature, a connection.

A leaf-shaped pad was placed on the creature’s pale chest. The chest, too, was very much like L’Norgal’s own, but there were small protrusions on either side. L’Norgal absently touched his own chest where they were. And fine hairs dotted the center of the chest. This made L’Norgal laugh to himself.

The creature convulsed. The technician must have applied a small electrical charge to reactivate an essential organ. When the body settled, the eyes shot wide open. Goodness, look at the color in the eyes. The creature grabbed out at the technician who backed away. The creature was screaming.

It was a gnarled sound of fear and pain.

The other crew member touched the glowing buttons in the wall. The creature settled again. It must have been a pacification beam, overtaking the creature’s nervous systems to calm it. As the creature began to the close its eyes, staring intently at L’Norgal, words croaked out of its mouth.

“In..fest..ay…shun…” it gurgled.

L’Norgal knew then why the creature had been abandoned.

Small black bubbles fumed up from the creature’s throat, exploded outward and shot across the room.

L'Norgal quickly went to the com and pressed the emergency signal to the master of the vessel. Already the black bubbles were seeping underneath the sealed doors, filling the room, multiplying. They floated towards L'Norgal's leg as he pressed the button harder, but it would do no good.

The technicians batted at accumulating mass, trying to counter them with the technology emerging from the walls and ceilings, but it was already too late. The black, soapy gelatin engulfed their suits, finding any opening it could.

In the void of space, dim light illuminated the clam-shaped body of the mother vessel. It was only a breath later the vessel exploded spectacularly in a brilliant flash. Its debris was sent in all directions to float eternally through the universe.

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say.