The 17 Deaths of Abraham Selinski

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

And for the average run-of-the-mill citizen of the Milky Way Galaxy, it’s true. It’s completely silent out here. Just light years of nothing. It's darkness, the absence of sound, and rogue planets circling random stars.

I had a partner once from Makemake, SHA-96, he couldn’t hear a thing. He also didn’t have ears... I digress.

He didn’t like the work. Being a government assassin, ahem, a “contractor”, isn’t for everyone. It’s boring 97% of the time. A lot of waiting around… and murder.

Since I’m never leaving this hellhole, I might as well tell the whole story. I have nothing to lose. I’m sure you have a lot to say about that Therapist Cheryl, don’t you?

Ugh. “Writing therapy” is such a human concept. But this is what happens when you crash land on Earth with contraband, a dead body or two, and a bounty on your head. If only I could’ve made it to Venus. I’d still be free.

As a Level 4 Empath, I hear the screams. I hear the hiss of the soul leaving the body while the soon-to-be carcass fights to reign it back in. It never works. Once there’s a breach, there’s no turning back. That’s it. The finality of death should scare me. It doesn’t. At least not anymore.

And I know what you’re thinking. There’s no such thing as a Level 4 empath. Well Therapist Cheryl, guess what? You’re wrong, yet again.

Ok, fine, I made it up. There are only 3 government-mandated levels. But what happens when you don’t fall into one of their categories? You get creative. I’m a Level 4. Here’s why.

A small piece of me dies with every kill. Just gone. Forever.

Take Death 6 for example. I was 2 years into my government contract. My then girlfriend, Andie, and I were on a Kepler planet beach, or their version of one. Think no ocean or sand when I received the assignment.

Camila Rose orchestrated an attack on 51 Pegasi b. She killed 10,479 Pegasians. So I did my job. I picked her up from her home planet, took her to the outskirts of the galaxy, and released her from my ship. It took her a week to shrivel and die. That’s the most boring part. Waiting.

You never know how long it’ll take, especially if you don’t know which planet the kill is originally from. Take Pluto. They last a month at the very least. Earth? Immediately.

I collected the 10,479 currency bounty for Camila another week later.

Andie was angry that I disappeared for 2 weeks. I couldn’t tell her where I was or what I was doing. She thinks I do odd jobs to make ends meet.

So she left me. I deserved it. I miss her sometimes. Only sometimes.

I haven’t felt happiness since. Or joy. Or excitement. Or any positive emotion for that matter. I am a mass of negativity.

Long story short, that’s how I knew something wasn’t right. With every kill, I lost a piece of myself. At first, it was fine. Until Death 13. I didn’t feel… anything. At all.

I was a different person. My family didn’t recognize me anymore. So my former self was Death 14. They didn’t need me around anyway.

Everything turned upside down at Death 16, an ambassador from Bernard’s Star. I was nervous. I’ve never had to kill anyone of importance. It’s usually terrorists, mass murders, and generally “bad” citizens. But this one. An ambassador? It had to be a mistake.

But I did it anyway. An order is an order and the government wouldn’t lead me astray, right?

Wrong. So very, very wrong.