Half Life

Rubble

The ships emerged from light speed. Where there should have been a planet, there was only floating shrapnel and clouds of dust. A shocked silence dominated the communications.

From her one-man rescue ship, Maddie stared in horror at the scene. 

"There's... there's nothing left," she said hollowly. 

"Split up," her husband instructed the small fleet. "Some survivors might have been able to get away from the blast."

"Is there even a point?" a voice challenged. "Look at this place. Even if there were survivors, there's no way they could have navigated this-"

"We have orders," Jack interrupted. "And we won't return to base until we've made a thorough search."

That ended the debate and the ships drifted away to search different areas. Maddie felt her heart clench painfully as she looked. Mutilated remnants of a once beautiful planet drifted aimlessly. Large chunks of rock, some with glowing plant life still attached, were all that was left. 

Unwilling tears welled in her eyes as she navigated the shredded ruins. Culture, language, art, technology, stories. All lost! Just when they had formed communications too...

Something bumped the top of her ship. She blinked, startled back to reality. Was that shrapnel? If the hull was breached, it wouldn't be much of a rescue ship... if there was anything left to rescue.

Maddie slowed down, rotating the ship'd cameras to see what it was. Her heart gave a painful bound as she saw what was clinging weakly to her ship. 

A halpha, a young one, was hanging one-handed onto the top. He was wearing a black and white space-suit, but glowing green blood was splattered across his body. 

Without hesitation, Maddie yanked on her helmet and ordered the air lock to open. She drifted out, anchored to her ship. The boy was struggling to hold on, one hand pressed tightly over his side. Maddie drifted up beside him and gently touched his shoulder. The boy stiffened, whirling to face her. His black and green eyes glowed with animal fear, and he let go of the wing. 

Maddie drifted after him, trying not to seem threatening. The boy didn't seemto understand, and began thrashing madly in space. But he cringed in mid-air and clutched his side. Blood began to float around him in the silent void. His suit couldn't take much more damage. He flailed in the air, limbs churning pointlessly. Maddie lunged forward and grabbed hold of him. 

She hit the recoil on her tether and was yanked back to the ship. She slammed the airlock shut. 

The boy lay on the floor, scraped and bloody. Maddie ran through what she knew about Halphas in her mind. Similar anatomy to humans, oxygen breathers, incompatible for blood transplants. She pulled off the battered helmet. The boy watched her, panting and sweating with pain. 

"Shhh shhh shhh. It's going to be all right," she soothed, grabbing the medical kit. "We're going to get you some help, don't worry."

The boy's eyes grew wide and glazed. He shook his head and gasped three words.

"Don't.... tell... anyone..."

"You speak English!" Maddie exclaimed. He looked at her blankly, eyes full of pain. He said something in a sharp, unintelligible language, then slumped to the ground, eyes half open. Maddie hurried to bind his wounds. She laid him in the medical cryotube and went back to the ship's controls. 

Training ordered her to report what she had found. There were medical teams standing by to help... He had already lost so much blood. 

But his face wouldn't leave her alone. What could have been so terrifying, so awful that he wanted to keep himself a secret? Why did he act as if he was in such danger when he had been rescued? Her hand lingered over the comm button. 

Whoever was responsible for this was powerful. Not only mass genocide, but the destruction of an entire planet? Someone with that kind of power and resources. They might have the means to hunt down every survivor. What if... what if being reported only painted him as a target to whoever had destroyed Halpha?

Maddie left the comm silent and  took a deep steadying breath. 

"I hope I'm right about this," she whispered.