Black Hole Heartbeat

Lavell - 26

Lavell sat with Forr for a while after Ana had finished. Both her small hands

were wrapped around his remaining one. His flesh was dry and heavy. She

looked at the vase by his bed. A single yellow flower sat inside it. She knew

he would be happy to see she had continued her tradition when he woke up.

A new flower from every planet they visited.

The children chattered, wondering what had happened to Forr's other hand, when he would wake up, where they were going... Their questions only

distressed her. Roka came to fly them to Samane, another Jahlder territory

nearby. She had kissed each of their foreheads, white lied that she would

see them all again and waved their shuttle off. When Roka's shuttle

disappeared into the darkness of space, decided not to return to Forr's side.

Instead, she snuck into Querius' laboratory.

The door had been left open. He was fully absorbed in his work, muttering

to himself. Lavell was surprised at the amount of cursing she heard, the

static blockers in the translator distorting the words. She crawled

underneath his workbench, periodically peeping up to grab parts she

needed.

She reached for a soldering iron and felt some resistance. She glanced up.

Querius' hand rested on it. He had not noticed Lavell's attempts to wedge it

free, but she did not dare risk another. Querius was holding up a scale close

to his eye, examining it through a strange glass gadget. Hours seemed to

pass. Lavell's legs started to ache. He brought the scale closer, then moved it

further away. He brought it closer once more, squinting until his eyes were

barely there. He shouted, but all Lavell heard was static. She let out a

shocked gasp, but it was drowned out by the rattle as Querius tossed the

glass gadget aside. He leapt around the lab happily, leaving the soldering

iron free. She gathered up the rest of her supplies and stole out.

She carried the things to her own workstation and spilled them across her

table. She didn't know exactly what the glass lens Querius had worn did,

but she knew she could use it now. She made the shape from memory,

knowing contours by heart. Her memory was nothing special by Jahlder

standards, but that still meant around 200 hours photographic. The whistle

and scream. Sometimes it was a curse.

When her invention was complete, she attached wire to the internal hinges,

fixing brain monitoring electrodes to their ends. She slotted her own hand

inside, giggling at the sheer size of it, her fingers wiggling freely through

the wide spaces. Still snickering softly, Lavell scooped up her creation and

wrapped the wires around and around.

Lavell returned to Forr's bedside. He was still asleep. She anointed his

forehead will a cool towel and he jolted up. He had only been resting his

eyes. The real awakening had been missed. She felt guilty, leaving him. He

had woken up alone. She knew he would not bear her the grudge once he

saw why.

"My pact," he said, his voice happy, dry and sore.

"My lion. I have a present for you."

She planted a tender kiss on his forehead. He turned, and saw the flowers.

"It's just what I wanted. How did you know?"

"That's not your present, silly."

She held his stump lovingly, without fear or pity, and placed her device on

the end of it. She uncoiled the wires and stuck each of them on Forr's head.

"What's this?" he said.

"Try and move it."

He looked at the chunk of metal on his arm, his face awash with confusion.

He lifted his arm and the contraption moved with it.

"No, move it. Think about moving it," she said.

He stared at it hard, brow furrowed and focused. They leapt up as the

fingers formed a fist.

"It's not as dexterous as a real hand, but I'll improve on it."

He started to weep, slim tears rolling down his huge face.

"It's perfect," he said, carefully lifting a metal finger to wipe them away.