Black Hole Heartbeat

Krakk - 68

Nothing... and why. He had seen death many times. He had never felt it before. Carrying Doctor down the hall and back to his lab, he lay him down on the small bed Querius kept by his workstation. Querius' body was light in his hands, loose as a scrap of linen. Still, a great weight dragged down on his arms. He understood the solitude Master lived in. Friends become a part of you, and you bleed when they get torn off.

Querius' hands slopped over the bed. Krakk folded them across Doctor's chest. He had never met the man locked inside the ship, Elizabeth's master, but he knew he did not want that man to tell the widow Loslou. He had spoken briefly before he murdered Querius and blamed Elizabeth, but Krakk was not fooled. The man had a choice. Querius' wife deserved to have the news broken by somebody who cared for Querius. His wife deserved to see him come home, but this was a kindness Krakk was unable to grant.

He hoped she would be angry. Everything else was new to him. Suddenly his mouth felt dry. Fingertips numb. Palms damp. He dialed the number Querius had stored. A Jahlder woman appeared on the screen. She leant in very close to the screen, white eyes squinted. "Hello?" she said. Krakk could not answer. His mouth was full of glue. "I think this is the wrong connection, Ang. My communicator is always acting up. I've asked my husband to fix it, but he's got more interesting things to fix before he puts his own house right." Her white hair was quietly pulled back into neat bun. Her panels were narrow, sloping down to her chin from the corners of her small, taut lips. She reached forward to disconnect. "I work with Querius," Krakk coughed out. She sat back in her chair and pursed her lips tighter. "I have some bad –" "Wait, you work with Querius. You ?" "Yes," Krakk nodded. "You're an Ang," she said. "I am."

The conversation had moved in a unexpected direction. He was stranded without a map. "Has he hired an Ang to be his lackey? A thug to hand him tools when he should be holding his wife's hand? What pitiful invention is he off tinkering with now, something important enough warrant abandoning our conversation before its conclusion? I find it amazing that he tries to hide himself behind things as small as atoms when I come looking, and more amazing still that I can never find him." "Querius is dead." Krakk needed to get it out. "No," the widow said, "I just spoke to him." "I'm very sorry. We can return his body for burial." She leaned forward, strands of her hair slipping out of place. She was shaking, trying to disguise it. "Go and fetch him, Ang, and tell him he is being spiteful." Krakk did not understand. He could not fetch Querius. He could not tell him anything. "Querius is dead," he repeated. "I want a child," the woman said softly. "I'm not sure what –" Querius' wife ended the com link. He stared at the black screen and swallowed down the heaviness in his throat.