Edge of the Stars

Chapter 7

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Claire screamed as they exited the warp. The ship had barely exited the tunnel before she turned and faced her brother.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?" He fired back, his composure slipping. Claire stared at him, mouth agape, at a loss for words to say. Slowly, she closed her mouth, crossed her arms tightly over her chest, and exited the bridge. The rest of the crew watched in stunned silence. Daniel sighed; he pushed his glasses further up his nose.

"Matthias, damage report. Amelia, figure out where we are and chart a course for the nearest station."

"Yes, sir!" The bridge crew ducked down and began to work. There was an air of awkwardness looming over everyone's heads. Knowing he may regret it later, Daniel followed his sister.

The first place he thought to check would be their shared quarters. He began making his way in that direction. Crew members saluted him as he passed. He nodded curtly at each one. His eyes roamed the hallways, catching on every woman with black hair. The sounds of casual conversation and laughter mocked him. 

He found her standing by the floor-to-ceiling window panels. The reinforced plastic assured that all occupants of the ship would remain inside, yet have a spectacular view of the universe beyond. Claire stood by the railing, watching the cosmos slowly drift by. Daniel had to admit, it was a stunning sight. A nearby spiral galaxy seemed to dance in between the emptiness of space.

"Claire-"

"Don't talk to me." She said, her voice devoid of any emotion. 

"I'm going to, regardless of whether you want me to or not."

"What, are you going to try to convince me that what you did was the right thing?" She turned around to look at him. Her face was red and puffy; she had been crying.

"They began the attack, Claire. I defended my crew-"

"That doesn't justify murder!" She yelled. "You specifically targeted those ships with the intent to kill. Do you understand what you've done? Those were Class C Destroyers; one ship carries at least one hundred and fifty people. We saw a total of six. That's nine hundred people you sentenced to death! Daniel, this isn't like the simulations at the Academy. Those people don't resent at the end of the day. Those people are gone. Permanently."

"Claire, we're still alive because of my decision. I didn't want to kill those people, but if it meant that we could put a dent in Apollo's plans, no matter how small, and get out of there relatively unscathed, I was going to do it. I will do it again, if the situation ever repeats itself." 

"We could have disabled those ships and taken that nasty man captive-"

"We could have." He interrupted, his voice oddly calm. "We could have, but that opportunity was squandered when he fired that first barrage. Claire, I didn't have a choice."

"You'll always have a choice." Claire wiped away a few stray tears. She walked past Daniel, heading towards the gravity lifts. "I'll be in my room."

Daniel stood in in Claire's spot. He took a deep breath. He analyzed the galaxy; a small part of him wondered if any answers could be found in the long, curved arms. Claire's words repeated over and over in his mind. Memory Saved. 

She did have a valid point. He could have deescalated the situation. He could have attempted to barter, like his sister suggested. He could have done this, he could have done that. His father's catchphrase echoed in the back of his mind: hindsight's always twenty-twenty. He despised hearing the phrase as a child. Of course, being a child, he didn't understand what it meant, no matter how badly his father tried to explain. It's something you understand once you've grown up.