Except I would still have to recruit a new team. And they would want the same thing, the thing I could never bring myself to provide them…
The tension in my shoulders eased as the crew stepped from the pod.
After the initial shock of learning Maisie had died, I felt certain she would have wanted a traditional human funeral. She’d always been old fashioned like that. Then I realized I knew next to nothing about human death ceremonies. Thankfully, Alice took over the arrangements.
I was about to step forward with Maisie’s worn mop and bucket when Alice placed a hand on my arm. She did it so the whole crew noticed. Then she took the items off me and placed them in the coffin with Maisie. I knew she would have wanted to take them with her. It wasn’t like any of us would use them.
I was supposed to be badly affected by the sickness. I was supposed to look weak so when the Challenge came tomorrow, I could play against my crew’s expectations and defeat them. But it sure wasn’t easy. A Titan was supposed to be strong at all times. Allowing myself to appear weak didn’t come naturally. It could mean the difference between life and death. Here, among my mutinous crew, it was weakness that would ultimately prove my strength.
Alice leaned forward to kiss Maisie on the cheek before stepping back. She returned to my side and placed her hand on my arm. I liked the feel of it there.
Maisie had died from something called a ‘heart attack.’ It was common enough among humans. Either they were born with a heart defect or they became too old for their heart to continue pumping. It was a tragic way to die.
Stryder moved to the controls and looked at me to give the order. I stared at Maisie in the pod. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let her go. Maisie had never been anything but kind to us all. She took care of us when we were sick, fed us when we were hungry. She cleaned up after us.
How would we cope without her?
Alice’s face was pale and she couldn’t watch. I felt the urge to wrap my arms around her, but to show emotions was a weakness my race didn’t tolerate. It wasn’t the kind of weakness I should present to the crew either.
Alice squeezed my arm, giving me the courage I needed to nod.
Stryder pressed the button and the doors slid shut. He pressed the button again, and the pod ejected Maisie into outer space. She would sail among the stars for an eternity. She was likely to outlive us all.
It was little consolation. I would still miss her more than my heart could stand.
After Maisie’s funeral, I stood at the window in my quarters, looking out over the vista of planet Tordal, my homeworld. I had many memories of it, and not many I wanted to keep. I shook my head of them and focused on more important things.
It was only when your health was threatened that you truly appreciated it. For the first time in weeks, I could think clearly and move without agonizing pain. The whole time Maisie thought she was helping me recover, she was unknowingly bringing my doom. Her meals were so delicious, it was almost worth the pain.
I could discuss money and strategy matters with Stryder but Maisie was the crew’s heart. For the longest time, she was the only person I could speak honestly with on all subjects.
I stared out at the vast expanse of space and imagined her escape pod zipping through it at ever-increasing speeds. Some species in the distant future might look up to see an asteroid pass overhead, without realizing it was Maisie sailing endlessly through space and time.
A knock came at the door.
“Come,” I said.
Alice entered gingerly armed with a tray laden with food. She’d have to work extra hard in the kitchen now that she was alone. “Your dinner, captain.”
“Put it on the desk, please,” I said.
She did and clasped her hands together. “Anything else you need, captain?”
Why was she suddenly acting so formal?
I shook my head. “No.”
She nodded and turned to leave. But I didn’t want her to go.
“I’m sorry about making you dress me yesterday,” I said. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“It’s okay, captain,” she said. “It doesn’t matter.”
She turned to leave again.
“Wait,” I said. “Maisie’s been a part of our crew for many years, and yet I know so little about her culture. Your culture. I want to learn more about where you came from.”
“Why?”
“Your culture’s the same as Maisie’s. You’re a human female, the same as her.”
“And you’re the captain of the ship that abducted her from her home,” Alice said, her tone cold and devoid of heat. “She didn’t ask to be here. She didn’t choose to be here. You forced her to be here.”
Anger flared in my chest. I understood that she was upset but to hear her blame me for Maisie’s situation was too much to bear.
“She came when I was a new recruit,” I said. “When I became captain, I offered to take her home, to give her money for the years she’d served. I made the same offer every year on the anniversary of when she was abducted. She turned me down every time.”
Alice appraised my expression, searching for a lie. There was none to find.
“Why would she refuse?” she said.
I took a seat on the corner of my bed. “She said she belonged here. She said she wouldn’t know what she would do if she returned.”
Alice sat on the opposite corner of the bed. “She changed her mind before she died. She told me she wanted to return with me. She was making a cake to celebrate.”
This was news to me. “Why
