The Last Atonian

Chapter 25:

"No," Don said, staring at Veerna's crumpled corpse. "Veerna, please. No. Don't be dead! Please!"

"Don," Xander said softly. "Don, I'm sorry. She's dead."

"No," Don said, shaking his head. "She's not dead. She had a plan, she had to have one. She can't be dead!"

Leem dropped to her knees, covering her face with her hands. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she shook with sobs. "Sareen ..."

Sareen lowered her still-smoking weapon, looking undisturbed by the grief she'd caused. Instead, she turned to Xander. "Enjoy the freedom she won for you," she said. "I expect you back at the Federation within the month."

To Don's surprise, Xander was likewise shaking with anger. "You expect me there?" he said. "You shot me in the back and then you expect me at the Federation?"

"You have your job back," Sareen said, looking surprised. "Don't you want it?"

"No. Find another human lie detector," Xander snapped. "And get away, before I decide to put an end to you like you did to Veerna."

Sareen scowled. "Very well. But you're fired, Xander Weni." She slipped her pistol into its holster and walked off.

"Like I really care," Xander muttered. "Fired. Honestly. I quit!" he yelled at her back.

Don knelt beside Veerna, touching her face. Her eyes were locked on the sky, blank and lacking the personality that usually filled them. Much as he knew he should have closed her eyes, he couldn't bring himself to do it. To close those eyes would mean admitting that she was dead. He ran his hand along the side of her face. "I don't understand why you did this," he whispered. "What did you stand to gain? I know you. You never did anything if you didn't have a good reason for it. So there must have been something ..."

"I don't know what she was after," Leem said, sniffing, sounding close to breaking point, "but ... but I hope she got it. What she wanted."

Don rubbed his forehead, trying not to succumb to his grief. He missed her already. Gently, he stroked her hair out of her face, trying to ignore how cold she felt. Her skin already felt like ice. Wishing he could have saved her, Don bent over and kissed her forehead, a small tear dropping from his eye. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Xander put his hand on Don's shoulder. "I'm sorry, buddy," he said. "But we need to go. This planet's due to explode. I know you cared about her. I feel just as bad for leaving her here, but we haven't got a choice. The living have to go on living."

Leem took Don's other arm, trying to get him to stand up. He didn't yet, instead reaching down. With trembling fingers, he closed Veerna's eyes and finally broke down. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he fought down the realization that the woman he'd loved was gone, forever.

He was still crying as Leem and Xander brought him back to their ship, leaving Veerna's body on the ground. There simply wasn't any time to bury her.

. . . . . . . . . .

Suzan buried her face in her arms. Daytime had long since gone by, but she remained in the lab, with Chris's cryogenics chamber. No matter what she tried to do, the chamber remained sealed shut. Breaking the seal would be the easy part. Breaking the seal without killing Chris if she defrosted too quickly would be. There had to be a way to restart her heart with the pacers that were set to do so when the hundred years passed ...