Complete Consumption

- A Serialized Novel -

 
A child of the vortex, subject to an insatiable hunger, he fights against his own nature to consume.
 

Author’s Note: Luna was not going to be silent, no matter what she was doing before. 😉


The Lunar Soapbox

“You are human.”

Luna grimaced, stepping back from Tynan and then putting herself in front of him, not sure if her species’ status as “undeveloped” would make it so that she could protect him or not. Would they hurt her to get to him? Maybe. Maybe not. She had to hope for the not. “Yes, I am. Is that a problem?”

“You are… unadvanced.”

She snorted, looking over at the alien who approached her. Humanoid, with a slight green tint to her skin—the robe was what made Luna think that she was female, though she really had no way of knowing—she was someone important, wasn’t she? “I’d say the same about you, lady.”

“Would you now? Why is that?”

“Because you’re refusing to see what’s right in front of your face. Look at Tynan. He’s not what you think he is. I know his kind scares you, and I’m sure you have good reason for that. He can destroy in an instant, but that doesn’t mean that he wants to. He doesn’t. He has tried so hard to control what he can do, and he’s been so careful and takes that pain on himself to spare others. He’s noble, damn it, and you want to kill him because you’re stupid, ignorant, and fearful. You are not advanced. Advanced species don’t need to kill out of pure fear. That’s not enlightenment, is it? This farce of a trial gives you a way to pretend that you are, and you pretend that you’re civilized, but you’re not. You’re acting out of a basic instinct and fooling yourself. If your mind was open, if it was stronger and smarter than your fear, you would listen to him. To me. You’d know what you’re doing here is wrong. You’d know you shouldn’t go through with it. You will, though, because you’re not willing to change.”

The alien woman folded her hands behind her back. “Yes, you echo him, don’t you? How much of that did he tell you to say?”

“Tynan has never put words in my mouth, but I have to wonder who holds your puppet strings, lady. Or do you like being the fool in front of everyone? Is that it?” Luna stepped forward, getting into the alien’s face. “Understand this: humans may be young. They may be ignorant by your standards. They may need ‘development’ and quarantine, but I can guarantee you that we are all damn opinionated, and you won’t stop that from going on. I know my own mind. I always have. Even when my father thought I was crazy, I knew what I thought. Can you say that much for yourself?”

“Luna, it is not going to change things if you continue to yell at the matron,” Tynan said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “She is not here to listen. None of them are. I think it best we return to the idea of enjoying our last moments.”

She shook her head. “I can’t let that be all there is. I could say more, but if I didn’t say anything…”

“I know.”

“I am not going back on medication,” Luna told the matron, folding her arms over her chest. “I don’t want to go back to Earth. I don’t want to stay with your lot, either. If you’re going to execute Tynan, then you will execute me as well.”

“No! Friend Luna! Friend Tynan! No can die! No!”

She smiled when she heard Alvin, seeing him break free of the guards at last. He flew over and got in the matron’s face. “You cannot kill my hive. Tynan is hive. Luna is hive. If my hive is to die, then I must die, too. I hate you for this.”

The matron frowned. “You are not a part of that hive, and why are you speaking of yourself as—”

“I am different, too. I am not like hive. Must I die for that? We do not like your ideas. You are cruel. We do not like you.”

“Well said, Alvin.”

He smiled at Luna, coming over beside her. He put an arm around her and with the other reached for Tynan. “See? We are not harmed by vortex. You are liars. You say he can only kill. Not true. You lie. Tynan is hero. We know this.”

Luna saw a flicker of something in the matron’s eyes, and she didn’t know what it was, but she hoped it was doubt. “Why can’t you exile him to some remote part of space? Do it to all of us. Tynan only needs me to keep his hunger in check, he said so, and as long as I’m alive, you’d all be safe.”

“That would be a problem, though, human. Your species has an incredibly short life span. He would be a threat again.”

“You have advanced technology,” Tynan said. “I know it is against your policies to use it on ‘lesser species,’ but you could extend Luna’s life by a significant amount. Do not deny that.”

“Friend Luna can live forever!”

“Not quite, Alvin, but perhaps close.”

The matron looked at Luna, studying her face. “You would do this? You would take a long life and spend it with… with a vortex? You would keep this… thing from destroying worlds?”

“Tynan’s not a thing, he’s a person—sort of—and yes, I would. I’d spend forever with him.”

“I see,” the matron said, and she turned and walked away. Luna frowned, looking at Tynan and Alvin, but neither of them could explain the woman’s behavior, either. She sighed. She’d given it her best shot, and she’d agreed, but she doubted anything she had said would matter now.

It was too late, wasn’t it?

Tynan put a hand on her cheek, and Luna closed her eyes as he kissed her again, trying to hold onto that and telling herself that they did not get to see her cry. Tears wouldn’t make any difference here, and she wasn’t going to give them that kind of satisfaction.

7 thoughts on “The Lunar Soapbox

  1. Liana Mir says:

    A tad melodramatic, but well-called for.

  2. Liana Mir says:

    Oh! It’s over. :wails:

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