You Killed Them

Sam's responsibilities only increased in the time since the worm hunt. While Yapul's crew were en route to Rydia again, Sam had to be the farm's muscle while Snu butchered the meat. She tilled the field, gathered water, fed the animals, cleaned, and did everything the manor needed with iron hands. She had been on this planet for two weeks and was already a natural Pandemian. Brave, strong, family-centric, traditional, hard-working. She was maybe half these things.

By the end of the week, Snu presented her with an honor. "You can cook the Redstreak meat with me!"

The endeavor to cook Redstreak was precise and immaculate, not too burnt and not too raw, a medium steak to the exact temperature. Sam had learned to mimic Snu exactly and moved in sync so as not to screw up, but it was a good time to chat with him, learn some Rydian factoids, and tell stories of things on Earth. Most of the Earth stories flew over his head, but Sam's enthusiasm made him happy.

That evening, a feast was set for a religious holiday, one that happened often from Sam's gathering. Either way, the nine present members of Vinisoya Manor ate together, consuming the pies and bugs and Redstreak meat galore, and for the first time, Sam was allowed to eat at Snu's level.

"You try my meat, and I'll try yours." Snu picked up a brisket and gobbled it whole. His eyes widened. "It's amazing! Did you butter it?"

"I saw we had some, and I think it helps with the marbling." Sam's eye glanced around to see that her dish was very popular. "It can't be that good though."

"No, it is! I-." Suddenly, Vinisnu coughed as if he was choking, concerning everyone for a moment before he shook his head. "Sorry, I'm still smoky. I'm feeling kinda light-headed."

"It's bad. You can tell me."

The next day, Sam woke up in a daze, as if released from a coma. She knew it was early afternoon. Her sense of time screamed at her to get moving, but it was too dark outside. When she looked out the window, there was nothing but clouds. The oasis was windy and cool, the coldest she'd felt in ages, but it was refreshing.

"I sure hope it doesn't rain," she said. "It'd ruin all my hard work."

Sam walked outside and felt a tense foreboding. There was no song, nobody in sight. She heard the gnashing of the Redstreaks in the valley as if in a frenzy. If the pirates were to strike now, they'd surely be devoured as revenge. It was as if the gods were angry with them. When Sam returned inside, she found the kitchen unused. That wasn't right either. She slept in Snu's bed, and he was nowhere to be seen. No prep, no living. It was as if the farm was a ghost town. Sam's confusion turned to worry, thinking where they were, when a gurgled cough erupted from Maed's room. She found the mother bundled up and sweating. When she put her hand on her head, she recoiled.

"You're burning up! What happened?"

She groaned herself awake. "Where's my baby? I can't sense my baby."

"Are you okay? Did something happen?"

She reached her hand up as if it were weighed down by bricks. "The oasis."

Sam took it as an omen and rushed to the spring where, sure enough, Snu collapsed inches away from the drowning waters. His situation was no different from the mother's.

"Sam… you're here." Snu reached out to her. "I'm so thirsty. Please...drag me closer to the water."

Sam moved like lightning and hauled the boy back into bed. Two Vinisoyas in terrible condition, and a quick search brought up the other families as ill. The whole manor was on death's door. All except Sam.

"What's happening!?" Sam shuddered. "What do I do? Do you have any medicine?"

"Medicine?" Maed said, her voice weak. Still, she smiled. "Oh, nothing a little food and water can't alleviate. Can you cook some breakfast?"

Breakfast? How do I-?" She paused. The mother was going in and out of consciousness as she spoke. A nightmare flashed before her eyes. "Of course. I'll start right away!"

All of Sam's training was for this moment. She barreled down into the smoking basin, where the fresh remains of the Redstreak were still fresh in the hot, wispy vapors. Once she pulled a chunk out she returned and tossed it in the hearth. It roasted nicely over an iron grill for an hour while she chopped alien vegetables. Braising, sautéing, and seasoning, the Pandemian way. When the job was done, she brought them to their beds with several cups of water.

Snu ate first. "It's delicious," he said with his mouth full. "Thank you, Sam."

"My pleasure."

Maed ate next. "Thank you so much, dear." She waited after each bite to keep talking. "You look tired, little one. Why don't you take a rest?"

"No, the others. I made enough for everyone, but is there anything else?"

The mother contemplated, noting the worry on her face. "Can you go out and pick some fruit from the oasis? I'd love to have something sweet."

"Of course." Anything for them.

Sam ran out the front and onto the oasis grounds. The clouds were still heavy overhead, cooling the whole landscape. A torrent was due at any moment.

With the help of a ladder, she found a tree bearing ripe fruit, the perfect shade of yellow, and she went up and picked it. She could do it, she thought, because she was farm girl Sam Reynolds.

And as she went to the spring to wash the fruit, the first raindrop fell. There was a feeling she missed. Yes, she thought. This would be her life now. She could take this. She'd rather have this life, surrounded by kind people, in a small outcrop in the middle of nowhere. It'd be no one but the people who cared for her, who gave her purpose. Yes, there was danger, and Snu's promise echoed in her head, but she wasn't thinking of that. It wasn't registering because they needed her now. They were her new family.

However, when she returned with her bounty, a splash of vomit splattered across the floor. Her face went white.

"Sam…" Snu had crawled from his bed and got about ten feet before collapsing. His fluids drenched the stone flooring. "What did you do?"

Sam came to him immediately and pulled him up, but another shot of vomit drenched her white clothes. It was a bright red.

"Oh my god!" Her body froze. "Is this…no!"

Gurgling could be heard from the other room. Sam sprung into action and propped Snu to the wall before tending to the mother. It was as she feared. Maed couldn't move as her expulsions spewed from her like a fountain, threatening to choke her. She applied the same treatment, and Maed coughed back to life, if just barely.

"Vinisnu…" she repeated to herself. She looked like death. "Help...Snu..."

Without warning, Sam's dark thoughts surged forth as if breaking containment, haunting her with terrible imagery. It was her own mother, crying and weeping in unbearable agony from an incurable disease, begging for her child's presence, but that couldn't be the case. Her mother was dead! She died while Sam was stuck on the Betelgeuse all those years ago. They shipped Sam off to some god-forsaken planet while the one who raised her died alone in agony, and she never knew until a couple of weeks ago. This pain, this suffering that had Sam spiral to this moment stared right back at her, and the young girl was at a loss.

It was her. The Kainians told her that the bacteria inside the Earthlings' bodies could be hazardous to the health of Pandemians, even deadly. That was why they weren't allowed on the planet, why Sam was alone. She killed them. Her new family that took her in and the boy who adored her like nothing else, gone. The truth lay before her. She was not meant to be on this planet. She didn't belong anywhere.

In her panic, she looked to the stormy desert. Maybe one of the other Manor residents was still alive. Perhaps she could reach the mine carts in the sands. Anyone, she thought, please help and end this nightmare.

It was as if by divine circumstance, she spotted several Kukchi in the foggy distance, sprinting up the desert road, moving down and up the local cavern to meet them. Was it Yapul and the gang? Sam waved them down with frantic hands and screamed into the roaring storm.

"Help me!" She screamed. "Please help! My friends are dying! Is there a doctor!?"

The answer was received by a bullet to the face.