I Can Kill Too

Lien stared at Tucker through the med bay window. Disbelief flickered across her face.

“You…You were an oil bandit?” she asked.

“It’s not like we wanted to be.” Tucker’s voice was low and careful. “After the fields went dry, things… got out of control.”

“Why am I just finding this out now?”

“It’s not exactly something you put on your resume.”

She stepped closer to the glass wall.

She raised her hand and pressed it against the cold surface.

Tucker hesitated, then matched her.

His palm aligned with hers, only a sheet of reinforced glass between them.

“You have to believe me,” he said, ‘I would never do anything to hurt you.”

Lien’s eyes wandered as she thought. Then she spoke softly. “Would you hurt someone else for me?”

“For you?”

“If you needed to protect me,” she said. “Like you did for your father.”

Tucker nodded. “If I had to, I would.”

Lien’s expression shifted.

She smiled.

Lien let out a soft, humorless laugh.

“It’s good to hear you say it,” she murmured. “We would do anything for each other. And for our future.”

Her hand drifted down to her stomach.

Tucker’s chest tightened. “You know we haven’t really had a lot of time to talk about it.” he said. “Things went south so fast, there was just no time to process it. Don’t worry. Everything is going to be okay. We’re safe.”

“Yes, we’re safe now.” she said.

Something about the way she said it made Tucker stiffen.

“Did you say ‘now’?”

Lien blinked, realizing how she phrased it.

“No… yes.” she said.

Tucker stepped closer. “Is it because I’m in here?”

Lien shook her head. “No! Of course not. It’s because…” she hesitated, “We would do anything for each other, right?”

“Yeah…”

“I love you, Tucker.” Lien’s voice was gentle. “That’s why I had to make sure nothing would happen to you.”

Tucker’s face darkened.

He stepped closer to the glass.

Lien instinctively took a step back.

“What have you done?” he asked.

Lien swallowed hard.

“I knew she had a gun,” she said quickly. “I wasn’t sure if—”

“No.” Tucker’s voice was ice.

“I had to be sure! I couldn’t take the chance!”

Tucker’s heart dropped into his stomach.

“Jesus, Lien! Emma was our friend!”

“Was she?! “ she snapped, “How do you know she didn’t already plan to kill us before?”

“Why would you think that?”

Lien’s hands curled into fists.

“Why did I fall off the top of a tower?” she started. “She gave me that strap. I should’ve checked it, but it was my first time. When I saw that gun in her locker, I knew it wasn’t an accident.”

Tucker’s stomach twisted.

“So you killed her.”

“She swung first.”

There was a brief but palpable silence in between them. Tucker trying to grasp his mind around what she had done. She tried to kill Emma, and he finished the job.

“I know it hurts,” she said softly. “But I thought you’d take my side. Don’t you see?” she voice became low. “I did it for us. For our child.”

Tucker’s breath caught. A million things ran through his mind, but only one phrase surfaced.

“…Who are you?” he asked.

Lien stepped back, and put her face in her hands. It was like she was going to to cry. Then she started to giggle. Her giggle turned to a chuckle. From a chuckle to a full on laugh.

She laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

The bone chilling cackling rocked Tucker to his core. It was clear: He didn’t know who Lien was. Not really. Not on the inside.

She suddenly stopped laughing and then her face became dark and serious.

“I’m a killer,” she said. “Just like you.”

She turned.

Walked away.

Tucker’s breath was heavy. His pulse pounded in his ears as she disappeared down the corridor.

He stood there, staring after her.

Not moving.

Not breathing.

“I knew this would happen.”

The voice from behind him made Tucker spin. It was horse and tired. It was…

Jack.

Awake.

His face was covered in the white badges but but his eyes were sharp.

Staring at Tucker.

Studying him.

“I just never thought,” Jack rasped, “one of them would be Lien.”

***

Akira walked steadily down the corridor to the airlock.

His steps were measured. Controlled. He could feel the base slipping into chaos. If he could just keep his head cool, he could fix the tower and get them out of this mess. Earth might not be in a better place, but at least it wasn’t here.

At the end of the hallway, he reached the equipment closet and opened it.

Inside, the pressure space suit hung waiting for him.

He pulled it off the rack. Suited up and headed for the airlock.

In the surveillance room, Victor settled into the chair. He flipped through the cameras.

Paused when he saw Tucker and Lien talking. He shook his head. No time to think about that now. He kept flipping.

One of the feeds showed Akira standing at the airlock.

Akira’s voice crackled through the radio.

“Mic check, do you read? Over.”

Victor exhaled and switched to the outside feed—camera pointed straight at the tower.

He pressed the radio button.

“I read you, Akira. Let’s get this shit done so we can go home. Over.”

A small chuckle came through the radio.

“10-4. Leaving the airlock now.”

Victor watched as Akira stepped out onto the moon’s surface.

Akira moved forward to the tower.

The quiet emptiness of space had a strange way of calming him.

With each hop, the weight of the situation faded just a little.

For a second, there was nothing.

No war. No bunker. No blood.

Just him.

The blackness of space above, the Earth hanging in the distance. It reminded him a bit of being on his family boat in the vast empty ocean.

He reached the base of the tower.

Victor’s voice came through the radio. “Let’s not have a repeat, shall we? Check your climbing gear again. Over.”

Akira nodded. “Not a bad idea.”

He pulled out his climbing gear.

Checked the rings.

Secure.

He grabbed his strap and gave it a hard tug.

Strong.

Then his eyes caught something on the ground.

Another strap.

Lien’s strap.

He bent down and picked it up. Turned it over in his hands.

And then—he froze.

The break point on the strap looked odd.

Like it hadn’t snapped under force.

Like it had been partially cut.

Was Lien’s fall planned? Emma was the one who let her out here. It was also equally likely to have been staged.

He didn’t think Lien would be the type but with someone watching her, she’d be unlikely to die. Jack said she went into cardiac arrest. That could’ve been an unforeseen side effect of faking a fall to frame someone.

There’s too many unknowns.

Victor’s voice came through the radio.

“You ready? What are you looking at? Over.”

Akira snapped out of it.

Quickly dropped Lien’s rope.

“Nothing.” Akira kept his voice even. Calm. “Beginning ascension. Over.”

Back at the medical bay, Tucker stared at Jack.

Seeing his face move was nothing short of disturbing.

Jack’s voice was hoarse.

“So you’re a killer now, huh?” Jack let out a weak chuckle. “I guess that puts us in the same boat.”

Tucker’s eyes flickered to the mirror on the table near Jack’s bed.

For a moment, he saw his own reflection.

His face was different now. Harder.

He stood and walked toward Jack.

“I guess so,” Tucker muttered. “Aren’t you tired?”

Jack gave a weak smirk. “No. I’ve slept enough.”

“Well, your vitals over here say…uh…” Tucker glanced at the monitor, numbers flashing. His mind trying to make sense of it.

“You have no idea what those numbers mean, do you?” Jack said with a chuckle.

“Haha, yeah, you got me. I’m not a doctor.”

Jack sighed. His voice was quiet. “I’ve been a real jackass today.”

Tucker shrugged. He had no room to judge. At least he killed Dr. Martinez by accident.

“I know you all might think I’m a murderer,” Jack continued. “But it was an honest accident. I would never—”

Tucker cut him off.

“I know, Jack…“I know.”

The silence over took them for a moment. Then Jack sifted in his bed.

“So… what’s our status?” he asked.

“Well, the computer’s back up.” said Tucker. “We downloaded the notes onto a flash drive. The rock is still in its container downstairs.” All that’s left to do now is wait for Akira to fix the communication tower.

Jack went quiet.

His eyes darted around the room.

Tucker frowned. “What is it?”

Jack rubbed his eyes. “Well… my vision is a little blurry.”

Tucker chuckled. “You did run into a pipe.”

Jack nodded. “I know but…”

He rubbed his swollen face under the rags.

“…My eyes feel so puffy…” He blinked rapidly. “Tucker… where’s a mirror? I want to take off these bandages.”

Tucker stiffened. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” he said. “You have to heal.”

On the outside of the base, Akira ascended the communications tower in his space suit.

His grip tightened with each pull.

Halfway up, his boot slipped.

His heart lurched.

Victor’s voice came through the radio. “Hey! Be careful! Over.”

Akira exhaled, the nerves washing away with the security of his grip. He steadied himself.

“Right. Over.” he said.

He climbed to the black box.

The door was open.

A wire dangled loose.

He tied himself to the tower.

“Beginning repairs. Over.”

Akira’s gloved hands worked quickly, reconnecting wires.

Victor’s voice crackled. “Akira?”

Akira paused. “Yeah? Over.”

“What do you think it’s gonna be like when we get back? Over.”

A long silence.

Akira sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Hopefully not too bad. Over.”

“I hope not…”

Akira swallowed. “We all knew it would happen,” he murmured. “It wasn’t a matter of ‘if’—but ‘when.’”

Victor let out a weak chuckle. “So then how come it had to be when we’re on a rock in space?”

They laughed.

Akira’s tone shifted.

“People like to think we’re superior to animals,” Akira said. “That we can control our inner selves. But human history…” He let out a breath. “…is riddled with emotion.”

“You really believe that?”

“Of course I do.” He secured the last wire, then spoke again. “People fight to protect themselves,” he said. “And the people they love. But that’s how it happens. You kill out of love.”

Akira’s fingers tightened around the last bolt. “…And then someone kills you because you killed what they love. It is the circle of love and hate.”

“…Did you just come up with that?” asked Victor.

“No.” Akira said, closing the box.