(Til Death Do Us Part) 16: Memento Mori
27 May 2023Silvia Sharpe
I lay in the hospital tears streaming down my face. This woman named Jules just told me that Venus was killed in action. I don't really know how to feel about this whole thing. My head is throbbing doctors tell me I'm lucky to be alive... I don't even know where I am. I just want my Venus here.The last thing I remember is Salvation pissing off the Thargoids. I say he got what was coming to him. Venus went to join the front lines. It just doesn't make sense to me. How can she be dead when we just talked the other day. I was crying and she wiped my tears away telling me that "It's ok." and "Everything will be alright." How can she be dead and I be here in this hospital, supposedly months later?
Someone is lying to me I just know it. I request my data pad to which Jules refuses to give to me at first then after some pestering finally hands it over. I opened my logbook entries and....... did... did I write all of these? No surely not..... who did? None of what I read makes any sense.
I read everything over again and got to the most recent entry. 2 weeks...... it's been 2 weeks since...... I can't even finish reading it because it hurts too much.
'How dare you! This is all your fault! Get out! Go away!'
Screaming is all I can do at this point. This woman, who apparently is my friend but also the reason why my wife is dead, is the absolute last person i want to be around. I can't be here in this hospital. I can't be here with this woman. I dont remember the trauma so I have nothing in common with this woman in my eyes. I open my contacts and block all incoming messages from her. She walks out the door crying and utters a single phrase through sobbing breaths.
'Silvia I am soo very sorry.'
She dissappears through the threshold and the doctors come in for an evaluation. Thankfully the doctors give me the all clear and I gather my belongings. I leave the hospital and head for the docks. All I care about at this point is getting as far away from here as possible. I approach the dock attendant and ask which landing pad my Krait Phantom is on. He looks at me with puzzled look and tells me that I didn't fly a Krait here.
He leads me to a large hangar which seemed strange, until I saw her.... the Dauntless II, my most prized mining ship, an Anaconda. Except she isn't a mining ship anymore.... she looks beefier and she is fitted with beam lasers and flak?
Knowing that I had missed something I went back to my log entries and found one that I had skipped. I had refit her to hunt down Diaz? But how did I get here from Amenta? There are no entries and the records don't exist. We'll I am certainly not going to be going after that mad man. He will get what's coming to him. I send the logs and all evidence I have of the attacks and the murders over to the Imperial navy to let them handle that can of worms.
I sit and stare at my once noble mining ship disgusted that I had let myself even think about chasing after Diaz. It's not like me. I loved Venus and know she would just want me to carry on with my life. So I will do just that. I make my way over to the shipyard manager and ask for him to get my Krait delivered to me. I have places to visit.
As soon as my ship arrives I make my way onboard. This ship was a gift to me from Venus I named her Longshot as a kind of joke name but now I think I might rename her in Venus' memory. "Memento Mori" is the first thing that comes to mind and I feel it is a fitting name.
When we got married we made a promise.... That promise was Til Death Do Us Part.... when Venus died I died with her... my promise to her has been fulfilled... my heart will ache for some time but I will endure. Death is inevitable and it's only a matter of time before our name is called.
It's time for me to focus on the Horizon. My story begins now. I don't know where I'll end up, nor the challenges I will face. This accident was a blessing in disguise. I only have the agony of losing Venus not the memory of watching her die nor the memories of what I went through. If Diaz does find me he will meet a swift end. For now though I aim my ship towards the black and engage my frameshift drive. I look at the console of my ship and see the engagement photo of Venus and I. Her infectious smile brings tears to my eyes as I blip into Witchspace.