The Death of Eden

The purple expanse of space stretched out before Eden as she searched the shimmering stars that flickered in the distant inky blackness for any signs of life. The nebula before her clashed with various shades of lavender and violet as they swirled across the empty expanse as millions and millions of stars captivated her. In the centre of the purple mass, silhouetted against the darkness, was a small white spaceship with the words Adventurer painted in large black letters across its side. Eden’s eyes latched onto the distant shape as her heart began to race and her body began to shake.

‘I found her,’ Eden thought. ‘The reason I’ve come so far past the edges of reality and ventured into wonderland.’

With an unsteady hand she steered her ship towards the Adventurer as the sounds of her heartbeat began to throb in her ears and her breathing became quick. When her ship came to a halt, Eden took a deep breath, steadying her breathing as she lifted her helmet from her lap.

“It’s okay Eden, you’re okay, she won’t hurt you, she’s your sister after all, you’re just here for answers.” She murmured to herself soothingly.

Eden took another deep gulp of air and with trembling hands she pulled her helmet over her head, making her way towards the decompression room before entering the zero-gravity expanse of space; effortlessly adjusting to it as she pushed herself from her ship to float weightlessly towards the Adventurer. The distance was short, and she was beside the ship within a few seconds, a woman emerging from the ship’s side as Eden approached. The woman’s face was hidden behind her solid black visor making the unease in Eden flicker once more.

“Amana!” Eden called, a smile creeping across her face despite her fear. “Is that you?”

The woman nodded once, her movement stiff and abrupt as the two unintentionally floated closer together. Eden frowned; the woman before her wasn’t the same sister she remembered. There was no joy or excitement from her sister, like there usually was when Eden surprised her, and what was particularly strange to Eden was that Amana didn’t race to hug her younger sister as she always had before she left for space, nor did she remove the heavy tint from her visor to allow Eden to see her face. What surprised Eden the most was the laser gun Amana raised to point directly at Eden’s chest.

“What are you doing here?” Amana asked, her question sharp and devoid of feeling.

“I-I came to find you.” Eden stammered taken slightly aback from her sister’s greeting. “I wanted to know why you said those terrible things to mum… She said that you would never come back.”

“Didn’t mother tell you?” Amana snapped her tone seeming to suggest that Eden was stupid.

“She told me that you never wanted to be a part of our family,” Eden said, wincing at the mention of the idea. “I didn’t think mum was telling the truth.”

“She was.” Amana muttered.

The words cut Eden like a knife making her heartbeat quicken as she gaped at her sister; the words ringing through her mind, reverberating around her skull like an echo in a canyon. Those two simple words cut deeper and shook her to her core more than their mother’s teary explanation the week or so before.

“But… why?” Eden asked astonished, her voice unsteady as it gently fell from her lips.

“You know why.” Amana replied, her anger slipping into her words.

“Surely you weren’t serious?” Eden replied with a nervous laugh. “You’re disowning us to further your career, just because mum did some illegal stuff when she was younger?”

Her question was met with silence, silence that made Eden scoff as the reality of her sister’s declaration started to finally sink in. The sorrow washed over her.

“But we’re sisters.” Eden began mournfully. “Didn’t our childhood matter to you? Did the time we spent together… mean anything?”

Again, Amana didn’t answer, her gun cocked in front of her like a barrier as silence descended upon them once again. Eden stared at her, pain tearing at her throat and making her stomach swirl. Her heart pounded in her chest as tears threatened to form in her eyes. She moved forward, reaching out to her sister to gain some form of comfort or response other than the cold and still silence that sat between them.

“Don’t come any closer.” Amana said, her gun trailing on Eden.

“Wha-Why?” Eden asked confused. “You’re not going to shoot me… Are you?”

Her question was once again met with silence, and in that silence, Eden found her answer. Eden was dead to Amana. This truth stung Eden like a hot knife in butter, slicing through her skin right down to her bones. She felt her mind go empty, the weight and pain of the revelation beginning to radiate in her chest. Tears began to form in her eyes and in their wake followed her anger; she refused to cry here and now. Her weakened expression turned hard and cold, angry tears collecting in the corners of her eyes.

“I chased you all the way out here because I thought I could fight for this, that I could fight for us. I thought that our history, and our bond meant more to you than some silly job.” She hissed, the tears threatening to spill over as she spoke. “But I see now, there’s nothing here. You’ve left me with nothing. Every fear that I had, every moment of hesitation or worry was justified. Everything I feared about you is real, and I tried so hard to deny it.”

Eden stared at her sister, the tears beginning to stream down her cheeks as her sister continued to be unresponsive. The gun was steady in her hand as Eden stared down the barrel towards her.

“Why don’t you just end it?” Eden murmured; her voice soft as if only the void could hear her. “It would hurt less.”

Eden felt it in her body before she heard it in her ears, the shot echoing in her mind on repeat as the laser-shot ripped through her chest, leaving a searing pain in its wake. The pain exploded across her torso, making her lose her breath, the momentum of the blast throwing her backwards, starting her drift into space. Blood leaked from the wound as she began to lose consciousness, the red mixing with the purple of the space around her. Before her eyes fluttered closed and the darkness encapsulated her, she saw her sister turn and disappear into the Adventurer without a second glance. Her vision hazed as the kaleidoscope of colours around her merged into a single solid purple, her sister’s name brimming on her lips before falling to the back of her throat as the feeling of weightlessness and emptiness washed over her.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she awoke, only that her body was stiff, and the cold had seeped through her suit down to her bones. Her gunshot wound throbbed as the pain radiated around her body, but it wasn’t nearly as painful as the ache she felt in her heart from the betrayal of her sister. She grimaced as the memories crowded in, flooding back to her like a tidal wave as the hurt expanded, wounding her pride. Tears flooded from her eyes before she could stop them; the little clear droplets glittering like stardust in the cosmos of her freckles. As they leaked from her eyes, they speckled into her helmet, splashing into the glass of her visor obscuring the variegated atmosphere around her. She floated aimlessly, feeling more alone than she had ever felt back on Earth. The emptiness filled her up from the inside as everything else expect the sadness seemed to seep out of her. She heaved deep shuddering breaths as the tears cascaded around her, the void cradling her ever so gently as she drifted further and further into the depths of space.

“I want to go home.” She whimpered quietly to herself as the tears slowed. “I miss my mum.”

“Power at twenty percent capacity.” Her suit announced, the ring of the automated voice working like cold water, waking Eden from her stupor.

She blinked, sniffling helplessly as she watched her tears float around the inside of her helmet; she would have to wait until she was aboard her ship before she could remove her helmet and clean away the tears. With a soft shrug and a dull wince, she quickly got to work, looking down at the small screen attached to the sleeve of her right arm. Clicking icon after icon on the little device, she directed her way through the system and with one final tap on the glass, she summoned her spaceship. It took a few minutes before she could see it gliding gracefully towards her from behind a nebula; its white form almost identical to the Adventurer except for the name Asteroid emblazoned on its side.

As it flew closer, it slowed to a steady stop a meter or two from where she was floating; its’ still form shimmering in the starlight as if it were a small sun blazing in the darkness. She used the jets embedded in her suit to propel herself towards the ship, reaching the side door and gripping the handrail tightly as she steadied herself, gasping for air. The small but sudden movement tugged at her gunshot wound which began to burn with pain. As she blinked back tears she heaved the side door open biting down on a yelp before gently floating inside the little decompression room. With a few breaths to steady herself once more, she psyched herself up before heaving the door closed and ramming her fingers into the red glowing button. The room flushed with air as gravity pulled her feet down to land haphazardly on the floor making her whimper. She pushed herself from the ground, steadying her body against the wall before pulling the other door open and stumbling into the next room. As she walked, she pulled her helmet from her head and let it fall to the ground, reaching the bench and cabinet that house her medical supplies. Rows and rows of bottles lined the tightly packed shelves, sorted into alphabetical order for ease of use, which her eyes now scanned. When she found what she was looking for she pulled it from the shelf; a small spray bottle that covered the entirety of the wound in one spray.

‘That should stop the bleeding.’ She thought as she placed the spray bottle back on the shelf and searched for something to dull the pain.

Her fingers glided along the line of bottles until they landed on a small, capped bottle that she plucked from the row. She swiftly opened the bottle and poured two tiny blue pills onto the counter before swallowing them easily; she retrieved a small bottle of water from below the counter and down the entirety of the bottle in one swig. She dropped the empty bottle into a concealed bin before leaning against the counter and sliding down to the floor, her legs strown chaotically around her; her eyes fluttering closed as she felt the soothing sensation of the physical pain ebbing away. The ache of her heart still burned as the weight of her sister’s words still rang in her ears.

‘What now?’ She thought.

She opened her eyes, focusing her gaze on the room before her as she thought. Her sister was gone and had left her alone once more with no hope of her return.

‘Not that I want her to return.’ Eden thought bitterly as she shifted her gaze to the cockpit.

Her eyes landed on the swirling mass of space coiling and stretching just outside her window. It calmed her, clearly her mind allowing her to think straight for a moment.

‘Home.’ The word echoed in her mind quietly at first, rolling and shifting in anticipation as she decided its fate before she finally let it settle.

“Home.” She agreed quietly before pushing herself up from the floor.