The Gravediggers of Orpheus [2]

A Sci-fi flash fiction. Entry to the SciFriday.

I might share these tiny Scifi flash fiction pieces as a series, but I’ll try to make them readable as stand-alones as well. So you don’t have to follow every bit of this story to understand it.

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Derek raced through the empty hallways of Vulture05, the gravedigger vessel. His every step clinked on the metal surface like a speeding heartbeat. Swoosh - one door - swoosh - next one - Bang! The third one always got stuck.

“Come, Vulture, you old bird! Open up!” Derek cursed under his nose, letting the security lock scan his palm for the fifth time. He gave the door a kick - Swoosh! Good old brute force did the trick! Finally, he made it to the operation room. It was rarely used, lately the gravediggers found less and less survivors among the civilian corpses.

Derek was the first one to leave the de-contamination chamber and the showers, his hair was still dripping-wet. But he had to know…

He saw the med bots operating on the survivor - the woman was covered in tubes and wires, while the bots moved around her with mechanical synchronicity. Doc Liz, the Vulture’s only physician stood by to oversee the operation. The front of her white overall was covered in blood - Liz was an old-school physician and didn’t trust the bots completely. She looked at Derek through the glass wall and smiled, showing thumbs-up. Derek nodded. The two of them shared their excitement about the survivors. Usually, Liz had to patch up the minor injuries of the gravediggers or examine and prepare the deceased to be buried. Unlike other gravedigger crews of planet Orpheus, the Vulture’s took their time to bury most of the corpses. Only the completely mangled ones where cremated.

Liz pointed at the operation room next to her with a beaming smile gracing her old eyes. Derek furrowed his brows; a strange noise came from the other room. At first Derek couldn’t comprehend what was he staring at. A tiny creature whined and wailed, lying in the glass incubator, whilst med bots hovered around it. Derek had never seen a human baby this tiny. It had extended its feeble arms and legs, the baby cried. Derek had an inexplicable feeling the baby was calling him. All he could do was place his large palm on the glass surface. The rest of the gravedigger crew joined him, staring at the little one in the glass box, with wires covering its tiny chest.

Derek didn’t know how long they stood there in the silence, interrupted only by the beeping, screeching, and clanking of the med bots.

“What a catch, huh Derek?” Doc Liz suddenly appeared behind their backs. Her hair was wet, she was fresh out the shower.

“The mama will live. We patched her up good,” doc Liz said.

“And the baby?” Derek asked not taking his eyes off the little creature, who seemed to be asleep now.

“Born prematurely, but she might survive. A wonder, isn’t she?” Liz smiled with her old, wrinkled face glowing.

Derek nodded.

“I want to give her a name. Every creature deserves a name, even if…” Derek couldn’t go on. The tiny new life and death were incompatible in his mind. He hadn’t cried in years.

“Go on,” Liz smiled, and the crew members murmured approvingly.

“Annuk. That was my mother’s name.”

“It’s a lovely name, Derek,” doc Liz put her hand on Derek’s shoulder, “welcome, Annuk. Stay with us,” said doc Liz. Derek noticed he wasn’t the only one with tears in his eyes.