DUST TO DUST

Is revenge worth the death of a friend?

DUST TO DUST

As I put on my suit that morning, I didn't think much was going to come of the day. Maybe, at the most, I was going to have some free time to walk around in the snow a bit. Not much did happen for a few hours at least. I laid on my purple bed and stared up at the little bumps in my green ceiling. Suddenly, the AI in my room brought my attention to her.

“Irtfeed, you have an incoming call.” Oombek articulated.

“Could you play it for me?” I replied.

“Don't tell me what to do.” Oombek blurted.

“Don't be so dramatic.” I said.

“Why do you hate me so much?” Oombek fumed.

“Would you just play me the message?” I suggested.

“Fine.” Oombek snarled. I waited a minute before Oombek answered the phone.

“Hey, Irtfeed!” Onkart gushed.

“Hey, Onkart. How's everything on Uranus?” I replied.

“Oh, it's great! Just calling in to let you guys know we just discovered some new type of fruit and want you guys to come check it out for us.” Onkart jabbered.

“Alright, thanks Onkart. I'll let Zixer know.” I told.

“Tell everyone I said hi!” Onkart insisted before he hung up. I smiled as I got up and walked throughout our ship to the king's room.

“Who comes to me?” Zixer commanded.

“Take a guess.” I replied.

“Irtfeed. What brings you here?” Zixer questioned.

“Onkart and his people want us to cook for him. Oh, and he says hi.” I proclaimed.

“Alright. Quortunt, take us to Uranus immediately.” Zixer instructed his AI. I started to walk back to my room and stumbled when the ship lurched. After a while, we finally landed on Uranus. When I ran out onto the land, I was greeted with a hug by Onkart.

“Hey, girl! Come on, walk with me, talk with me.” Onkart directed me.

“So how have you been?” I asked when we were out of earshot of anyone on the ship.

“I've missed you, Irtfeed.” Onkart said in a voice that wasn't his own. I stopped and looked at him. I knew the voice, though it wasn't his. Suddenly, he became stiff and his form changed. He seemed to shrink and his skin almost painted itself into an olive color. His ears became pointed and his eyes became red. Then when he turned around I recognized him. He was a long lost friend, Ercyortfoop.

“Ercy? Why are you here? Where's Onkart?” I demanded.

“I'm afraid he's the one who has been long dead.” Ercy said. I looked at him in complete shock and began to back away. “Oh, Irtfeed, don't pretend you're not happy to see me.” Ercy insisted.

“What do you want from me?” I blurted.

“Oh, it's nothing from you. I would never harm such a dear friend. Do you remember why I left, Irtfeed?” Ercy inquired. I didn't answer. I didn't want to speak to him. “Because your dear king used me as a test subject. He did this to me. What I want, Irtfeed, is to take his little skull in my hand and crush it until I can feel my fingers through his brain.” Ercy admitted. As soon as he finished, I took off and ran. He couldn't catch up to me. Not in his normal form anyway. My legs were longer than his, so I could run faster. As soon as I was inside the ship, I started giving commands to everyone. We needed to protect the king. If our king died, we all died.

“Oombek, status report!” I barked.

“The larboard ionic neutron drive core generator has gone pear-shaped.” Oombek said sarcastically.

“Stop screwing around, Oombek!” I said.

“The warp field reactor has imploded. God, don't be so serious.” Oombek sighed.

“Oh, god. Everyone get to the king's quarters!” I crowed. We ran into the king's room just to see the king alone.

“What is the meaning of this?” Zixer asked. Suddenly he cried out and he turned to dust. When the dust fell, we all saw Ercy standing behind where the king was standing, holding a knife and grinning.

“No.” I whispered. I looked around at all of my people as they screamed and turned to dust as well.

“What?” Ercy gasped. I held up my hand as it also crumbled into dust. Soon enough, I began to fall apart, just like all the rest. “Irtfeed!” Ercy screeched, running to me. He grabbed my shoulders and looked into my dying eyes. “This isn't what I wanted.” Ercy muttered.

“No. But it's what you asked for.” I murmured. Then I crumbled into dust in his arms.

Author's Note

I wrote this story a few years ago, so it may not be as good quality as my other stories.