Both our countermeasures failed, both our torpedoes struck, both of our ships were torn apart, both of us survived. What are the odds?
What are the odds the explosions would send us on almost the same trajectory, on almost parallel paths? What are the odds that we both, Thrag and Human, would travel towards the slow, silent death together?
I wave. The Human does, too. Then it twists and waves and kicks until it faces away from me. Turns it back towards me, as if I’m no threat. That’s when I realise the Human doesn’t have a blaster holstered on its space suit. Like I do.
The Human points, to where it is facing. Ah. I see it now, a pale blue dot. Its home planet. The Human is facing its home while waiting to die. I can respect that. I can’t even tell which star my home is circling. The Human might die alone, but I’ll die more alone still.
I check the read-outs in the suit. Looks like I’ll last at least thirty days before I die. I wonder how long the Human will last. I wonder if its suit has a radio strong enough to call for help. Unlikely. It would have to be very focused to reach that far, and suit radios only do short-distance broadcast.
I don’t want to die. I don’t want to drift helplessly, waiting for death to come for both of us.
The Human is slowly spinning around. Its visor hides its face, but it begins to wave when it sees me draw my blaster. I take careful aim, and fire.
The Human is still, then waves again. It understands what I’m trying to do. It points to the planet I fired at, three times. A pause, then points three times more slowly. Another pause, then three quick ones again. A code? Well, why not. I aim at the planet again and fire according to the pattern the Human gave me.
We are picked up by a Human ship five days later. What are the odds?
This story was originally posted on a personal blog in November 2013. Since then, I have locked down that blog, but yesterday I was contacted by a reader who remembered the story fondly and asked if it was available somewhere else. So here it is.