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It was a perfect day if it wasn’t unusually hot, windy, and a fiery meteor wasn't coming closer by the minute. The calm blue sky was tainted dark orange with no clouds to shield the brightness of the glowing red rock in the sky.
Grant was running down the main avenue. The normally busy street had only a few people milling about as if it wasn’t the apocalypse. The weather didn’t seem to deter them from thinking it was just another day. The smart, though hopeless ones, were hiding in their homes and buildings, using their last moments alive to do whatever final things they can do to feel solace. Neither mindset mattered either way.
But, unlike others who were doomed, Grant wanted to live and wanted to do something about it. It made no sense to her that the Shlorpian government, which had many resources and technologies, only permitted a hundred ships and a handful of Shlorpians to leave. Especially when she knew that, for a fact, people started disappearing way before the asteroid was revealed to the public. If others noticed, few questioned it.
She had a party with her two best friends who happened to be chosen to leave this soon to be cloud of space debris of a planet. The party was insisted on by Grant to celebrate the happy coincidence her two friends were paired up. One worked at the nursery with Grant and the other at her old job at the ship parts factory. She repeated over and over again that the government couldn’t have picked a better duo than those two.
Her friends felt uncomfortable with her blowing through all her credit though. She was always a free spender, but last night was too much. Never ending drinks, entertainment, and few under the table hallucinogens filled the night. If this was how she wanted to waste her last night alive, they reasoned it wasn’t their business on how she spent her money.
The notable thing that came out of the night was the drunken promise that Grant would come by the ship hanger to say goodbye one last time. It was a slip of the tongue because they all knew she couldn’t. Nobody that wasn’t selected for the mission was allowed inside. It was more out of politeness than an actual invitation.
But maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t a passing joke. So when Grant woke up in the morning, and after convincing herself at the last moment, she decided to go. If it was a joke, Grant had nothing better to do in this situation. She would only live her last moments in an empty hanger. But she wished they would wait, just a little more.
She finally made it to the station, her gasping for air and trying to fight the pain of her legs wanting to give out. The elaborate white building with Shlorpian signature curvilinear architecture and carefully tended foliage had its main entrance wide open. Rushing inside, she was happy to know navigating the building was simply crossing a questionable OSHA compliant bridge above a massive pool of energy to the hangers. Her hearts dropped as she scanned the open air, half bowl room finding all the hangers empty… until she saw one last ship! It had to be their ship!
So with the last of her strength, she made a mad dash to it.
There were two black robed figures next to the ship. They both stood about the same height, but one was a dark turquoise skinned Shlorpian who was pacing and the other a burgundy one writing something on a holo-tablet. They both saw her as she got closer and it was obvious they were surprised.
The turquoise one, the more friendly of the pair, jumped and waved at Grant, “You made it! The guards just left!”
The guards. Grant completely forgot about them. If they were still there, she wouldn’t have been able to get inside in the first place.
“We were about to leave.” The other more reserved one said as Grant collapsed in front of them. She clicked her tablet off and put it in her robe’s pocket. If a stranger judged her from what she said, they would have thought her to be heartless but Grant knew better.
They all stared at each other for a moment, not sure what to say.
“I guess this is goodbye,” Grant broke the silence, “I hope you guys succeed in your mission and live long… lives.” That last word made Grant regret saying it. There wasn’t anything else to say, but she also didn’t want to sound envious.
It was awkward for the other two because how do you respond to that? The serious one hung their head down and the other looked over to the ship.
“Thank you.” They replied, stumbling the words as they didn’t plan to say it in unison.
Emotion took over Grant and she started crying. Her friends panicked. There wasn’t any time to comfort her but they couldn’t leave and have their last memory of her at her lowest. The turquoise one fell into a hug with her, letting Grant sob onto their shoulder.
The other was swaying their weight from foot to foot. Before Grant was spotted, she was in a discussion with the other. There was a building frustration that finally erupted.
“How much do you weigh?” She angrily said.
Grant and the other looked at each other.
“I… don’t know?” Grant answered.
“Get on the ship, both of you.” The burgundy one motioned them to the ramp into the ship.
The turquoise one rose up from the ground and grabbed Grant’s hand, but Grant stood her ground. Escaping was exactly what she wanted. Now doubt and guilt was eating at Grant. She wasn’t meant to be on this mission. This will be breaking so many rules from etiquette to the government's orders. She was already a rule breaker, but putting her friends with a life and death risk was too much. The burgundy one was already up the ramp and inside. “Hurry up or we’ll leave both of you!”
Grant snapped out of her thoughts and the other pulled her on board without any more hesitation.
“Via!” The burgundy one yelled, “What’s the weight of the ship?”
There were two replicants at the front of the ship, already buckled in and ready to go. The one presumably named Via was in the captain’s chair and flipped through a few screens on a computer near the controls.
“Hundred and forty-two overweight, Xerox.” They yelled back.
The burgundy one named Xerox ran to the back of the ship.
Xerox’ replicant looked at their evacuation partner and then to the stranger.
“Saran, strap in. And you-” they assessed Grant in a judgemental way, “Hold on to something. The ship will register you as cargo.”
In a short time, Xerox was pushing a large box off the ship.
“Three pounds under.” The replicant yelled. Exasperated, Xerox ran back down the ramp and ripped open the container’s lid. She ran up the ramp with some fruit in her arms.
“Good enough!” Via was now turning the main engine on from standby.
When Xerox went to their seat, they dropped all the fruit to the floor except one and threw it to Grant. Grant looked at the spiky fruit, almost thanking it for sacrificing its fruit brethren so she could live. It wasn’t a second more when the ship was hovering off the ground and then launching itself into the air. They made it out of the atmosphere barely before the asteroid hit.