Flashes of green and gold turbolaser fire lit the night sky as Kayvn hurried toward the downed starfighter. She didn’t know whose it was, theirs or the Dajkhuul’s, but she found and popped the cockpit’s emergency release.
The Dajkhuul pilot moaned, his blue skin pale from blood loss. “Please…”
Face-to-face with the enemy, Kayvn should’ve burned with hatred. Yet all she thought was, So young. Younger even than her son, Kevanth, when he’d been conscripted four years ago.
“Shh…” Kayvn took the pilot’s hand.
She hummed a nursery rhyme, Kevanth’s favorite, until the pilot’s eyes closed and his breathing stilled.
Matt Krizan is a former certified public accountant who writes from his home in Royal Oak, Michigan. His short fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in various publications, including Factor Four Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, and, previously, in Martian Magazine. Find him online at mattkrizan.com and on Twitter as @MattKrizan.
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