with their ship, they carry away the last promise of solace. and, resigned, as she must be, she watches the angular form carry further and further away, ascending into the murky gray and plasma, knowing; her last voyage shall be death.

     a withering mist descends, lying thick across the exterior, roughened plates of her spacesuit. not quite upon the horizon, the last shadow of them, of life, curls back against the atmosphere and leaves her... leaves her feeling bereft. still, the planet’s cycle trudges on, leaving elizabeth to circle back and investigate their landing site.      charred resources greet her, the remains of the voyager’s smaller orbiter vehicle docked upon the edge of the reservoir. here lie the first humans that she has had privilege of setting eyes upon in years; all dead. making sure to steer clear of the containment chamber as well as where the fire looked to have initially stemmed, she manages to find a few dehydrated food packets; a god-sent gift. the discovery pulls her from her wallowing, the edges of her soft lips curling as she exhales a warm breath. she is able to revel within the brief shred of happiness brought by these scraps, even if it is only for a moment.

     then, en-route to leave, she stops instead of stepping over the body in her wake. bending down, her thumb and forefinger grasp against metal plates and pull, effectively removing the corpse’s blackened dog tags. her gloved thumb shifts back and forth over the dark metallic surface until the engraved words beneath are at last legible. " maggie faris... maggie, means pearl. a strong name.” elizabeth speaks aloud to her only confidant, herself, before finally pocketing the tags and turning her attention outwards.

     it is... insurmountable, how this occurrence makes her feel. marooned light-years from her home planet, detached from her people; at last, this small pit of life lands, guided forth in the form of some freak cosmic accident... only to be so immediately snuffed out by what... he has done. what he has tampered with. the coincidence itself was godly. yet, the fate that many, if not most of them had met, was far from.

     this had gone on long enough. this... every screeching disciple of david 8′s mad dash for supremacy. humans had come to this planet seeking alleviation and here they all lay, splayed before her, filleted by his creatures. she knows this, as the fire doesn’t fool her. the spots of blood upon the rocks and pebbles as well as the tattered military grade fabric speak the true story.

     as did the creature that had sought her out a fortnight ago.

     his predator could have killed her. he could kill her still. but her fear of death has long since waned. and so, she will face his unfeeling one last time. she will end it, one last time.