The solution fizzed bright red, hissing and spitting sparks out onto the pristine white lab counter like drops of blood on snow as Astrid carefully squeezed five milliliters of titanium out with her micropipet. The reaction was like a flash of light: bright for an instant and then calm again a second later as the solution returned to the original translucent pink color. Despite the nondescript appearance of her current mix, Astrid was satisfied, knowing that the one second reaction was just as long as she needed to produce the perfect serum--or at least it had been enough when tested on the adorable white rat sleeping by her bed. Perhaps one little test wouldn't have been sufficient were she still on Earth, but animals were scarce on the Andromeda, so this would have to be good enough.

Besides, it wasn't like she particularly cared about her next lab rat.

With steady hands, Astrid tipped the test tube into a syringe. She then placed the device in a clear protective bag, which she deposited into her large bag where it nestled among her other assortment of junk: hair ties, gloves, notepads, pens, hand sanitizer, and one other crucial syringe. Satisfied, she removed her white lab coat and goggles, zipped her bag and slung it over her shoulder, and exited the lab, using her unique thumbprint to lock it behind her. Out in the dim grey hallway, she hurried away towards the grander Central Plaza of the Andromeda, glancing at a clock along the way. The party had started ten minutes ago. She was late, but then again, her appearance wouldn't make a good impression on the gathering even if she were on time.

Astrid's mouth twisted as she thought of what she was to do. She had thought through all the possible outcomes, and knew that this was what had to be done. It would have been better, perhaps easing a bit of the stress from her burdened shoulders, had she been able to talk it over with at least one other scientist, but the poisonous lab experiment three years ago had made sure that would never be a possibility.

She knew that the people might hate her, especially the Captain and his wife, the First Mate. That would be far from ideal, cooped up on this ship with them for the rest of her life, but there was nothing to be done. Although it might make everyone avoid her even more than normal, she was far too precious to kill and everyone knew it.

After she reached the Central Plaza and turned off into one of the passenger hallways, Astrid was once again wowed by the breathtaking stars outside. No matter how many times she walked through these halls, she was sure she would never get used to the sight, the bright stars of glitter among a sea of blackness. And more than that--there was the unfathomable idea that she was part of the future looking into the past. The stars that shined so brightly might be from a time before humans had screwed up Earth beyond repair, might have burned out years ago but still continued to cast their legacy on their little ship.

After reaching the hallway, it was only a few more minutes before Astrid reached the golden gilded doors to the Ballroom. At the doors, she could hear slow, romantic music flowing from inside and realized that she was, as per usual late. It didn't matter. At least she could make more an entrance this way, even more than her usual unwanted attention. With a deep breath, she pushed both of the doors open. They were lighter than she expected and swung all the way open, slamming against the walls on either side with a bang. Immediately, all eyes in the room were on her.

"Well," said Astrid, fighting the urge to duck away from all the attention. "I suppose this is one way to make an entrance."

As she stood there looking out onto the sea of ostentatious party dresses probably passed down from Earthen generations, she noted wryly that her white lab coat--bright and similar to a skirt on the bottom--would fit in more than her everyday outfit that she wore now: tight black pants and a form fitting black turtleneck, her black hair pulled up into two tight space buns that, while ideal for keeping her hair out of her face in the lab, had also spawned rumors that she had horns.

Mustering up all her confidence, she began to walk into the room. The crowd parted instinctively, ducking away from the vision in black and making it easier for her to walk through the throngs of people. When she was around the center of the room, someone shut off the music so that the only sound was that of her steel toed boots--heavy duty to protect from lab accidents--clunking across the floor. She had a destination in mind, and the Captain and First Mate seemed to realize that and rise to the challenge, drawing themselves up fuller in their throne-like chairs. When she got to the front of the room, she gave a mocking sort of half courtesy.

When it appeared that nobody was planning on breaking the silence, Astrid decided to take initiative herself. "What a lovely party," she said mockingly. "I must say, I was rather distressed to learn I wasn't invited."

"You're not wanted here, Astrid." The Captain met her gaze with hardened eyes. "You're to stay in your quarters and out of everyone's way."

"Oh dear," said Astrid with a small laugh. "What an awkward situation. But shouldn't you know that you don't stop me from coming to anything?"

The Captain's face tightened, eyes narrowing, but Astrid glared defiantly back.
"Then you might learn to have some respect. I am your Captain, leader and driver of this ship, and you would do best to follow my command. Right now, you're making a scene on Aurora's special day. Anyone with basic human levels of decency should know not to do that."

"Yes, that's right," called a distinct, light voice that Astrid would recognize without even looking. Her songs were always playing around the ship in a mind-numbing sort of way you couldn't get away from.  
Where the voice was, the she demon was never far. Aurora floated into view in rose colored dress inlaid with so many gems--probably diamonds--that she looked could probably win a contest in being the best chandelier against the extravagant diamond chandeliers that hung on the ceiling. Her delicate hands were wrapped around the arm of a tall, scowling boy that Astrid recognized as her very publicly hailed boyfriend, Scorpius. He was always strutting around the ship as though certain he would be the next Captain just because a little fifteen year old girl had a fleeting crush on him.

"I'm sorry, but you really aren't welcome here, witch." Aurora's voice was so soft and melodic that you couldn't really help but to fall under her spell when she spoke: that was, of course, unless you listened to her cruel words. But nobody ever did; nobody ever looked past her otherworldly outward beauty.

"Nobody likes you; there's a reason you're never invited anywhere. You bring the stench of lowlife with you. Please, just stay with the rats where you belong."

Astrid rolled her eyes. She might have been furious as Aurora's insults if she hadn't heard them dozens of times before. The girl was as unoriginal as a five year old. Before the incident, three years ago when there were still other scientists, her mentor Leo had somewhat jokingly observed that Astrid might be flattered that Aurora thought the feats she accomplished through science and medicine were so like magic that she called her a witch. And she might have been, in a cynical sort of way, except that her limited interactions with the very superficial Aurora had made it very clear that the insult had much less to do with the incredible things Astrid accomplished and much more to do with the copious amounts of black she always wore.

She should never have hoped anything more, of course. Aurora's entire life revolved around her beauty and her privileged birth. At birth, she was gifted by the ship's two scientists a bit of genetic manipulation to ensure her prized, superior traits--her breathtaking beauty and melodious singing voice--just because her parents were the Captain and First Mate and wanted a doll of a daughter. And so she had never worked or studied or lifted a finger--probably had never even gotten dressed all by herself--for a single day in her life. She spent her days singing and embroidering and dancing and doing all sorts of useless things, enticing everyone who passed her wake, having the most ridiculously extravagant birthday party Astrid could ever dream up.

Meanwhile, Astrid had practically grown up in the lab, injecting herself with needles and serums when no one else would to test out new medicines and save humankind from going extinct. And on her sixteenth birthday, two years ago, she had spent the day alone alternating between curling up on her tiny cot and vomiting into a bucket every few minutes, side effects of a vaccine she was testing on herself.

"It just so happens," Astrid drawled, "that I came here to see you, Aurora. I hope I haven't missed the gift exchange yet?"

"I'm not sure I understand," said Aurora , her voice quivering slightly, betraying the smallest bit of her internal fear as she edged closer, using her boyfriend, Scorpius as a shield. Astrid matched her pace, stepping confidently closer to the dolled up girl.
"It's not everyday you turn sixteen," Astrid said softly, taking three more steps until she was standing directly face to face with the girl. Her beautiful face, perfectly made up, looked more porcelain than human, especially with the large red rose tucked into her golden curls framing her face. She looked perfect in the moment, and Astrid hated her for it. "I thought I might give you a present."

Aurora looked a mixture of confused and scared as she stared down the girl, her rosebud mouth parting a little as she grasped around for a response. Her father answered for her.

"You've never given a gift a day in your life, Astrid," said the Captain. "I don't know what kind of plot you're messing around with, but I hope you realize there will be repercussions for your behavior. Take your gifts and get out of here."

"Oh, but it's only fair that I get to give my gift," Astrid said, reaching out and taking Aurora's hand in her own. The girl visibly flinched, but Astrid tightened her hold so she couldn't move away. "Leo and Orion gave you gifts that your pathetic little brain will never fathom the greatness of. So I thought it only fair that I get to give mine too."

And then, with a movement fast as light, she reached into her bag for the freshly prepared syringe. Pulling Aurora's arm towards her, Astrid pricked the point of the needle into her arm, plunging it deep into her flesh and squeezing down to inject the serum into the girl's vein. Aurora's eyes widened--with surprise or pain Astrid couldn't tell--and she stumbled backwards as Astrid pulled the device from her and threw it to the floor beside them.
Aurora stumbled backwards, with Scorpius grabbing her and preventing her from falling. Astrid was vaguely aware that the entire room was staring at her, in fear probably, anger too, as she approached the girl, pressing two fingers to her neck to feel her slowing pulse. She pulled out the second syringe, ready to press this serum into her too, but the boy beside her was faster, knocking it away. Instead of her arm, it caught the girl's finger, where Astrid was quick to push it down. It wasn't ideal, but a pricked finger could still work.

"What have you done?" the Captain roared beside her. Astrid whipped her head up to see that he and his wife had rushed over and were now standing beside her, stony, fierce expressions on their faces.

"I've done her a favor you'll never comprehend," said Astrid, returning her gaze to Aurora, whose eyelids had fluttered shut and had gone completely limp against her suitor. Good. Then the first part had worked, at least. The first solution should have slowed down her heart, the second one, her brain, to a pace that was barely sustainable. She just needed to get her hooked up to the coffin like case filled with liquid nitrogen in the lab within a few hours to keep her alive, and monitor to make sure that all had gone as according to plan, especially with that deflected second injection. If not, Astrid had more she could inject into the girl, and was sure with a few scans of her brain she could monitor how much more she needed.

"Is she dead?" The shriek was obnoxiously high pitched and sharp coming from the Lady Captain as she hovered over her daughter. "She's not breathing!"

"Relax," drawled Astrid. "She's still breathing. Unfortunately. It's just at such a slow pace that human ears won't be able to detect it--only the machines I have in the lab."

"What have you done?" the Captain demanded again.

"I wish I could say that I killed her," Astrid deadpanned. "But unfortunately, her genetics wouldn't let me. This ship isn't going to dock at New Earth for a hundred more years, and we'll all be long dead by then. But the genetic enhancements that Leo and Orion gave Aurora at birth did more than just make her pretty; I've observed a startling change to her white blood cells that appear to make her, among other things, immune to any harmful virus that enters her body. Since there's no way of telling what kinds of diseases might attack us on our new planet, she really is essential for colonization. Yet with Leo and Orion dead, I don't know how to replicate it.

"Before Andromeda left Earth, the scientists there developed a technique to put people into cryosleep, and have always known that it might be essential to this trip. You or your answers--whoever first agreed to come aboard this ship--all signed off that it was a possibility at the scientists' discretion, for the better of all, although I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't take the time to decipher exactly what that entails.

"Anyways, I believe that Aurora's genetic code will be essential if we are to succeed. I have no way of knowing what will happen when she reproduces, especially with this ship being such a small population where detrimental genetic mutations are nearly certain to occur. The only logical option then, was to put her into cryosleep, slowing down her functions so that she's nearly frozen and ages much, much, more slowly. Her body and mind will still be sixteen in a hundred years when it's time to wake her up."

"You're taking away her life," breathed Scorpius, horror in his eyes.

"No I'm not," said Astrid rolling her eyes. "But I wouldn't expect you all to understand."

"Why now?" asked the First Mate, her voice quivering, eyes brimming with tears. "Why would you not tell us first? Why would you come disrupt her special day with such tragedy?"

"Oh, that," said Astrid, and she couldn't help the mocking tone that crept into her voice. "I must confess, I was a bit upset to learn that I wasn't invited. I did want to give my gift at her birthday celebration, you know! It just so happens to be that my gift was more like a... a finger prick, than a beauty product." And she had to admit, it was sweet to be in this role. She had loathed the girl for so long.

"You should know this is high treason to do this to a member of our esteemed family without consulting us first," the Captain hissed.

"Yes, I know," said Astrid. "But you know and I know that I'm the only scientist or doctor on this ship. You all rely on me because you've been too lazy or stupid to study yourselves. I'm the only one who knows how to wake her up, for one thing. So if you kill me... you kill her. And then you kill yourself and every single other person on the Andromeda in the likely occurrence of an illness or disease--anything that could spread and kill you all."

The Captain's teeth were clenched, but he said nothing. So Astrid only laughed as she turned and exited the room, reveling in the feeling. She would allow them all to collect themselves first, then come to collect the girl for her lab later.

Scorpius watched the scientist exit the room, looking more like an evil witch than ever. He had always disliked her and her mocking, scathing attitude, the way she seemed to take pleasure in making sure her treatments were as painful as possible, and lord over everyone how she had the power to keep everyone on the ship alive... or kill them all dead. Brushing a kiss onto Aurora's now ice cold forehead, he vowed that he would learn Astrid's ways, take out the witch, and save his true love.

About the author:

Kay Wisteria aka wisteriaflower is an avid reader and writer of fairytales and fantasy. She is the author of Wattpad books such as Beyond the Tower and Of Spinning Gold and Song, stories that twist multiple fairytales together. Her works have won Wattpad contests and been recognized on the Wattys shortlist. When not writing, she can be found binging Disney movies.

▪ ▪ ▪

Show some love -- vote, comment & spread the word 🧡