Proof of Life

Proof of Life
WC 299



“You didn’t see me do it. You don’t have proof! Don’t blame me!” George yelled at Nate.

Nate looked out the window of the spaceship. A giant mushroom cloud filled the round portal.
“You just blew up that star! How do you know there wasn’t something alive on there!?”

“Aw come on. It wasn’t even on our chart. We’re in the Tadpole Galaxy, remember? Nothing lives out here. WE shouldn’t even be out here. If it wasn’t for YOUR mistake, we could be home now, but NO, you had to……”

Nate interrupted George’s ranting. “Don’t go there! I warned you before, don’t go down that road again!” Nate floated over to George. He took George’s gloved hand off the controls. “Now hands off the missile controls. I don’t want anything else ‘accidentally’ blowing up. I’m still in charge here. And you never know, something may be alive out here. Probably not like us, but still alive.”

George rolled his eyes. “Let’s not start that whole philosophy lecture again. I’ve heard enough. You beat that horse all the way from Andromeda. Let me just say if anything was alive in whatever shape or mental capacity they define as life, our missile just eradicated it.”

The cockpit of the spaceship suddenly got misty. Nate floated back to his seat and checked the environmental controls.

“What’s happening Nate?”

“I think the nitrogen to hydrogen ratio is a bit off. I’m going to try to balance the mix.” Nate fiddled with the dials but the mist persisted.

Suddenly George screamed. His body exploded and a red mist appeared in its place.

“George?” Nate whispered. Nate watched as the mist disappeared as fast it had appeared.
Life can indeed take many forms, he thought. Perhaps life in the Tadpole Galaxy had just said hello.