The Invisible Planet

Part 19: Shallow Grave

Angeline picked a small house near the edge of the village, where if she opened her window, she could smell the flowers from the fence. There was a tiny kitchen with a working sink, a small dining table, and a decently sized open area for a bed. It was all she needed.

She spent the next hour helping the others settle in. Marita and Mikal picked a house next door to her, with a large kitchen for Marita and a second story full of extra space.

Steven and Jess found a two-bedroom home near the middle of the village, which hosted a sheltered communal dining area, a space for a fire, several outhouses, and a functional shower system — complete with a small Sunstone to heat the water.

"But where are we going to sleep?" Jess asked.

On further inspection, they found that none of the homes had beds.

"Why don't we take the mattresses from the ship?" Angeline suggested. "They already have sheets and blankets and everything. We could even store the extras somewhere in case we need them later."

"I'm not going back there," Jess complained. "There's still bodies."

"We should bury them. Put them to rest," said Mikal.

Angeline nodded. "Let's bury them first, and then we'll bring the mattresses."

They found a shed with various tools behind one of the houses, and brought the three shovels inside back to the ship.

Angeline, Steven, and Mikal spent the next two hours digging.

"This always looked so much easier in movies," Angeline panted, slumping against the shovel.

"We still have two more to dig after this," said Mikal.

"I think we should make those hooded guys do this instead," Steven suggested. Being the burliest of the three, Angeline was surprised that he was winded so quickly. "Can't they just use their magic to make the graves?"

"We can't just rely on them for everything," Angeline argued. "They built us a whole village overnight."

"Exactly. They weren't even winded," he reasoned. "That would've taken us months."

They kept digging a bit longer.

"This is six feet, right?" Angeline asked, glancing over the edge at the other two.

"Close enough," Mikal grumbled, climbing out. "Six feet isn't even galactic standard. I used to dig graves on Kespan; we were only required to have the bodies three feet below the soil."

"Oh, then we're golden." Angeline climbed out of the hole and brushed the dirt off her hands and pants. "Shallow graves it is."

Steven and Mikal walked into the ship and carried out the first body, a pale-skinned male who looked to be middle aged. A bit more haphazardly than she would've liked, they dropped him into the first grave.

In the second went an older woman with white hair. In the third, they brought Emani.

"We should put some kind of markers on them," said Steven. "That way we'll know who was buried and where."

"Find something in the ship," said Angeline. As he and Mikal disappeared inside, she picked up a fistful of dirt and stood solemnly by the third grave. "May you rest in peace, Emani," she said softly, letting the dirt fall through her fingers.

She picked up the shovel again and began to fill in the grave, wincing at the blisters forming on her hands.

"You could've asked, you know."

She looked up to see Shay standing with his arms crossed and stabbed the shovel into the ground. "How? You took off," she countered. "Besides, we can handle a little heavy lifting."

He vanished before her eyes, and she turned to see all three graves filled in and lined with stones, along with two more beside them.

"How long did that take you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He shrugged. "A few hours."

Mikal returned from the ship, holding the metal trays used to deliver food. "Oh, thank goodness," he muttered.

Shay vanished again, reappearing on the other side of the graves. Each tray was buried halfway in the ground with the name of the deceased etched into it.

"Now you're just showing off," Angeline accused. "How did you know their names?"

"Emani I heard you say just now. Morna was Floragrine's grandmother," he began, gesturing at each grave as he spoke, "Emilio was Calvo's friend. Sandor had a necklace with his name engraved on it, and Lalitha was Gwynalie's wife."

"Do you know everyone's names?"

"Of course not. Only the people who were on this ship. I spoke to about half of them yesterday, and the other half while you three were out here. Which reminds me— I think there's one missing, unless I miscounted."

"How so?" she asked.

"Everyone seemed to think there were thirty-four passengers. There's five dead here, and only twenty-eight remaining. There should've been twenty-nine."

"Someone must've wandered off. Can you help us bring the mattresses from the ship back to the village?" she asked. "We can do a headcount when we're all back."

He chuckled. "It would be you."

"What?"

"We didn't put beds on purpose, to see which of you would suggest re-using the ones you already had in the ship. I was hoping someone else would pick up the slack, but I guess not."

She crossed her arms. "Can you help, or not?"

"I can certainly try." He followed them onto the ship and into the first room. "If you can get them outside, I'll carry them the rest of the way."

"Deal."

"I've got this one. Start on the rest," he said, lifting the mattress off the frame.

Angeline and the others struggled with moving the bulky beds, only managing to get one of them outside by the time Shay returned. She watched in shock as he folded it in half and slung it over his shoulder, as though his only issue with doing so was its awkward size.

She turned away with a blushing grin, chiding her heart as it fluttered. Nothing good would come of having a crush on a 200 year old immortal, she reminded herself.

One by one, they emptied the ship's rooms of mattresses.

"There's one room left," said Steven, "but the door's sealed shut. Someone must have engaged the manual lock from the inside."

"Is someone in there?"

"I knocked, but there was no answer. They were probably killed in the crash."

"I guess we found our missing person. Can we pry it open?"

"Nothing to pry it with. I can try pushing." He moved against the door and shoved sideways with a groan of effort, attempting to slide it open. "It won't budge."

"If you can't open it, the rest of us certainly can't," said Mikal. "These doors are meant to be pirate-proof. Nothing short of a blaster is going to get us in."

"What's wrong?" Shay asked, approaching from the hall.

"We're thinking there might be another body inside, but we can't get the door open," Angeline explained.

Shay was quiet for a few seconds. "The dead don't have thought patterns. Whoever's in there is very much alive."