The acid beat the glass and the drops trickled down the wall, leaving long reddish streaks. She took a sip of the contents of her cup. The wrapper said “Instant Hot Chocolate” but the mixture didn't smell or taste; only the color vaguely recalled the beverage from which it took its name. She stirred the liquid slowly – each movement had become difficult, almost painful – and put the spoon on the small cabinet in front of her. Llydaw sighed. She let her gaze drift away, through the rain-reddened window, grazing the barren landscape without actually seeing it. A muffled slamming of the door. The din of the decontamination process. The depressurization airlock. And finally the hiss of the main station opening. Emilius growled. Did he know how to do anything else, anyway? Llydaw doubted it. Her stomach contracted when she heard him enter the room.
“Take the device. Maintained signs on the other side, behind Lac Rouge. Do you know what I saw? "
Llydaw shook his head, although she knew very well where he was going.
"Nothing ! This is what I saw, he shouted, the sand had covered them! "
Llydaw was silent.
"Already that rat hole is unlivable, do you want us to run out of electricity? Huh, is that what you want? "
Llydaw refrained from responding.
“Maybe I should be happy that you fixed the relay? Huh, is that it? "
He took her by the collar of her jumpsuit, shook her and lifted her up, pinning her against the glass. Llydaw felt a pressure on her windpipe and she began to suffocate. An explosion of glass tore his eardrums. A warm liquid moistened his socks. Emilius glanced at the shards of the mug and the hot chocolate spilling onto the tiles. With a final start, Llydaw grabbed the spoon off the small cabinet and sank it into the soft flesh of the neck of the man who had been keeping him company for four years now, on that lump of rock lost in the middle of space. He let go of her, startled by the pain. She grabbed a large, sharp shard of the shattered cup and proceeded to cut her partner's throat in mishap. His eyes widened, fell to his knees. Llydaw took a breath and finished his task.
There was good. Very well even. It wouldn't take long for Emilius' corpse to disintegrate in such weather. She left him lying in the red rain and turned on her heels. A deafening uproar, even with his reinforced suit, reached him. She froze. His own breathing and the beating of his heart filled his eardrums. Llydaw looked up and saw one of those shuttles connecting Mars and Freyr. A man got out and came to meet him.
“Hello,” he signed with a smile. The corners of his lips sagged when he saw the body.
Llydaw cranked up the motors, gazing into the distance at the two corpses under the red acid.