Prompt: “I never wanted to be an alien invader, but I accidently stole a space station”

Pairing: Kris/Tao

Words: ~1800

“, , !”

Kris’s feet trample against the hard, metallic ground as he paces the cockpit, gingerly stepping over pale-skinned bodies that litter the waist-high, bloodied water that fills the ship. The alarm sirens blare over the speaker system in some alien language he cannot understand, and a constant buzzing comes from what he assumes is an intercom with a giant screen on the wall. What the hell was he supposed to do?

Kris’s pod had picked up a distress signal a few hundred kilometres from the surface of Kepler 62e. It was a planet very much like Earth that sat in the Lyra constellation, and humanity had no idea what the place held. The search for habitable exoplanets had become a topic of mass debate back at home after the United Nations finally agreed that the Earth was dying. Too much pollution and a burgeoning population meant there weren’t enough resources for everyone, and those young enough were conscripted into the Space Program and sent out beyond the reaches of their own solar system after grueling months of training. It was that, or drown. With rising water levels and vast expanses of the earth being eaten up by the sea, there wasn’t much space for anyone left.

But no one had trained Kris for this. No one had even discussed the idea that extraterrestrial life could exist somewhere out in the universe.

Kris rakes a hand through his hair, his body brushing past what looks like some kind of gun held in the hands of one of the creatures. He thought the signal was just another pod; some other person sent out to scout the same solar system as him. He thought that maybe for the first time in years he’d see a human face, be able to direct his gravelly voice to something or someone other than the AI of his pod that he’d decided to endearingly call Siri, who seemed to share the same levels of sass and iness as his iPhone. Instead, he’d found the wreckage of a spaceship half filled with water.

They weren’t actually too different from humans in appearance, aside from the massive fish tail that stretched out from their lower torso and fanned out wildly in the water, like mermaids or sirens from earthly fairytales. There were three long gashes on each of the creatures’ cheeks, slashed at such an angle that at first Kris thought they were all killed in the same way. On closer inspection, however, they appeared to be gills. The things not only had tails, but could breathe underwater. Kris found this fascinating, though it also creeped him out considerably.

The blare of the sirens continues, and Kris attempts to make his way back through the doorway. He almost reaches it, but it slams shut above him as a new voice cackles on the speaker system as the sirens abruptly stop.

“Where do you think you are going?”

Kris’s eyes widen in silent panic, struggling to remain balanced in his shock. His feet collapse from underneath him and he finds himself submerged in the water. He chokes a little and pulls himself back upright, arms flailing against the control panel as a torrent of water tears through the ceiling. He shrieks, holding a hand above his head, hoping that his fingers will prevent the water from hitting him. Why did he stupidly take his spacesuit off at the bay door he’d entered?

Kris curses himself, eyes scanning the room in alarm. There was no one there, yet someone had seen him. He’s sure of it. He braces himself against the control panel as the water rises to his chest. If he could read this stupid language then maybe he’d be able to open it up and let the water disperse to somewhere else on the ship. Kris decides he should talk to the voice, see if it is friend or foe. Though, given the circumstances, he’s pretty sure this is it. After months alone, he’d die at the hands of aliens he never even imagined could exist.

“Who are you?” Kris asks, voice gravelly from lack of use.

“I am the one who will be asking the questions,” the voice says.

The water slams down against his back and Kris begins to hyperventilate. Fear riddling his thoughts and written upon his face, he shouts into the room, silently praying that whatever’s about to kill him will do it nice and quick. Lungs filling with water, being completely surrounded and submerged in heavy liquid… this was the reason he left Earth.

Like most humans from his world, drowning was his biggest fear.

“I… I’ll d-die if you keep the water g-going,” he calls into the air, voice cracking as he stutters. “I’ll cooperate. I promise you, just p-please… My name is Kris from the planet Earth, I heard a d-distress signal and thought it was one of my er… people. Humans, we call ourselves. Please just… please can you stop it?”

A pause, before the water begins to slow. Kris breathes out a sigh of relief and whirls around as the door slides open behind him, and the water from the cockpit starts to spread out into to halls beyond. Kris continues to lean against the control panel as a head and heavily toned shoulders swim through the door. He sees a , pale torso break the surface of the water and he gasps as dark, rounded eyes meet his.

The alien is gorgeous. A tuft of black hair covers the crown of the creatures’ head and studs grace his ears. The gills on his face are thin lines that emphasise the way his chin juts out at a sharp angle. Kris looks lower and sees where scales meet skin, noticing the silvery-blue hue of the tail, intrigued by the deep gash across it that shows that this thing has been no stranger to underwater skirmishes or extraterrestrial wars.  Kris pales and shrinks back against the wall, fingers trembling. He grabs the side of a chair and clenches as the creature comes closer to him, finally spotting what looks like a three-pointed golden trident in his hand.

“So, you are a human?” the being asks. Kris nods, feeling sick.

“You are called ‘Kris’. I am called ‘Tao’ in my home tongue. I have studied your kind, so that is why I can speak your language,” the creature explains, interest evident in his eyes. Kris nods again, cowering as he takes a seat that the creature points to. Kris was honestly too scatterbrained to notice they were both speaking English. The water is still waist-high, but it seems that this is for their movement; or, at least was, when the occupants of this ship were still alive. He watches the water level carefully.

“I don’t know what happened. I d-don’t know how my pod picked up the distress call but it did,” Kris whispers. He rattles off the details of his boarding of the craft, where this Tao can find his pod and the details of his trip. Tao speaks into what looks like a wad of seaweed but must be more like a speaker. He hears voices call through it and he concedes that Tao is not alone, and they’ve found his only form of escape.

“Your planet is really dying?” Tao asks, several minutes later. Kris shrugs, suddenly finding his shirt much more interesting than the creature before him, failing to reach his eyes.

“You can swim easily through water,” Kris says, playing with a curl of cotton. He glances up at Tao, grimacing. “You can b-breathe it to. You probably wouldn’t think our planet is dying, because of that. But our kind… if you really study us, you probably know we c-can’t do what you can; we can’t live in water and…” Kris’s breath catches in his throat. He lowers his gaze to the dead creatures that litter the cockpit. He wonders what it would be like to breathe water. He wonders if it’s a little like flying; if they have the same rush that he gets when his lungs fill with air after skydiving when they dive underneath the waves and their heavy tails flush water out from underneath them, creating a clean slipstream.

“My Earth’s water levels are rising. We live on the land but with more water there isn't all that much space left for humankind. They send the younger of our kind out on pods, to find a replacement planet… a new home… I…”

Kris squeezes his eyes shut. He breathes in a shaky breath, and continues.

“The truth is, the planet is dying because of us. It’s our fault for destroying our home. The air is so polluted by our greed that the Sun penetrates through it much harsher than it should. There’s enough life under the waves for now, but the heat of the water is changing because of my kind. We will die because we can’t live underwater, and the creatures that live under the waves will die after us because of what we did.”

That was it. Now that the alien knew of his people’s true nature, he’d surely end it. With so many questions about what happened on this ship, even if it wasn’t Kris’s fault, there was so much stacked against him. Kris realises, not for the first time, how futile it all really is. How could he live knowing he was leaving behind so much destruction? He was part of the reason his planet was dying. Surely Tao would run him through with the trident, if only to put him out of his existential misery.

“We have land,” Tao says, pressing a hand to Kris’s shoulder. Kris shudders at the touch, and throws a glance up at the creature. Tao’s eyes are gentle, though sharpness still remains. A challenge, Kris understands immediately.

“We have no need for land. We were born of the blue tides and that remains our dwelling. You, and a few of your kind, may use the land we have sparingly. This I will argue to our king, though I am sure that he will pity you and grant you asylum.”

Kris tilts his head to the side in surprise. Tao gives him a small smile, as several other of his comrades make their way into the room. They slowly begin the task of carrying out their dead, and Kris stands reverently to the side of the room, watching them carefully. Tao appears to guard him, his tail snapping back and forth under the water, brushing against Kris’s leg.

“Why not just kill me?” Kris asks quietly, as they make their way to their other spacecraft. Tao merely shrugs, nodding Kris into the holding area as the craft pushes off the space station.

“I find you interesting,” Tao responds, a smile flickering upon his lips.