The Final Frontier

She left the room.

As he worked, the silvery blue blood began to heat up in the beaker, steaming and swirling.

 

The blood began to burn inside the vial. A white flame took over, and an inky blackness spread from the surface, changing the peaceful blue into bubbling darkness. A crack appeared in the side of the test tube.

 

He did it in the nick of time. The vial shattered, the remains of the blood drifting to the table like ash.

 

The blood, it seemed, had finished its reaction with being separated from its owner. It simply lay on the table.

 

It had the same texture of volcanic ash, and it fell apart under his gloved hands.

 

(Zoop?)

 

The pod sealed into the cargo hold and Trevor stepped up, his boots covered in mud from the nearby planet. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly.

 

He squinted down at his boots before sitting on the ground, holding his legs up in the air.

 

He glanced up at her and frowned, trying to maintain his composure.

"I'm... trying to not track mud in," he said slowly.

 

He glowered, raising one eyebrow.

"That's what I'm doing."