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Stratt sat in her office, behind her desk with a cup of dark black coffee in front of her as her mind toiled with the weight of what she had done. What had been necessary to do for the sake of humanity. Her own personal feeling pushed aside for the benefit of everyone on Earth. A final sacrifice for herself and gift to one Dr. Ryland Grace, her right hand throughout the whole project.
She'd never wanted to send him away, send her best friend - or at least the closest thing she had to one - away, 12 light years into space and forever out of her reach. It had been necessary to do so and this was blessing in disguise for him, even if Grace could never, would never, see it that way.
He had been her right hand throughout the whole project and deep down this was the best outcome for him. When she would be brought to trial, and she knew she would be once humanity stopped celebrating the Hail Mary's launch, he would have been tried right by her side. He would have become an accomplice for all of the horrible things she had done for the sake of humanity: paving over the Sahara Desert, nuking the Arctic, all of the piracy for the ship.
If she couldn't make it out unscathed, left as the world's whipping boy and scapegoat, she could at least rest easy knowing that he would be seen as a savior. His sacrifices, both willing and unwilling, as well as his role in the project would not be forgotten. Despite it all, this was a final gift for him - letting him be remembered as the hero he was, instead of being dragged down and crucified by the world they had been trying to save.
"Where the fuck is Eva Stratt?" A voice shouted, seething with rage, outside of her door, one that was familiar, but it couldn't be. Grace was far gone now and he never swore anyway.
It's not him, she silently reminded herself, suffocating her guilt under her usual, heartless guise she donned.
She stood from behind her desk as she heard her guards arguing with the man - the one who was far from her reach now. It wasn't him, it couldn't be. No matter how much she somewhat hoped it was.
"Sir, you need to leave-" One of her security guards began before she was cut off by the strange voice.
"Fuck that! I want to know where the hell he is and I know that Stratt knows something!"
Taking in a deep breath, Stratt was more than prepared to face the consequences of her actions, whether that was in front of a whole government or a single, angry man. She would take her retribution, regardless of the outcome.
"Marie. Let him in," Stratt called to the door, silencing both voices on the other side.
Without another word, the door was quietly opened, squeaking softly as the hinges moved.
The world seemed to tilt on its axis as the door opened and her one friend, the one she had betrayed and condemned to death, walked in. She was face to face with a zombie - not yet dead, but never to be seen alive again.
Who else could it be with the messy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes she had come to cherish over the years? Who else could it have been other than Ryland Grace, the man who hadn't earned her respect, but had earned her trust? Who else could it have been other than the dorky school teacher with his wild ideas and an even wilder, incredible brain to match?
But it couldn't be him. It couldn't be. He had taken his leave from her and the rest of the planet, now in the stars, where all humans truly belonged. Humans began as stardust and to stardust they would return. He would just be going home sooner than the rest of them.
"Where the fuck is my brother?" The man demanded, stepping in front of Stratt.
No. This wasn't Grace. This man, this duplicate, stood too confident, towering over Stratt in ways that Grace never did, both physically and metaphorically.
Where Grace made himself small, this man was overpowering. Where Grace was quiet, this man was loud. Where Grace was a calming presence, this man invoked anxiety in Stratt. This was not her Grace. This was not her friend, someone who had wormed his way into her heart without her permission.
"May I ask who you are?" Stratt spoke gently, her voice finding itself as her mind raced, wanting answers for why this not-Grace was standing in front of her.
"I'm Colt Seavers and I'm looking for my brother, Ryland Grace," the man, Seavers, explained, his voice tight and laced with a bubbling rage that threatened to boil over at any given moment. A bomb threatening to blow as the second ticked down. "I know he worked for Project Hail Mary and you, so don't even tell me any bullshit. He stopped answering my calls two days ago. Where the hell is he?"
"You're Grace's brother?" She asked, her heart dropping to the lowest pits of hell that were reserved for her soul when it decided to catch up. "I wasn't aware he had a family. He never mentioned you and none of our files said anything about it."
"I use a stage name and we got separated by the foster care system for a bit after our parents passed," Seavers said quickly. "Now, where the fuck is Ryland, Stratt?" He swore, standing directly in front of her and looking down on her.
"He… Your brother was on the Hail Mary ship when it launched," Stratt said, emotionless, distancing herself from what she had done. "I was on my way to a press conference just now to explain to the press that there has been a change in our roster after the death of our primary and secondary science team. I am very sorry for your loss, your brother will be remembered as a hero."
"What do you mean Ryland is on the ship?" Seavers breathed out. "How? Why?"
"A replacement was needed and he volunteered for the sake of humanity. Your brother was a brave man," Stratt lied.
If nothing else, she was determined to let him die with dignity as a hero for humanity. It was the least she could do for him after everything she had done to him.
"Oh bullshit!" Seavers shouted, slamming a fist on the table as he paced around the room, hands running through his hair. "Ryland was scared of elevators! He was terrified of driving! I could never even convince him to come to college parties! What the fuck did you people do to him?"
"I did nothing-"
"Tell me the truth!" Seavers demeaned, turning on a dime to face Stratt head on, his hands shaking as his chest heaved. "I love my brother, but he is a terrified of basically everything. He would never, and I mean never, willingly go to space. So what the fuck did you do to him?"
"I…" Stratt hesitated. "I…"
There was no good way to answer this, especially since she had sent this man's only family away without even allowing for so much as a goodbye. How could she and her team have fucked up that badly? How could they have missed Grace's one living relative just because of a different name?
"I needed a solution. Grace was my solution," she admitted. "He went for the children, for his kids, as he liked to call them," she continued, a soft smile finding its way onto her face without permission. Seavers remained quiet, taking in her words with observant eyes, so she took it as a sign to continue. "We were required to place him into his coma early, as he was worried about the flight up. I'm sure he would have wanted to inform you, but we didn't have the time. We needed to launch on schedule."
Seavers just stood there, staring Stratt down, as the room fell quiet. She watched his mind run in circles as he chewed at his lip, a similar habit of Grace's for when he was extremely focused - a need to chew on something. A habit that she wasn't even sure he realized he had. A habit that had made her ensure that twizzlers, sour skittles, and gum were always available near the lab and in it for his use.
He may have never noticed it, but that didn't matter to Stratt. It didn't matter so long as she was him using those instead of his own body to fuel the urge, that was enough. It was always enough.
"You forced him, didn't you?" Seavers said, dropping into a chair, hanging his head in his hands. "You fucking dragged him onto that ship, didn't you?"
Stratt remained silent, her mind running back the memory of Grace running from her, fighting her men. The bloodcurdling screams he let out. The pained pleas to not be killed, to be murdered, by his friend. The fear in his eyes as his final moments on Earth were filled with pain and terror, gripping tight into the Earth with the hopes of it saving him.
"Yes," Stratt whispered out, her eyes at her feet, crushed by the weight of her guilt in front of the face of the man she had killed. "I did. For the sake of all of us, I did what was needed."
Gasping sobs drew her eyes from the floor towards Seavers, Grace's brother, the one person she stole him from. Tears fell quickly, dropping from Seavers' eyes like pouring rain as the news settled deep in his heart, paining him by the very air he breathed.
"Why?" He whispered out, daring to look up at Stratt. "Why him?"
"He… Grace was the best option," she explained stepping up to the man in front of her. "I needed someone who knew astrophage, someone who knew the project as well as I did. He filled that role, despite his own reluctance. It was for the sake of all humanity that he was sent."
"How?" Seavers spat out, standing up from his seat. "How did you force him? How did you drag my little, baby brother onto that ship and send him to his death, Stratt? How?!"
"I had him sedated," Stratt replied, honestly.
Her fate was coming to meet her either way; the least she could do to be honest to Seavers. Eva Stratt was many things, but a coward was not one of them. She would meet her fate, the culmination of what was necessary, with open arms and a willing soul.
"I had him sedated before the trip and placed in the Hail Mary."
"Was he scared? Did you drag him onto that ship kicking and screaming? Or did he just let you? Because I know my brother and I know for a goddamn fact that it wasn't that last option," Seavers growled, his voice low and angry, so unlike the man's whose face he shared.
"I did my best to make sure that it was an easy process," Stratt sidestepped.
"Answer the fucking question!" Seavers exploded. "Did you send him kicking and screaming and pleading!?!"
"Yes. Yes, I did."
Hell was coming for Stratt in the form of one Colt Seavers and the entire world. She would not hide for actions she did not regret. Guilt, yes, but never regret. She had made the hard decisions, the necessary ones, that nobody else would.
"I should kill you where you stand," Seavers scoffed. "You killed him, so I kill you. Only fair right? Eye for an eye and all that bullshit."
"You're well within your right to do so, but I'm sure you don't want a murder charge."
"Wouldn't be the first time," he snapped back before taking a deep breath and coming to his senses. "But Jody wouldn't like that, so I'll settle for this. You listen to me, Eva Stratt," he began, leveling his cold, steeled gaze with her's. "I'll make you pay. I swear to god, if it's the last thing I ever do, I will make you pay for what you did to my brother."
"I hope you will," Stratt admitted, giving him a soft smile, one of acceptance for the final lamb to the slaughter, for the butcher finally meeting their own gruesome end. "I hope you will, Colt Seavers."