The Starship and the Temple Cat
ShortStory 3,499 words Recommended by 11 award/anthology sources
Even the ghosts have abandoned the ruins of the space station once known as the City of High Bells. All but the faithful temple cat, who sees a starship reenter the system after many long years.
Content warnings 4
deathdeath-of-a-loved-oneviolencewar
Quasar links out; the story lives on BCS, where the author gets the click.