Fassbender holds up his index finger, beaming. “Look,” he says.
The first picture is a hazy portrait of the jungle terrain. There’s a second picture of the astronaut team we’re supposed to meet. Their faces are beaming with pride.
“I don’t see anything unusual,” I say.
There’s a third photograph.
Hugh points, finger smashing against the tablet screen. “Stop scrolling. Look, right there. You see it?”
My eyes widen. Suddenly, the room feels like an ice box. I focus on two red dots in the background of the picture.
“Eyes,” I whisper.
They’re in the darkness of the trees, barely visible, but definitely there.
The timestamp on the photograph says: November 14, 2090.
“What is it?” Roy asks.
“You’re asking me?” Fassbender replies.
Hugh shakes his head. “They weren’t alone.”
“Weren’t. You’re speaking in the past tense,” Roy says.
“Well, where the hell do you think the team ended up, Tahiti?” Hugh asks.
“We don’t know anything for certain,” Fassbender says. “It could be a lens flare.”
Halloway swallows and cups his hands around his face. “Dear lord...”
It all seems to hit us at once. Urgency.
“Weapons,” I state. “Roy, get them ready.”
“I’m the captain,” Halloway hisses. “The weapons are my jurisdiction.”
I face the captain. The fear in his eyes is cause for concern. “Collect yourself. You’re sweating, Captain,” I say. “Roy can handle this.”
He checks his palm and breathes.
The starship rumbles. Appliances tremble against their holders. Trinkets crash onto the floor. Outside my window, the green planet appears to be swallowing us whole.
“Look, we’ve entered Avalon’s atmosphere. We need to stay focused,” Hugh says.
Reaching into my cubby, I toss Halloway a small hand towel. “I need you to land this ship, Captain. Roy can deal with getting the weapons.”
Roy chuckles, enjoying his updated rank privileges. “Don’t worry, Captain. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Halloway straightens his back and swipes the towel against his forehead. “Fine. We’ll do it your way,” he says, trembling.
He slides past Fassbender and says, “If we turn on each other, it’s to our detriment.”
Fassbender gulps. “Maybe I’m wrong,” he says.
“Perhaps,” Halloway says. “Or maybe NASA lied to us.”
A chill runs down my spine as Halloway leaves to prepare the ship for landing.
He shouldn’t have said it, but it’s the thought that’s been on our minds this entire time. Why are we really here?
And what were those pair of eyes in the photograph?
Everyone is silent.
I was prepared to see some weird shit, but this fills me with a dread and loneliness one can little imagine.
Hugh reaches into the back of his wheelchair, revealing a large bottle of Hennessy. Upon opening it, he smells the contents and winces.
“It’s not Friday,” Roy states.
Hugh nods. “Tonight, we drink a day early.”
Because who the fuck knows if we’ll see tomorrow...
I left because I thought I had nothing to gain on Earth. But as I look out my window and see the landscape growing larger, I realize I had everything and more.
Two
Naomi
System Announcement: Welcome to Avalon. Prepare for landing.
I keep my eyes closed against the sight outside my window, knowing that the landing will be far less triumphant than we planned.
Breathe, Naomi. You’re doing good.
I open my eyes again. We’re headed for water, but we’re not slowing down.
Stick to the training. Remember what they taught you. You prepared for this.
I have to stay logical. We’re not crashing. There are no aliens. The team of scientists will wait for us near the shore.
Our starship rips through the clouds, a burning star flying into Avalon’s sky. Within thirty-seconds, I can see the ocean. It grows larger and larger until I can’t take the sight anymore.
I shut my eyes and brace as the Starship Tera Earth slams against the top of the ocean. The impact throws me forward, but my belts keep me from flying through the ship.
We stabilize. The lights flicker on and off, but we’re alive.
“Everyone good?” Hugh asks.
“All good,” I groan.
We did it. We made it to Avalon. I don’t know whether to clap or cry.
Roy grunts and rubs his forehead where a small welt has appeared. “Some landing, huh?”
I force a laugh but glance out the window. Our starship rests on the surface of the sea.
“At least we made it in once piece,” I say.
Roy hits a few buttons on his display tablet. He sighs. “Poorly designed piece of crap. The thrusters are shot to hell.”
“No time to fix them,” I say. “We’ll come back tomorrow.”
Fassbender remains quiet as he helps Hugh back into his chair. The lights are off now. Safety precaution, but it doesn’t make me feel any better about the situation.
Captain Halloway stumbles into the room with Hugh’s opened bottle of gin. He takes a swig and hands it to Roy. “Congratulations, everyone. You are some of the first people to step foot on a habitable planet.”
Roy winces from the drink. “That’s great, Captain. But can we get to land before we start drinking? Now that we’re here, I’m feeling a little claustrophobic.”
Halloway pulls the emergency door tab. The top opens, allowing a great light to pour over us.
I turn away from the bright light. It’s been months since I’ve felt the sun against my face. It’s miraculous I can even breathe.
It feels just like home.
Hugh smiles with a tear in his eye. “Beautiful, ain’t it?”
I eye the box of weapons near Roy’s feet.
“It is,” I say.
Fassbender grabs the exit ladder and hoists himself up onto a rung. “Get those weapons ready,” he says. “We need to stay prepared.”
As Fassbender inflates a raft outside, we get all the supplies in order. Food, weapons, first-aid. The important stuff.
The crew steps out of the starship, but I lag behind. For the last year, this stupid starship has been my prison.
I’m free. But I can’t let go of my past.
I grab a small picture of my parents before working up the courage to step onto my temporary home planet.
Outside, the water is beautiful. Crystal clear blue, warm, and, as Roy is demonstrating, very easy to swim in.
Roy does a backstroke away from the inflated boat, cackling with childlike glee. “C’mon, Captain. Take a dive. Water’s perfect.”
Captain Halloway reels him in by his leg. “Stop acting like a clown. Who knows what kind of creatures live here?”
“You see anything around?” I ask.
The region is tropical, but there are no fish. There is no coral reef. No plankton. The team before us said they found life. So where is it?
Roy groans. “Hey, Captain. Got a question for you. Have you ever said ‘fuck it’ once in your life?”
“Get in the boat, and I’ll tell you,” Halloway says.
Fassbender starts the small engine. A pistol rests on his hip. “Both of you, shut up and keep your eyes open for anything unusual.”
The entire planet is unusual. Avalon is silent, except for the rustle of leaves. It’s as if the only force on this planet is the wind.
Roy rolls onto the boat, soaking from his dip. “There’s nothing out there, Fassbender.”
“You saw the pictures,” Hugh reiterates.
“It was a grainy photograph. Look around you. Listen to the world. There’s no one here that will harm us. Hell, there’s not even a bird in the sky,” Roy says.
“And the other astronauts? Where are they?” Hugh asks.
Roy’s lip twitches. “Taking a swim?”
Fassbender hands him a pistol. “This one is waterproof.”
Roy doesn’t bother to check it out. He simply slides it into the back of his pants and smiles at the sight of the beach ahead.
It’s hard to believe we made it when we’ve been on the verge of collapsing for months. But we did it. We did the thing no one else was brave enough to do.
When we reach the shore, I’m struck by the beauty of this planet. Whatever dark thoughts I had yesterday are now forgotten.
This is a place out of one of my dreams. Untouched and innocent, it’s a sanctuary where humans can start over. If we can aid in the construction process, if we can get this thing to really work, I could imagine myself staying forever.
I dig my boots into the sand and find a path into the surrounding jungle.
Roy points. “Look, a used trail. See it, Hugh? Tire marks. Looks like we’re not alone, after all.”
Hugh mutters under his breath. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Fassbender doesn’t hesitate to push through the foliage. I follow close behind.
Holding a map against the sunlight, Fassbender compares the trails. I keep a look out for any sign of life, but nothing really out of the ordinary stands out.
It’s odd, actually. There should be something. We can breathe the air, bathe in the sea, and nothing seems to hurt us. This planet has the perfect conditions for human life. Yet, no other animals exist here.
It doesn’t make any sense.
We reach a small clearing. The trees are tall giants with a wide canopy of leaves. The jungle is darker ahead, and the trail has thinned out, but Roy is certain we’re headed in the right direction.
“Slow down,” Fassbender warns.
Roy is stubborn. I knew he’d be a challenge the moment I met him.
“It’s like I told you all before, there’s nothing we have to worry about,” he says, almost willfully uncritical, as if to keep from diluting his courage. “We are life. The only life that exists.”
“You don’t believe in other forms of life?” I ask.
Strangely, one hand rests against the gun behind his back. “Naomi, if there were aliens, we’d have known about it by now,” he says, glancing at the tall canopy that darkens the jungle. “As sad as the truth may be to an explorer such as yourself, we’re the only beings that exist.”
CRACK!
We hear a noise. It’s the sharp noise of twigs cracking underneath a set of feet, followed by the rustling of some leaves.
The sound stops.
Fassbender cups his palm around my mouth. “Don’t say a word,” he whispers.
My heart pounds against my sternum, each beat reverberating my vision. Blood running cold through my veins, I stand as still as I can.
Hugh rests his finger against his lips. “Shh.”
We all see it. There’s no denying it. Even Roy looks shaken to the core.
An inhuman corpse, taller than any man I’ve seen has been staked to a tree. Half of its chest has been cut open, innards displayed on the soil.
This must be him, the alien from the photograph.
My eyes search for a clue, but nothing else remains. No footprints or other signs of life are visible.
Were humans responsible for this? Did the scientists kill it?
We pull our weapons. Captain Halloway weasels his way past Roy. “Stay close,” he says.
I nod, but I want to walk in the opposite direction. I want to run back to the shore, to dive into that clear water and fly back to Earth.
Unfortunately, our fuel is limited, and I don’t give up so easily.
We step around the alien corpse. A set of twisted horns have formed at the front of his skull like a sprouting potato.
Its eyes have started to rot.
I find the bravery to check out the carcass further. Reaching into my bag, I prepare a sample for my kit. “It’s mammalian,” I whisper. “But it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. This has to be an alien, right?”
Roy shakes his head, confused. “Where the hell did it come from?”
Its canines are three inches, two in diameter. It’s an amalgamation of every predator known to man.
“That thing could fuck up your day real nice,” Hugh says.
Most of its body has rotted away, and I can’t make sense of what it might look like on a normal day. “Look at the creature. Its biceps are massive, rectus femoris muscles designed to hunt and mate. A spinal column that curves upright. It’s anthropomorphic,” I say.
“It’s disgusting,” Halloway says.
“Wish the stomach was still in tact,” Fassbender says. “We could see what it eats.”
“We’ll study it later,” I say.
But one glance tells me enough. It doesn’t have a stomach. It must get its nutrients from a different source. All too peculiar.
Fassbender chuckles, but not out of joy or any kind of happiness. He’s scared. “Whatever it is didn’t kill itself. Its hunter is still out there,” he says.
He looks entirely too sure of himself.
“How do you know one of our guys didn’t kill it?” Roy asks.
He’s right to ask, but it’s more likely there are other aliens. If I freak out, it’ll cause a chain reaction. Even Roy looks on the verge of fleeing.“I’m simply being cautious,” Fassbender says.
I need to stay calm.
I keep walking. “The plan for day one was to find the other scientists. Let’s head to the sleeping quarters. After some rest, we’ll make the trek to Discovery Base,” I say.
“Keep your voice down,” Fassbender says. “You want to get us killed?”
“She’s right,” Roy says. “I could use some rest after what I just saw.”
“What, and get eaten?” Halloway asks.
“Nobody’s getting eaten. Come on,” I say, moving through the dense jungle.
The sun is setting overhead. In less than an hour, it’ll be nightfall. I’m not too keen on this sleeping business, but we’ve got enough weapons to protect ourselves.
I do not want to find out what night is like on Avalon.
I push through a large bush and notice three flags in the near distance. One for NASA. One for America. The third is a symbol I’ve never seen before.
“Over here,” I say, pointing.
“What is that?” Hugh asks.
It’s a picture of Earth. Below it are other planets. One looks like Avalon.
“Beats me,” Roy replies.
The sleeping quarters were poorly designed, to say the least. The small concrete homes are run down and deserted.
Inside every room is a single bed and a set of drawers for clothing. In the center of the compound is the kitchen. On the back end are the very primitive toilets.
“Gross,” I mutter.
Roy chuckles. “Just as I thought. Not much better than the starship.”
“Worse,” Hugh says. “But we’ll have to make do for now.”
“Check the drawers inside the rooms,” Halloway commands. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll find something useful.”
I walk into my room and nearly shit my pants. Carved on the wall is the word:
BETRAYAL
The crew runs to my room.
Roy jogs past me, shaking his head with confusion and fear. “What it mean?”
Hugh rolls back. “Guys, what more proof do we need? Something went down here.”
“Yeah, but what?” Roy asks.
I run my hand across the carving in the cement wall. “Do you think they turned on each other?”
A horrendous scream echoes in the far distance. A chill travels down my spinal cord, and I suddenly don’t want to know the answer to any of this.
I don’t care what happened here. I just want to go home.
The captain rolls his shoulders forward. “My gut tells me we’ll find out.”
Fassbender turns. �
��Sunset’s in less than thirty minutes. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to get caught in the dark. I know it’s not ideal, but the beds are fine. We can sleep here.”
“Well, I’m not dying on this planet, bud,” Roy says.
Halloway swallows. “We’ll take shifts. It’s the only logical thing to do,” he says.
“Agreed,” Hugh replies.
“Sure. Whatever gets us to day number two,” I say.
Fassbender nods and pulls a pistol from his hip. I notice that he’s not shaking like the rest of us. “Good. I’ll take first shift.”
I choose a room far away from that one. Mine still has clothing in the drawers. Someone’s wallet, too.
Sitting on the narrow cot, I go through each pocket. He was a man named Steven N. Grubber, a doctor in psychology. A photograph of his wife and two children rests in the last pocket.
I glance over at the window near the door to my new room. Outside, the stars are visible. I used to hate those stars, but the vastness of the universe is comforting.
Standing below them is Fassbender. He cocks his head back, notices me, and waves. I wave back before lying down.
The scream that we heard sounded like it came from a terrible beast in pain. Although it terrifies me, I find my curiosity take over.
What betrayal led to the death or disappearance of the first crew?
Predatory aliens? There are more of them. How many, I am not sure.
I close my eyes, holding the picture of my parents.
I wish I could have saved them.
I wish I was with them again.
Three
Naomi
“Get up. We found another body.”
Those are the words I hear as I wake, and the first thing I see is Roy’s ugly face peering over me. “Come on,” he says. “It’s urgent.”
With my clothes still on from the night before, I lower from the cot and stumble past Roy. I have to blink my eyes to find my focus.
Once I’m outside, I’m fully awake. Another corpse has been nailed to a tree. It rests in the center of the compound.
My adrenaline spikes. My head spins. There’s a darkness to this fantastic planet, and it’s following our every move.
Alien Breed: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance Page 2
