Chapter 1
"Ma'am, Captain ma'am?" a tall man asked meekly as he poked his head inside the captain's quarters.
Brea, the captain, raised her green eyes to meet the pale blues of the man's. "Yes, Chris?" she asked, plainly annoyed.
"We've got trouble," Chris said rapidly.
"What?" Brea asked, concerned, jumping up from her desk. The papers that were so meticulously stacked on her desk only hours ago were spread out all over the desk in seemingly no order. Brea sighed in disgust as many of these now floated to the floor.
Chris cleared his throat and fingered his straight bleached hair.
"Well?" Brea prompted, massaging the bridge of her nose with one hand, and leaning on her cluttered desk with the other.
"Dana and Alex are at it again," Chris announced. Worry tinged his voice.
Brea felt a pang of disappointment. Couldn't anything exciting ever happen on this wretched ship?
Brea followed Chris out to the hall and down a ways. Chris quickened his pace and soon disappeared down the hall in front of her.
Brea remembered when she had so eagerly joined the Academy, imagining herself in a fighter jet, saving the world on a daily basis.
She never thought she'd be stuck here on this boring mission. Charting craters on distant planets? What could possibly be more boring?
Sure, maybe they got to travel through space and see planets beyond the solar system, but what they don't tell you at the Academy is that it's so lonely and cold out in space. It boggles the mind. You can go crazy just like that.
But Brea wasn't a quitter. She had decided long ago that whatever she decided to be when she grew up, she would stick with.
She could hear the yelling and bickering from all the way down the hallway. Brea felt like a babysitter, always breaking up fights and watching the crew. She stalled a bit; pretending to buckle her space boots and straighten her hair in the hall mirror even though it looked fine already.
As she walked through the doorway of the bridge, she immediately knew Chris was serious.
Dana had pinned Alex to the floor and they were screaming and swinging at each other madly.
"I thought redheads were 'sposed to be feisty!" Alex yelled.
"Shut up, rat boy!" Dana screamed.
"Whatever, shorty," sneered Alex.
Dana froze and stared him in the eye. "WHAT did you say?" she asked coldly.
Alex let his lips curl into a satisfied smile. "I said, that you're so short, we looked at you through a microscope and still couldn't see you."
Dana grabbed his shoulders and brought his face very close to hers. "You just made a decision that will affect the rest of your wormy little life," she whispered.
Alex gave her an apologetic shrug and smiled, baring his bright white teeth.
Dana stood up abruptly. Still holding his shoulders, she pulled him up with her, far over her head, and flipped him onto his stomach, then sat on his back and held his hands behind him.
Brea, who had been watching from the doorway, was not at all amused. She looked around the room and saw the rest of the crew gaping at them like wallflowers.
Brea pulled out her government issue phaser, set it on stun, and pointed it readily at Dana, who was banging Alex's head repeatedly on the deck.
"Dana, FREEZE!!" Brea yelled.
Dana stopped and looked blankly at Brea, as if she had no idea why she had yelled at her.
The phaser was low grade in power, and weak, but still intimidated Dana enough to make her back off of Alex.
"Now somebody tell me what the heck is going on here," Brea demanded, turning off the phaser and placing it in her uniform pocket.
"Well, you see, I was just minding my own business, when Dana here," Alex explained, motioning to Dana, "Attacked me like a lunatic!"
"You liar!!" Dana shrieked.
"Okay, Dana, what really happened?" Brea asked, leaning in the doorway.
"Well, I was just checking out the computer diagnostics to help me file my daily report, right?" Dana explained rapidly. "When Rat Boy here fiddled with the controls and not only changed the diagnostic readouts, but erased my report. I'm sure he did it just to spite me."
"Alex, is this true?" Brea questioned.
"I have NO idea what she is talking about. I checked the computers for her and everything is fine. You know Dana, she has an overactive imagination."
"No one ever believes me!" Dana screamed. Ashen, she saw the look on Brea's face. She ran off to her quarters, as the rest of the crew went back to work.
Brea sighed. "I suppose I'd better have a talk with little miss Dana. And as for you..." Brea's penetrating glare would have burned a hole through Alex if such things were possible. "As for you, I'll discipline you for being on the computer when you're not supposed to be, after you've been taken care of. Those bruises look pretty nasty."
She shot a glance at Kal, who had been on watch and had faithfully remained in his position at the console.
"Kal, get Gemini on the 'com. Tell her we've got some bruises and minor scrapes I'd like her to see." And with that, she swept out the door, head held high.
Later, in the Lab, Kamira was talking to Lamara.
"Did you hear? Dana and Alex got in a fight again." The scientist rolled her grey eyes and tossed her long black hair out of her face.
"Yeah," answered Lamara. "But I also heard she whipped him pretty good, and they had to get Gemini to take him to the MU." The biologist's mouth curved upwards in a grin of malicious pleasure.
Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the Lab door. Kamira opened it to find Garonen standing there. She grinned.
"Hi, Garonen. What's up?" Everyone liked the 19-year-old redhead with the strange purple eyes. 19 was young to be in the Service, but Garonen was exceptionally smart. He was the Life Support tech, so only the most unusual circumstances should bring him anywhere near the Lab.
Garonen didn't smile back.
"Gemini sent me. Her pullpips are acting funny, so she asked me to get Lamara to come check on them."
Lamara frowned. The pullpips were past mating season, and should be settling down about now.
Her brown eyes took on a worried look as she walked quickly through the corridors to the Medical Unit.
Gemini, the ship's medic, looked up with an expression of fervent relief in her cool, icy-green eyes. She straightened from where she had been bent over the examination table, where she was doing the bi-annual crew bloodtests.
Lamara automatically felt her head tilt back so she could still look Gemini in the eye. At 6'3, Gemini was one of the tallest crewmembers, towering even over the Captain.
"Thank goodness you're here," she said. "The pullpips are making the most horrible noises."
Lamara went with Gemini to the pullpip's cage. The pullpips acted as an organic carbon dioxide scrubber, taking it and replacing it with breathable oxygen for the crew.
They were indeed making an awful racket, hooting and chattering and screeching. They resembled little balls of fluff with arms and legs, balls of fluff that were even now hopping vigorously around the cage in a frenzy.
Lamara saw the problem almost at once. "Of course! Somehow one of Alex's pullpips got in your cage. See?"
Gemini could plainly see Alex's orange pullpip against her green ones. "How in the world..."
Lamara reached into the cage for it - but it bit her finger. "Ouch!" Lamara yelped, and quickly yanked her hand out of the cage. "He's a vicious little thing!!"
"Maybe he's hungry," Gemini laughed.
Any further conversation was cut off by a 'com announcement by Brea to all crew. "Attention. All hands on bridge. Repeat, all hands on bridge. NOW!!"
As soon as everyone was on the bridge, Brea nodded to Redux, the ship's android. He disconnected the Stellar Drive, and normal space appeared around them. Everyone caught their breath in an awed gasp as the scene before them slowly took shape.
It was a planet. That was the first thing they noticed. But what a planet! Brown, yellow, green, and purple mixed into a living mosaic on the surface, offset by sparkling turquoise water here and there. All this was draped in a veil of lacy white cloud, while the stars made a beautiful backdrop.
The impression they got was of some fantastic jewel, resting on a blanket of finest black velvet sprinkled with diamonds.
They took in peripherally that the sun was like Terra's, and there were four moons - one dusty grey, one green, another honey-colored, and the last a startling red.
But all this was to be noticed later. For now they just stood, looking at the beautiful planet.
Brea broke the silence unwillingly. In a rather husky, soft voice, she said, "Redux, record."
"Already on it, Captain Brea, ma'am," answered the android.
"Name? For the planet, I mean?" asked Anorian, his green-blue eyes sparkling.
"Sulros." The word came out of nowhere. Even Brea looked startled as the word left her lips.
"Humph!" said Dos. The Engineering Specialist looked away with a look of contemptuous disdain in his cold, unfeeling grey eyes. "You young people think you've got something special there, do you? Well, let me tell you something. I've seen it all and more, and the day I let myself get razzle-dazzled over some planet is the day I eat my own dirty uniform." He stalked off the bridge.
Kamira sighed. She knew Dos couldn't help the way he was. He had been bitter and cynical ever since the War of 2412, when he was nine, and his neighborhood had been bombed. He was the only survivor. But still, knowing why he was that way didn't make him any easier to live with.
"Redux?"
"Yes, Captain Brea, ma'am?"
"Set coordinates for a low orbit. Alex will help you. Wake me when we've gone into orbit, and I'll start the sweep."
3 hours later:
Brea's peaceful slumber was shattered by the hooting of alarms. She catapulted herself out of bed and was on the bridge within two minutes.
"What's wrong?" she yelled over the sound of the alarms. Redux looked bewildered.
"What are you talking about, Captain Brea, ma'am?"
"What are you doing?"
"Just as you asked, Captain Brea, ma'am."
"Oh no, you're not!" Brea exclaimed. She stepped over to the readouts. A look of shock came over her face. "Redux, you idiot! Those coordinates are for..." She never got to finish.
The ship lay, battered, broken, and steaming, in the middle of a forest.
Chapter 2
Brea picked herself up off the floor where she had been thrown by the force of the impact, and shook her head to clear it. Bad idea. It just made it throb worse, and only then did she notice the blood streaming down the left side of her face from a gash on her forehead.
"Redux," she croaked, "you are a moron. Not being able to tell orbit coordinates from coordinates that will crash you into the planet... Redux? Redux?"
Redux didn't answer. He was lying on his back. Sightless eyes stared upwards into infinity. Smoke was pouring out of his ears, and sparks were coming out of his mouth. Redux was "dead".
Brea collected herself sufficiently to turn on the 'com and order, "All personnel evacuate the ship. Repeat, all personnel evacuate the ship. Don't worry, instruments indicate that the atmosphere is not hostile. Repeating, all personnel evacuate the ship."
She then proceeded to follow her own orders. Outside, everyone turned up except Dos. There were varying degrees of injuries. Kal had blood pumping from a gash on his thigh. Lamara had a broken arm. Gemini had burned hands. Kamira and Dana had scrapes and bruises all over. The others all had scrapes and bruises and cuts of some sort.
With silent unison, they all turned and looked at the ship. Brea said, "Where's Dos?"
Chris, the mechanic, said softly, "He didn't make it. Heart attack."
Brea nodded and turned back to the ship, the action masking the look of pain on her face.
"Well, Chris," she asked, "do you think we can save her?"
Chris looked thoughtful, his pale blue eyes running over the length of the ship. "I don't know, Brea," he answered slowly. "If we can, it'll take a while. Looks pretty bad."
Brea took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. "OK, folks, looks like we'll be here for a while. Let's get set up."
As everyone moved to help Chris make damage assessments, Brea thought, making rapid plans. They would have to camp inside the ship. Who knew what kinds of little nasties they could run into here?
She looked out over the meadow, noticing for the first time that the grass was purple. Very strange. She'd have to get Kamira and Lamara on that as soon as possible... Her ruminations were interrupted by Kal waving excitedly and shouting at her.
"Hey Brea! Come here! You've got to see this!"
She trudged over to Kal and climbed up on top of the ship with him. Her eyes lit up as she saw the beautiful creatures flying through the air.
They were like a cross between a mammal, a reptile, and a bird. They had brown fur in place of feathers, and scales around the eyes. They had reptilian tails that ended in a triangle.
The creatures were performing astonishing aerial maneuvers that made Brea gasp. "They're beautiful," she breathed.
"Yeah," agreed Kal. They stood on the ship and watched the magnificent flying creatures until the strange sun had set over the alien world, Sulros.
The next day, everyone was crabby and tired. The entire crew was woken up by Dana and Alex in another fight.
"You stupid freakin' rat boy! You know you were fooling around with the computer the day before yesterday! A smart person might even think it was your fault we crashed!"
Alex's face remained calm and impassive. "Why, my dear Shorty, I have absolutely no idea what you are referring to."
Dana's face grew red with rage. She grabbed his shirt collar and yanked him so that they were nose to nose.
"Apologize," she said in an icy voice through gritted teeth.
Alex smirked. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "No more short jokes. I promise. Please don't punch me in the ankle."
Dana snarled at him. "When I'm finished with you, you'll be sorry you ever met me, Krycek."
"Actually," came Brea's voice from the doorway, "you'll both be sorry. Both of you are on cleaning duty - for the entire ship. Maybe that will help you two cool off."
Both of them stopped fighting and looked at Brea in disbelief. The ship was huge - at least 2 miles across, and double that around.
Brea allowed herself an inward smirk. At last they'd found something to agree on. She'd be easy on them - let up in about a week or so. That punishment was nothing compared to the one she'd got in the Academy when- she firmly halted herself. Now was not the time for reminiscing. There was work to be done.
Brea turned outward towards the horizon. Everything looked so different, so foreign, so... alien.
"Kamira and Lamara, take a skimmer out and map the area."
"But Captain," Lamara protested, "Redux was the mapper...." Lamara stopped abruptly. She saw the look in Brea's eyes and knew.
"You can also, um, chart the life forms. Take Chris with you in case the skimmer breaks down," Brea instructed.
"Yes sir, uh, ma'am," Chris said, unsure of himself as he climbed into the golf-cart-like hovercraft.
Kamira and Lamara scrambled into the front seat.
"Anything in particular we're looking for, ma'am?"
Kamira shouted from the craft as it rose up into the air.
"I just need to know what we're dealing with here," Brea hollered back. Kamira and Lamara glanced at each other uneasily. Those last words of "encouragement" weren't exactly comforting.
Brea tossed up three PLS's to the skimmer. "Just in case," she explained. The trio slipped their pulse laser shooters carefully in their uniform pockets. Brea waved to them to hurry up and leave. The skimmer glided away in the blink of an eye.
"That engine doesn't sound quite right," Lamara observed. Her long hair whipped back into Chris's face.
"Yeah, you're right," Chris agreed. "Better take her down."
Lamara looked back at him and shrugged. She steered the skimmer down to the sand they had been heading toward. Chris hopped out and popped the lid of the craft up. Billows of smoke and steam poured out of the engine.
Chris coughed and waved his hand in front of his face to clear the smoke. "Well, this will take a while to fix. Just sit back and hang tight," Chris told them as he walked back around the side of the craft.
Kamira crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance. Lamara threw her hands up in the air and let them fall limply to her sides. Chris sighed and went to work on the craft.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"This is all your fault," Dana complained as she picked up another piece of trash.
"Yeah, whatever, but you see, YOU'RE being punished, too," Alex pointed out cheerfully as he speared a piece of paper and placed it in his bag.
"Oooohhhh!!" Dana scowled. "You make me so mad, I could." She showed him with her hands, pretending to strangle something invisible very tightly.
"Now, now," Alex chided. "Your temper"
"Wait," Dana interrupted, straining to hear something. "Do you hear that?"
Alex cocked his head to one side. "Hear what?" He strained to hear what Dana heard.
TAP! TAP! SCRATCH! TAP!
The smile faded from Alex's face. Dana and Alex looked at each other. Something was crawling in the air ducts above!
Alex gulped. "W-w-wh-what is that?" Alex asked. Dana just stood there looking dumb. "What is that?" Alex asked again, louder and harshly. Dana jumped up and down once.
"Just be quiet!" She put her hand out toward Alex as if trying to stop him. "I don't know!"
Alex looked up warily. "I don't know either, but I think we're about to find out." He pointed up to the vent in the duct.
TAP! TAP! SCRATCH!
It was getting closer!
TAP! TAP! SCRATCH!
It was right over their heads!!
"Dana?" Alex asked.
"Yeah?" she answered.
"RUN!!!" he yelled. The vent in the air duct broke and a beastlike creature broke through. Dana and Alex screamed and ran. The creature was just big enough to fit through the air vents.
It was gross and black. It had glowing red eyes and horns coming out of its head. The beast snarled and chased after Dana and Alex. They ran down the twisting and turning halls.
The beast's claws tapped on the ship's hard floor as it gained on them.
Chapter 3
Dana looked over her shoulder as they turned a sharp corner. The beast missed it and slid past the doorway. It turned back and turned to where Dana and Alex had turned.
In pursuit, the great beast was almost close enough to touch Dana. Then, with one swift, catlike movement, the beast pounced onto Dana's back.
The beast looked up at Alex who was hollering at it. Dana started to crawl out from under the beast, but her movement attracted its attention again.
It turned her over with one hard shove of its massive paw. Dana stared at the creature dumbly for a brief moment. Then she reached for her PLS and fumbled with it as the creature brought its face close to hers. She could feel its hot, foul breath on her face.
She kicked up her legs and kicked the creature in the gut. She slid herself out from underneath the monster and pulled herself up.
She ran to Alex, who was standing at the end of the hall, waiting for her. When she reached him, she started to turn back.
"My PLS!" she reasoned.
"Leave it!" Alex urged. "We've got to hurry!" The beast was just recovering. Apparently she had hit a weak spot. Reluctantly she followed Alex down the hall and turned right, then right again.
"Oh, no," Dana moaned. "Dead end." They could hear the clicking of the beast's nails coming closer. Dana didn't waste any time. She started to look for a way out. There were three doors, and as Dana tried them, she found they were locked. Her eyes darted around the hall, searching.
Then she saw it. At the end of the hall, mounted a good six feet up, was a vent. It was just big enough for her to get through, and probably Alex, too.
"Alex, help me!" she instructed. Dana ran down to the end of the hall and desperately tried to pull loose the vent. The beast turned down the hall.
RIIIIPP! Dana tore the vent from the wall with the incredible strength of desperation.
"Alex, boost me up!" Dana cried. Alex willingly cupped his hands for her to step in. The beast, which was until then standing still, just watching them, started to thunder down the hall towards them.
Dana stepped into Alex's hands and he boosted her up to the vent. She pulled herself into it. The beast was running swiftly towards them.
"Give me your hand!" Dana ordered. Alex didn't respond. "Alex!" Dana cried. The beast was only yards away and coming.
Dana reached down for Alex, who was standing against the wall in shock. Dana lay on her stomach and grabbed Alex's shoulders. Alex looked up at Dana and grabbed her wrists. She, in turn, grabbed his and started to pull him into the vent.
The beast was only feet away, and coming closer. Dana pulled as hard as she could. Beads of perspiration rolled down her face. Alex's legs still dangled as the beast progressed. The beast slammed into the wall as he pulled his legs up into the vent.
Alex and Dana looked out to see the beast in a bloody heap of fur and bone. Dana winced and Alex wrinkled his nose. Alex started to crawl out of the vent. Dana waited patiently. He hopped out onto the floor, next to the dead beast, and held out his hand to help her down.
She didn't need it. Alex smiled. "Do you think this was enough to get us out of our punishment?"
Dana laughed and then sighed when she saw the beast that had been mashed to a pulp by his own strength.
"Now he's ruined the upholstery!" she joked, pointing at the white couch that sat by the side wall. It was now streaked red and dotted with bloody spray.
"Not that it was much to look at before," Alex added. Dana noted that the spray had gotten into the vent and then saw some specks of blood on the side of Alex's face. She felt some in her hair as well as on her uniform.
"Hey!" a voice called from down a corridor close by. Dana and Alex rushed up to the corner where they were met by Gemini.
"Hey, you guys were supposed to be picking up trash! Brea's been looking for you."
"We had a little run in, with an alien creature," Dana explained, looking over her shoulder at the heap of flesh against the wall. "I think it needs some medical attention," she mused.
Gemini's green eyes sparkled. "Okay, where is it?"
"Back there," Dana and Alex said simultaneously. They jerked their thumbs over their shoulders and started to walk away nonchalantly.
"Okay," Gemini said happily. She turned the corner and saw the gnarled, mangled mess of a beast. Dana and Alex could hear her screaming from down the hall. "Oh, god!! YUCK!!! UUUUGGGHHH!!!"
Dana and Alex shrugged at each other and continued down to see what Brea had wanted.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Kamira and Lamara exchanged looks of relief when Chris announced he had finally fixed the engine. Chris closed the hood and started to walk around the side of the skimmer, when he looked down at his feet.
They were sloshing through the soggy sand. Sand wasn't supposed to be soggy, nor was it supposed to make you sink!
"Hurry!" Chris yelled. "Take off!"
"But what about you?" Kamira asked as the skimmer started to lift off the ground.
"Leave me!" Chris demanded. He was already up to his armpits in the water-like sand.
"Just grab on to the ship, and we'll pull you out," Lamara instructed. Chris grabbed on to the side of the skimmer. The skimmer rose up not two feet when Chris felt like he was being pulled back in!
He looked down at the sand and saw arms coming out of it! They grabbed him and tried to pull him back into the sand. Lamara put the skimmer in full throttle and pulled the control yoke towards her.
The skimmer shot into the air like a bullet from a gun. Chris clung to the side of the skimmer for his life, feet dangling inches from the treetops. He was covered with wet sand from his neck down.
Kamira grabbed Chris's wrists and pulled him into the skimmer. Chris and Kamira stared back at the seas of sand as they soared over the trees.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dana and Alex walked out of the ship and went over to Brea. She smiled distractedly as she said, "Hi, guys. Just sit down and wait. We need everybody here."
A few minutes later, Kamira, Lamara, and Chris arrived in the skimmer. Chris was covered with a thick, sandy paste. Kamira and Lamara had tried to clean him off, but that just made it worse.
Then Gemini, Garonen, Kal, and Anorian came out of the ship. Gemini still had a look of disgust on her face. She gestured behind her, over her shoulder.
"Got something in there for you, Lamara."
Lamara's eyes lit up and she made a move towards the ship, but Brea stopped her.
"In a minute, Lamara. I want everyone to report first."
Alex and Dana stood up in mutual agreement. Dana said, "We saw an animal." She shuddered as she thought about how close they had been to becoming Beast Snacks.
"Go on," said Brea.
Alex began the story. "Well, we were picking up trash, when all of a sudden, Short Dana and me heard a strange noise. It was coming from the air ducts."
Dana took over. "Well, we heard the noise, and then this horrible creature fell through the ceiling. It was black and furry, with red eyes and HUGE teeth and claws. It chased us all over the ship, until we pulled out a grating and went up in the ducts. Then the creature crashed itself into the wall and died."
"Hmmm." Brea looked thoughtful. "Lamara, get on that as soon as we're done. Now tell me what you guys found."
Lamara said, "Absolutely nothing. Either there's nothing on this rock except fliers and rats, or else whatever's out there is really shy."
Chris added, "And the arm creatures."
Brea noticed him for the first time. She looked closer and frowned. "What in the WORLD HAPPENED TO YOU?"
Chris grinned sheepishly. "Had a little run-in with some sort of quicksand with arms in it."
Brea shook her head. "All right, go get cleaned up. Gemini, Garonen, Anorian, Kal, anything to report?"
They didn't have anything.
"OK, everybody dismissed. Lamara, take a look at that creature. Have Kamira help you if you need it."
Lamara and Kamira saluted and disappeared into the ship.
An hour later:
"Find anything?" Kamira had returned with some meal packs. Lamara sighed.
"This is a very strange animal. It's just," she searched for a wordd "unnatural. I dissected it, but there are absolutely no internal organs, no blood left. It's as if something was just using a shell."
"Well, you should probably take a break. Come on." Lamara and Kamira walked out of the Lab, while behind them on the examination table the rat-creature melted into a puddle of black ooze and slithered off the table.
Chapter 4
"Alex?" Brea was using the 'com. "Alex, please report to the bridge. Repeat, Alex Krycek, report to the bridge ASAP."
Alex jogged in to find the entire crew of the Luna standing there, minus Dos and the melted Redux. He frowned.
"What's going on?" he questioned.
Everyone's eyes were as cold as ice as they all stared at him. Brea spoke. "You crashed the ship."
Alex stared. "Me? No! I," His voice trailed off as Dana spoke.
"You gave Redux the coordinates. You crashed the ship. It was all your fault." Their voices sounded strange, toneless. Alex's face crumpled.
"No, I.. I... I never meant,"
Kamira and Lamara said in unison, "Your fault." Everyone echoed, "Your fault."
Alex turned and ran blindly off the ship. He ran and ran and ran right past Brea, Kal, Kamira, Lamara, Anorian, Garonen, Gemini, Dana, and Chris, who were sitting on the other side of the ship, talking and laughing.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Alex ran, fell, got up again, and ran some more. He ran until he finally ran short of breath and collapsed in his tracks. He lay, staring up at the sky and struggling to breathe. Then, a face blotted out the sky.
Alex stood up quickly. "Dana? What are you doing here? Go away! Dana? What are you doing? Dana? DANAAA! AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dana looked up and frowned. "What was that noise?"
Gemini shrugged. "Probably some of the local wildlife."
The group ignored it and the conversation turned to other subjects.
The next day, nobody could find Alex, and his bed had not been slept in. All four moons hung in the sky and a single bright star shone as the group shot off in two of the skimmers to search in the early-morning light.
Neither of the groups could find anything, until Brea's voice sounded on the 'com. Her voice sounded ragged and tired. "Come over here. Our location is five miles west of the ship. I think you need to see this."
"Roger," replied Gemini, and swung the skimmer around to head in the direction Brea had indicated.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Oh, no." Gemini's group stared in shock at the bloody carcass that had once been Alex Krycek. His face, or what was left of it, had a horrible expression on it, as if he had died in agony.
His body was twisted and broken, with giant bloody hunks ripped out of it. They were so deep that Gemini could see the flash of white bone in some of them.
"What could have done this?" asked Lamara, ashen-faced.