The original version of Terra: The Genesis Incident, as it was abandoned as a year ago. No real changes have been made, this was my fist EVER fiction, and I wasn’t too good at the time. This is what I originally intended the story to be like…but I had to rewrite due to my recent work on writing style.

THIS STORY IS TERRIBLE! You have been warned now, so please don’t get on to me about grammar and such. This has been abandoned…almost nothing in the current story is the same.

Why was it abandoned? It was too much like a few other fictional works to be published, and I wasn’t too good at the time. Do not bother telling me what is wrong, tell me what I did right, and note just how far I have improved.

THIS IS UNEDITED!

Unnatural Selection

By Tyrammafar

Year 2583

T.R.V. Novastam

Current Location:

UNKNOWN

Prologue

The Nova’s Demise

WARNING: 30 SECONDS TO IMPACT, the computer said.

“I know, I know!” yelled Ty uselessly.

The Novastam, pride of the terran world, was going down. It was ambushed by a small squadron of fighter craft, all of them cloaked: the Nova never had a chance. But Tyrammafar, the ship’s gunner, did.

“Thissa, are those pods ready yet?” Ty yelled into the intercom, fighting to control the lumbering craft’s descent.

“Almost, Ty,” replied his partner, “and stop yelling, I can hear you well enough without my ears being blown apart.”

Thissa was one of the last of his kind. He was a draconian, a race of reptilian creatures that had stumbled upon the planet Earth hundreds of years ago. The draconians had once before landed on Earth, which is where the original myths of dragons came from. When the two races met, there was a brief and bloody war, since the draconians were thought to be evil, and then the two races allied with each other, trading technology for technology. The draconians gave the humans ships that could take them anywhere in the galaxy, and the humans gave the draconians weapons to fight off the many alien races that had found a use for draconians; Slaves. The slavers came from all over the galaxy, all of them wanting to get just a handful of the incredibly strong and resilient draconians. The planet Earth was destroyed quite quickly. Only seven ships escaped, all that was left of both races.

The ships landed on a large planet, far out on the edge of the Orion Arm. The planet was named Terra, the Latin word for earth. For 46 years they were safe. Then the Kisrahk found them. The Kisrahk wanted only one thing: blood. The horrible creatures needed blood to survive, as it is high in protein, which is a vital part of their diet. They were living nightmares, covered in black skin, with large fangs jutting from their mouths. They did not suck blood; they drank it from puddles spilled on the ground. Their hunger never ceased, and many died in the struggle, but the Kisrahk eventually let up in their attacks, though they did not stop.

479 years have passed since the first Terran was killed, and the Nova was on a recon mission to find a new home for the Terrans, which is humans, draconians, and hybrids.

But the mission was a failure; the ship became lost while returning to Terra. And now there was no hope for the Terrans.

10 SECONDS TO IMPACT, FAREWELL, AND GOD BLESS! Said the computer, and shut down.

“Thissa, its time to go, ready or not we’re hopping off this crate!”

“Ready, just get back here- oh, there you are.” Just as Ty jumped in the escape pod that Thissa had prepared. The door closed with a snap, and the pod jettisoned from the Nova just as it hit the lower atmosphere. There was a deafening explosion as the ship’s hull superheated and shattered in a microsecond. The tips of the escape pod’s stubby wings were glowing from friction. The pod landed with enough force to blow a 20 foot deep hole in the ground.

“Well,” said Ty with much enthusiasm, “that wasn’t so bad for someone who’s never flown before!”

I

The Survivors

“So, Ty,” groaned Thissa, who was sitting under a tree nursing a bruise on his left wing, “Any idea where we are?”

“No idea.” Replied Ty, making sure he was still in one piece.

The air was thick with humidity, making it seem like you would drown with every breath. Ty decided that he better look around, and set off into the woods. After a while, Thissa followed him, carrying a pack of emergency supplies. They walked side by side, every now and then glancing back at the way they had come.

Ty was a human, of average height and weight. He was a few months away from turning 20. He had brown hair and icy blue eyes. He carried a small pistol at his belt. He wore a white T-shirt under a dark green jacket, and dark green pants; standard Terran ship uniform.

Thissa was pure-blooded draconian, about 21, he had four legs, though the front ones were more like hands, and a pair of wings which were folded across his back. His skin was scaly, a bluish color that shifted hues in the sunlight, his head was roughly triangular, like an adder’s, but he could still speak very well. His neck was long and flexible enough that he could look behind him without turning. He could stand on all fours or on his hind legs. His eyes were an unusual color for a draconian; icy blue, the same color as Ty’s. His tail was about five feet long. His tongue snaked out every so often to taste the air.

When a Human-Terran turns 12, he or she undergoes a psychological evaluation. If they are deemed acceptable, they are assigned a partner, either a draconian or a hybrid. The two are trained for 7 years, and then are put on duty where they are most useful.

Ty was the Nova’s gunner, as he had very good aim, and knew every piece of the ship’s cannons. Thissa was the guard on the bridge, he had unusually good senses, and he was part of the Nova’s recon team. All members of the recon team had an implant in their spine that caused their skin to shift light around them. It is called “active-camouflage” due to the fact that they seem invisible no matter how fast they moved. The camo could be activated by a thought, but it could not be used limitlessly; it drained the user’s shields, making him or her defenseless. All Terrans have a belt that projects a shield around them, protecting them from most harm.

The two walked slowly, trying not to have conversation. They did not even know where they were going, but anywhere was better than sitting around waiting to starve. Ty looked up to the leafy canopy overhead, and suddenly realized that they were on a planet that could support life.

If only we had a way to send a message home. Ty thought to himself. Thissa noticed his worried expression.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked, trying to keep his mind off of the fact that thousands of his fellow Terrans had just died.

“I was thinking about how ironic it is that we landed on the very thing we were looking for, and now we can’t get off.” He stopped and sat down, his back to a tree. “I wonder how we are going to tell Terra of this planet.”

Thissa flicked out his tongue, shrugged and sat down next to Ty. The sun was a pure golden color, and beams of light shone through the trees. Though they were in a bad situation, Thissa was in a good mood.

“At least we are alive, and maybe we can get off this planet, but we must find shelter, I don’t like the look of those storm clouds.” He pointed, and when Ty looked, he was horrified. In the distance were huge, black clouds, lit up by bolts of bright blue lightning. Ty had not noticed it before, which was understandable, as he was stranded. But now he noticed a strange smell in the air, like ozone, but much stronger. Suddenly a bolt of lightning shattered the silence, hitting a tree a few miles away, but even from that distance he could hear it instantly. The tree that was struck had a black mark on it, but was otherwise unharmed. The storm was moving very fast. Then he realized what the storm was.

An ion storm! He jumped up, grabbed Thissa by the foreleg, and pulled him up.

“What is it?” Thissa asked, wondering what had upset his friend. “What is happening?”

“It’s an ion storm, we have to find a place to hide, follow me!” Ty ran through the woods, away from the storm. Thissa ran just behind, knowing the peril they were in. An ion storm is one of the worst things to encounter on a planet. It was like any electrical storm, except that it never rained in one, and the bolts of lightning seemed to be drawn to living or electrical things. When in an ion storm, all electronics shut down: shields, computers, radar, camo, guns, life-support, everything. And the bolts would kill you instantly. Thissa’s shield was unaffected, due to the fact that it was powered by and ion core, but Thissa could easily see that Ty’s shield was fading. Ion cores lasted a long time, were very powerful, and could function in an ion storm, but they were unstable and tended to explode, so they were not used as much as Ty’s electromagnetic cell.

“Where are we going? We can’t outrun it!” Thissa yelled as the sound of the storm grew. Ty did not answer, but instead pointed to a crevice in a rocky outcrop.

Thissa reached the crevice first and squeezed inside, Ty followed him just as a bolt of lightning struck a tree less than 10 feet from him. The little cave they had entered was dry, and very dark. Thissa could see easily, but Ty was blind as a bat. Thissa flicked out his tongue, tasting the air.

“This cave is empty; we are safe for the moment.” Thissa said finally. Ty gasped for breath, looking outside at the storm.

“I hope this storm passes soon, I don’t want to stay here too long.”

“Why not?” Thissa asked quizzically, “We are safe here.”

“I don’t know, I just don’t think that we should stay here. What supplies do we have?” Ty asked. Thissa pulled the pack off his shoulder and dropped it on the ground, then began looking through it.

“Let’s see here, we have a water recycler, that’s good, we have a fist-aid kit, a pair of binoculars, a power cell, a distress beacon, a laptop, and a probe.” Thissa listed the things as he pulled them out. Ty picked up the inactive probe, turning it around in his hands. The probe was a small floating robot, powered by an ion core, so it was unaffected by the storm outside. It was used to navigate alien planets and was capable of many tasks. Not only could it lead someone over dangerous terrain, it could also provide information on the current situation.

“Where did you get this?” He asked suspiciously, “Only the bridge crew pod has one of these.” Thissa looked down at the floor and started kneading the dirt between his claws.

“Well, since the bridge crew was…dead, I umm…took it from the pod. I figured it wasn’t against protocol to take command equipment in an emergency.” He looked up with a guilty expression. He knew what Ty thought about stealing.

“Well, I guess we need it more than they do now.” Saying this, Ty pressed a series of buttons under a small door on the probe. The probe hummed and whirred, then floated up to about eye level. It was a sphere, about a foot in diameter, weighing much more than one would expect. It had a shiny metal casing, a small “eye” on the front, and the whole thing glowed slightly blue from the ion power core. It spun around in the air, looking at its surroundings, and then looked at Ty.

“COR-7388 active, all sub-systems functioning normally,” It said in an almost pleasant voice. “We are not on the Novastam?”

“No, the ship was destroyed, and as far as we know, we are the only survivors.” Ty answered, wondering if the probe would respond to him. Most of the time, the probes would only listen to an officer.

He was surprised when the probe answered him. “I see. As you do not know for sure, we must search for any other survivors.”

“Unfortunately, we are in a cave waiting out an ion storm,” Thissa said with some amusement.

The probe looked at him. “Hmm, that is a drawback, but nonetheless, ion storms do not last very long, we should begin searching as soon as the ionic residue has dissipated.” It said this in a very matter-of-fact way, and Ty wondered whether or not to like or dislike it.

“How long do you think it will last?” Ty asked it.

“Maybe a few hours at the most,” The probe said, and then it floated over to the laptop computer on the ground. The laptop was something created many centuries ago, but the basic design had not changed very much. The probe looked at it for a while then turned and floated over to a ledge. It landed on the ledge, facing the Terrans. And so the survivors waited for the storm to pass, hoping that they would live to see home again.

II

It’s quiet…too quiet…

By the time the storm passed the sun was already setting. The three emerged from the cave, Thissa tasting the air and the probe floating overhead.

“I am picking up a distress signal to the east,” the probe said after a while, “I believe that we should head that direction.” Since there was nothing else productive to do, they set off to find more survivors. They walked through the forest, their footsteps seeming to echo in the stillness. Ty looked over his shoulder every so often, feeling like they were being followed, but the probe said every time that there was no one for miles besides them. Thissa walked in front of them, flicking out his tongue, looking around for any sign that there were other survivors. The probe, Cor, floated above Ty’s head, shining a light in front of them. Ty decided that there was nothing behind them and finally stopped looking. The three continued walking for an hour and the sun had finally gone down. The forest was frighteningly dark, every shadow seemed to creep and reach for them. The only light was from Cor, who was shining like some tiny star. Ty was nervous; the feeling of being watched was back. Thissa stood on his hind legs, sniffing the air.

“There is a foul odor in the air, like sulfur and methane.” Thissa said, grimacing.

“I smell it too, it’s like a bog or swamp is nearby” Ty said, holding his nose. Cor floated down to eye level.

“There is a swamp nearby, but that is not the worst of things, there are holes in the ground in the swamp, and I can’t tell what they are. We had best go around it. There are strange noises coming from the holes.” Cor turned and looked off into the woods towards where the swamp was.

“What kind of noises? Is it some kind of animal? Ty asked, growing more nervous; he didn’t like wild animals.

“It is a rasping sound, like a large animal. I can’t tell what it is though.” Cor turned around, “I am detecting movement.”

Ty drew his pistol, Thissa dropped to all fours, and Cor rose up several feet, probably to get a better view. Ty looked around, seeing nothing, There! To the left! It was a weird looking shadow, moving slowly, silently, like a stalking predator.

“Cor, shine a light over there.” Cor turned to where he pointed and flipped on a spotlight.

“By Terra…” Thissa whispered, horrified. In the center of where Cor had his light, there was an animal. Not like a normal, furred, woodland creature. The thing was doglike, hairless; its skin was a mottled fleshy color. Instead of paws, each of its legs ended in a sharp spine. Its eyes glowed a sickly yellow. It turned towards them and hissed. Then it ran. Straight at them.

III

Devils…Monsters…

The creature was incredibly fast, it moved through the underbrush with ease. Its jaws were open in a snarl, and a hungry gleam was in its eyes. Ty brought up his pistol and fired at the creature’s front leg, hoping to stop but not kill it. The pistol was powerful and it could punch though most body armor. The bullet hit the creature in its left shoulder, but it didn’t even flinch. Greenish blood sprayed the ground, and the thing kept running. Ty fired again and missed, and then the thing was on him.

It leapt into the air and dropped on top of Ty, snarling and hissing. Ty hit it with the pistol, but the creature didn’t seem to notice. Its blood oozed from the bullet wound. The thing pinned Ty to the ground, and then tried to bite his throat. Ty grabbed its head and held it back, but it was far too strong. Thissa leapt to Ty’s side, drew back a massive arm, and slapped the thing aside like it was a rag doll. It hit a tree trunk with a crunch, and then dropped to the ground, dead. Cor, who had been watching with interest, floated over to the creature.

“This is an interesting animal, very aggressive, but for no obvious reason,” Cor said, “Perhaps we invaded its territory?” Cor extended a little syringe from a hidden compartment and took a sample of the creature blood. The syringe popped backed in to the compartment. Cor beeped and whirred excitedly.

“The DNA of this alien is changing constantly, as if it were evolving at an incredible pace, even while dead. This is quite interesting. The DNA is a structure previously never seen, it has over 7 billion protein types; a human has 4 types and a draconian has 6. Very complex.” Cor babbled to himself for a while, and then floated up a few feet. Ty was gasping for breath, but he got up anyway. He put his pistol back in its holster, then examined the alien, making sure it was dead. Satisfied, he turned and started walking around the swamp. Thissa followed, alert and ready for anything that might surprise them. As they traveled, Ty noticed that the noises were getting louder, even though they had left the swamp’s vicinity.

“There is much movement around us and I am detecting creatures similar to the one that we encountered, but they are making no move to attack us.” Cor said, “There are also some other creatures, similar in genetic structure, but completely different in shape in size. I count more that 500 creatures, with many whispers and echoes of others. Some are small, like the one you killed; others are as large as the cave we took shelter in.”

Ty already had his pistol drawn, but he did not fire, even though he saw the shadows of monsters creeping through the trees. Thissa looked around warily, wondering why the aliens did not attack. Though he had excellent vision, something was keeping him from seeing more than shadows. Thissa stood up on his back legs and walked beside Ty, whispering in his ear.

“Something is not right, the other one attacked us on sight, but these just follow us.”

“I have a feeling they are up to something, but what could it be. They could kill us now if they wanted, but they stay in the shadows.” Ty whispered back.

“I have an idea, keep walking; I will see what these demons are up to.” Thissa stopped walking, and after a moment, he vanished. Ty knew what had happened: Thissa had activated his active camouflage. He only hoped that Thissa knew what he was doing.

IV

An army of aliens

Truthfully, Thissa didn’t know what he was doing. As soon as he had thought about activating the camouflage, it had done so. The implant responded to his brain impulses. When he vanished, he moved off into the trees, keeping in sight of Ty and Cor. The active camo made him nearly invisible; the only way you could see him was if you happened to notice the very slight warping of the air. But most people thought it was heat waves, so it didn’t matter. What mattered right then was if the creatures could see him anyway, would they attack him? He did not want to die alone and forgotten on some unknown alien planet, no one did.

He walked on all fours, creeping silently through the woods. He could clearly see the creatures now, though he would rather have been blind. The creatures were gruesome and ugly, and they were of varying size, just as Cor said. But the bigger they were, the uglier they looked. A huge alien stomped past him, looking like a walking pile of slaughterhouse leftovers. The thing didn’t seem to notice him, but of course, it had no eyes. Thissa suddenly wished he had no nose as the creatures smell washed over him like a rotting tidal wave. He gagged, then immediately wished he hadn’t. An alien had turned toward him, hearing something. It was exactly like the one he had killed earlier. The creature looked right at him and didn’t see him. He held very still, watching the alien. It looked around, sniffing the air. Then it turned to another alien who was passing by. The second alien was the same kind as the one who had heard him. The two aliens had an unintelligible conversation with each other, growling and hissing. The second alien looked at where Thissa stood, looked back to the first alien, and gave an authoritive bark. The first alien growled, but the other alien just glared. The first looked away, and then hissed. The second one moved on, and then the first looked a Thissa, growled, and trotted off.

Based on how the two acted, he figured out what had happened. The first alien had heard something and reported it to a higher ranking alien, but when he had tried to investigate, the second refused to let him. It seemed so military. Almost like these aliens were part of an army. They were obviously very intelligent, but why were they following the Terrans? Maybe they were trying to learn more about them? Whatever the case, it was best not to stay there any longer. Thissa walked off, back to the others. As he turned off his camouflage, he fell in step behind Ty. The two talked about what he had seen, but Ty did not know what it meant. The group moved on, followed by the aliens every step of the way.

What Thissa did not realize was that something had seen him. High in the branches of the tree Thissa had been under, sat another alien. Not like the ones that were following them, but one that Thissa was familiar with. The alien looked like a cross between human and draconian, standing on two legs, its tail wrapped around the tree branch for balance. Its eyes glowed a deep red, eyes that had seen the heat outline of Thissa’s body. The creature was surprised that anyone had made it off the ship alive, but, knowing his duty, he did not stay in that spot for long. He leapt from tree to tree, easily overtaking and passing the Terrans. He was agile and quick, and he didn’t slow his pace.

Shiska had to report.

V

Bloodshed

The three continued onward, moving towards the signal from the escape pod, hoping that there would be survivors.

“The pod is only 200 meters ahead, I am also glad to say that the aliens have stopped following us.” Cor said. Ty looked around, and, sure enough, the shadows were gone. Ty looked at the sunrise. It was a welcome sight. As they neared the pod, Thissa started to run forward.

“I smell smoke!” He said to the others as they hurried after him. Thissa pushed through a thick bush into a clearing. He gasped at the scene before him. The others stood beside him, not even Cor said anything. The clearing was charred and scorched, stumps stood up around the edges, blackened with fire. The dirt had turned to glass. In the center of the clearing was a crater, containing an escape pod from the Novastam. The escape pods were made to hit the ground with no heat; this place had been plasma burned.

Ty walked forward, his boots crunching the glass beneath them. Thissa said a silent prayer, and then walked to the pod. Cor floated overhead, scanning the area for bodies.

“Who did this?” Ty asked.

“Probably the same ones who attacked the Nova.” Said Thissa, who was looking inside the pod for anything that could be salvaged. Ty looked around the outside of the pod.

“The ground is still hot; we were only a few minutes late.” He said. He dropped to his knees and gave a cry of anguish. Thissa stood at the door of the pod, bowing his head in sorrow.

“Ty, I found something.” Thissa said. Ty got up and followed Thissa into the pod. In the dim light, he could see blood on the floor. Thissa showed him a small compartment labeled: Weapons Storage. Ty grabbed the handle, hoping something would be inside, but the door was melted shut. Thissa pushed Ty to the side, inhaled sharply, and then blew a small jet of flame. He used it like a cutting torch to open the compartment. No one knows why they evolved this way, but the ability is undoubtedly useful. The first draconians to land on Earth had used fire to scare away the humans. This is what led to the belief that the draconians were hiding something, and people tried to get it. And so the first draconians were killed off, and the glands that made the fuel for their flames were used by man to make fire of their own. Eventually they found other ways to make fire, but the stories of the draconians never died out. This led to the dragon myths.

It took about 5 minutes to cut away the door, and Thissa had had to stop for breath many times. Ty peered into the compartment while Thissa drank some water out of a canteen. The water hissed and steamed as it met his teeth. Ty pulled a small rifle from the compartment.

“A particle beam rifle, this is better luck than I could have hoped for!” He pulled out an ion core from the compartment and popped it into the butt of the rifle. There was a humming noise as the rifle charged. “It works!”

Thissa, having sated his thirst, looked into the compartment. He pulled out a large tripod with a vauss cannon attached to it.

“You can’t be serious! A machine-gun!” Thissa grinned wolfishly, ran outside, and started setting the tripod up. When he was finished, Ty looked around for something to try it on. Cor floated down and examined the intimidating weapon.

“This vauss is capable of sentry programming. If you want, I could set it up to automatically aim and fire.” He said.

“Then do it!” Ty said, eager for meaningless destruction. Cor extended a cable from his side and plugged into the weapon. After a few seconds, he detached and floated up to his usual position.

“What do you want to fire at?” He asked.

“That tree over there.” Ty responded. Immediately the turret spun around and opened fire on the tree. The rotating barrel whirred, raining the helpless tree with small plasma bursts. The tree burst into flame, cracked, and fell. All in 4 seconds. Thissa laughed at Ty’s astonishment.

“I wish to tell you that I have seen tracks leading away from the clearing.” Cor said. The mood changed instantly.

“Which way did they lead? Are they the ones who did this?” Ty asked.

“They are heading towards the debris from the Novastam, but they are hybrid tracks.” He replied. Thissa hissed with contempt. The hybrids were a cross between the humans and draconians, never to be trusted. They were good creatures, but they never followed rules or laws. They would always do what they thought was right, whether it was legal or not. But they were survivors nonetheless, and they had to find them,

“Let’s grab what we can and track them down.” Ty said, shouldering his new rifle. Thissa picked up the vauss with ease, grabbed their pack, and set off in front of them. It was time to gather the Terrans.

VI

Fly on the wall

Though he had moved quickly, Shiska was disappointed to find that the camp had been deserted. He scowled, and then looked around for any sign of where the others had gone. Shiska was a hybrid, and as such, he had the characteristics of both humans and draconians. He was more draconian than human, and it showed; he had dark, scaly, green skin, his head was shaped like a draconian’s, he had a forked tongue, slit pupils, and razor teeth. He stood on two legs like a man and had no wings. No hybrid could create flame but instead they had fire resistant skin. The only clothing he wore was a pair of very ragged and dirty shorts.

He spotted some tracks on the edge of the clearing, and went towards them. When he reached the edge of the clearing, he heard a low humming sound. An engine? He looked up and saw that a small ship was hovering over the clearing. It was not Terran. Shiska leapt to the branches of a tree, nearly 30 feet, and watched the ship from a safe vantage point. A tube extended from the bottom of the ship, and a glow emanated from the tip. Shiska braced himself for what was sure to come. A bright beam of light shot from the tube, slamming into the ground with tremendous heat and light. The ship fired many more times, and when it was done, the clearing had become a blackened mess.

The ship flew off without another sound, and soon disappeared from view. Shiska was glad he was out of range of the blast. The heat had been nearly unbearable, even for a hybrid. Shiska sat in the tree for a few minutes, watching the sky. He was about to jump down when he heard voices.

“The pod is only 200 meters ahead…” someone said. Shiska smiled a wicked smile. He was sure that the ships crew had come to inspect their work. He leapt away through the trees, hoping to ambush them when the came looking for whoever made the tracks.

VII

Shiska

“Why would the hybrids head for the Nova?” Ty asked. Cor floated down to his side.

“Most likely they are trying to find something worth salvaging. If I were to make a decision on where to go, I would head to the Nova. Even if there is nothing you could save, the pieces of the ship could be used to construct a building or wall, protecting you from the aliens for a while.” Cor floated up so far that he could barely be seen. “I can see the Nova’s starboard engine from here, but nothing else.” He called.

Thissa listened to all this in silence. The hybrids were cunning and worthy allies, but would probably break every Terran law they could while stranded. Thissa sniffed and caught a scent. He had smelled it before, but he couldn’t place it. It brought back memories of the Nova’s gym. There was always a hybrid sitting in the rafters, showing off his jumping and climbing skill. But that hybrid had been in the gym when the Nova was attacked; surely he had perished in the heat of the Nova’s descent. He looked around, puzzled.

“There is someone else here.” He whispered to Ty. He nodded, and then put the safety off his rifle. Thissa saw a shadow off to his left. He set down the vauss and moved forward, watching the shadow. It disappeared suddenly, and then reappeared several feet off. Thissa turned to it and it disappeared again, but this time it didn’t reappear. Confused, he looked around, trying to spot the shadow. He heard some leaves rustle directly above him, and he looked up to find a fist in his face. He dropped to the ground, dazed. Ty fired his rifle at the figure in the trees. There was a blinding light, and a beam of energy lanced forward towards the figure. The thing dropped to the ground, the beam missing him by an inch. Ty could clearly see that the attacker was a hybrid. He put down his rifle and called out to him.

“Hey, wait! We’re Terrans!” The hybrid smiled and laughed. It was a strange sound, a high laugh with much hissing. The hybrid grabbed Thissa and hauled him to his feet.

“Sssorry about that, I thought you were the onesss who burned the pod.” His voice was strange sounding as well; he flicked out his tongue when he made an s sound, producing a hissing noise. He shook Ty’s hand.

“I’m Shissska. It iss good to ssee other Terransss have ssurvived.” He laughed again. “I ssee that you have the probe with you, that iss good. I am tracking the otherss of my platoon; it would be sssafer if we traveled together. I trust that you met the localsss?”

“Yes, we have. Not very polite are they?” Ty said, liking the positive attitude of the hybrid.

“That they aren’t. Sshall we find the other ssurviversss? I don’t want the Tai’jaq to find usss.” He said, looking into the trees around them.

“Tai’jaq?”

“It meansss ‘Devil’s pet’, it iss the name we gave the aliensss here.”

“Appropriate. Let’s go Thissa.” Ty continued walking. Thissa was about to grab the vauss cannon, but Shiska stopped him.

“Let me carry it for you, it iss the leasst I can do after that nassty fall I gave you.” Shiska picked up the heavy vauss with one hand, as if it weighed no more than a box of tissue. Thissa nodded, and then moved on, Shiska right beside him. Cor brought up the rear, beeping occasionally.

VIII

Mist

Soon the sun was setting again. The travelers dreaded the night, for with it came the Tai’jaq. As the shadows deepened, the air became still, cold, and humid. Noises came from all around them, drawing closer every minute. Just as the sun set, a strange fog formed in the air. The fog thickened, to the point that you could hardly breathe, and you couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of you. The four stayed as close as they could, trying not to get lost in the endless mist. Ty was getting impatient.

“Are you sure we’re going in the right direction, Cor?” He asked, not even trying to hide his frustration. Cor kept on going as he replied.

“Of course we are going in the right direction, my navigation systems are infallible. There is absolutely no way we-“

“I think I have sseen that pile of bonesss before.” Shiska interrupted. Thissa looked around incredulously.

“What pile of bones?” He asked. Shiska pointed to a dim lump on the ground a few feet away.

“That pile of bonesss. You musst remember that I have much better eyesssight than you. I can ssee in infrared.” Shiska said, hissing constantly. “That meansss that ssomething was eaten a few minutesss ago.”

Ty clicked the safety off his rifle. Shiska laughed.

“You do know that the Tai’jaq cannot feel pain. They will keep running no matter what happensss to their bodiessss.” Ty remembered the alien Thissa had killed. It had taken a pistol shot to the shoulder and hadn’t even flinched.

“We are going in circles.” He said with a sigh. Cor continued to argue. He turned around and started yelling.

“It is absolutely impossible! My sensors tell me that we have been traveling due north-west for the past ten hours! We can not be going in circles! If you can find someone better at navigation than I am, I will short myself out!” Cor was glowing a bloody red, and he punctuated every word with a bright flash of crimson light. Ty drew back in surprise. He had never seen a computer get angry. Thissa snorted with derision.

“If you say so. But I think this fog has already shorted you out. I don’t like how it cuts off sound like this.” Sure enough, the fog seemed to absorb sound, making everything strangely muffled. Shiska yelled suddenly, but it sounded far away, with no echo. Ty shuddered.

“Maybe we should make camp for the night.” He said. Thissa looked around at the mist. There were things moving, creeping, around them. A gleam of yellow caught his eye. The gleam disappeared, and he heard a strange sound, like a gurgle. A flash of movement to the side, a growl, a hiss, and then silence.

“There are Tai’jaq out there, but something’s wrong with them,” As he said this there was another flash of movement, a small Tai’jaq was standing just in view. It hissed, and then was suddenly and unexplainably killed. Green blood oozed from its ruined body.

“They are dying, but what iss doing it, I do not know.” Shiska said. Cor had turned blue again and was floating several feet above their heads. Shiska produced a large knife from his pocket. Thissa inhaled and flamed a nearby tree. The tree turned into a blazing inferno in seconds, and the light from it revealed a gruesome scene.

All around them were the mutilated bodies of Tai’jaq. Green blood was everywhere. One body had been torn in half, and another was in small bloody chunks. A wooden stake had been driven in the ground several feet away, and on the end of it sat the head of one of the Tai’jaq.

“What, in the name of Terra, happened here?” Ty gasped. The blazing tree had burned out, and only an orange glow remained.

“Something killed them, but I don’t see- wait, what’s that?” Thissa said, pointing to a body. Shiska picked it up, and then turned back to them, deep sorrow etched on his face. The body he held was that of a young hybrid, dressed in a black uniform. The insignia on his shoulder marked him as a Staff Sergeant. A patch on his left shoulder said: T.R.V. NOVASTAM SPECIAL OPS DIVISION. The only thing he carried was a large hunting knife, covered in green blood. It was locked in his hand by death. Shiska closed the hybrid’s eyes. When he looked up, tears shone in his eyes.

“My ssson… they have taken my ssson from me…” He fell to his knees, cradling his son’s body. Ty saw that the name badge said, “Shirka”. There were no signs of injury on him, but it was plain that he was dead.

Shiska wept for his son, who died a hero’s death, on an unknown world far from home. It began to rain, and so the survivors had to continue onward.