They arrived at the commons, where Erik stood waiting for them all. He began to speak.

“You all are on the precipice of something great. You will step forth, onto new territory, and claim it in the name of humanity. For everyone. No matter where you came from, what you have done, or why you came here, you all are contributing to the growth and subsequent survival of humanity. I am proud of you all, and you all should be proud of yourselves.”

Erik abruptly walked away, and the colonists were led onto the ship. Like they were trained to do, they found their assigned pods, sections of the ship where three people would ride in. In case of a disaster, these pods were meant to break off, increasing survivability overall. Adlai walked into his and sat down. The stasis chambers wouldn’t open until right before takeoff. Averi walked in next, her face brightening upon seeing him.

“I thought I was gonna have to sit with some old guy! Now I just get to sit next to some old skinny guy.”

She gently punched his shoulder and sat down next to him. Others walked past, Adlai and Averi wondering who would be their partner. Averi’s face dropped in horror, and Adlai fought to hide a smile. Smiling like a shark, Shawna walked in.

“Happy to see me?”

Averi covered her eyes in despair. “Why her! God, why her!” She muttered some curses under her breath.

Adlai’s smile forced its way through, then melted away when he remembered his dream. His head flashed with thoughts of what happened, and he felt sick for a second. It’s only a dream, he thought, but he didn’t believe himself. He shook himself out of those dark thoughts, and a robotic voice sounded.

“Please enter your stasis chambers, launch imminent.”

Averi and Shawna stopped glaring at each other, and both of them looked to Adlai. What, did they want him to say something? He hated this, the feeling of being responsible for someone. He had to be responsible for Averi, and now maybe even Shawna. He had to be strong for them. He wouldn’t forgive himself if he couldn’t be. He drew in a breath.

“Alright, I’ll see you all on the other side.”

He patted Averi’s head, and shook hands with Shawna. The stasis chambers were open, waiting for the colonists to step into their gaping maws. Crawling in, he wondered if this was what it was like to die. A slow steady envelopment of darkness. The door closed behind him, and Adlai laid back, relaxing himself. He would be fine. They would all be fine.

The stasis liquid filled the chamber, and Adlai struggled momentarily, feeling his lungs fill up. He coughed a few times, then breathed in one deep breath. The odd feeling of liquid seemingly permeating every part of his body started to dissipate, as he slowly began feeling numb. It was quiet. So quiet. He could hear his heartbeat slowing down. A drum battling exhaustion. He began to see, to dream. He saw his parents again, smiling down at him, telling him they’d be back. He saw his parents, this time on a paper announcing the death of a colony ship. He saw his parents, in a photo he held to his heart, crying. He saw his parents, smiling at him, holding him tight. Adlai, practically dead by today’s standards, dreamed of his dead parents.

______

“Hey, look at this!”

A researcher, pointing at a mauled carcass. Declan walked over. A badge flickered spectacularly on his coat. Lead researcher, the badge read. He walked over the crunching, dry soil. The surface was barren, and Declan had recently learned that it was due to the incredible permeability of the crust of this planet. Water only pooled in certain areas, deep underground. It was rare to see any sort of alien on the surface, much less one dead.

“What is that?”

Declan’s wife, Alexis, asked that question. She was his partner, and the other lead researcher.

“I think it’s one of those large armored pollinators. It’s weird to see one up here isn’t it? They’re usually in the biolum zone.”

Unless something forced it up there. The researchers hadn’t had much luck finding any predators, so this was an exciting discovery. Declan walked closer to the carcass, crawling with little “dragonflyers”, tiny insectoid scavengers, widespread and found nearly everywhere. They suddenly flew off. Strange, he thought. They weren’t very skittish aliens. He heard a muffled shout. The researcher standing near the cave entrance was gone. Alexis and Declan looked at each other. They both climbed into the cave. It would be an amazing accomplishment to find a predator, but most likely the researcher had simply slipped into one of the hidden entrances. They descended into the caves, the warm blue and green light enveloping them. The bioluminescent zone was a beautiful place, where most of the wildlife found on this planet congregated. Not surprisingly, this was also where most the water pooled at. Declan heard what sounded like a shout.

“Hey!”

“Hello?” Declan looked around for the stranded researcher. No sign of him beyond some disturbed soil.

“Hey!”

“..Hello?” The call for help was the exact same. No variation in tone.

Declan turned to look at Alexis, but she was gone. An ominous black smear was on the ground. The dim blue glow of the cave illuminated his face. The hairs on his back began to stand up. He followed the trail. He saw her hand, and followed it up to her face. Something was wrong however. She stared forward, unseeing.What Declan assumed was glowing vegetation was her intestines, dragged against the floor. Declan stood in shock. She was dead. His breath caught in his throat. He was in danger. He was going to die. A light shined in front of him. A single blue orb.

“Hey!”

Declan screamed until his throat gave out. He turned to run, and felt himself being lifted up. He couldn’t feel anything, and fell down. He got up to run, but it wouldn’t work. Why wouldn’t it work? His legs. They weren’t there. What was that? His stomach? He dragged himself forward. The lights of the cave began to swirl, a disorienting kaleidoscope. He heaved to throw up, nothing came up except thick blood. He found himself staring into the eyes of something. Something that knew what was happening. Its crocodile-like grin betrayed nothing, but its eyes. Its eyes danced with excitement. Declan died staring his death in the face.

______

Light. Light in the sky. So bright, hurts. Like other star? Other star brought fun. Good fun. No more fun. Fun is hiding, hiding in egg. Light falling, falling fast. Bring fun soon! Hungry, eat dead fun. Bring to dark. Love the screams. Love the worms. Scream so loud! So fun. Follow quietly, then screams! Love the screams. Remember the screams, make them scream! Then end fun. Hungry, but want fun. Want to eat the worms. Fun is too small for good fun, wish one nibble didn’t end fun. Next time, bite soft, take to dark. Make screams. Eat worms when fun can’t scream. Good fun. So fun. So excited.