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I press the switch on the side of Widower, and she pulses with energy, charged from Domus’ sun through today and all of the solar energy of space.

  We are ready to fight for our survival. We are six of the eight that always were.

  Captain Reed

  My rifle, Ex Materia, buzzes in my hands as I aim her steady at the water. I can feel the energy pulsing through her long barrel. Her barrel is longer than the old tradition rifles back home, but the trigger and stock are similar.

  These weapons are built to harness the very energy of any sun or star to unleash a bolt of pure heat and energy at the intended target. A solar panel on the Marauder had kept them fully charged in space just for this purpose. Just in case we met any hostiles on Domus or any other planet. And this could be one of those hostiles now.

  I can feel the tension in the air. Racker’s breath is raspy in my ear, and it weighs heavy. The other five in the line are shaking, even Simon. The grey hairs on the back of my neck are all stood tall.

  Something is moving towards us. We are on a foreign planet with foreign organisms. There is no way for us to determine friendly from hostile in the dark with no knowledge of the organism, with no guess at an alien language, and with limited time. Whatever this thing is, it will have to die.

  As the name of my weapons states - Ex Material - created from something already, and not from nothing at all. We will take this planet if we have to. I am a man of my word, and we will take this planet.

  “It is on you now, Cap,” fizzes Racker’s voice. “It’s big. It’s about to break the water now...”

  After the first few feet of small waves, the sea is still and calm. And then ripples start to appear. I can see a shadow somehow even darker than the black sea itself, and the ripples push out from it on its approach. It’s a smooth approach, gliding towards us with a grace, not a frantic splash.

  And then there is a snout, and then two eyes and two short front legs. Its mouth is snapped wide open and lined with over one hundred teeth. The long, thin snout snaps closed and open again, and the beast is coming towards us at great speed.

  “FIRE!”

  Ex Materia fizzes, and a blinding bolt of sun leaves her muzzle end. The blast blows the beast’s upper jaw clean off and back into the sea from whence it came. The other Seekers begin to fire, and the whole coast is alive with a light show. Red and white and yellow light bounces off the sand and over the sea for miles.

  Every bolt of energy lands with the crackle of cooking flesh. The air is pungent with burning meat and skin and fat. The beast is stopped in its tracks, riddled with holes that go right through the entire carcass. Even the bone is turned to dust by our weapons where the beams hit them.

  None of us move for a while.

  It seems strange, but I think we all take a moment to drink in the information, to try and tell ourselves what just happened. We are all in shock at the sight of the beast. We can see it clearer in the light that pours from the Dweller’s windows now it is closer. It is a giant crocodile, bigger than any back home. Its snout is narrower and the bottom jaw makes up three quarters of the things entire body.

  “Are you alive, Cap?”

  “I’m alive, Racker.”

  “What was it?”

  “You wouldn’t believe me.”

  “Try me.”

  “It’s a giant fucking crocodile, Racker; bigger than any I have ever seen. You wanted to see the speed this thing came out of the water with its mouth snapped open. Whatever it was, I can tell you it didn’t seem too friendly. The only thing I need to know is whether it saw us as prey.

  “Racker, are there any other heat sources around us?”

  “Negative, Cap. The noise seems to have scared everything else away. I can only see about one mile into the forest, but you look good for now. Can the others hear me, Cap?”

  “Negative.”

  “Then listen to me. The heat signatures that were in the forest just a few moments ago? Well, they were even bigger than your new friend there, and there were a lot of them. What do you want me to do, Cap? Shall I come pick you up in the Marauder?”

  “Negative. The Project needs more time. Domus needs more time.”

  I switch off my ear piece. We will take this planet if we have to, and giant crocodiles won’t stop me.

  Simon and Sarah have approached the smouldering corpse, and they both test it with a boot to make sure it’s good and dead.

  “I want that thing in the med bay in half an hour,” I order them both. “Use the quad and forklift, chop it up if you have too, but I want it. You can decide between you which of you are going into the sea for pieces we blew off.”

  Back in my living quarters once more, and I can speak to Racker in private. “Sorry for the disconnection, Racker.”

  “No problem, Cap.”

  “I didn’t want the others to know this, but there is a problem with our escape plan, should we need to utilise it.”

  “You knew that the Dweller couldn’t fly, Cap.”

  “It’s not that. I had hoped that should the Marauder land on Domus then we could load the Dweller manually and take off again.”

  “We can’t?”

  “No. It’s the drill, Racker. Once it has been deployed and it has dug through the crust, there is no release. It digs an entire cave system under the surface. It digs a mile down and a mile across. All kinds of tech is loaded in that drill, and it forms a stable underground chamber and filters the water from down there. There is no way to detach it and no way to re-load it onto the Marauder once drilling has commenced. And it has.”

  “If, and it is a big if, we do decide to leave then we do so without the Dweller or with a Dweller missing vital parts. It means that any other planet we land on, should there be another planet to land on, will already have a head start on us. I cannot take this lightly, Racker.”

  “What do you plan to do?”

  “I plan to fight if we have to. Giant crocodiles are no match for our weapons, I know that much from what I just witnessed, but I need you to monitor the other heat spots in that jungle out there.”

  “I will, Cap.”

  “There is something else I need you to do. The modules that lost visual and audio - they did so on my command. I have increased your credentials to Operator, Racker, the same as mine. Your credentials now have the override, and I need you to tell CETI to bring the audio and visual back online. They are at the very heart of this land mass and should show you what we are up against.”

  “Why’d you do it, Cap?”

  “We had to land, Racker. Doctor Yun and Doctor Barros will not tell you all, but I will - the Seeker Project never identified another planet. Leaving this place would result in a drift through space with nothing but crossed fingers and a broken Dweller. This is our only chance. We had to land here, Racker. I did what I did to make sure it happened.”

  “Did you know that there was hostile life down on Domus, Cap?”

  “Life - yes. But we had no idea what the life was or if it was hostile. And we still do not know that now. Get those probes back online and be ready for some electronic sampling coming your way.”

  “Samples?”

  “Scans and samples from my new friend. I need you to run them through CETI’s database to see if we can understand the biology better. Out.”

  Doctor Barros returns to the quarters and begins to take off her Seeker uniform right in front of me. The dim light makes it shine more blue than silver. She wasn’t wearing any underwear underneath. I’m not sure if it was a conscious thing to seduce me, her chosen one, or because of our frantic rush when the warnings came in the middle of the night, but now she stands naked.

  I can see why she was picked as my chosen one. Her bronzed skin and deep eyes sets my blood racing. Her breasts, although small, are perky and crowned with dark nipples she wears proud like jewels.

  “Shall we start the next part of the Seeker Project, Captain?” she asks with a bite of her lip. “It has been a long time for me to wait.” />
  I have to adjust myself and regain my composure. “Not yet, Doctor, all in good time. I would like a report on the specimen first. There is no time for fornication when there could be more of those things closing in on us.”

  I can see the disappointment flash across her face, and it is swiftly followed by embarrassment. She pulls her uniform back on, back up and over her beautiful skin, and she storms from the quarters without another word said.

  I follow quickly.

  The Seekers have all assembled in the med-bay waiting. All of us are waiting to see the inhabitant of Domus up close. There is a screech of tires outside, and the sight of the forklift slowly comes into view, but its forks are empty.

  Simon wheels the forklift inside through the med-bays emergency outer doors and climbs out.

  “Where is it?” I ask impatiently.

  “The subject is too big to bring in on the forklift as she would have had to have been loaded horizontally. Sarah has tethered the beast to her quad and is pulling it up from the beach. It is a good think she souped that little baby up, because that thing weighs tons. This forklift here is a nine tonner, and she struggled to lift that thing.

  “You all might want to stand back.”

  Wheels screech outside and Sarah appears on the quad. She drives it right to the back wall, dragging the beast behind her, smearing blood across the shiny white tiles. A stench of burnt flesh and rotting fish follows.

  Sarah detaches the beast, and Simon is back on the forklift. The forks slide under the animal, and the whole thing is hoisted up with a squelch. It is placed on the huge centre table like a slab of meat at the butchers. The upper jaw is dropped unceremoniously on the beast’s chest.

  “CETI, this is Captain Reed. Do you copy?”

  “I do, Captain. How can I assist?”

  “CETI, can you change the cameras from check our vitals and use them to scan the organism?”

  “I can, Captain, and it would be my pleasure.”

  “Once you have done that, please inform Pilot Racker that he must run the results through your database on the Marauder. There will be samples taken by Doctor Yun and Doctor Barros to follow. I want to know what this is, CETI, exactly what this is. When you are done, please inform Racker of your results first.”

  “Understood, Captain.”

  If Racker knows first, then he can tell me on our private line. I can screen the results if I have to. I can prevent the panic.

  Light comes from the living quarters I share with Ximena Barros. I tiptoe passed the quarters where I know Doctor Barros will be waiting with scorn. I am lost as to how she can think I rejected her. Hell, I was trying my damned hardest to try and hide just how much I had wanted her. Surely she must see that pressing matters must be in hand before the next phase of the Seeker Project can commence.

  I walk the rows of plants in the botanical garden, sprinkling them with water from a watering can as I go. I have been in here for hours now just waiting for Racker’s call.

  “Captain, do you read me?” fuzzes his voice from the Marauder. Finally.

  “I hear you, Racker. What have you got?”

  “You won’t believe this. The report indicates that the thing weighs just over ten tons. It has one hundred and thirty two teeth, and its upper jaw is also longer than the lower one, leaving a gap between them when the jaws were shut, creating an overbite.

  “It looks like a normal croc until CETI scanned the snout you blew off. It has a lump that I thought was a flesh wound at first, but I crossed referenced it - it is known in the database as a bulla. These snouts are also found on animals called Gharials back home, but they never grow to anything near this size.

  “So I changed CETI’s parameters. I stopped looking at what we ‘have’ back home, and started looking at what we ‘had.’ Captain, this thing is called a Sarcosuchus - an extinct genus of crocodyliform, and distant relative of the crocodile. Cap, scientists believe that these things lived around one hundred and twelve million years ago back home.”

  “This thing is prehistoric?”

  “Well, back home they are prehistoric, but not here, Cap. On Domus they are the here and now.”

  “Where are we with those probes?”

  “Online and calibrating. Should be back up in about an hour.

  “Okay Racker. Out.”

  I finish watering the row of plants until I come to the end. There is a tapping on the glass roof above, and I look up. At first I think I see a seagull. Yun thinks she saw some out on the sea earlier too.

  But this thing is like nothing I have seen.

  On closer inspection I can see that it is not a seagull. I can see why the brilliant white feathers fooled Yun and Sarah from a distance, but this is not a gull; it has hands on the corners of each wing and a long, lizard-like tail covered in feathers.

  “CETI, can you hear me?” I ask.

  “Yes, Captain.”

  “Do you have a visual on the organism on the outer botanical roof?”

  “Yes.”

  “Please run it through the database.”

  “There is nothing in the live database relating to the organism, Captain.”

  “Go back further. Go back through the history of known organisms. Go back as far as you can.”

  “I have a confirmed entry, Captain Reed. The organism would appear to be an Archaeopteryx of the Archaeornithes group. It is a long extinct reptile-like bird that once roamed your old home over one hundred million years ago. The Archaeopteryx is characterised by having clawed wings, a reptilian style ribcage, and the presence of a long, bony tail.”

  “CETI, lock down the Dweller, and remove the Seeker privileges for all of the doors and windows. No one leaves the building until Racker has those probes back online.”

  “Confirmed.”

  Liu Yun

  The Captain has ordered us all to stay and sleep as a group in the recreation room tonight; a knee-jerk reaction to the meeting of Domus’ wildlife. I, for one, am excited at this development. My mind it racing just thinking about the different animals out there. But at the moment I feel like an animal just set in a cage, waiting. I have to sit on my hands just to stop them shaking.

  We raided the camping gear and pulled out six of the eight sleeping sacks labelled with our names. Racker’s was put to one side, and I could feel the tears build up when I read Lawson’s name in my head. I wanted it to stay in the hold, but Simon pulled it out to use as an extra pillow. He smiled at me when he did, he knew I was hurting.

  Captain Reed will not say why we have to sleep here, but I know we all had something to do with that thing still laid up in the med-bay and his secret conversations with Racker. They know something more about the beast than we do, but he will not share it with the group.

  I don’t fret as much as the others. I know what is going on. I saw that brown-green flash of flesh at the forest line, and I know that there are more of those things out there. The others are worried. We all knew the dangers of the Seeker Project, and although I may speak for only me, I feel quite warm knowing we will share the planet with others.

  The night has been full of awkward silences and glances between the cats of the group, Evangeline and Sarah. Doctor Barros had moved her sack next to mine, really close to mine in fact, but the soft jasmine fragrance from her hair helped me sleep.

  Morning came quickly, and no more giant crocodiles had approached from the sea during the night. CETI has been programmed to automatically advise us if any approaches are picked up by the beacons, but no noise came from her or outside. Although it could be that the Captain has programmed her only to speak to him.

  Captain Reed advises that we need to stay in the rec room until further notice. We all oblige, and I do only because I fear that my legs would not work should I attempt to stand anyway. The withdrawal is a snake in my stomach, and it bites at my synapse and nerves with venom.

  “Fuck this,” spits Simon. “I’m off for a fish. You can all sit down here and wait for whatever it is w
e are waiting for, but not me. I thought that the Seeker Project was about living not waiting. I did enough of that at home. Captain, open the doors right now.”

  Captain Reed doesn’t lift his blue eyes from the floor. I am sure his hair has greyed even more. “Those things are in the sea, Simon.”

  “We have a boat, Cap. And we don’t even know what that thing was going to do before we blew its brains out.” Simon lifts his huge frame onto his feet. “Open the door, Captain.”

  Reed does as requested. I cannot be sure if he fears a fight with Simon or whether the burden is simply too much for him to argue.

  I can see how every decision weighs heavy on Reed’s face even if the others can’t. Doctor Barros and I know that Domus is our only choice; there is no alternative that we know of. And that is why he sabotaged the probes when they were deployed. He thinks I don’t know, but I am smarter than he gives me credit for.

  The door opens with a beep, and Simon is gone. I cannot blame the hot-headed Englishman. It is his passion for life that makes him so attractive to others. It annoys me to admit, but I too have joined the queue of his admirers.

  Captain Reed stands from his chair after a bleep in his ear. “Go ahead, Racker… Okay... are they transmitting? And? And what do you see? Are they there now? Okay... no, stand down.”

  We all shuffle closer to the edge of our seats.

  “Okay, Seekers,” says the Captain with a smile, “we are good. Racker and CETI worked to get the issues with the probes fixed, and they are now beaming audio and visual right up to the Marauder.

  “Yes, there are organisms on Domus, and yes, it appears that they can be hostile, but not actively. The organisms here are incapable of cognitive thought. If you are eaten then it is only because they think of you as food in that moment. They should not actively seek us out and will only hunt us if we happen upon their territory.

  “And they have nothing that can compare to our weapons.”

  “What are they?” I ask.

  “Like I said before, they are organisms incapable of real thought.”

  What is he not telling us?