Chapter 1

The first thing that catches my attention is the ship’s size. It’s huge- so huge, in fact that it’s partially blotting out the nearby sun. As my own ship slowly approaches it, I realize that my ship is like a fly compared to this monstrosity before me.

            As I look out the view port of my personalized battle shuttle, I can see the planet far below me. It’s murky green in color, and has thin clouds swirling around it. “Devil’s Claw”- that’s what they’re calling it. Appropriate name, I suppose, even if it is a bit dramatic. The reports I’ve read state that the planet is mostly covered in one extremely large ocean with small, rugged mountains and large, dense jungles. It seems to have frequent earthquakes, typhoons, storms, the list goes on. Needless to say, it wouldn’t be very good for colonization. It doesn’t appear to have any sentient life forms, which is strange, given the wide variety of flora and natural environments perfectly suited for a diverse ecosystem of animals. Apparently, scientists are still looking into this mystery.

            Why am I here? My name is Aderes Zantras, and I am a bounty hunter. Although personally, I feel like calling myself that is subjecting myself to some kind of stereotype. When most people hear the words “bounty hunter”, they seem to think of big, muscular mercenaries who are hired to assassinate political leaders or steal a precious artifact from a galactic military base with crazy security. I guess most bounty hunters do fit that description, but not all of us are mercenaries. I’m one of the “good” ones. Don’t get me wrong- I’m prepared to kill if I have to, but I get most of my bounty from rescue or recovery missions, where I can help people by taking back something that’s been stolen or assist a stranded ship. On occasion, I go on repair missions.

            But I have no idea what kind of mission this is going to be. All I know is that 70 Earth hours ago, the research vessel Bold Explorer mysteriously ceased communicating with the Coming Dawn lunar colony while researching Devil’s Claw. I’ve been sent to investigate the problem and deal with it. It may be an attack by space outlaws, or it may just be a simple issue with the ship’s communications array. This, however, is very unlikely. If the array was really broken, someone on the ship should have been able to fix it. That’s why they’ve sent me- in case the situation is a little more drastic.

            As my ship gets closer, I cross over to the control panel. I push a few buttons and pull up a hologram of HP-288, my home planet. It’s a beautiful world- a world of water, with almost no land covering it. Of course, that didn’t stop mankind from filling the planet with beautiful underwater cities. My people have certain morals- we respect the sea. We don’t take from it what we don’t need. As a child, I used to be fascinated by the sea- I loved to explore, and the sea was the biggest, most mysterious thing in my world- perfect for exploring. However, the events of my childhood didn’t exactly allow for such adventures.

            I’ll never forget the day my father went missing. I was sitting in our apartment in the city of Serenia, the largest and most diverse city on HP-288. I was staring out the window into the sea, thinking of my mother. She died lot long after I was born- I never knew her. My father talked about her a lot- about how she was beautiful, intelligent, kind, loving- “Just like you”, he would always say. Maybe he was just trying to make me feel closer to her by making me feel like her.

            My father had raised me for ten years, but he was never around as much as I would have liked to have him. He was an engineer for undersea research vessels, the kind that would always go exploring the planets seas for new discoveries. He was hired often to help maintain these vessels, and because of that, he was away a lot. He didn’t like it any more than I did, but it was the best he could do to make sure we had enough money to get by. Whenever he went away, one of our neighbors or friends would always look after me. Sometimes I would be on my own, which was fine with me, because I could do just well on my own. I could go out and explore my neighborhood, searching every nook and cranny for adventure.

            Then one day, when I was at home by myself, I heard a knock at the door. When I opened it, two men in official-looking suits were there. And they told me- my father was missing.

            A few years later, I started training myself. I always wanted to be able to explore other planets, but I needed more money, and needed it fast. There was no longer anyone taking care of me, and I needed to make a living for myself.

            That’s why I became a bounty hunter, so I could explore new places while making fast cash. Quite honestly, it’s a decision that I’ve never come to regret, as I’ve had some pretty interesting adventures over the years.

            A warning light suddenly flashes on my ship’s console, a flashing yellow signal telling me that I’m within proximity of the Bold Explorer. Out the viewport, I can see the ship’s hangar bay. That’s where I’ll have to land, but I need permission first. I press a button on my ship’s communicator, broadcasting my message to the control room of the Bold Explorer. “Bold Explore, this is Aderes Zantras, the bounty hunter sent by the Coming Dawn colony to investigate your communications blackout. I am requesting clearance to land in your hangar bay. Please respond.”

            I wait a moment, expecting some response, any response. Nothing, only static. With thousands of people on board, you’d think someone would answer the phone.

            I’m starting to get a bad feeling about all this. I try again to make communication, to no avail. Perhaps they’re communications system is down? Only a few of the ship’s external lights are on- maybe there’s a shortage on power, and they’re not able to communicate back to me. Still, I have an uneasy feeling that won’t go away. Something about this whole situation just feels-off.

            In the case that the ship doesn’t respond, I’m under orders to land in the hangar anyway. I grab hold of the controls and steer my ship toward the open bay doors. I bank into the wide open space and set the ship down smoothly.

            I take a look around the hangar from inside my ship. It’s unsettlingly dark- only a few of the lights on the ceiling appear to be functioning. The dark, cramped space is packed with ships of varying sizes and models, as well as huge crates, most likely containing food or research equipment.

            I exit my ship, and begin searching for signs of life. There doesn’t appear to be anyone in the hangar, however, someone could easily hide behind all of these ships and equipment if they wanted to. I wander through the maze, trying to find the hangar’s exit. As I do, an uneasy feeling creeps over me. I find myself holding arm cannon, as if ready to point it at something. I have an eerie sensation that I’m somehow not alone, that there’s something out there, creeping around in those shadows. The fact that I have to keep walking around dark corners isn’t helping.

            Finally, I see the exit door ahead of me, with a holo-sign above it indicating that the hallway beyond will take me to a service elevator that will take me to the main corridors of the ship. Hopefully I’ll be able to find a way to the control room, or get in contact with someone along the way-

A noise behind me, the sound of something being knocked over. I spin around and see a small container lying on its side. Out of the corner of my eye, a see a shape slither back into the darkness. What the hell was that? All I saw was what appeared to be a tail with a silver gleam at its tip. Suddenly, I hear a strange sound to my right, as if something metal is scraping across the floor. Then I hear a strange, high-pitched chattering.

I lift up my arm cannon and point it in different directions all around me, scanning the darkness for whatever is making that chattering. I see flashes in the dark, light gleaming off of something silver as it rushes by. Then I realize that whatever’s out there, there’s more than one of them.

I start to hear a new sound- a sort of raspy screech. The call echoes all around the room, and I realize that these-creatures are calling to one another. What are these things, and why are they loose in the ship’s hangar?

I don’t get much time to ponder those questions. Something leaps out of the darkness and pins me to the ground. When I look up, all I see is a blur of gleaming, razor-sharp teeth lunging at my face. I swing out my arm in front of me, and hear a clang! As teeth break against the metal of my armor. Whatever creature was on top of me, I swung it like a ragdoll into the nearest wall. I heard it let out a screech as its bones cracked against the solid metal.

I leapt up back on my feet, lifted up my arm cannon, and found myself already aiming at another monster as it leapt out of the darkness. This one jumped through the small circle of illumination cast by the light above the door, and I had a split second to catch a glimpse of it. It looked a lot like a velociraptor, with glowing yellow eyes and razor sharp teeth. It had gleaming talons on both its hands and feet, and it had long arms with seemingly opposable hands. It even had a spiky, mace-like club at the end of its tail, which looked like it could shatter a human skull in a single blow.

Instinctively, I fired a shot from my arm cannon. My aim was spot on- the blast caught the creature right in the chest, sending it flying backward with a screech of pain.  More of them begin charging out at me, trying to use their strength of numbers. I fire blast after blast, my good aim allowing me to take out each monster with relative ease. The deadly blasts can fry each of these things in one hit. However, more and more of them are pouring out of the shadows, screeching like the devil incarnate. I soon realize that I’m not going to be able to survive the on slaught- I have to find a way to escape, before they overtake me.

I switch my arm cannon to its grenade launcher. I launch an incendiary grenade in the open space in front of me, creating a temporary wave of fire that catches some of the creatures in its grasp. They screech, some of them jumping back, some of them rolling on the floor, trying to put the flames out. I’ve never seen an animal do something like that before, but I don’t have time to ponder it- the fire is the only thing keeping the creatures hanging back in the shadows. Once it dies, they’ll all come rushing out at me again.

I turn to the door’s control panel and press the button to open it, but only get a flashing red light and a low-pitched beeping. Locked-perfect. Looks like we’re doing this the hard way.

I smash my armored hand into the control panel, circuits sparking and wires bursting from their sockets. The door flies open, as if in fearful obedience. I sprint through the doorway into the hall beyond. The hallway is dark, with only a few emergency lights running every twenty feet- I can barely see anything. Behind me, I hear the sound of the creatures screeching, as if in pain. Then I hear a new sound- a deep, rumbling growl that sounds like it came straight out of hell.

I don’t take the time to look back. I dive into the elevator and slam the up button. The doors don’t close nearly fast enough. A hulking mass with the longest claws I’ve ever seen closes its massive hands around the doors and flings them open as easily as I could tear a piece of paper in half. In the dim light, all I can make out is the gleam of the monster’s claws- and the spikes covering its back and arms like a damned fur coat.

I’ve only got one chance- I hold down the trigger of my arm cannon, charging up its energy. The creature lets out a defining more that seems to scramble the audio receptors in my helmet. The creature raises one giant hand, getting ready to bring those blade-like claws down on me.

I choose my moment just right- firing a charged blast in the monster’s face just before it can bring its death blades down on me. As the flash of the blast lights up its face, its face becomes visible for a split second- and I see a mass of scales, sharp teeth- and two glowing reptilian eyes.

The monster reels back from the blast and growls in rage as it covers its face with its gargantuan hands. I can see steam trailing out of its face as it thrashes around the room, a hulking, twisting mass of blackness howling in pain.

I reach up and slam my fist on the elevator’s control panel. I feel it begin to rumble and slowly ascend, and the doors begin to shut. I catch one last glimpse of the monster I defeated as it continues to writhe in pain, and then the elevator doors shut, and I feel the smooth sensation of quick ascension. I am greeted by eerily cheerful elevator music.

I take off my helmet, breath hard; run my hand through my hair. The only thing I can think to say is: “What the f**k?” What the hell is happening? What are these things? How did they get on board the ship? Is everyone else dead? What am I supposed to do now?

I guess I know now why the ship has a communication black out. I take a deep breath, and put my helmet back on. Whatever these things are, I’ve never seen any alien life like them, and I’m definitely not prepared for them. I have to get back to my ship, go back to the colony, and warn them about what’s going on.

The elevator stops with a bump, and the doors slowly open. I’m now on the second floor. A long hallway stretches out before me, cloaked in darkness, once again with only a few small lights on to see by. Whatever happens next, it’s inevitable- and now it’s time to take the first step. With a deep breath, I raise my arm cannon in front of me, and set off down the hall, my metal footsteps echoing through the darkness.

           

 

           

           

            

Reviews

[AllisonB]

Harry, I appreciate your work. It's superb. I like the touches of humor added in. There are some grammatical errors, but other than that, it was like I said before "superb".