"Hey! Ayelen!"
She jerked her eyes upward. Kwynn, Ayelen's fellow botanist, was twisted around as much as she could in her seat to face her, the bulky space suit making it difficult to do so. Her brow was furrowed and her eyes shone with genuine concern.
"You okay there, famsquad?"
"Uh… yeah. Why?" she asked distractedly, looking around. They were all seated in the control center of the ship, geared up in their suits and facing upward to face the endless void.
Are we landing already…?
"You've been, like, catatonic all morning - no one could really get a reaction out of you, and you just kinda went through the motions of everything without saying anything. We were worried that you'd, like, died in your sleep, but that your ghost was too stubborn to stay dead," she joked, trying to lighten the mood despite the worried edge to her voice.
"...Huh."
Kwynn gave her another worried look up and down before ultimately just turning around and dropping the matter - the group's attempts hadn't worked earlier and didn't seem to be working now.
Completely lost in thought, Ayelen stared above as her stomach dropped and chest caved in with the sudden pressure of Artemis' rockets lowering them to the ground. The speckled void of space began shifting as colors bled around the edges of the glass above before quickly snuffing out any previous hint of darkness; the atmosphere was a pulsating mirage of colors that ebbed and flowed with the fluidity of a calm ocean, gently and efficiently shifting from one color to the next. Delicate white orbs floated around intermittently, their edges blending in seamlessly with the surrounding light as they bobbed up and down with the pulses; they looked more like blobs of white light than separate entities.
"Bacteria colonies… They're communicating," Makenzie, the team's designated leader, whispered to herself in awe, though her comment was drowned out by the roar of Artemis.
With a massive shift in weight and a concerningly loud groan, carelessly tossing her occupants to the side in their seats, Artemis bore her anchors into the earth below to secure herself.
They'd made it. The third group ever to arrive on Callisto.
Immediately, Daniel, the geologist, ripped himself out of his seat and dropped to the door below before yanking it open and literally throwing himself face-first down the ladder in sheer, unadulterated excitement.
Whipping her head around in shock and morbid curiosity, Ayelen could see the realization of his mistake vividly flash across his face as he desperately flailed to grab a rung. With a painful whack and an exasperated, "shit!", his body slammed against the metal as he successfully grabbed, and held onto a rung.
"I-I'm okay!" He grunted, voice shaking from the adrenaline. "I don't think it's broken. Just hurts… a lot." He indicated towards the shoulder he caught himself with.
Gwen, the medic, peered down, mouth agape in disbelief.
"Daniel Hill!" she scolded. "There's no dying at game night! No one dies at game night!" She stressed that last bit to the rest of the group. It was something she'd deeply ingrained into everyone's minds when they met up after training to play board games - "game night."
He dismissively waved a hand, trying to catch his breath as his asthma kicked in.
After convincing Danny to wait at the bottom of the ladder for everyone else, the rest of the group successfully clambered their way down without falling or jumping. Kenzie placed a gloved hand on the door's handle, shaking with excitement and anticipation.
"Okay…" she breathed, steadying herself. "Ready?"
Everyone nodded.
With a final breath, she shouldered the door open.
Ashy stalks of grass-like plants flowed peacefully in a nonexistent breeze, engulfing the base that lay in front of them. It was disappointingly Earth-like; they were situated in a circle. In any given direction, fifty feet away from the base, the air pulsated and shimmered with an intimidating force - you couldn't focus on it. It appeared as if there lay nothing beyond their circle of safety other than a grey, shifting void. This was the greatest danger on the planet: the constantly-shifting gravity. One second, your entire body could be in Earth-like gravity, and the next your head could be in that of Jupiter, and your feet in Pluto. Though some relatively stable pockets of gravity had been discovered, such as the one their base was in, gravity storms posed a very real danger as they were unpredictable and instantaneous - the team, and their pocket of safety could be lost forever to one. Overhead, the sky rose and fell like waves in its display of organic rainbows.
In this pocket, gravity would shift between that of the moon and Earth, though very gradually, and required the group to be equipped with pressure-plated boots that would stick to the magnetic surface of the planet.
Taking a moment to absorb their new surroundings, the group slowly and clunkily made their way to the base door, having to press and release a button build into their gloves for every step in order to release the magnetic boots. Despite their training, this did not go smoothly as many would forget to release the button and end up with one foot in the air and one stuck to the ground.
Once everyone finally arrived at the door, Kenzie entered the group's code to unlock the doors. Worn down from the lack of maintenance, the metal doors screeched open and everyone clambered inside, Ayelen passing a remark to Dori, their mechanic: "So, you gonna fix those, or….?"
Dori either didn't hear this, or chose to ignore her.
The airlock pressurized and the group began peeling off the many layers of their suits and storing them in lockers claimed by "Dibs!", all the while making small talk and horsing around - this first day was simply to adjust to the new planet and make themselves at home in the base.
Just as everyone had gotten undressed, Kenzie called for order and shared the realization that no one had grabbed any of their stuff on the way in, asking for volunteers to go and get it. After an awkward silence, Ayelen and Kali, the chemist, grudgingly mumbled that they would do it and grabbed their suits once more as the others made their way into the main living rooms of the base.
Once outside again, Ayelen stopped mid-click after realizing something.
"Aw, shit…" she groaned. "I have to swap out the batteries."
"What'd ya mean?"
"For the base… Everyone's gonna be pissed if they all settle down only to realize they barely have any power. Do you wanna start unloading things while I work on that? I can help carry everything back."
Kali paused before stomping around to face her, clearly disgruntled.
"Boy. I can't just carry everything out of there by myself!"
"It'll just take a sec," she pleaded. "I promise."
Kali huffed before clunking back around.
"...Fine."
They both headed towards their separate destinations, Kali back to the ship and Ayelen around the side of the base. Once there, she found the two enormous batteries for the base's generators laying in their panels, fully charged over the years by the nearby sun. Bracing herself, she heaved the first one out and lumbered unsteadily towards the base wall, finding it extremely difficult to release her boots and carry it simultaneously - despite the weaker gravity it was still extremely heavy.
Letting it land with a solid thunk! at her feet, heavy breaths fogged up her helmet as she punched in the code to open the side panel in the wall, revealing two more very sad-looking batteries barely clinging to life. Bracing herself again, she forced one out after the other, planning to bring them back to the charger once the two new ones were in. She crouched down to put the new one in.
Artemis' calm voice suddenly came through the speakers in her helmet as a number displayed across her helmet:
"Warning! Large movement detected at 40 meters."
What?
Ayelen's breath caught in her throat as her heart began hammering away at her ribs. She dropped the new battery - she didn't even know Artemis could do this. The number in front of her was quickly decreasing.
But we were told there was nothing on this planet!
"Warning! Large movement detected at 30 meters."
Her mind was racing as she frantically whipped her head back and forth, trying to see into the void. She didn't know what to do.
"Warning! Large movement detected at 20 meters."
There.
Her stomach lurched as, directly in front of her, a vague, darker mass stood beyond the grey veil, its thin, stringy form distorting with the pulsing gravity.
"Warning! Large movement detected at 20 meters."
It wasn't moving.
She quickly stole a glance at the ship: Kali was calmly taking gear out of the cargo bay, completely unaware of the situation.
"Warning! Large movement detected at 15 meters."
She jerked back to face it, desperately trying to control her breathing, if anything to avoid throwing up.
It… It moves when I don't look at it…
Through the haze, she barely made out a spindly, vine-like form that towered above her, even at a distance. There was no head to speak of, though she could feel its nonexistent eyes boring into her.
"Warning! Large movement detected at 15 meters."
Deciding to absolutely fuck this, Ayelen abandoned the batteries and clumsily sprint-clunked to the base door, frantically fumbling to radio Kali and release her boots evenly.
"Warning! Large movement at 15 meters."
"Kali! Kali! Get inside right now!"
"What? Why?" Her voice was on edge.
"There's fucking something outside of the circle! Just get in!"
"Warning! Large movement at 15 meters."
Her radio whined. No response.
Having reached the door, Ayelen punched in the code with trembling fingers and threw the door open, desperately searching for Kali before slamming it shut and deciding she could get it open herself. She tripped over herself as she hurriedly threw off her suit, heart pounding and body shaking.
Kenzie and Kwynn came rushing down the hall, having heard the commotion.
"...Something outside… There's something… outside," she wheezed before they could ask, hands on her knees to catch her breath.
Their faces paled.
"Artemis!" Kenzie yelled at the ceiling. "Activate the security system! Lock all the doors!"
"Where's Kali?" Kwynn demanded, staring Ayelen down.
"I-I don't know! She wouldn't respond to my radio."
A collective, solemn clang reverberated throughout the base as all points of entry were barricaded from the outside.
Kwynn silently shoved past Kenzie and Ayelen, yanking her locker open and forcing her suit out before quickly gearing up.
"What are you doing?" Kenzie demanded, grabbing her arm. Kwynn forced it off of her.
"I'm going to find her," she growled, her underlying anger screaming that she wouldn't let her friend die. Not this early.
Kenzie made a desperate lung for her, but was too slow - she'd already forced her way into the airlock and out the door, furiously stomping.
"God damn it!" she yelled, pounding a fist on the airlock door. She turned around to face Ayelen, frustration glinting in her eyes.
"Get everyone in the living room. I'll be right back." She shoved past her and jogged back down the hall.
Ayelen, shaking, made her way down the dark hall and into the open living room. On the left was their small kitchen and dining area, and on her right sat everyone on the two couches in the modest living room. Some stood upon seeing her, most sat in nervous silence. Her heart twanged with empathy as poor Cecelia was crying and looked as if she were going to throw up - she'd never handled stress very well.
Jayce, the team's other mechanic, nervously looked around.
"Hey… so, uh, what's going on? Everyone's really freaking out here…" He trailed off.
"There was… something outside. I don't know what it was, but, uh… yeah. Kali was out there with me, a-and her radio must've died, or something, 'cause she didn't respond… And now Kwynn's out there trying to find her…So, it's a mess."
She paused, looking around and fidgeting with her hands.
"Kenzie said to wait here. I-I think she went to grab something?"
Just then, Kenzie came back into the dimly-lit room, holding a palm-sized box that Ayelen had never seen before. She slid it into her pocket, voice tense.
"Okay, so, I'm not going out there to look for them, and I sure as hell don't want any of you going out there. We… We'll just have to wait for them, and hope that they show up… It's a pretty small area, so they can't have wandered far."
A thick silence coated the air as everyone shifted uneasily.
BANG, BANG, BANG.
The sounds echoed across the base from the main door, causing everyone to jump out of their skin in shock. Cecelia screamed a bit, tears streaming down her face.
Kenzie shot towards the airlock, rummaging around her pockets, as the rest of the group quickly followed.
"Stay here!" she commanded, voice venomous as she pulled her suit on. After shoving the airlock door shut, they crowded around the tiny glass window to watch.
BANG, BANG, BANG.
Kenzie held the tiny box defensively, thumb twitching above it. With her free hand, she quickly yanked the door open and held it in front of her.
A very shocked Kwynn and Kali stood before her, Kwynn's fist raised to knock again.
Kenzie visibly relaxed, placing a hand on her chest before ushering them inside and smacking them upside the head.
"Jesus, Kenzie!" Kali complained, removing her helmet and rubbing her head.
Kwynn sighed and did the same, her voice gruff.
"There wasn't anything out there, calm down…"
Kenzie was irate at this point.
"Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down when you two just fuck around outside when we don't know what's out there? I'm supposed to be in charge of you!"
She sighed heavily and began taking off her own suit, mumbling to herself:
"...Besides, what would I do if you were killed…"
Kenzie pushed the airlock door open, forcing everyone to shuffle back to the living room. She stopped Ayelen.
"...Swap out those batteries when you can. Don't know how much longer we have left." Her eyes were tired as she called out to Artemis.
"Artemis, it's okay. You can pull the extra security up, but keep the doors locked."
Another clang reverberated throughout the base.
Weighing her options, Ayelen stood by the airlock as everyone else wandered away to distract themselves. Having waited a few minutes to be sure whatever had been out there was indeed gone, she pulled her suit on, just wanting to get this over with.
She stepped outside, and sure enough. No warning from Artemis, no shape in the distance.
Nothing.
She made her way over to the abandoned batteries and successfully swapped them out, placed the old ones in the chargers, and headed back to the base without further incident where she crawled into the bed built into a cubby in her bedroom wall to sleep off the day's events.