hey all! you want more? voila! *waves hand mysteriously* --- by the way, i'm open to any suggestions for other possible hook-ups! and yes i know the last part of chapter 6 was a tad dramatic... but hey i was listening to some especially angsty music! *thinks in head: music=life* --- ok, on with the story!!! ( i've been writing a LOT lately haven't i?)
*************
Harper ran back to the boiler room. He had lost her, but he knew which way she had gone, so he went and got his flashlight and started to search. "Trance?" he called down the hallway that he had last seen her turn into. "Trance? Come on, babe... Whatever I did, I'm sorry." He beamed the flashlight around the corner. 'Nope, not down here,' he thought to himself. After getting himself completely turned around, back tracking twice, and starting over three or four times, at last he found her. But it wasn't what he was expecting to come upon. As he cast the flashlight's ray of light down the next corridor, the light fell upon something. It looked like someone curled up on the floor. "Trance?" Harper asked cautiously. "Trance is that you?" He didn't want to get beat up again... but the figure didn't move. It didn't even look like it was breathing... until suddenly the figure lurched and started to wretch. "Trance!" Harper called out in fear. By the time he had reached her though, Trance had become still again. He knelt down and gently turned her over. She was clearly unconscious--- again.
Setting his flashlight down, Harper tried to revive his golden friend, but she remained silent. He checked her pulse. It was weak and he could barely feel it under his finger, but it was there all the same, and that's what mattered. 'Oh great, I'm probably to blame for this,' he thought as he softly patted her cheek. "Come on, babe. Wake up for me, will you?"
After several minutes, Harper decided to take action. "Oof, up ya go," he groaned as he scooped her up into his arms, although she wasn't as heavy as Harper had anticipated. He pulled her arm around his neck and awkwardly leaned over and picked up his flashlight. But instead of beginning to walk and find his way back to the command deck, he simply stood there looking down at her. A strange feeling began to brew inside his stomach and then worked its way up into his throat. "Wouldn't that be just perfect if I threw up NOW of all times," he said aloud. But he wasn't going to vomit. This was something different. Harper stared down at his golden goddess. He felt suddenly peaceful, and he was compelled to lean over and--- 'Ack! No Harper!' he shook the thought out of his head.
As he made his way down the dark hall, he whispered to himself, "She's you're friend, friend, friend... nothing more... Friend, friend, friend..."
**************
"Where do you think Harper and Trance are?" Rommie asked.
"Yeah, shouldn't they be back by now?" Beka piped in.
The two looked at each other, worry on their faces.
"Who knows what they're up to..." Tyr grinned. Beka whacked him on his massive forearm. He caught her wrist and held it for a moment, possibly longer than necessary. They just looked at each other.
"Oh-KAY then," Rommie widened her eyes and arched her eyebrows. Tyr dropped Beka's wrist. "Dylan? Where do you think Harper and Trance are?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes, them. I don't know. They're probably on their way back now..." Dylan replaced his head in his arms again. He was so tired.
Tyr sighed and sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall. Beka and Rommie did the same.
"Do you think they're alright?" Beka whispered to Rommie.
Rommie nodded. "I bet they're fine."
"You don't think anything is wrong do you?"
"No, they probably just got lost. You worry too much Beka."
"Funny. Usually I'd be telling you that," Beka grinned and closed her eyes. Soon everyone had fallen into fitful sleeps. Only Rommie remained awake. She sat and let her mind wonder.
***************
Trance moaned and slowly let her eyes flutter open. A pair of wide blue eyes stared back at her. She jumped slightly, but she felt weak. "Trance... you're awake." She realized that she was in Harper's arms.
"Put me down," was her pathetic answer. Not surprisingly, Harper did not. He only gripped her tighter.
"You really had me scared there, Trance. What happened?"
The memories came flooding back. She squirmed. Harper set her down against the wall. "I fainted," she answered plainly, pulling her knees to her chest and hugging her arms around them.
Harper nodded and sat down next to her. "Look, I've been thinking..."
"I've already heard what you think, Harper. Don't repeat it."
Harper closed his mouth and looked at Trance. She did not return his gaze. Impulsively, Harper put his hand under her chin and tilted her face up to his. She didn't fight back this time. She was completely worn out. Slowly, Trance raised her heavy eyelids and met his gaze. "I'm sorry," Harper tried to think of something else to say next. He really was sorry. It killed him to see her looking so hurt, so defeated. But he still wouldn't admit to himself why Trance had reacted so strongly. Deep down, he knew, but that fact remained buried somewhere deep inside where he couldn't find it--- yet. In his mind at the moment, Trance was still just mad at him. Just his friend...
Trance looked into his eyes. She knew that he had no idea how she felt. The result of this realization was an overwhelming sense of loneliness. But she wouldn't pursue it. If Harper didn't love her back, then that was just the way things would be. "I'm sorry too," her response came out high and strained. Trance couldn't bare keeping her feelings hidden. Her lip quivered.
"It's ok..." Harper pulled her head to his chest. Trance started to cry. "No, don't cry. It's ok. I'm not mad at you for what you did." Trance broke out into loud sobs. Harper wrapped his arms around her.
And, feeling Harper breathing against her, Trance felt as if she didn't belong. 'He just thinks of me as a good friend...' she thought, sobbing. She felt as if it were a guilty pleasure simply being embraced by Harper. She hugged her arms around his middle and tried to stop crying. It took too much energy anyway.
***************
"Harper!" Rommie heard the heavy dragging footsteps. "Good lord, what happened?" She suddenly saw that he was carrying Trance in his arms. "Trance..." She reached out to take Trance from Harper's arms. The second that Harper let go, he collapsed on the floor, panting and wheezing. Rommie had thought that Trance wasn't conscious, but in fact she was awake. However, she seemed barely there, in her own world apart from reality. As if she was unaware of what was going on around her. She looked slightly glazed over. "Harper, what happened?" Rommie asked again.
"She- she fainted," Harper sounded on the brink of sleep himself. Rommie helped him over to where the others were sleeping.
"That's it? It just happened?"
"We, ah... got into a slight disagreement and she got a little worked up," Harper was beginning to breathe more evenly now that he lay still. He ran his fingers clumsily through his hair. His chest moved up and down beneath his oil-stained shirt.
To Rommie, it was obvious that Harper was greatly under-stating the situation, but she didn't persist. She just let him rest. After a while, she couldn't tell if he was still asleep or not, but she took her chances. "Trance?" she whispered.
Trance groaned and turned slightly. Her eyes pulled themselves half open. "Yeah?" she said in a wispy sort of voice.
"Are you alright? What happened? Why did you faint?"
Trance pulled her hands over her ears, digressing with the extreme exhaustion. She rolled over with her back to Rommie. She was trying to forget what had happened. She didn't want to remember. She just wanted to sleep...
**************
The next morning, Dylan woke up to find Harper sleeping a meter away from him, and Trance curled up near where Rommie sat. Everyone else was still sleeping. He stood and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He walked over to Rommie and silently motioned for her to come with him so that they could talk without waking the others. She understood and followed him to just on the other side of one of the two command deck doorways. "When did they get back?" Dylan said just above a whisper.
"I'd say an hour or so after everyone fell asleep. Harper came in carrying Trance, but all he would say is that she fainted because she got 'a little worked up over a slight disagreement'."
"You don't believe that, do you?" Dylan asked quizzically.
Rommie shook her head. "No I don't, but I don't think either of them will be talking about what really happened anytime soon."
"Well, if it's health related, they might say something."
"You just want to know what the argument was about, don't you?" Rommie smiled a little.
Dylan was about to smile, but then he became serious again. "Rommie..."
"Yes Dylan?"
"I think that it's starting."
"What's starting?"
"The altitude sickness. You've noticed. I know you have, Rommie."
She said nothing, but she did agree and she didn't need to tell Dylan so. He knew that she was too highly trained to not notice symptoms as obvious as these. "I'm worried too, Dylan. What if we don't find a way to off this barren planet? Harper goes to the boiler room every day and he still can't find the solution to the problem."
"We'll find a way," Dylan said reassuringly after a brief pause of uncertainty. "Have faith, Rommie. Have faith in your captain," he touched her arm. She smiled and nodded, but she was still afraid.
*************
Later that morning, when everyone was awake, Dylan requested a meeting.
"What's this about?" Tyr asked sleepily. Rommie looked at Dylan.
"I've called you all together so that we can discuss the mountain sickness. I think that we are all barring its symptoms."
"No we're not," Beka said, coughing, which didn't help her case.
Dylan raised his eyebrows, "We need to stay low-key from now on, is that clear?"
"Crystal," Harper sighed.
"It's not like anyone was doing anything except Harper," Beka grumbled to Tyr under her breath. He nodded in agreement and patted her on the shoulder.
At least half of the day went by, and the crew did nothing but simply sit around. Then Rommie looked up suddenly.
"What is it?" Tyr asked.
"Nothing, probably just the wind." But then Tyr heard it too: a low rumble in the distance. Soon, everyone, even Trance who was in a slight delirium, were listening carefully to the noise. It seemed to be approaching fast.
"They're coming back," Tyr stood and went to pick up the biggest weapon he could find in the pile. "Here," he tossed one to Dylan, then to Beka and Rommie. When everyone had a large gun along with their small ones, they sat back down.
"It'll most likely take a half an hour for them to get here," Rommie calculated, judging by the degree of the vibration beneath them.
"Oh great, so we just sit here and wait?" Harper asked nervously.
"It seems that way doesn't it," Tyr replied.
"Well, shouldn't we make a plan or something? If we have a half an hour..." everyone looked up in surprise to hear Trance actually speaking something logical. She'd been zoning out ever since she and Harper had returned the previous night. "They'll definitely kill us if we aren't prepared."
"You're right, Trance," Dylan hoisted himself up again. "We should position ourselves around the ship. We might be able to scare them off again," he addressed his crew.
Tyr stood up boldly. He had that look in his eye, Beka noted. That look that he always got before a battle. "I agree," he looked at the rest of them, still sitting on the floor.
"Well, come on!" Harper jumped to his feet. "Let's kick their alien butts!"
************
In the next twenty minutes, the crew split up into pairs: Tyr and Beka, Rommie and Trance, Dylan and Harper.
"I can see them," Trance jutted out her jaw, scanning the horizon through the window where she and Rommie were stationed. There was a huge cloud of red dust moving steadily toward the ship. Trance looked down at her massive weapon. It was almost as big as her.
Rommie heaved her own up onto her shoulder. "They'll be here any minute now."
"Do you think that they have weapons?" Trance's voice quavered.
"I think they ARE the weapons," Rommie was a little nervous too. She was remembering the deafening pounding that they had made on the first day on the planet. She tightened her grip on the huge fire arm.
***********
Tyr and Beka waited.
"Do you think that they might be coming in peace?" Beka asked softly.
"No," Tyr said without hesitating. He looked down meaningfully at his friend for a moment. She looked disappointed... And then: "Open the door!" Tyr yelled, realizing how close the hoard of aliens had gotten to the ship in only a few seconds. Beka took a deep breath, braced herself, and opened the emergency hatch. There was a hiss, followed by a gust of wind and dust. Beka choked on her own surprise. It really did feel like there was no air at all out there. The two stood solid in the open doorway. "Now!" Tyr yelled again once the front line of alien attackers was in range. They both started firing. The ground shook as the massive creatures fell to the ground. Oddly, they made no noise.
"Keep firing!" Beka called above the noise and ducked back into the ship to reload. When she returned to the doorway, she gaped. 'Oh my god,' she thought. The aliens kept coming, more and more as if there was no end to them. She and Tyr hadn't even made a dent. There were just too many of them. She could see the bright white rays of the others' guns as they fired from different points on the ship.
Tyr lowered his gun, something he would normally never do. Beka looked up in surprise. "We can't win this," he said finally. Something in his voice made Beka's heart stop. What was it?... It was the sound of defeat. And coming from Tyr, it was a rude awakening.
************
"There's no end to them!" Harper screamed in panic above the thunderous noise of the stampede. "We're just wasting ammo!"
"We can't give up! Don't stop firing!" Dylan continued to shoot at random into the mass.
Harper had never been much of a fighter, but he knew when to back out of a battle he couldn't possibly win. He dropped his gun to his side. Dylan looked over at him. The aliens were almost to the ship now. Harper gulped, closed his eyes, and waited for an alien to come and rip his head off. There was no way that they could get out of this one...
**************
Rommie wouldn't stop firing. "Rommie, put the gun down!" Trance was yelling, tugging on Rommie's arm. "Stop! It's pointless!" Trance stopped wrestling the android down when Rommie froze abruptly. Trance looked up to see why Rommie had ceased her firing, and suddenly she couldn't breathe.
A huge creature stood towering over them. It had short limbs and a huge barreled chest that expanded greatly and shrunk back again every few seconds. Its veins and muscles showed through as a dull red under transparent beige skin. It had two tiny black eyes set deep into a small head. It raised one massive fist high over Trance's head. She screamed. Rommie tried to fire, but her gun was out of ammo. She looked up helplessly at the fist looming overhead. The creature raised its fist high into the air, about to strike down. Then suddenly, it froze. A second alien was looking intensely at the back of the first one's head. It slowly lowered its boulder-like fist. Rommie pulled Trance, who stood frozen in fear, away from the door.
"Run!" she yelled, pressing the button to close the door. Trance stumbled down the hallway. She stopped when she heard Rommie scream. There was a ripping of metal against metal and Trance turned around just in time to see the door being pulled completely off of the ship. Rommie yelled out in pain. "Run!" she ordered again, looking back and seeing Trance standing still. But Trance wouldn't. She dashed back to Rommie. They held onto each other for dear life as the creature scooped them up like toothpicks and pulled them out of the ship.
Trance and Rommie struggled, but couldn't pull themselves free. It was hopeless. The alien was far too strong. Trance gasped in shock. She couldn't breathe at all. She felt dust clog in her dry throat. She gave up screaming. There wasn't enough oxygen. She looked back at the Andromeda over the creature's shoulder as it joined the huge stampede retreating back to where they had come from. It was obvious that the impact of the crash landing had permanently re-shaped the face of the planet. The ship lay in a charred crater, and was now half buried in the planet's reddish sand. She saw Rommie point to their left. More of the hulking aliens had retrieved the rest of the crew. Trance could just make out the blond head of Harper, putting up an amazing struggle. She closed her eyes. They had all been captured. And what would they do now?
After a very long time- what seemed like hours-, Trance opened her eyes again. She could see a steep incline before her, and at the bottom, the mouth of an extremely dark cave. The huge hoard of aliens was rapidly disappearing into the cavern entrance. She closed her eyes as she and Rommie were carried into the darkness.
*************
Harper ran back to the boiler room. He had lost her, but he knew which way she had gone, so he went and got his flashlight and started to search. "Trance?" he called down the hallway that he had last seen her turn into. "Trance? Come on, babe... Whatever I did, I'm sorry." He beamed the flashlight around the corner. 'Nope, not down here,' he thought to himself. After getting himself completely turned around, back tracking twice, and starting over three or four times, at last he found her. But it wasn't what he was expecting to come upon. As he cast the flashlight's ray of light down the next corridor, the light fell upon something. It looked like someone curled up on the floor. "Trance?" Harper asked cautiously. "Trance is that you?" He didn't want to get beat up again... but the figure didn't move. It didn't even look like it was breathing... until suddenly the figure lurched and started to wretch. "Trance!" Harper called out in fear. By the time he had reached her though, Trance had become still again. He knelt down and gently turned her over. She was clearly unconscious--- again.
Setting his flashlight down, Harper tried to revive his golden friend, but she remained silent. He checked her pulse. It was weak and he could barely feel it under his finger, but it was there all the same, and that's what mattered. 'Oh great, I'm probably to blame for this,' he thought as he softly patted her cheek. "Come on, babe. Wake up for me, will you?"
After several minutes, Harper decided to take action. "Oof, up ya go," he groaned as he scooped her up into his arms, although she wasn't as heavy as Harper had anticipated. He pulled her arm around his neck and awkwardly leaned over and picked up his flashlight. But instead of beginning to walk and find his way back to the command deck, he simply stood there looking down at her. A strange feeling began to brew inside his stomach and then worked its way up into his throat. "Wouldn't that be just perfect if I threw up NOW of all times," he said aloud. But he wasn't going to vomit. This was something different. Harper stared down at his golden goddess. He felt suddenly peaceful, and he was compelled to lean over and--- 'Ack! No Harper!' he shook the thought out of his head.
As he made his way down the dark hall, he whispered to himself, "She's you're friend, friend, friend... nothing more... Friend, friend, friend..."
**************
"Where do you think Harper and Trance are?" Rommie asked.
"Yeah, shouldn't they be back by now?" Beka piped in.
The two looked at each other, worry on their faces.
"Who knows what they're up to..." Tyr grinned. Beka whacked him on his massive forearm. He caught her wrist and held it for a moment, possibly longer than necessary. They just looked at each other.
"Oh-KAY then," Rommie widened her eyes and arched her eyebrows. Tyr dropped Beka's wrist. "Dylan? Where do you think Harper and Trance are?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes, them. I don't know. They're probably on their way back now..." Dylan replaced his head in his arms again. He was so tired.
Tyr sighed and sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall. Beka and Rommie did the same.
"Do you think they're alright?" Beka whispered to Rommie.
Rommie nodded. "I bet they're fine."
"You don't think anything is wrong do you?"
"No, they probably just got lost. You worry too much Beka."
"Funny. Usually I'd be telling you that," Beka grinned and closed her eyes. Soon everyone had fallen into fitful sleeps. Only Rommie remained awake. She sat and let her mind wonder.
***************
Trance moaned and slowly let her eyes flutter open. A pair of wide blue eyes stared back at her. She jumped slightly, but she felt weak. "Trance... you're awake." She realized that she was in Harper's arms.
"Put me down," was her pathetic answer. Not surprisingly, Harper did not. He only gripped her tighter.
"You really had me scared there, Trance. What happened?"
The memories came flooding back. She squirmed. Harper set her down against the wall. "I fainted," she answered plainly, pulling her knees to her chest and hugging her arms around them.
Harper nodded and sat down next to her. "Look, I've been thinking..."
"I've already heard what you think, Harper. Don't repeat it."
Harper closed his mouth and looked at Trance. She did not return his gaze. Impulsively, Harper put his hand under her chin and tilted her face up to his. She didn't fight back this time. She was completely worn out. Slowly, Trance raised her heavy eyelids and met his gaze. "I'm sorry," Harper tried to think of something else to say next. He really was sorry. It killed him to see her looking so hurt, so defeated. But he still wouldn't admit to himself why Trance had reacted so strongly. Deep down, he knew, but that fact remained buried somewhere deep inside where he couldn't find it--- yet. In his mind at the moment, Trance was still just mad at him. Just his friend...
Trance looked into his eyes. She knew that he had no idea how she felt. The result of this realization was an overwhelming sense of loneliness. But she wouldn't pursue it. If Harper didn't love her back, then that was just the way things would be. "I'm sorry too," her response came out high and strained. Trance couldn't bare keeping her feelings hidden. Her lip quivered.
"It's ok..." Harper pulled her head to his chest. Trance started to cry. "No, don't cry. It's ok. I'm not mad at you for what you did." Trance broke out into loud sobs. Harper wrapped his arms around her.
And, feeling Harper breathing against her, Trance felt as if she didn't belong. 'He just thinks of me as a good friend...' she thought, sobbing. She felt as if it were a guilty pleasure simply being embraced by Harper. She hugged her arms around his middle and tried to stop crying. It took too much energy anyway.
***************
"Harper!" Rommie heard the heavy dragging footsteps. "Good lord, what happened?" She suddenly saw that he was carrying Trance in his arms. "Trance..." She reached out to take Trance from Harper's arms. The second that Harper let go, he collapsed on the floor, panting and wheezing. Rommie had thought that Trance wasn't conscious, but in fact she was awake. However, she seemed barely there, in her own world apart from reality. As if she was unaware of what was going on around her. She looked slightly glazed over. "Harper, what happened?" Rommie asked again.
"She- she fainted," Harper sounded on the brink of sleep himself. Rommie helped him over to where the others were sleeping.
"That's it? It just happened?"
"We, ah... got into a slight disagreement and she got a little worked up," Harper was beginning to breathe more evenly now that he lay still. He ran his fingers clumsily through his hair. His chest moved up and down beneath his oil-stained shirt.
To Rommie, it was obvious that Harper was greatly under-stating the situation, but she didn't persist. She just let him rest. After a while, she couldn't tell if he was still asleep or not, but she took her chances. "Trance?" she whispered.
Trance groaned and turned slightly. Her eyes pulled themselves half open. "Yeah?" she said in a wispy sort of voice.
"Are you alright? What happened? Why did you faint?"
Trance pulled her hands over her ears, digressing with the extreme exhaustion. She rolled over with her back to Rommie. She was trying to forget what had happened. She didn't want to remember. She just wanted to sleep...
**************
The next morning, Dylan woke up to find Harper sleeping a meter away from him, and Trance curled up near where Rommie sat. Everyone else was still sleeping. He stood and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He walked over to Rommie and silently motioned for her to come with him so that they could talk without waking the others. She understood and followed him to just on the other side of one of the two command deck doorways. "When did they get back?" Dylan said just above a whisper.
"I'd say an hour or so after everyone fell asleep. Harper came in carrying Trance, but all he would say is that she fainted because she got 'a little worked up over a slight disagreement'."
"You don't believe that, do you?" Dylan asked quizzically.
Rommie shook her head. "No I don't, but I don't think either of them will be talking about what really happened anytime soon."
"Well, if it's health related, they might say something."
"You just want to know what the argument was about, don't you?" Rommie smiled a little.
Dylan was about to smile, but then he became serious again. "Rommie..."
"Yes Dylan?"
"I think that it's starting."
"What's starting?"
"The altitude sickness. You've noticed. I know you have, Rommie."
She said nothing, but she did agree and she didn't need to tell Dylan so. He knew that she was too highly trained to not notice symptoms as obvious as these. "I'm worried too, Dylan. What if we don't find a way to off this barren planet? Harper goes to the boiler room every day and he still can't find the solution to the problem."
"We'll find a way," Dylan said reassuringly after a brief pause of uncertainty. "Have faith, Rommie. Have faith in your captain," he touched her arm. She smiled and nodded, but she was still afraid.
*************
Later that morning, when everyone was awake, Dylan requested a meeting.
"What's this about?" Tyr asked sleepily. Rommie looked at Dylan.
"I've called you all together so that we can discuss the mountain sickness. I think that we are all barring its symptoms."
"No we're not," Beka said, coughing, which didn't help her case.
Dylan raised his eyebrows, "We need to stay low-key from now on, is that clear?"
"Crystal," Harper sighed.
"It's not like anyone was doing anything except Harper," Beka grumbled to Tyr under her breath. He nodded in agreement and patted her on the shoulder.
At least half of the day went by, and the crew did nothing but simply sit around. Then Rommie looked up suddenly.
"What is it?" Tyr asked.
"Nothing, probably just the wind." But then Tyr heard it too: a low rumble in the distance. Soon, everyone, even Trance who was in a slight delirium, were listening carefully to the noise. It seemed to be approaching fast.
"They're coming back," Tyr stood and went to pick up the biggest weapon he could find in the pile. "Here," he tossed one to Dylan, then to Beka and Rommie. When everyone had a large gun along with their small ones, they sat back down.
"It'll most likely take a half an hour for them to get here," Rommie calculated, judging by the degree of the vibration beneath them.
"Oh great, so we just sit here and wait?" Harper asked nervously.
"It seems that way doesn't it," Tyr replied.
"Well, shouldn't we make a plan or something? If we have a half an hour..." everyone looked up in surprise to hear Trance actually speaking something logical. She'd been zoning out ever since she and Harper had returned the previous night. "They'll definitely kill us if we aren't prepared."
"You're right, Trance," Dylan hoisted himself up again. "We should position ourselves around the ship. We might be able to scare them off again," he addressed his crew.
Tyr stood up boldly. He had that look in his eye, Beka noted. That look that he always got before a battle. "I agree," he looked at the rest of them, still sitting on the floor.
"Well, come on!" Harper jumped to his feet. "Let's kick their alien butts!"
************
In the next twenty minutes, the crew split up into pairs: Tyr and Beka, Rommie and Trance, Dylan and Harper.
"I can see them," Trance jutted out her jaw, scanning the horizon through the window where she and Rommie were stationed. There was a huge cloud of red dust moving steadily toward the ship. Trance looked down at her massive weapon. It was almost as big as her.
Rommie heaved her own up onto her shoulder. "They'll be here any minute now."
"Do you think that they have weapons?" Trance's voice quavered.
"I think they ARE the weapons," Rommie was a little nervous too. She was remembering the deafening pounding that they had made on the first day on the planet. She tightened her grip on the huge fire arm.
***********
Tyr and Beka waited.
"Do you think that they might be coming in peace?" Beka asked softly.
"No," Tyr said without hesitating. He looked down meaningfully at his friend for a moment. She looked disappointed... And then: "Open the door!" Tyr yelled, realizing how close the hoard of aliens had gotten to the ship in only a few seconds. Beka took a deep breath, braced herself, and opened the emergency hatch. There was a hiss, followed by a gust of wind and dust. Beka choked on her own surprise. It really did feel like there was no air at all out there. The two stood solid in the open doorway. "Now!" Tyr yelled again once the front line of alien attackers was in range. They both started firing. The ground shook as the massive creatures fell to the ground. Oddly, they made no noise.
"Keep firing!" Beka called above the noise and ducked back into the ship to reload. When she returned to the doorway, she gaped. 'Oh my god,' she thought. The aliens kept coming, more and more as if there was no end to them. She and Tyr hadn't even made a dent. There were just too many of them. She could see the bright white rays of the others' guns as they fired from different points on the ship.
Tyr lowered his gun, something he would normally never do. Beka looked up in surprise. "We can't win this," he said finally. Something in his voice made Beka's heart stop. What was it?... It was the sound of defeat. And coming from Tyr, it was a rude awakening.
************
"There's no end to them!" Harper screamed in panic above the thunderous noise of the stampede. "We're just wasting ammo!"
"We can't give up! Don't stop firing!" Dylan continued to shoot at random into the mass.
Harper had never been much of a fighter, but he knew when to back out of a battle he couldn't possibly win. He dropped his gun to his side. Dylan looked over at him. The aliens were almost to the ship now. Harper gulped, closed his eyes, and waited for an alien to come and rip his head off. There was no way that they could get out of this one...
**************
Rommie wouldn't stop firing. "Rommie, put the gun down!" Trance was yelling, tugging on Rommie's arm. "Stop! It's pointless!" Trance stopped wrestling the android down when Rommie froze abruptly. Trance looked up to see why Rommie had ceased her firing, and suddenly she couldn't breathe.
A huge creature stood towering over them. It had short limbs and a huge barreled chest that expanded greatly and shrunk back again every few seconds. Its veins and muscles showed through as a dull red under transparent beige skin. It had two tiny black eyes set deep into a small head. It raised one massive fist high over Trance's head. She screamed. Rommie tried to fire, but her gun was out of ammo. She looked up helplessly at the fist looming overhead. The creature raised its fist high into the air, about to strike down. Then suddenly, it froze. A second alien was looking intensely at the back of the first one's head. It slowly lowered its boulder-like fist. Rommie pulled Trance, who stood frozen in fear, away from the door.
"Run!" she yelled, pressing the button to close the door. Trance stumbled down the hallway. She stopped when she heard Rommie scream. There was a ripping of metal against metal and Trance turned around just in time to see the door being pulled completely off of the ship. Rommie yelled out in pain. "Run!" she ordered again, looking back and seeing Trance standing still. But Trance wouldn't. She dashed back to Rommie. They held onto each other for dear life as the creature scooped them up like toothpicks and pulled them out of the ship.
Trance and Rommie struggled, but couldn't pull themselves free. It was hopeless. The alien was far too strong. Trance gasped in shock. She couldn't breathe at all. She felt dust clog in her dry throat. She gave up screaming. There wasn't enough oxygen. She looked back at the Andromeda over the creature's shoulder as it joined the huge stampede retreating back to where they had come from. It was obvious that the impact of the crash landing had permanently re-shaped the face of the planet. The ship lay in a charred crater, and was now half buried in the planet's reddish sand. She saw Rommie point to their left. More of the hulking aliens had retrieved the rest of the crew. Trance could just make out the blond head of Harper, putting up an amazing struggle. She closed her eyes. They had all been captured. And what would they do now?
After a very long time- what seemed like hours-, Trance opened her eyes again. She could see a steep incline before her, and at the bottom, the mouth of an extremely dark cave. The huge hoard of aliens was rapidly disappearing into the cavern entrance. She closed her eyes as she and Rommie were carried into the darkness.