Samantha had counted 3 sunrises and 3 sunsets since the raiders came. She still kept close to her parent's bodies, keeping them away from any of the animals that came to feast on dead flesh. All the houses were either totally destroyed or were piles of smoldering ruins. The smell of the acid from the pirates was putrid and horrifying, but she still hung on. She lived off the rations of the bomb shelter and slept in front of the warmth of a small fire at night. It wasn't until high noon of the 4th sunrise that she heard a ship coming in. Samantha hid behind a nearby boulder, afraid that these were the same creatures that had attacked and killed the colony. The ship landed in the open area and one of the creatures came out to scout the area. It was a tall creature with what looked like armor. It had a beak of a bird, yet it stood like a human. On its head was a helmet decorated with a few feathers.
"It seems that they plundered another colony, but this time, lost a lot of their own..." the scout reported.
Another one of these creatures came out. It stood tall, yet it also seemed to hunch over because of the armor it wore. This particular one had a decorative plume on his head that the scout didn't have.
"Take the bodies and bury them, the leader commanded. It is only proper to do so, especially when there is no one left to bury them."
"Yes, sir!"
A couple more of the creatures came out of the ship, began to move the bodies, and buried them.
"Sir?" one of the scouts asked.
"Yes?"
"Not all have died in the attack."
"How so?"
"All of our scanners are picking up one survivor and it seems to be a young child."
"Go find this child. It is better that we bring it in and care for it until it is old enough to fend for itself than leave it here to die."
"As you command, sir."
The creature turned to look at the others.
"The commander wants us to find the survivor and bring it to him."
They all saluted and set out to search for the survivor. Samantha, on the other hand, was still scared, wondering what will happen if they found her. She ran for her broken house and looked around for anything she could save. Everything was destroyed except for her mother's jewelry box. Samantha took this and ran back to her parent's bodies. The creatures were taking them to the graves that were being dug outside the colony. Samantha felt a rage and threw a rock at one of them.
"Leave my mommy and daddy alone!" she screamed, getting ready to throw another rock.
"It's the survivor!" the soldier exclaimed. "Commander! Come in, sir!"
"What's the trouble?"
"It's the survivor, and it's a female child. Do you want her now?"
"Will she cope with us?"
"I will try, sir."
The 2 set down the bodies and walked toward her. Samantha gave a small gasp as she saw them coming for her.
"Stay away from me!"
"We mean you no harm, child," the first creature answered aloud. At first, Samantha was scared that this creature was speaking to her, but summoned up her courage to confront them. She understood some of the words, but was still a bit confused.
"If you don't want to hurt us, then why did you attack?"
"We didn't," the other replied. "Those were the infamous Space Pirates."
Samantha just stood there with her mother's jewelry box in her arms. She collapsed to the floor and cried her heart out. She had lost everything and everyone she loved. The creatures carried her back to their ship as she cried. They buried her parents outside her home so that she could visit them if she ever wanted to return to the place of her birth. Samantha was sitting in the cargo area by herself, wondering what would happen to her next. She heard the door slide open and saw one of the creatures come in.
"How are you doing?" the creature asked.
"I am sad," she whispered, tightening her grip on her mother's box. "And lonely..."
"Come, child. The commander wishes to speak with you..."
She looked up with her tear-filled eyes and followed the creature to the bridge of the ship, fearing that if she didn't listen, she would die like her parents. It was very big compared to the other ships she had seen in her colony. There were 5 more creatures at the control boards while another was standing in the middle of the room.
"Is this the child?" the commander asked in a deeper telepathic tone.
"Yes, sir, but she is still in shock and terribly afraid."
"Then let her sleep in my quarters for now. We will see if she will be all right by then."
"Yes, sir."
He looked at Samantha, held her free hand, and spoke aloud instead of telepathically. "Come, you need to rest, child. It will be wise if you listened and then we shall talk more, ok?"
"Ok..." she replied sleepily.
She hadn't gotten any rest ever since the attack. The soldier picked her up and carried her to the commander's quarters. He set her gently in bed and pulled out a syringe filled with a sleeping serum. The commander also ordered him to give it to the child so that she could have a restful sleep. The only problem was that it was never tested on a human before. Still, orders were orders and he had to obey. He injected the serum into her arm, but the results were devastating.