Planetoid TXV5- SA2

McSheffery, the pilot awoke. He blinked, his eyes becoming adjusted to the darkness. An unknown facade greeted him. Where the controls of the Valois should have been was a shiny substance, not plastic or metal. Something was definitely wrong. And the heat, the stifling humidity. He tried to wipe his brow but could not. His arms would not move. Trapped. He turned his head and the horrific realisation hit him like a thunderbolt. He was in the Alien nest chamber.

In blind panic he struggled to free himself, knowing it was impossible but refusing to give up until his muscles seized. Fatigued, his head flopped forward, and he saw it sitting atop the egg. Watching waiting, its finger-like legs waving at him mockingly. His eyes widened in terror, fear spurring his muscles to move again. Too late. He felt the carrier's tail tighten around his neck like a noose, gagged as it forced the ovipositor down his throat.

And then nothing mattered any more. He felt like he was floating, being carried away in a warm, hazy narcosis. He was walking down a hillside, lush greenery on all sides. Below him a group of children interspersed with Aliens, were dancing hand in hand in a circle and singing. Their words carried to him on the breeze.

"A ring, a ring of roses. A pocket full of Posies. Atishoo, atishoo, we all fall down."

McSheffery's eyes shot open and his back arched against the pain in his chest. His scream was cut short as the creature tore forth.