"Captain Josie Bowman and the Silent Planet" - Stella Howard

“God, this is the 5th distress signal this week,” Captain Josie Bowman said, flicking the flashing hologram in front of her. “You’d think explorers would learn to stop getting marooned on creepy uncharted planets.” This was slightly hypocritical, seeing as she’d let her crew visit several creepy, uncharted planets just for curiosity’s sake. But at least she had always got them out again. 

Josie sat at the helm of her hovering ship, one hand on the wheel, steering with steady ease. With her other hand she adjusted knobs and dials without even glancing at them. She remembered the first time she flew this ship, how she had refused to even sit down, how her eyes had been trained on every screen and switch and blinking light of the semicircle control panel. Now she leaned her seat back as far as it would go and kicked her feet up on the side of the holographic map display. She looked out at the dim young star of an upcoming solar system, at the small dark dot at the edge that was their destination. 

“Prob’ly shouldn’t put your feet up on the dash like that,” Xazal Thr said. Her first mate sat near the back of the cockpit, taking most of it up with his rock-like exoskeleton. “You could accidentally send us straight to the galaxy’s edge.” 

“Nah, the controls aren’t that finicky,” Josie argued. But she took her boots down anyway. Xaz examined the signal on his own screen set into the side of the ship, tapping it with his crablike claws. 

“This beacon was sent out weeks ago and there’s barely any info. They could be dead by now. Not a single charted planet for 32 light-years– what were thinking, getting stranded all the way out here?”

 

“They were probably thinking, woah, a remote planet that no one’s explored, bet there’s something super sick on it.”  

“No,” Xaz said, clicking his claws at her, which was his way of scoffing, “That’s what you’re thinking.” 

Josie pressed her thumbs into the accelerators on either side of the wheel, firing up the engines again. “And I’m right. There probably is something super sick, and that’s probably what they need rescuing from. And no one else will help them way out here.” 

The spaceship made a VVVVVVVMMMMMMM sound and took off towards the distant dot. They were only a hundred light hours away from the planet now. The ship arced down and rose up, again and again, like a stone skipping across water. The planet grew closer until it’s horizon filled the cockpit window. Joise pulled back on the wheel and brought the ship into orbit mode. 

Josie got up from her captain’s chair and stretched, wiggling a leg that had fallen asleep. “Watch the controls ‘till we’re ready to land. I’m gonna see who wants to go to the surface, if they’re not all passed out.” 

Josie left the cockpit and walked down a curving hallway. It had been a pretty exhausting week for her crew. They’d been chased by pirates across three star systems, they’d saved a group of lost tourists from a stampeding herd of feral Torphigans, and rescued some mining prospectors who were in way over their heads on a lava-covered planet. Most of her crew wouldn’t want to move a muscle, and she couldn’t blame them. She’d only take a couple people. Leaving the cockpit, she poked her head into her ship’s kitchen. Three of her crew mates were asleep slumped on the table. Beciji, the cook, had her face flopped right down in a tray of nutrient matter, which was really the only food they had left. Beciji had gotten on Josie’s case fornot stopping on any planets with a good culinary scene. Josie wrapped her arms around her large scales and gently pulled her out of the mush with a schlup sound. It felt like moving a rock. She put a couple blankets over her passed-out crewmates and walked out again, sighing. She couldn’t take exhausted people on a mission.

 

Josie opened the door labeled Sacha’s room. The doorway was blocked by several stacks of books and baubles that Josie couldn’t identify for the life of her. The floor was covered in some fluorescent green powder that Josie hoped wasn’t dangerous. Sacha could possibly fall under the definition of ‘mad scientist,’ more specifically mad biologist, and it was a good idea to be cautious when entering the living quarters that she had made into a fully functioning lab. Josie found Sacha wearing a bizarre piece of headgear covered in moveable magnifying glasses and scanners. She looked up and Josie got a close up look at one of her faceted insect-like eyes. 

“So, we got a ton of life readings on this planet, and I thought you might wanna check it out. It’s kinda creepy looking.” 

Sacha tossed off her weird hat and grabbed a bag of weirder doohickeys. “Oh, absolutely,” she said in her airy, hissing voice, “we haven’t seen any interesting species lately and my journals are getting so boring. Can we take Elkin? I think they’re getting cabin fever.” 

“Hmmmm.” Josie wasn’t sure about that. Elkin was the most recent addition to their crew and had barely got the hang of living on a ship, much less going on missions. As if summoned by their name, Elkin popped out of the hallway they were passing. 

“Can I go? Please? You didn’t let me go on the lava planet!” 

They danced in front of Josie, standing up perfectly straight as if for inspection, six green pupil-less eyes trained hopefully on Josie’s face. Josie lowered her own eyes. Out of everyone on the ship, Elkin looked the most humanoid. Josie knew this should trigger some feeling of familiarity, but it made her uncomfortable. Not that she would ever let Elkin know that. It wasn’t their fault. 

Josie walked past Elkin towards the equipment bay. “You’re 65% plant matter. Lava isn’t something you should want to check out. But if you listen and you promise not to wander off, you can come on this one.” 

“Yes! I promise!” 

“All right then. You remember how to put on the voyage suits?” 

Elkin nodded enthusiastically. They’d better know how, Josie had made them go over it a hundred times. All three of them stepped into the coffin-shaped pods and were sealed into the suits that would protect them from any environmental changes on this new planet. Josie stepped out and adjusted her helmet. Sacha just barely caught Elkin as they fell out of their pod with their suit on crooked. Josie watched Sacha adjust Elkin’s sleeves and pressed a comm button on the wall. 

“Hey Xaz, I’m taking Sacha and Elkin with me. Take us down to the surface, yeah?” “Distress signals coming from the planet’s third quadrant. Not a lot of area to land but I’ll find somewhere.” 

They watched the ship descend through the small window in the wall of the landing bay. Elkin had pressed themselves right up against the glass and Josie had to pull them away. There was plenty of water on the planet, thick veins that circled the planet, more rivers than ocean. The landmasses were a gloomy color, almost a deep purple. The ship hovered a hundred feet above the planet’s surface before landing with a creak on a large outcropping of rock. 

“Good to go,” Xaz’s voice came over the comms as the loading ramp slowly lowered. Josie walked down onto the rock, her crew mates in tow. Clearly there had been few places to land without destroying the places native plants. They were surrounded by a sort of murky twilight. The dense vegetation around them cast dark silhouettes. Josie stared up at the dim sun. It hung small and pale in the center of the sky, and not a single moon reflected it. The planet must be cold with so little radiation reaching it, but the thermal systems of the exploration suit kept her from feeling anything. Josie worried for her ship’s solar-recharging engines. She hoped they wouldn’t have to use one of the backup generators. She preferred to save those in case they got stranded in deep space. The atmosphere wasn’t particularly dense, the gravity a little lighter than she was used to. The vegetation spiraled high into the air, and was so thick that apart from the rock they landed on, Josie couldn’t make out a single inch of the planet’s surface. 

“Check your suits, everyone. Sacha, check Elkin’s.” Elkin was standing stiffly with all four arms straight out, like they weren’t sure how to move in that thing. Sacha went over and adjusted their sleeves. Josie tapped her visor screen to life, taking note of the planet’s readings from the glowing charts in her peripheral. She pressed her gloved hand to the rock, the palm’s sensory nodes picking up on the gritty texture. She tilted her head to listen. Huh– her audio receptors weren’t working. She twisted the dial on the side of her helmet but still couldn’t hear anything. Wait– she could hear the low humming of her ship. When she shifted on the rock, she heard her own footsteps. But nothing else made a single noise. Odd on a planet so apparently filled with life. 

“Guys?” She said over the comms, “Can you hear anything?” 

“No, it’s as quiet as a dead planet” replied Sacha, looking as perplexed as she was. “Might be just all Flora and no Fauna.” 

“Are you supposed to hear stuff?” Elkin asked, looking wide eyed around the planet’s abundantly covered surface.

“Well, usually,” Josie said. She had forgotten that this was only Elkin’s third real planet, and the last one had just been a fueling station on a barren ice giant. She made a mental note to give them a crash-course on what was considered ‘normal’ for an inhabited place. She programmed the seeking compass on her wrist for the signals coordinates. Xaz had landed as close as they could; it shouldn’t take more than a day to get there. As they carefully picked their way through the undergrowth, the forest seemed to swallow them, the foliage blocking out the feeble sunlight. 

Josie turned back to look at her ship. Its royal blue exterior almost disappeared against the dark sky, only lit by the soft light coming from the windows. The ship’s name was scrawled in fading paint on the side: THE BLUE IBIS. Josie vowed to get it redone at the next outpost; the condition of her ship was her greatest pride. She blew her a kiss as it vanished through a gap in the vegetation. 

The three of them picked their way in single file through the undergrowth. Sacha started talking into her recorder. 

“The flora has little variation in color, apparently having evolved dark pigmentation to take advantage of the weak sun. A lot of variation in size, though– the tallest plants are easily 75 units high…” 

The sun was setting on this part of the planet and the dense jungle of their surrounding got harder to make out. Josie dimmed the screen lights in the corner of her visor. Usually helpful, in this darkness they disoriented her. Josie clicked on the helmet’s recording device. She would want to review the footage when they got back, to put in their catalog of information on every planet they visited. Especially important for an uncharted planet like this one.

Elkin, beside her, already had her helmet off. Josie envied their ability to breathe both oxygen and carbon dioxide while simultaneously producing them. A fascinating result of her mixed plant and human biology, originating on Earth. She should tell Elkin to put her helmet back on, god knows what gasses or bacteria she could be absorbing, but they were looking so wide-eyed at the dim environment around them that Josie didn’t have the heart. This was what she had promised them, after all. New experiences, knowledge beyond the genetics facility they had been made and raised in. Josie would tell her to gear back up in a minute. Elkin looked around, delighted. . 

Something skittered through the undergrowth, and a little shape began to climb one of the taller plants. It looked halfway between a rat and a gecko. Sacha whispered, trying not to disturb the little thing. 

“We’ve encountered our first fauna species…subject is small, large eyes, flexible appendages for climbing…” It had several small, protruding nodules along its back. “Look! It’s glowing!” Elkin gasped. Sacha winced at the volume but the creature stayed put. The little nodules on its back began to slowly pulse with a yellow light. Sacha was thrilled. “Bioluminescence… a practical response to such a dark environment….” As they headed deeper into the strange quasi-forest, more creatures came out of hiding. Most of them as dark as the plants, but almost all exhibiting the same light display, though in different colors and flashing at different frequencies. And none of them made a sound. “They must communicate solely through light,” Sacha was whispering next to her. There was a frantic rustling in the undergrowth. Josie whirled around to see Elkin clutching a long, flailing creature. Elkin held it close to their face adoringly while the spots on the creature’s back flashed with green light.

“Elkin!” Josie yelled sharply, “Put that down!” 

Elkin rushed over to Josie and thrust the thing, who was playing dead now, at her. “It’s cute! Are the animals on Earth like this?” Elkin asked excitedly.  Josie looked down at the long, many limbed thing. “I mean…not really.” Elkin looked crestfallen. Josie decided to retract her previous statement. “I guess it looks like some kind of cross between a ferret and an eel…and a centipede…”  Elkin put the creature down and it zipped away. “I love eels and centipedes,” Elkin muttered, as someone who had never seen an eel or a centipede in any capacity. Josie mimed to Sacha to keep a better eye on them. She continued treading lightly through the blinking forest.  A small flying creature suddenly hovered in front of her face, making Josie stop abruptly. The little thing bobbed as it floated in front of her, wings scintillating gently in the planet’s dense atmosphere. Wings weren’t quite the right word– small triangular limbs that moved more like the bell of a jellyfish. It was almost translucent, but at its center glowed a segment of soft pink light. 

It flashed slowly; dimmer and brighter, dimmer and brighter. Josie put out her gloved hand as if to catch it, but let it float inches above her hand, the light reflecting off the glass of her helmet. The little creature stirred an odd feeling. It reminded her of something. What? In all her years, she had never visited a planet like this. She had seen sunless places, she had seen godlike species, she had seen plenty of bioluminescence. Even Earth had– oh. Earth. That was the memory that tugged at her now. Out in her backyard in the muggy summer air, her child’s bare feet in the grass and mud. Running around trying to catch– what were they called? The little glowy bugs: fireflies. Trying to catch fireflies. She let the small pink thing float away. 

Lost in thought, she bumped right into Sacha, who had stopped narrating and was staring at something in front of them. Josie moved around her to look. It was a huge, circular tunnel, clearly burrowed by some powerful force. It curved down through the soil, looking like nothing more than a round void. She almost felt like walking down into it, but Sacha grabbed her arm. “We’ll have to be more careful where we step. Whatever lives down there, it’s probably not something we should mess with on a rescue mission.”  Josie agreed. The distress signal was the priority, not interesting holes. They began to walk off before noticing Elkin wasn’t behind them anymore. 

“Elkin?” Josie yelled, exasperated. “I told you not to wander off! Elkin!” Elkin did not answer. Elkin was halfway down the tunnel already. Josie saw a wisp of their gray suit just before it vanished into darkness. Sacha, beside her, let go a string of curses in her native language, her translator picking up only a few words, none of them good. They both ran, stopping just at the entrance to the tunnel. 

“Lights on, electrode weapons at the ready,” Josie said, flicking on the bright beam that came from one of the suits shoulder pads. Sacha did the same without a word. Josie hadn’t meant to slip into her commanding voice. Their ship didn’t answer to a higher command, and she didn’t like showing her militant background. 

They stepped into the tunnel, stalking quickly and quietly, torn between caution and the need to get to their wayward crew mate. Josie hissed into the comms. 

“Elkin, if you can hear me, turn around right now. I mean it. This thing is not a natural formation, we don’t know what’s down here.” 

She got no response. She exchanged a look with Sacha. They began to run down the tunnel, their lights illuminating just enough to avoid slamming into the walls. Sacha narrated quietly into her recorder, “We are now descending into this unsettling tunnel that has clearly been deliberately dug by something very determined.”

She shot Josie a guilty look. “I am also making a note to not suggest taking unseasoned crew mates on missions. Even if it’s also Josie’s fault for saying yes.” 

The tunnel curved and dropped down suddenly, causing them to slide till they hit more level ground. Josie looked up, relieved to see Elkin standing with their back turned and their lights off. Josie was about to call their name when her flashlight caught what Elkin was standing in front of.  The flashlight reflected harshly on something as dark and slick as oil. The creature blocked the tunnel completely. Spindly back legs stabbed into the walls on either side of it. Its two front legs ended in huge, spade-like implements. They made a scraping noise against the wall, which reverberated slightly against the two huge black disks that made up the creature’s face. Its tail, reminiscent of a wide spinal cord, was so long they couldn’t see the end of it, vanishing through a curve in the tunnel. Elkin was motionless, soundless, trembling just slightly. Joise took a step towards Elkin, arm reaching out, ready to grab them at the first sign of danger. Sacha had their weapon trained on the creature. They had encountered creatures of all kinds, and they had a rule never to make the first violent move. 

At the sound of Josie’s footstep, the creature tilted its head towards her, rotating it almost fully around. Josie wondered if it could hear her heartbeat. She sure could. The creature twisted its whole body, rotating itself in the circular corridor. Josie spoke into Elkins comm as quietly as she could. 

“Elkin, walk backwards toward me and Sacha. It doesn’t seem aggressive but get ready to run if I say so.” 

Elkin stepped hesitantly away from the creature. But they only made it three small steps before the thing reached out one long spindly arm and poked Elkin in the chest. Elkin screeched loud enough to break eardrums. The creature reeled back, the disks of its head reverberating like a gong that’s been hit. It whipped its long tail in annoyance and slammed its spade-ended legs down into the dirt. 

“MOVE!” Josie yelled, lunging forward to grab Elkin by the back of the suit. Sacha was already running when Josie hoisted the paralyzed Elkin over her shoulder. Without their lights pointing into the tunnel there was nothing but darkness behind them, but they could hear the creature’s appendages stabbing into the ground as it chased them in a sort of fluid gallop. Sacha, out of breath, huffed into her recorder. 

“The– creature– seems sensitive and disturbed by sound–possibly because of the sound conducting properties of the concave shapes on its–” 

“SACHA WILL YOU STOP NARRATING, WE NEED TO RUN!” 

Sacha went silent as they scrambled up the part of the tunnel they had fallen down earlier. They were lucky Elkin was light, or Josie would never have been able to keep up carrying them. Josie wasn’t sure if the creature had stopped following or whether the sound was drowned out by her hard breathing and the pounding of her heart. At last they burst out into the forest, smacking into twisted dark bushes in their haste. A few small glowing creatures still adorned the undergrowth. The three crewmates backed away from the tunnel– or where they thought the tunnel had been. It was so dark now, darker even then when they had entered. Josie trained her light in front of her just as the creature burst out of the tunnel with a spray of dirt. 

“KEEP GOING,” Josie yelled, grabbing the sleeves of the other two and pulling them through whatever gaps they could find in the undergrowth. They weren’t the only ones running; as soon as the creature had appeared, all the other wildlife had scattered. They saw a flurry of lights racing all around them. The effect was disorienting and Josie found herself stumbling until her feet landed on an empty patch of rock. 

There was a sort of path, free of the plants that had been tripping them up. Josie shoved the other two behind an outcropping and looked out over it. She dimmed her light as much as she could and scanned the forest. The thing might not even be able to see light, living underground like that, but she had to be careful. Her light found the creature’s huge silhouette in the distance. It moved delicately, silently across the ground, tilting its head constantly at every possible angle. Either they had outpaced it by some miracle or it had been distracted by the other fleeing critters. 

Josie took a breath and rejoined her crew mates. Sacha had tapped out a message on a holograph screen: I think it hunts by sound. We’re closer to the distress signal now but we’ll need to move slowly and be careful. Josie nodded. Elkin nodded too, clutching the spot on their chest where the creature had touched them. Josie pointed to the rocky part of the ground, indicating that they should keep to it. They moved through the jungle in single file, Sacha leading, Josie looking back every few seconds, Elkin between them. Suddenly Sacha stopped, holding up a fist and pointing to something out of place on the dark planet.  Several spikes of ripped-up aluminum stuck out of the ground, all in a row like a fence, pointing outward. Sacha touched a ragged tip and spoke aloud.  

“These aren’t fallen scraps of a ship. These were shoved into the ground deliberately. Looks like the lost crew was trying to set up some kind of perimeter.” 

Josie looked at her holo map. “We’re close,” she said, weaving through the makeshift metal wall. She narrowed her eyes as her flashlight illuminated the gray and white paint that was flaking off the spikes. They entered a clearing. A badly damaged ship sat in the center of it, tilting heavily to one side. GALACTIC CORPORATION OFFICIALS was painted in stark gray on the side. Great, Josie thought, it’s the Corps. Can’t they rescue their own damn goons? She darkened the tinting on her helmet visor, obscuring her face, then cleared her throat and tried to sound friendly. 

“If the crew of this ship is here, come on out. This is the crew of the Blue Ibis, we got your distress signal.” 

Slowly, figures in tattered uniforms started to appear out of the gloom. There were five of them, all from different planets. The iridescent swirling build of an Ughwyn, a massive Fefeian holding a blaster, two others Josie didn’t recognize. The one wearing the double breasted coat of a Corps scientist was human. She ran forward and grabbed Josie’s hand in both of hers. 

“Oh, thank god you heard us. We thought we were going to starve down here. But we have rescuers! And my own species no less! What are the odds?!” 

Josie pulled her hand away. The woman was young, probably a rookie. She looked like she wasn’t used to the rough conditions their crash had caused. Her ice blue eyes were trained on Josie earnestly. Josie turned away to examine their ship. 

Sacha spoke up. “We didn’t realize you were from the Corps. Your signal wasn’t on their frequency.” 

“We’ve been trying that frequency for weeks. No answer. Our distress signal must have had trouble reaching them.” 

It’s far more likely that they decided a rescue wasn’t worth it, Josie thought. “Right,” Josie said. “Any of you hurt? I’d offer repairs, but your ship isn’t going anywhere no matter what we do. What happened exactly? It looks almost shredded.” The scientist answered her. “Oh, our engines failed above the planet’s surface… crash landed. You know.”

Josie wasn’t sure she did know. What the hell were Corps officers doing on an uncharted planet? None of her guesses were good. They all looked pretty defensive, grouped together and shifting around furtively. Elkin, apparently recovered from the scare in the tunnel, ran up to introduce themselves. Josie let them. They were always excited about meeting new people. As suspicious as this crew was acting, they didn’t seem dangerous. 

“Well, why don’t you give us a look at your ship and we’ll see what we can do.” Josie gestured to the Fefeian, “I am gonna ask you to put that blaster away.” 

He looked down at his gun and grunted. “I’m not carrying it ‘cause of you. I’m carrying it ‘cause of the monsters.” 

“Monsters?” 

The scientist spoke up. “Huge things. They’ve got connected burrows all through the planet’s surface. We’ve been attacked daily.” 

Josie eyed the long, deep scratches that covered their ship. “I see,” she said, taking note of the fear in the other woman’s eyes. “We better make this quick then.” Josie motioned for her crew mates to follow her. The other crew gathered at the other side of the clearing, whispering and glancing back towards them. Josie made her way to the hull of the ship. It looked even worse close up; the lower sides of the ship were covered in long, deep gouges that rended the aluminum and had scraped off nearly all the white paint. 

“Whooaaaa,” Elkin said, tracing one of the scrapes, “this is from crashing?” “Elkin– this ship didn’t crash. Sacha?”

Sacha had knelt down to examine the underside of the ship. “Landing gear is undamaged, and the bottom doesn’t have a dent on it. This ship was fully functional when they landed. We better have a talk with them.” 

“No,” Josie replied, “we’re going to have a look inside first.” She walked up to the ship’s ramp. It had been wrenched to the side and stuck that way. The bay door was also damaged, and the doorway was covered in the same scrapes, tearing inward. A scraping noise came from the hull. It went quiet, then she heard it again. 

“Elkin, Sacha, stay out here. Keep an eye on the other crew.” Sacha nodded and took one of Elkins arms. Josie began trying to force the door open. 

A voice came from the other side of the clearing. The human scientist, running towards them and yelling. She flung herself towards Josie. Sacha caught her and held her back. “Wait, you can’t go in there! It’s dangerous, I’m telling you–” 

Josie kicked the door down. The dented piece of metal clanged to the floor and Josie found herself in a narrow hallway. This was a small ship, easily a quarter of the Ibis’s size. She listened. The scraping noise came, this time distinctly from a room on the right. Josie ran through the doorway. 

It was one of the tunnel creatures. Smaller than the other one, it didn’t look nearly as terrifying behind the glowing bars of its containment unit. Its long tail was looped several times against the narrow walls, the only place there was space for it. The creature placed one of its spades against the metal wall and slowly scraped down it. Josie winced at the sound. The Corps had sent these idiots poaching, bringing back undiscovered species to be ‘studied–’ exploited and experimented on really. Josie took a slow turn around the room, filled with sedatives and empty cages, making sure her video log got everything. Then she slammed her way back outside to yell at the other crew. 

“YOU HAVE ONE OF THESE THINGS CAPTIVE?!? ARE YOU INSANE?!?” The scientist looked panicked. Probably didn’t want to piss off their only chance at rescue. She defended herself in an unconvincing tone“That was our assignment! We were supposed to bring back live specimens–” 

“On an uncharted planet. Those are off limits! They sent you on a prohibited mission, and when you failed they ditched you! They got your signal. And they are not coming for you.” The scientist lowered her eyes. “We’re doing important research– things that will help people. They assured us the species here weren’t intelligent. It might seem unsavory but ultimately–” 

“If the Corps thinks that you– and this planet– are so vital, why did they leave you out here, huh? And you’d think they would send a bigger ship and crew. Unless they didn’t want to be seen coming out here. To a planet no one has control over. Or rights to.” 

Sacha glared at the other crew members as they came over, clamoring with their own explanations. Elkin looked scared again. From inside, the creature slammed its spade into one of the walls with a deafening CLANG. It occurred to Josie that they were making a lot of noise; get it together, Josie, you shouldn’t have yelled, she thought, even if these guys had it coming. 

She stopped for a moment, listening to the creature scraping. It sounded fainter somehow, less metallic. Josie tilted her head. It almost sounded like it was coming from underneath– Dirt sprayed her helmet, blinding her. She staggered back. Someone screamed as a sinkhole opened up at their feet as a tunnel creature burst up from the ground, it’s dark shape spiraling upward with unbelievable momentum. Josie wiped her visor and struggled to see through the hail of soil chunks. She dropped suddenly to the ground, barely avoiding the creature’s whipping tail. 

When she looked up again, her view still blurry, the thing was ripping at the ship with its sharp spades, adding to the already substantial damage. Not the creature’s first rescue attempt, she realized. Something moved in the soil beside her. She scrambled up, apprehensive, until she saw Elkin’s slender hand shoot up from the pile they had been buried in. Gripping their arms, Josie hauled them out. Elkin yanked their helmet off, gasping and falling on their knees. Josie knelt down beside them. 

“Are you hurt?” 

Elkin shook their head vigorously and got up. Josie looked around. The creature, for the moment, seemed occupied with the ship and not interested in them. Some of the other crew members were digging their own way out of the dirt, or hauling themselves up from the massive hole that went straight down. Josie couldn’t see Sacha. She raced to the edge of the void, where her crewmate was hanging precariously. Josie grabbed her and had began to pull her up before her ears were split. Instinctively she put one hand to her ringing head, almost dropping her friend. 

CREEEEEAAAUUUUUNKKKKKK 

The pain-inducing noise came from the ship. The creature had torn one of the side panels clean off. Revealing the interior– and the captive. It slashed at the bars and then backed away, shaking. The cage was electrified. 

Josie pulled Sacha out the rest of the way and grabbed the scientist. “If the cage can be opened remotely,” she hissed, “you need to let that thing out right now, before–”

 

It was at that moment that the Fefeian raised his blaster and shot at the creature. The laser made a fizzling sound as it knocked the thing against an aluminum wall. It lay there for a moment, smoking slightly. Then it got up and shook it off like it was nothing. 

“IDIOT!” Josie yelled. The creature skittered across the ground faster than any of them could run. It was on them in a moment, spades swiping anywhere and everywhere as if it couldn’t decide on a target. These weren’t the movements of a hunter; these were movements of blind rage. Josie tackled Sacha to the ground. They both rolled to avoid a spindly leg stabbing inches away from them. 

“If we can get to the ship,” Sacha whispered, “we might be able to sedate it temporarily.” They got up again, then ducked to avoid a barrage of haphazard lazer blasts. Some people just never learned. Josie turned back. 

“Do you see Elkin? We need to grab them before–” 

Sacha winced, then pointed. Elkin was on the ship. Elkin was trying to free the other creature. Josie inhaled sharply. 

“I am going to put them on a goddamn leash!” 

They both raced towards their crew mate. But before they could get there, Elkin hit a utility panel and the cage’s glowing bars disappeared with a zzzzppp sound. Elkin fell on their back as the creature lunged out, twisting and stamping its legs. For a half second it stood over Elkin and Josie was ready to let loose a laser blast of her own, but it ignored the plant-human hybrid. They rolled out of the way of its tail as it practically flew over them. In its haste it slammed into the other creature, who was still chasing the other crew. 

The other creature stopped in its tracks. Standing side by side, the once-captive creature was really only half the size of the other one. Everyone went quiet as they faced each other. Small patches on each creature’s skin, unnoticed before, began to light up. The glow shifted across them like a mirage. Every color Josie had ever seen, and a few that she was quite certain she’d never seen before, but couldn’t describe afterwards. They circled each other, tails trailing. It was mesmerizing. Then, in an instant, they leapt back down into the tunnel. For a few minutes they could still see the glow, getting smaller and smaller, till it was swallowed by the ground. Elkin ran over to them, apparently pleased with themselves. 

“Did you see?! I let it go! That was all the other one wanted, I think– it didn’t want to eat us or anything–” 

Elkin broke off when Josie looked at them 

“I mean– sorry. I know that was dangerous. I didn’t know what else to do.” Sacha poked Josie in the ribs. 

“You did fine, Elkin.” Josie said. “No one’s hurt. That’s all that matters.” 

She realized she didn’t actually know if the other crew was hurt or not. They were all covered in dirt, some of their uniforms sporting scrapes. But they were all picking themselves up, so probably nothing fatal. The clearing had been practically destroyed in all the chaos. Dirt mixed with chunks of chopped up vegetation that was scattered everywhere, and the ground sported several gouge marks. Not to mention the massive new hole. 

Josie walked over to the other crew. “Anyone about to die? No? Well, now that that’s over with, we can get on with our rescue. We don’t want to be here any longer than we have to.” They all stared at her, still slightly shell-shocked. Josie cleared her throat. “Here are our terms. We’ll take you to the next neutral outpost and drop you off with supplies. We will have you on record telling the full story of what happened here and we will do what you want with those records. You–” she pointed to the Fefeian, “will leave your blaster here. On my ship you will be confined to the quarters I give you and if you make trouble with our crew I will leave you somewhere bleaker than this. I’ll leave you to discuss it.” “Don’t have much of a choice, fire-eater,” The Fefeian muttered before the scientist pulled him away with the rest of their crew. They huddled, discussing their options. Josie’s offer would cost them their jobs, and any chance at a life on any planet controlled by the Corps. Staying here would cost them their lives. 

Sacha tilted her head towards the decimated ship. “I’m going to see if there’s anything worth saving. No sense in being wasteful.” She walked over to clamber through the wreckage. Elkin ran up behind Josie. 

“Josie? Josie! What does Fire Eater mean?” 

“Huh?” 

“That guy just called you ‘fire-eater.’” 

“Oh. It’s a word some species use for humans. It refers to our practice of applying fire to most of our food before eating it.” 

“OHHH! I saw you do that in the cafeteria! I wanted to ask about it but I didn’t ‘cause you might get mad.” 

“Why would I get mad?” 

“Last week I asked Beciji about her scales falling off and she got really mad.” “Oh. hah. Well, everyone on our crew has different biology, and some of it’s fine to talk about and some of it will make people uncomfortable. But you can always ask me. I want you to learn. If you’re gonna stay on my starship it’s important that you learn.” 

“I will!”

Elkin seemed satisfied for a minute, crouching down to examine the tiny little plants that grew up from the cracks in the rock. Josie tapped her wrist, opening a comm link. She should let Xaz know they’re safe… 

“What are plants like on Earth?” 

“Huh?” It was a question Josie should have been more prepared for. She shut off the comms. 

“That’s most of what I’m made of, right? Plant matter from Planet Earth. That’s what my file said. Are they like me? The plants?” 

Josie hoped that the face she was making was hidden by her visor. She turned her back to Elkin just in case. She felt guilty. She should have talked to them about this earlier– of course they would have questions. She tried to conjure Earth in her mind, finding only hazy memories, combined with vague scientific knowledge, an alien’s perspective. 

“Honestly, Elkin, Earth plants aren’t much like you at all. Your insides are mostly plants, that’s true, but as far as appearance and behavior goes you’re actually pretty humanoid….” Elkin stared unblinkingly, waiting for more explanation. 

“You have, um biological similarities to plant life; you have chlorophyll that makes you green, you use photosynthesis for energy…but plants don’t really…communicate, or interact with the world the same way you do. You were specially engineered in a lab; you are a unique being.” 

Elkin still stared. Oh god, Josie thought, I’m traumatizing them. 

Elkin’s eyes dropped back down to the ground. They traced the stem of a curving violet plant. Then they turned one of their hands, examining it. Three long, stem-like fingers and a thumb, covered by their suit. Josie was sure she should say something else but she didn’t know what. Elkin broke the silence. 

“So, I’m really more like you? Like a human?” 

Josie cleared her throat. “Sort of. You act more human. But I don’t know how much of that comes naturally to you and how much is what I’ve taught you. Or what anyone on the ship has taught you. It doesn’t really matter what your origin is– I mean, it does, but—” By the stars and sky, she was terrible at this. She took a breath. 

“I’m sorry. I wish I had better answers for you. But you’re just starting out and you don’t need anyone telling you what you are. You’re gonna figure it out. You’ve got a lot of time. And you’re going to see a lot of the universe.” 

Elkin perked up a little. “You’ll take me on more missions?” 

“Yes. Maybe with a little more prep time, but yes.” 

“Even though I wandered off and went down a big dark hole?” 

“Even though you went down a hole. After I told you not to wander off” 

“Sorry” 

“It’s fine.” 

The scientist walked up to them, apparently her crew’s designated speaker. “We accept your terms. Not that there was really any argument otherwise.” She looked at Josie hesitantly, continuing. “I know you said outpost, but would you just take us home? I know we haven’t been completely honest with you, but we won’t have great options if you don’t–” “We can’t take you back to any planet under the Corps jurisdiction; I’m not really, uh, welcome there. We’ll drop you off at the next port with some supplies.” The scientists lowered her eyes. “I guess that’s fair. You did risk your lives here. But I want you to know, our intentions weren’t wrong– we’re not poachers.” 

“I know,” Josie said stiffly. “I’ve dealt with poachers. I was a lot harsher with them. Tell your crew to pack up and follow me, it’s time I got back to my ship.” 

They walked back through the jungle in near silence. Elkin skipped ahead a bit and Josie let them. The wildlife must have been sleeping, or scared away by the large group. None of them spoke, and they gave any holes a wide, wide berth.The rescued crew walked tightly together, avoiding every tree and bush. Josie and Sacha brought up the rear, keeping an eye on everyone. Sacha sidled over to Josie. 

“You know what we should do? Take a vacation. Find a pretty planet, have a little down time, teach Elkin some life skills.” 

“Not a bad idea,” Josie replied. 

“We could go to Earth.” Sacha was giving her a look and Josie didn’t like it. “I’m not going back to Earth.” 

“Oh come on, we visited my home planet.” 

“Which was a bad idea.” 

Sacha gave a haughty snort. “Just cause your species can’t deal with poison gas and acid rivers….” 

“Look, I’ll take you all back to Earth at some point, just not now, okay? Besides, its on the other side of the galaxy, and we’d have to save up supplies, there’s never any jobs over there.” 

“All right. I’m serious about the vacation, though.” 

“Oh, definitely. Closest nice planet we can find.” 

They reached the rocky place they had landed on. The dim sun was just breaking over the horizon, tinting the sky a hazy blush color. Its dull rays shone on the metal of the Blue Ibis. Ushering everyone on board, Josie gave a hesitant look back into the empty forest. The creatures didn’t like daylight, it seemed. 

Back in the cockpit, Josie spun a star map of local solar systems. The rescued crew was being held– comfortably, but held– in one of the ship’s larger storage rooms. They’d have to stop at the closets port to drop them off. After that… Josie zoomed in on a small planet. Very little water, but covered in green. Carbon-based life. Similar enough to Earth to teach Elkin a little. Somewhere they could rest for a while, which was really all they needed.