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After a few short FTL jumps, Seraph arrived at planet PX-1099. Ariana studied the data for the planet below. It had been surveyed, but never charted. She knew it had breathable air and no obvious airborne biological dangers. But the survey had been very perfunctory and did not include surface maps beyond a rough continental outline.
Scanning the planet from orbit revealed greater details but little beyond what she could discern visually. Seraph was technically a scout ship, yet lacked life form scanners or any real scientific instruments. She could track weather systems and temperature, but not much else.
Scrolling through her possible choices, she finally settled on a relatively rocky area. A river would provide all the water they would need, both for drinking and for breaking down into hydrogen. It also would give them a comprehensive view of the area for any potential hostile life.
Satisfied, she locked in coordinates to the teleporter just as Noah came in, overdressed as usual. He sported a flak jacket and helmet. Two pistols holstered on his waist and several knives hung from his belt. In his arms, he cradled a rifle that looked like it had been stripped off a tank.
“You didn’t need to bring guns for everyone. We’ve got enough right here.” Ariana smirked.
“Huh? These are for me.” Noah said
“Three of them?”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to go overboard.”
Ariana decided not to press the point. She wasn’t sure if she could trust Olivia with a low caliber defense pistol much less Noah’s more powerful guns and it had been years since she had used one herself. She set herself and Noah to gathering the storage tanks and electrolyzer. Once they had loaded the gear into the teleport chamber, she ported it to the surface.
Olivia entered the room with her usual eager bounce. Javi followed behind her at a much more sedate pace typical of his species. His yellowish colored slug-like frame slid across the deck with small wiggling motions of his body. He waited near the door, observing them, but not saying anything.
“Olivia, we’re going down to the surface. I imagine this will be your first time?” Ariana asked.
“No, I was born planetside.”
“That’s not what I meant. Your first time down to an undeveloped and uncharted world.”
“Oh-h-h-h-h,” Olivia said, “Then yes. First time. Very exciting.”
“Put on a belt. It has a recall device so Seraph can port you back up, some emergency gear and a pistol. Don’t touch the pistol.” Ariana said, stressing the last command. She turned to Javi, her old mentor, “Would you mind sending her down after us?”
“Of course, Ari. I’m pretty sure I still remember how to operate one of those.” Javi said and gave Olivia a mischievous wink with one of his eyestalks.
“Okay, let’s be cautious about this. Stay within sight of each other. We’re not here for the tour, just to gather supplies. Don’t eat anything. Don’t drink anything either until it’s been filtered and decontaminated. And if there is a threat you can always push the recall button.” Ariana stressed.
Olivia nodded, her eager expression turning more somber as she cast furtive glances between Ariana and the teleporter. Noah just shrugged. He hefted his big gun up into a ready position and stepped into the porting chamber.
“Wait for the all-clear before porting her down,” Ariana said to Javi and then triggered the teleporter.
The ship around her vanished, and a blinding light replaced it. The comfortable temperature suddenly became an intense heat wave. Fortunately, despite the sudden distractions and a few millimeter drop as the teleporter placed her slightly above the ground, she managed to remain upright. She didn’t want to look weak in front of Noah by falling on her face.
The glare continued to blind her, and Ariana lifted her hand to cover her face. The sun above shown brightly, hurting her eyes even with the shadow of her hand. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been planet-side. Wherever it had been, the sun there must have been dimmer. Or she kept it too dark on Seraph.
“Looks clear so far. All our stuff looks undisturbed.” Noah said. He continued to hold his rifle up in a ready position, “Though I want to get a good look from the top of that rise.”
Ariana squinted in the direction he pointed and nodded her head. Noah strode forward through the dusty ground and she followed. Halfway there, she remembered the pair of sunglasses on her belt and pulled them out. The polarized lenses cut the glare dramatically and she could finally get a good look at the world around her.
The ground was mostly barren dirt with a few scraggly shrub-like plants. Behind her, the river gurgled as it flowed and it sported a few reedy looking husks on its banks. The sky had a purplish hue but not a very vibrant shade.
Trudging up the sandy slope gave Ariana and Noah a view of the surrounding terrain. Dust obscured the horizon and small rolling hills kept them from seeing too far into the distance. But what they could see appeared barren and empty.
“Looks pretty clear.” Noah said, “But you can never discount some aerial predator. Or something that burrows up from the ground.”
Ariana shuddered at the thought of something swallowing her from the ground below. “The ground seems pretty rocky beneath this surface layer of sand. So we’re probably safe from those.”
“Or the species on this planet can tunnel through solid rock.”
“You’re not helping.”
“You don’t pay me to make you feel better.” Noah said and then gave a suggestive grin, “But I would be open to renegotiating my contract.”
Ariana raised an eyebrow at him, “I thought you liked men. When we met you...”
Noah shrugged, “I don’t limit myself. Anything that has a hole they want me to fill, I’m happy to oblige.”
Ariana stood there for a moment with her mouth agape, “I don’t know if I should be impressed with your openness or disgusted.”
“Why not both?”
“Sure. Just stay away from Olivia.” Ariana said sternly. The girl was far too young and naïve to make smart decisions around a man like Noah.
Noah looked offended, “I’m a man of open experiences, but I’m not a monster. Now, in a couple of years...”
Letting that comment go, Ariana linked her handheld to Seraph, “Javi, things look clear. You can send Olivia down.”
Ariana started back down the small rise with Noah behind her. Before they had made it halfway back to the river a bright light flashed, and two figures appeared, one human and one Slu. The two figures turned about as they looked around. When they caught sight of Ariana and Noah, they raised their hands in a wave.
“Javi? What are you doing here?” Ariana asked when she was close enough not to have to shout.
“I thought I could help. Your ship, while nice, does not have much in the way of things to do.”
“It’s pretty dry here. That’s not very good for your people. Besides, you’re going to get very dirty.”
“Well, then I guess I just might need to go for a swim before porting back up,” Javi said, turning one eyestalk toward the river.
“Ah. Such a sacrifice.” Ariana said with a smile, “Knock yourself out. Now, you two, let’s get this equipment set up.”
“What’s the rush?” Olivia asked, “I wouldn’t mind a swim myself.”
“Yeah, but I’d prefer everyone keep their pants on,” Ariana said giving a pointed look at Noah.
“Javi doesn’t have pants on,” Noah said.
“But he never wears pants.”
Ariana began directing Noah and Olivia into how to set up the pump for the water tanks and electrolyzer. Before long, water flowed through the hoses and into the equipment. Most of the work after that involved clearing the tubes of gunk and debris that got sucked in. It was tiring, but straightforward work that kept the three of them occupied.
While they worked, Javi slithered through the dirt and into the muddy region at the water’s edge. He moved gently and very dignified for a few moments before dropping all pretense and rolling around in the mud, covering his entire body. A contented sigh escaped him before he slid the rest of the way into the water.
After a few hours, Javi came slithering rapidly back onto shore. He spluttered out some water and then yelled, “Something’s coming. Several somethings in fact.”
Noah dropped the tank he had been in the process of changing and ran to where he had set his rifle. Falling into a crouch, he scanned the area. Ariana drew her pistol and waited for Javi to indicate a direction. Slu had senses that went beyond humans, and she trusted his abilities.
Nervously Olivia started to draw her pistol as she came to stand beside Noah and Ariana. Without taking his eye away from his gunsight, Noah reached a hand back and put it over Olivia’s, stopping her from drawing her pistol. He gave a slight shake of his head
“Not unless you have no choice. You’re more a threat to us than anything else right now.”
Olivia looked slightly terrified with her eyes open wide, and she didn’t argue. Ariana gave her a reassuring pat on the back, “Javi’s senses aren’t very specific. Whatever it is may not be any kind of threat.”
As if on cue, a towering figure came barreling over the top of the rise. It was immediately apparent the figure was bipedal, but it took a moment to make out any more details as clouds of dust flew up as the creature ran. Sharp, stony features soon identified the creature as a Rokma.
“If I start firing now I might be able to drop him before he gets here. I wasn’t expecting to face Rokma or I would have brought a bigger gun.” Noah said.
“I thought you brought the big gun,” Ariana asked as she tried to decide what to do. Fortunately, Rokma didn’t move fast.
“There’s always a bigger gun. This one’s a good game hunter but doesn’t have the penetrating power that I’d like. And you need a lot of penetration for a Rokma.”
For a moment, Ariana was distracted trying to figure out if there was a double meaning in Noah’s words. She shook it off and turned to Javi, “More?”
He nodded, “Many. But they don’t feel the same.”
Not waiting to find out what that might mean, Ariana said, “Javi, Olivia return to the ship. We’ll send the tanks up after you. Clear them from the chamber quickly.”
“But what....” Olivia began.
“The longer you talk, the longer it will take to get us all back. The porter takes a while to recharge between cycles. Go. Now.”
Javi nodded solemnly and then tapped the recall device strapped to his arm. Olivia gulped and triggered her own. They vanished, and Ariana turned to their supply tanks trusting Noah to keep an eye on the approaching Rokma. She linked them up into two groups so that the hydrogen tanks and water tanks could all be brought up in one teleport cycle. The pump and electrolyzer would have to go in a separate cycle.
“Umm...” Noah said, and Ariana turned around.
The Rokma had already gotten reasonably close to them, but a more massive dust cloud had appeared at the top of the ridge. Multiple figures appeared at the top and came barreling down the slope. These creatures were almost as massive as the Rokma but had many more appendages.
“Oh shit.” Ariana said, “Giant spiders.”
“Those are no joke.” Noah said with a slight tremble in his voice, “I once saw things like these tear apart an entire platoon.”
“Let’s hope these are less effective,” Ariana said.
She glanced down at her recall device. An agonizing few seconds ticked by before the indicator light turned green. She looked up toward the approaching swarm and considered leaving the supplies. But she didn’t relish the idea of getting trapped orbiting a planet infested with giant spiders with no fuel. She pushed the recall buttons on the storage tanks, and they vanished in a flash.
“Thirty seconds recycle?” Noah asked.
“A bit over a minute. This isn’t a military porter. Plus, however long it takes them to clear the chamber.”
“In that case...” Noah said and started firing his rifle.
With each shot, a spider fell and was immediately trampled by others. No matter how many times he fired, the swarm didn’t appear to get smaller. It just grew as more and more appeared on the rise.
Forgotten in the terror of the spiders, the Rokma now came within conversational distance. He raised his hands to his sides in the universal gesture of a nonthreat. Going with her gut, Ariana handed her pistol to the Rokma. Then she knelt beside Noah, drew one of the pistols from his holsters and started firing herself.
Despite triple blasts rapidly firing out, the swarm continued to advance. The spiders were either unaware or uncaring of the danger. They had already moved past the halfway point when the indicator light again turned green.
Not wasting any time, Ariana reached over to the pump and pulled its recall device off. She slapped it against the Rokma and triggered the button. Noah turned back toward her as the Rokma disappeared.
“What the hell did you do that for?”
Not giving him an answer, Ariana reached out and triggered the device at his belt. Noah vanished in a flash and she found herself with only a swarm of giant alien spiders for company.