There was no sign of the escape pod, the void, or the Lakunae.
I was lying on an alien planet in the middle of a jungle.
Chapter Eight
The air was humid, damp, and thick with the scent of growing things. Bright light filtered through the thick canopy of trees, but the rest of my surroundings were deep in shadow. The plants themselves were mostly green, including the trunks of the trees, which shot straight up at least a hundred yards into the sky. Their color was off a little, though. They were a shade of green but also contained a bit of blue. Everything did.
Here and there were little bursts of brightly colored flowers. Some were as large as my head. Others looked like explosions of fireworks caught at their brightest, most brilliant moments. Most of the color, however, was reserved for an area about two-thirds of the way between the canopy and the ground. I spotted orbs attached to trunks and branches—fruit, which may or may not be edible to humans. I knew I’d have to try one eventually.
I lifted my head a bit further out and observed the area around me. I caught a whiff of something rotting, but it seemed far away, carried along by the slight breeze meandering between the trees.
The fronds and leaves of the ground-level plants were wide and thick. Some appeared to have small spines running along their edges, and I made a mental note to avoid them until I knew which were poisonous.
The one thing that was missing—the one thing I’d most expected in such an environment—was the sound of animals. Jungles, such as this, didn’t form on their own. Seeds couldn’t be carried by such a gentle breeze. The fruit high in the trees was for animals, but if they were nearby, they were silent, frightened by my arrival.
I squinted into the darkness around me, hoping to see a shaft of light from a crashed escape pod. I saw nothing, but then I’d made it to the planet without the pod somehow, so maybe the others had as well.
If I continued sitting here, I’d end up being something’s prey. Where there were animals that ate plants and fruit, there’d be animals that ate animals. It was a necessary part of the food chain. Animals exploited gaps, filled them, and allowed their species to survive. I, however, had no intention of being anything other than the apex predator.
I thought of my crew, of their bravery, and of their stubbornness. I wondered if they’d survived and escaped from the Xeno ships. Then a memory washed over my mind.
Your crew has survived. We have returned them to your xadaar. You will join with them there once again.
It was as though I’d heard it the first time. The thought inside my head, given voice by my own imagination. The vision of the void was impossible to come to terms with. But it was best to accept that it was at least possible that I’d been beamed onto an alien planet and out of hyperspace by a pack of hive-minded squids named Lakunae.
I wanted to know what was behind all this, but in order to find out, I first had to survive. If I could survive, I could find my lost crew members. And to do that, I had to get moving.
I lifted myself up and came to my feet on the spongy ground. I removed my tight-fitting jacket, tied it around my waist, and checked the sky for any sign of smoke or civilization.
The first order of business was finding shelter. I had no idea what nights were like on this planet. I could only hope I wouldn’t freeze to death. The idea of sleeping out in the open when I didn’t know the local wildlife didn’t sit well with me either. The best option would be to find a natural cave or another place I could fortify at night to sleep in.
My second priority would be finding water. The human body could only go three days without the stuff, though I was sweating so much, I might only survive two. If I discovered water, I’d boil it if I could find a way to do so. If I couldn’t, I’d have to experience the local parasite population as well. It was unlikely the critters would be able to use my body as a food source, but the thought of growing aliens in my large intestine made me shiver.
With that thought, the third priority became finding a pot or something else I could use to boil water in.
In fourth place was food. I peered into the trees. If it came down to it, I’d climb one and sample the local fruits. If they were edible, it looked like there’d be plenty to eat. If they were juicy, my need for water would also be reduced. So many unknowns.
I picked a direction, mostly at random, and began to walk. I stepped carefully, watching for thorny things, snake-like things, and big bug-like things. It wasn’t long before my water problem was mostly solved.
I found a narrow stream meandering through the forest. The rock underneath was a deep, bloody red, and little strands of what appeared to be seagrass wiggled in the current like tentacles. The thought reminded me of my hallucination. I shook the images from my mind. If there was time to think about it later, I would. But now, exposed in unfamiliar territory on a planet I’d probably never even heard of, was not the time.
I reached into the water and tugged at various fist-sized rocks, looking for one loose enough to pull free and use as a weapon. I was pleased to find that the first one I tried was such a rock. It felt light for its size but heavy enough to stun an enemy so that I could rush in and kill it with my bare hands. I bounced it in my palm a few times, getting a
