- The apes from the group look distressed by the fifth one we captured alone. They keep their distance and hiss when it wakes up and approaches them.
- The lone ape is more sluggish than the others, even beyond the physical limitations of the swollen belly.
- Is pregnancy particularly taxing for this species?
- If it is, why do the others display aggressive behaviors towards the pregnant one?
- Does this species engage in matricide to select for strong mothers or mates?
The Disaster
Ned spends some time observing the aliens and taking notes. Their calm, apart from the unmistakable disdain for the pregnant specimen, makes them optimal test subjects. She's most curious about the ape with a large belly, but attempts to collect DNA samples from the specimen have proved fruitless. Even her alloy shears can't cut their fur, possibly related to the high levels of iron in the waters of this planet. If their biology is water-based like humans, this is a promising hypothesis worthy of further investigation. The next time the
Gazer
comes around, she will request ultrasound equipment. The embryonic data from this species could be tremendously valuable for unraveling the planet's biological history.
Time passes, and the planet rotates enough for the horizon to finally meet the sun. They are nearing the end of the third 24-hour "day," which colonists use to create a semblance of normalcy. For the first couple of days, they all were going to sleep with the beaming sun still shining, but now they'll have their first scheduled sleep in the dark. Ned walks out of the science building, and right next door is a hut constructed for her to sleep closer to her research. It consists of her bed, a desk, a storage cube, and a rudimentary electrical hookup. If she needs, Ned can plug in her laptop or any other small appliance.
She hangs up her lab coat, then her fingers slip under the band of her pants, and she pulls them off. Her legs feel clammy from the planet's warm climate, so she falls into her bed and lets them air dry in the climate-controlled environment of her room. Resting on her back, she waves them in the air to cool them off and her nipples stiffen in the cool air. Before she gets too distracted she rolls over, cooling off her cute butt too. Exhausted from the long day, she takes some time to rest before sighing and moving to her desk. She pulls an instant coffee from the cube and plugs in her alimentary reconstitution unit. The hut soon fills with the smell of coffee and the sound of tapping on her laptop's keyboard as she starts copying her notes on the alien family. The researchers plan on meeting at the end of the second 72-hour "day" to collaborate on how best to take advantage of the planet's natural resources.
She falls into the rote pattern she got used to in school, putting on some music and getting engrossed in writing. She only manages a few sentences of composition before an interruption comes as a loud commotion outside her hut. The monkey aliens start shrieking and rattling their cage, audible even over her classical tunes, causing Ned to jump. The half-dressed scientist pulls up her pants and picks up her drink, pushing her chair back to check on the specimens. She gets halfway to the door when the perimeter breach alarm blares out, startling her even more. This time, she spills her vital java onto the floor. The colony starts erupting with the sounds of smashing, shouting, and commotion all ringing out.
Ned's heart starts beating faster, and she backsteps to the storage cube to pull out a laser scalpel. It's a tool made for making precision cuts in soft tissue, with enough charge to operate for an hour continuously. It's hazardous, but only at a close range, if not for a trick she learned from one of the boys in the plasma engineering college. Ned changes the intensity settings and focus of the lens so the tool can discharge its battery faster than the factory recommends. In this configuration, it can fire a high-intensity beam at a short distance, but only once. She pockets the makeshift weapon and runs to the containment pen for the alien apes she studied today.
She finds the floor littered with pieces of a discarded green shell, and the family of apes is desperately clawing at the bamboo walls. Their efforts to escape are so much more urgent now, their tough claws gouging deep grooves in the bamboo walls. The source of their distress is the previously pregnant specimen hanging from the ceiling of the pen, strung up with some kind of white rope, and noticeably less pregnant. A black husk has grown on its chest instead. Transfixed by the new observation, Ned's science background claws its way past the alarming situation and urges her to observe the xenobiology.
She does not get too close before the new husk clicks and begins hissing, presumably at her. It's another alien latching onto the ape's chest and repositions its legs. Holding back a yelp, Ned stops and reaches into her pocket to finger her weapon. She can make out small black orbs on the black mass, eyes glinting daggers at her. She stops, feeling her heart pounding in her chest as the edges of her vision cloud and her adrenaline spikes, making the world slow down.
So many possibilities flash through her mind. Discounted immediately is the chance that this is a part of the life cycle of this species. A parasite is most likely. It must have been what the ape carried in its distended belly. With wiry legs extending around the back, it wraps around the marsupial's body firmly. It starts moving, reorienting itself, and Ned's hand shoots for her pocket with the weapon. The creature halts, their eyes locking on each other. She can barely move for fear of agitating the animal.
The colony's alarm snaps Ned out of her faceoff as it shrieks into the night again. She steps back, holding the laser scalpel tightly. This new find will have to wait. Ned turns her head; her blood runs cold. The colony's buildings are crawling with alien creatures. Even in the darkness of the night, these aliens appear vividly. Eight spindly legs that skitter with unthinkable haste and six beady red eyes that glow with an unearthly light. These aliens look like spiders with a midnight-black shell that glints in the moonlight and military flashlights. They move rapidly and silently, crawling across the rooftops weightlessly. The thing hanging on the ape in containment must be one of these creatures. The massive arachnids are as long as she is tall, leaping to the ground and chasing her fellow colonists.
She watches, mortified, as one of the beasts fires some kind of net from its abdomen at a fleeing woman, who falls to the ground screaming. The spider bites her, the screaming stops, her eyes glaze over, and her body falls limp. The monster drags her away, grabbing her with its broad forelegs and lifting her onto its back before skittering to a pile of soil and hauling her into a hole in the ground.
The soldiers shout at each other as they tighten their formation, a circle around some colonists to maximize their protection. Aliens are crawling along the ground at the group of humans, and the soldiers fire at the monsters. Unstoppable, the invaders shrug off the soldier's gunshots. Each bullet bounces off the dark shells of the beasts, with only shots to their heads having any effect. The monsters continue staring unflinchingly at the colonists, even with slugs tearing into their vulnerable eyes.
Ned's eyes dart between the soldiers and the pod building, trying to decide her safest option. She locks her sight on the heavy metal doors. The military crew guides people into the pod, and they shoot their heavy weapons to fend off the aliens. Deciding that must be the right place for her to take shelter in this situation, while the spiders nearest her are distracted by the cluster of soldiers, she takes a chance and tries to run past the carnage. She slips like a mouse behind the science hut and takes off toward the drop pod.
She is about halfway to the building when the ground in her path begins churning. A thick, shovel-like limb punches out of the ground. It widens the freshly created hole before being yanked back down. The ground breaks and the owner of the digging limbs pushes out into her path. It's clearly the same species as the spiders fighting the soldiers, but this one is specialized for digging given the shovel limbs and its thick forelegs. It's also longer and slimmer, with a more streamlined body and fewer legs. A new troop of aliens breaks the surface to reinforce their brethren. Behind the digger, another alien follows that looks more familiar with its bulky combat-oriented form. Ned tries to dodge past it, but her foot catches on the newly uneven soil, and she falls, stumbling face-first into the ground.
She scrambles to her feet as the second spider scuttles from the ground tunnel. It turns toward her with a hiss, and she lifts her modified laser scalpel to aim. Ned clicks the power button and a laser charge jolts out, luckily hitting the creature in one of its many eyes. The smell of burning fills the air, as does a horrid screech, but it doesn't stop the spider. It lifts itself from the soil and bends its abdomen, returning fire with a clump of webbing from its spinnerets.
Ned tries to jump out of the way, but the heavy web hits her feet, its mass carrying her to the ground and sticking her there. She reaches down to grab at the web, but the alien cords just stick to her hands, her efforts having little meaningful effect on the sturdy material. The alien chitters and stamps its forelegs on the ground, advancing towards her. In seconds, the creature is upon her with its fangs extruded and bearing down on Ned.
Long, sharp, and dripping with venom, it bites her shoulder. Sudden agony, followed by a burning sensation, washes over her. Ned's body locks up, and her eyes lose focus on the beast above her as the paralytic toxin spreads. The loss of control extends from her torso to her legs, and she drops limply. The spider pulls back, leaving two blood-stained holes in her shirt. Trying hard to free herself, she only manages a lame wiggle while the spider presses its legs down, pinning her until the venom affects her entire system. Even breathing becomes difficult, and Ned's eyes go wide at what must be her impending death.
Ned shudders. The thought of becoming this creature's food horrifies her. She can see it up close now, the glow of the moon reflecting off its fangs. It almost fits the description of an earth tarantula, only as big as a person. Its black abdomen is striped with darker crimson lines zigzagging across the bottom. Spinnerets on the tip squirm and spin more web that it pulls and places on her chest.
Several more burrowers scuttle past her. They look more like scorpions with shoveling claws that can tear up the soil. The attacking aliens have thinner forelegs that taper off to a sharp point. Her science-oriented brain automatically applies a hierarchy to this species even while she's in critical danger, recognizing some kind of system where each variant does a different job. They look similar in color and markings, alike in ways that indicate a common origin, like Formicidae colonies.
With the paralyzing effect of the venom coursing through her, Ned finds all she can do is move her eyes to look around as the alien creature begins maneuvering her body. It turns her over and pins her down, flattening her back to the ground while it pulls more mesh from its spinnerets. The webbing comes down on her arms and legs, binding and positioning her. She looks everywhere for a solution to her problem, but nothing is forthcoming.
The beast brings one of its front claws slicing down on her chest. She sees her life flash before her eyes, so upset with herself for not reaching all of her dreams. Surprise is the next emotion coming over her when she opens her eyes and is still alive. The spider had sliced her tank top open, letting a cool breeze run over her bare skin. She feels her cheeks heat up as the creature bares her pert B-cup breasts to the world.
She tries to move again but doesn't even manage a wiggle this time. The webbing combined with the weakness in her muscles stops her no matter how hard she tries. Flipping her over again, she feels the spider's legs run down her back and catch on her pants now. The sharp point slices through them like nothing but air, cutting down the middle with a loud tearing sound. Her underwear catches in the motion and is shredded to pieces, baring her ass to the midnight air.
The spider presses down on her, and she feels bristly hairs projected from its body. Its mandibles approach, and they click near her ear. Her limbs are like lead as she keeps trying to gain control over her body. The most she can achieve is clenching her hands, barely scratching the ground. The monster's face is horrific, with one of its eyes a bloody mess. Green ichor drips down the side of it, the side closest to her, but she can't look away.
The spider turns her naked form over again and Ned starts feeling light-headed from how violently it manipulates her frail body. It lifts her and places her on its back, similar to what she saw before, then carries her into the hole. The air changes as it takes her underground. The light of the planet's moon disappears, the pitch blackness of the tunnels enveloping her. As her eyes adapt, she begins to see the red patterns on the spider's body stand out. In the darkness, they glow.
She loses track of the time as they travel, finally entering a chamber. It lifts her into a large complex of webbing. The spider turns her right side up, and her cocoon is attached to an intersection of rope in the nest. She can at least feel gravity and know that she is lying on her back. The warrior-spider that captured her bites again, though, this time, the pain is not as sharp. Unable to stop her mind from analyzing, she notes this is undoubtedly an effect caused by the chemicals pumping through her system. She still feels it, like a dull thud in her leg that carries with it more venom. Her thoughts slow, but her spirit fights to keep her conscious.
As she struggles against the poison, another alien appears. This one has much thinner legs and a sphere-like abdomen that gives off a green glow. It skitters along the web and approaches Ned. She wonders if they will eat her now, as this new one certainly looks like it has an abdomen stuffed with something. She gurgles in protest when it clambers on top of her, and its feet descend to slice the web on her crotch. It reveals her fuzzy mound, kept trim in the hopes of showing off to one of the guards, though now this possibility is so distant.
