The first day concluded without any further incidents, but a safe distance was kept from the lakeshore. By the time they gathered together to bunk down for the night in the shuttle, they had a multitude of flora, fauna, and geological samples for the science teams. The world they'd landed on experienced days just a few hours longer than a standard Griffonian day, so the crew opted to fit their schedule to the planet’s natural rhythms.

  Leaving the unsleeping D'Jarric and Doc to keep watch, the others headed off to bed, only to be woken about an hour later by a series of violent crashes. Rolling out of his bunk, Vanbrook rushed to where Doc and D'Jarric sat in the common area, just behind the cockpit.

  “What is that?” demanded Vanbrook.

  The crashes had now given way to scratching and stomping sounds.

  “Not sure,” said Doc. “Sounds avian to me. Like a big flock of birds just landed on the roof.”

  Vanbrook stepped into the cockpit to try to get a look through the windshield. There was no angle for him to see the roof itself, so he couldn't see anything until a reptilian creature leapt down onto the windshield, screaming at him through the reinforced polymer. It had an eight foot wingspan, stood about four feet tall and looked like an unholy cross between a bat and a lizard. It tried to bite through the poly of the windshield with its needle-like teeth, resorting to pecking with its large, sharp snout when that failed.

  Reclan stepped swiftly into the cockpit, pushing past Vanbrook to get to the console. She pressed a button and there was a snapping, crackling sound accompanied by the screeching of the creatures as they fled. Vanbrook watched a small flock of them wing their way back to the jungle.

  “Electrified the hull,” explained Reclan. “It's too much of a power draw to keep on continuously, but if they come back, we can hit them again.”

  By now Darvik and Fremig were also standing at the entrance of the cockpit, looking bleary-eyed and confused.

  “Doc, let me show you what I did, then I'm going back to bed,” said Reclan.

  “I hate this planet,” said Darvik, shuffling back to his bunk.

  “I think we'll want to sleep in the shuttle until the Wingspan lands,” said Vanbrook.

  “Just stay inside the shuttle, period,” scoffed Reclan, finishing up with Doc. “The others can't land soon enough. I've gotta say I'm with Darvik on this one. This planet isn't doing it for me.”

  “Well, they should have our initial report,” said Vanbrook. “Hopefully it won't be much longer.”

  ***

  “You wanted to see me, Private?” said Hunt.

  He was walking to his office, still flanked by his armed guards, and saw the gangly Dromean pacing outside. The Private turned to him, offering a nervous salute.

  “Y-yes, Sir,” he said. “I've heard some, uh, things that worry me.”

  Hunt nodded. “Speak your mind, then.”

  “There's–uh–there's a lot of restlessness among the crew, Admiral,” said the private.

  “I'm aware of that, sailor,” said Hunt, growing impatient and anxious in equal measure.

  “Of course, sir, sorry- it's worse than just that,” stammered the sailor. “There's talk of mutiny.”

  “I'll need names,” said Hunt seriously.

  “Syden and Drilby, for starters,” said a voice from the stairway.

  Syden, followed by Drilby and a number of armed sailors, emerged quietly from the stairway, their faces masks of deadly seriousness.

  Looking nervously from side to side, the all-to-late Dromean backed off as best he could.

  “You can stand down, Hunt,” said Syden. “And tell your goons to put their guns down. We don't answer to you anymore.”

  “Oh?” said Hunt, trying not to look rattled. “And who do you answer to?”

  “Chief Engineering Officer Dekken,” said Syden confidently.

  “Did he let you out of the brig, then?” asked Hunt.

  “No,” said Syden. “I've got friends all over. You, not so much. Your crusade is over, Hunt. Now tell your goons there to put down their guns. I won't ask a third time.”

  “Get back, sir,” said one of Hunt’s guards, reaching for his weapon.

  Hunt held up a hand. “Don't-”

  But it was too late. Seeing Hunt’s guards reaching for their weapons, Syden fired. What followed was a confusion of gunfire and screaming. Hunt pulled his sidearm to defend himself, but caught a round in the abdomen and went limp. He saw that his guards and the Dromean private who'd come to speak with him were floating lazily, their magboots keeping their dead or unconscious bodies in place, along with Syden and a few other mutineers. He dropped his gun.

  Another group rushed up the stairs, this one led by Dekken.

  “What is this!?” roared the engineer. “This is not what we discussed! Get these men to the infirmary right now, I'll have no blood on my hands.”

  “A little late for that, Officer,” said Hunt.

  Dekken paused but refused to answer or even look at his admiral.

  “I say we send him to the brig, if not out an airlock,” said Drilby, seeing to Syden. “He killed Syden.”

  “You'll be in the brig yourself in a moment,” seethed Dekken. “Syden brought this on himself. All of you who were here for the fight and still standing, go into the Admiral's office and stay there until I come back for you. Everyone who came with me, get the wounded to the infirmary. Hunt, I'll speak with you in due time. I'm sorry it went this way.”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “I'll be eagerly awaiting you gracing me with your presence, ‘Admiral,’” snarled Hunt.

  Dekken turned to make his way to the bridge, still refusing to make eye contact with Hunt. He stomped sullenly up the tower stairs, meeting Triflin on the way down, coming to see what the commotion was. Dekken stopped him with a firm hand.

  “What’s going on, Dek?” asked the young Astralbian.

  “It’s under control, Officer,” said Dekken. “I need you on the bridge.”

  “Wait, what?” asked Triflin. “Where’s Hunt?”

  “On his way to the infirmary,” said Dekken. “I’m taking command for the time being.”

  “Is the Admiral going to be okay?” asked Triflin. “Tell me what happened.”

  “Get up on the bridge, Officer,” growled Dekken. “That’s an order.”

  Triflin frowned but turned and followed Dekken up to the bridge. Dekken walked over to the command chair and plopped down joylessly. Heaving a sigh, he put his security code in, unlocking the Wingspan’s controls. He felt a cold barrel on the fleshy part of his neck, between his armor plates. There was a scuffling noise and he heard Triflin cry out once.

  “That’ll do, Officer,” said Drilby from behind him. “I have concerns about your leadership and will be taking command.”

  “Don’t be a fool, Drilby,” said Dekken. “They won’t follow you.”

  “That’s not your problem,” said Drilby coolly.

  “And what did you do to Officer Triflin?” asked Dekken.

  “Sub-lethal popper,” answered the rogue sailor. “Just the thing to disable an upstart Astralbian. Now my sailors will escort you to the brig. We’ll be landing shortly to take on water, then it’ll be back to Griffonia by the shortest route, whatever that might be. Oh, and don’t worry about Talon Squad. We’ll be going silent and they won’t be here to try anything stupid.”

  Dekken growled and briefly considered rounding on the maniac, but he wasn’t the most talented fighter and enough blood had been spilled already.

  “You’re going to pay for this, Drilby,” spat Dekken.

  Drilby laughed. “I’m going to get a medal for this, Dekken.”

  ***

  Clayside, Talon Squad had woken up early and continued their exploration, unaware of the conflict taking place in the aether above them. The great twin suns rose over the jungle, and steam and fog rolled out of the trees towards the camp. Vanbrook took the rolling vapor as a kind of invitation, as though the smoky tendrils were so many fingers beckoning him into the unknown. A small tributary came out of the trees, and Vanbrook walked upstream into the woods, Doc in tow.

  D’Jarric had stayed behind to help Reclan repair the damage the pterosaurs had done the night before. Darvik had decided to stay behind to keep working on Fremig’s Talpaertan. That suited Vanbrook just fine.

  “Any thoughts on what we’ll find?” asked Vanbrook.

  “Based on what we’ve found so far, I’d say this planet has a robust ecosystem that supports a number of large predators,” said Doc. “The low gravity and relatively high oxygen content of this world means that we can expect large arthropods. From what I can see of the forest here, there’s an abundance of plants and fungus of untold varieties.”

  They stepped into the forest. Instead of the instantaneous cooling sensation that temperate worlds like Griffonia offered, the jungle air seemed all the hotter for the steam trapped within. The subtly spicy notes of the vegetation were stronger now, and Vanbrook sucked in a deep breath, savoring the scent.

  “Oh,” continued Doc softly. “And there are large, reptilian predators, with broad, corpulent bodies and razor-lined maws.”

  “That’s… pretty specific,” said Vanbrook nervously.

  Doc pointed silently into a clearing just off to the left. In it, a massive creature lay snoring in the morning sun. Though it was curled up and unconscious, Vanbrook could see that it must have stood ten feet tall or more, and the bulging muscles hiding beneath the loose leathery yellow hide gave him pause. Its mouth was indeed full of razor sharp teeth, the upper row locking with the lower like a tangle of scissor blades. The legs looked suited to running, and the long-fingered, clawed hands looked accustomed to delivering prey to the jagged maw. The tail, which made up the second half of its impressive twenty foot length, flicked dangerously, as though the creature were dreaming of the hunt.

  “Okay,” whispered Vanbrook. “Let’s get back to the shuttle, quickly and quietly.”

  Without a word, Doc turned and started making his way back to the shuttle. Once they had cleared the forest and, hopefully, out of earshot of the creature, they picked up their pace, making their way back to the relative safety of the shuttle as quickly as they dared.

  “Well that wasn’t much of a trip,” said Reclan from the roof of the shuttle as they approached.

  “There’s a big ol’ monster right inside the jungle,” explained Vanbrook. “We really didn’t want to interrupt its nap.”

  “That’s not comforting,” said Reclan. “That’s not comforting at all.”

  Vanbrook shrugged. “Anyway, what are you seeing up there?”

  “No idea,” said D’Jarric.

  “Yeah, the Solaran here probably isn’t the most well-suited to being my apprentice. I think he knows which end of a screwdriver to hold now, so there’s that.”

  “I learn something new every day,” said D’Jarric cheerily.

  “Regardless,” said Reclan. “The damage wasn’t too bad. Stupid things peeled back some panels but we’re still aether-worthy. I was just finishing up and about to call the Wingspan.”

  “Alright,” said Vanbrook, looking around. “I guess I’m going to head up towards that northern mountain range awhile. Doc? Want to come along?”

  Shrugging, Doc followed Vanbrook, who was already on his way.

  Meanwhile, something stirred in the jungle. The gaping nostrils of the yellow snout expanded as they detected prey nearby–prey that had been here recently. A low, purring rumble sounded in its throat as it quietly stood up.

  Unaware of any danger, Vanbrook and Doc continued towards the mountains, stopping frequently to collect samples of the vegetation or rocks. In truth, Vanbrook never knew what rocks may or may not be interesting to the geological team, but they never complained so he continued to follow his instincts. After they had gotten a few hundred yards, Reclan buzzed Vanbrook’s comm.

  “Hey,” she said. “Something's up, I can't reach the Wingspan.”

  “Huh,” said Vanbrook. “Interference?”

  “No, there's just no one there,” answered Reclan.

  “Was there more damage to the shuttle than you realized?” asked Vanbrook.

  “No, I'm telling you, the Wingspan just isn't there,” answered Reclan.

  “What do you want me to do about it?” asked Vanbrook.

  “Come back so we can leave?” asked Reclan in a tone that suggested a demand more than a question.

  Something in the corner of Vanbrook’s eye caught his attention, and his head snapped towards the woodline. The enormous yellow beast, its red eyes now open and roving the landscape, its wide nostrils flaring as it searched for its next meal, had emerged from the jungle.

  “Yup, we’re on our way,” said Vanbrook, motioning for Doc to follow his lead and moving towards the shuttle at a brisk pace. “I think we woke up whatever that creature was in the forest.”

  The massive predator’s roving eyes caught sight of the shuttle, and then moved to Doc and Vanbrook, zeroing in on the organic one, the source of the scent that had woken it up. It started moving towards its prey, slowly at first, its lumbering gait building speed as it went. The massive, leathery flaps of skin that hung from the monstrous muscles swung and rippled with the movement. Vanbrook started trying to work out in his head if they could make it to the shuttle before it made it to them. It didn’t matter. All they could do was try.