Crashlanded

Klingon Hamlet

Night fell swiftly. Only five of us left now. Rest had been shot or eaten. We'd abandoned the crashed ship, fled into the surrounding forest. Big mistake. Full of predators, some sneaky, others downright unstoppable. I could still see the captain's face as the big beast chomped down on his mouth.

A cry, from the distance. It echoed, bouncing off the far off mountains. Four of them loked to me. I was their captain, now. My job, to keep them alive. As long as I could, anyway. The cry grew louder. We'd seen sense; killed the big thing while it ate the rest of the captain. Raced back to the crash site. Our ship had scorched a clearing as she landed. A circle of flatened grass, so we could see for a mile each way. And hear. Everything.

The cry grew not just in volume, but in pitch. Like a girl, shrieking. A banshee seizing the night. I looked to Dom. “That's not an animal.”

He kept his eyes up and wide. “Aerial cruiser. Medium sized. Headed right for us.”

Two guns between five. Though the other three were mere cadets. Wouldn't want them pulling a trigger unless it was to off themselves; even then, couldn't trust them to do it right. They huddled, knees bobbling. Pants wet with urine, no doubt.

I spat. “You good at longshots?”

“Nope,” said Dom, raising his linegun and aiming at the heavens. “But I'm a bloody quick learner.”

“Good man.” I afforded myself a smile. Only luxury we had now, humour. No food or water. And a big bastard waiting to kill us. Fun time was over.

The scream reached painful levels. There was an underlying boom.

“Rockets!” I shouted. “Get down!”

Too late. Dom was just a foot away when he exploded. Bone and blood flew everywhere. My autoshield flared up and most of it was stopped but a few drops and splinters flaked my suit. I gagged. The three kids wailed. A roar overhead. She was coming around for another shot.

A mumble. I looked down. “Jesus, Dom...”

He was still alive. Half his face blown off, his body ending at the sternum. He drooled blood and other things as he chuckled, “Almost had him...blew his load too early, inconsiderate...” His only eye glazed. I gritted my teeth and swore a silent oath. The three calmed down, looked to me.

“Here's a gun,” I said to the oldest, Fred I think. “Aim it and fire it.”

“But I don't have any--”

“Follow ****ing orders.”

The scream came again, hungry for more.

He nodded, pale as death. “Aye, sir.” He dutifully aimed her up, sweeping the skies.

I followed suit with my more modest handgun. Long range, but poor visual. Had to follow my ears, allow for delay. The scream filled our ears. I aimed for a spot, pulled the trigger three times quickly. Pop-pop-pop. Three purple bolts splashed against white metal. Another boom.

We were done for. I took enough time to give Frank-I-think a too-bad smile, a maybe-next-time shrug. The missiles never came. The ground shook, and a pillar of blue fire rose up a mile away, in the forest. I'd got them.

I'd nailed the bastards.

“**** yeah!” I punched the air, gave fred a hug, winked at the cute young cadet-ette sitting down. Things were looking up. OK, we were marooned on a nightmare of a planet, but for now, tonight, we'd kicked those pale-faced monsters right in the vulnerables.

Dom...well, plenty of time for mourning.

“C'mon kids, let's make sure they're dead.”

Fred looked at me like I'd turned into one of those ghost aliens. “Sir! The animals...”

“We got guns and guts, Fred. They're no match.”

The cute one raised a hand. “They'll send a landing party, sir.”

I flashed her my cheapest smile. “I hope so. Kill them, take their ship, fly back upto the bigger ship, and kill them too!”

I turned to run when Fred grew a set and stepped in front of me. “We want to go home.”

“You see any other ships here?”

The young lad took a moment to ponder, so while he did I drove my knee where the fresh set had descended. He groaned and doubled up. “Exactly, Cadet. Only way home is right through those bastard's hearts. Now follow me.”

No more waiting. No more fleeing. I holstered my gun and leapt into the darkness of the alien forest, straight for the ship full of corpses.