[Writing Prompt] Humans are considered an invasive species across the galaxy.
Invasive Species
“Copy that Odysseus. Continue on course to target. All systems confirmed optimal. God speed. It’s been an honor Rick.”
Captain Richard Laramie pressed the small button by the communications hub, turning the electrical panel off in order to save another couple of watts of energy in advance of their landing. It had been a long and arduous journey, over 12 years at relativistic speeds. The message he had just listened to was sent to him by the old ground control mission commander, Jerry Sykes. When the mission left Earth, Jerry was middle aged and boisterous. But the man in that message was old, his vocal chords scraping out sounds like stuck leaves from a gutter.
Rick, and his five crew mates, knew they would never see Jerry, or anyone else they knew personally, ever again. They were chosen for this mission because they had no family back on Earth. It was not, they were assured, a suicide mission – at least not necessarily. In fact, if everything went according to plan, Rick and his crew would only age a few years, spending most of their time shuffling through the terrifying dreams of cryosleep.
No, they would never see Jerry again because time on Earth was passing far faster than time in the ship. In truth, given the immense, multi-year delay in communications, Jerry was undoubtedly long dead already, his final message arriving posthumously.
Rick stifled a well of emotion and made a ship wide announcement once he was sure his voice wouldn’t crack. His voice, somewhat tinny over the in ship speakers, echoed across its several decks.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are t-minus seven days from our destination. All systems are optimal and we are a go for final approach. I received a message from Jerry Sykes. He wishes us all well and I am heartened that we should be accompanied by his spirit as we approach this momentous occasion. You have all given so much to this mission, more than anyone could ever ask for. Know that your planet, your species, has not forgotten.”
X82-CP1 was chosen out of over ten thousand candidate planets to be the first extra-solar entity visited by human beings. It was not the closest choice, but analysis indicated it was Earth like and able to support human life. Six astronauts were chosen from thousands of volunteers, each aware of the unique and unmitigated dangers involved in such a mission, each nonetheless willing to lay down their lives in furtherance of the human expansion.
Their ship, an Orion class nuclear pulse cruiser christened the Odysseus, was built in orbit over two years and when it was completed the crew rode a geosynchronous space elevator, Jacob’s Ladder, up into the sky. The mission left with great fanfare and much excitement, all tempered by the knowledge that no one alive to see the ship off would ever live to see it return.
All the while, X82-CP1 waited out there in the great expanse of deep space. If calculations and observations were correct, it would be a blue green orb, not unlike our own – a new home for humanity, or so it was hoped.
“Prepare for atmospheric entry”
The Odysseus rocked and shook as X82-CP1’s oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere hit her all at once, anvil like, on every square inch of her reinforced surface. This was the real moment of truth for the mission. If the ship’s design was off by just a few millimeters, or if micro-impacts had caused unseen damage to her exterior, then Rick and his crew would soon be busy disintegrating in the planet’s atmosphere.
Rick sat, knuckles clenched and white, strapped into the front-most seat on deck, his five crew-mates arrayed behind him in their own seats, each watching the final images of the view-screen before the heat became too intense for the camera. There in front of them, tinted orange by the growing heat, was an expanse of verdant lakes and mountains as far as the eye could see, off to the distant horizon. At the sight of X82-CP1’s beautiful green blue landscapes, even in the midst of a life threatening landing, Rick and the crew couldn’t help but let out exultant whoops of celebration, and even after the view-screen went dark and the ship rumbled fit to break, and the warmth grew frighteningly, even felt through their sealed suits – even then, to a person, they smiled, because they had made it.
“Oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere confirmed. Opening bay doors.”
The ship computer’s dulcet voice sounded like it was made of butter in Rick’s helmet. He and his crew wore modular suits, capable of both full vacuum seal or, as they were about to use, filtration mode, where they would breathe the planet’s air, but only after it was triple filtered through the suit, the filters being saved for later analysis.
Now the six heroic explorers stood ready at the bay door, their hearts beating apace, eager to take their first step on another world. With a hiss and then a plume of pressurized gas, the doors seal is broken and, first around its edges, and then expanding, the light of the dual suns of X82-CP1 beckons to them, and Rick answers the call. His foot touches the grass covered ground, and he is in a field of wildflowers, with mountains towering in the near distance and a fresh water lake, blue as sapphires, covered in flecks. The flecks move and take flight, and Rick nearly passes out from excitement.
“Birds. There are birds.”
Just then, from over the mountains to the east, a mighty roar echoes across the valley and Rick and the others turn to see a ship, much larger then their own, streamlined for atmospheric flight, racing straight toward them. In a matter of seconds it traverses a gap of miles and lands in a storm of wind right in front of the Odysseus.
Rick and the others stand, mouths agape, staring up at the giant vessel. Rick whispers a command over the comm, careful to keep it terse, uncertain if their transmissions are being monitored.
“Stay calm. Remember your training.”
They had been trained in hypothetical xeno-biologic diplomacy by a host of psychologists, although no one ever thought they would actually need to use those techniques. But now, here Rick was, on an alien planet, about to face off with an intelligent species. He swallowed a lump in his throat.
A ramp opened up from the alien ship and three figures came down it. They were tripedal and muscular, with four arms, two large, two small, almost vestigial. Their heads were neckless and in lieu of turning them they simply had four extra eyes around the circumference.
The three aliens stormed down the landing ramp towards Rick and his team with a purposefulness that made Rick nervous. As they approached Rick did as he was trained, supplicating himself in what he hoped was a show of universal peace, got onto his knees and extended the empty palms of his hands in front of him. As the three aliens stopped at the base of the ramp, Rick just remained in that position, quiet and unassuming.
For a moment the three aliens just stood there. Then the middle of the three leaned forward and looked over Rick very carefully. It paid special interest to the transparent portion of Rick’s suit, and looked over Ricks face for nearly a minute.
Rick thought things might be going well when the alien uttered a series of inscrutable sounds, a bundle of clicks and rasps, and then turned to head back up the ramp. As it did so, the other two aliens took up rifle shaped objects hanging from straps at their sides and, with utter disregard, showered Rick and his team with plasma bolts. The bright green projectiles made quick work of the human spacesuits, boring neat, wide holes in each of the team members, consuming heads and appendages alike in balls of energy.
As Rick looked down in his final moment and contemplated the gaping hole that used to be his chest, he couldn’t help but wonder what he had done wrong.
The Tsskvorian defense frigate saw the blip on their planetary radar long before the ship made landfall and they set off immediately. When they came over the mountaintop and saw the small bipedal figures walking on Tsskvor soil, Hsskpar had a sneaking suspicion. But such things needed to be confirmed, and so he ordered the ship to land.
Taking two of his crew mates out with him, Hsskpar approached the six alien creatures, his suspicions increasing with each step. The lead alien knelt and stuck out his appendages in a rudimentary pacifying gesture, which Hsskpar internally laughed at as his universal translator would have allowed them to speak perfectly well. But that was no matter, because Hsskpar was now all but certain.
He leaned forward and looked the kneeling creature over carefully, especially its insipid face with merely two eyes and two giant ears and grotesque, lipped mouth. There could be no doubt, a filthy human. Of course they would come back on Hsskpar’s watch. It had been a hundred thousand years since the human virus was annihilated, the last vestige escaping into the sky, but Tsskvorian memory ran deep and the hatred of humans even deeper.
This was the last thing Hsskpar needed, and right before a Jvvspariate was to be held, where Hsskpar stood to make a great deal of money should he win the favor of the electorate.
If word that humans had somehow managed to return to the planet, in any number, went public, Hsskpar’s career would be shot. No, better to pretend this never happened.
Turning back to his men, Hsskpar said simply “Vaporize them,” and then walked up the ramp back into the ship, cursing his bad luck.
If You Enjoyed This Story – Or Any Of The Hundreds Of Other Legends From The Multiverse – And Want To Give A Dollar To The Madman Behind The Curtain Who Writes Them All:
Subscribe to the RSS feed or leave a comment anywhere on the r/LFTM subreddit with “!subscribeme” or “subscribeme!”, and you’ll receive a notification whenever a new story or continuation is posted.
READ MORE FLASH FICTION
| ACTION | APOCALYPTIC | DARK | ESTABLISHED UNIVERSE | FANTASY |
| FUNNY MAYBE | HORROR | MISC | WTF IS THIS? | SAD |
| SCIENCE FICTION | SCIENCE FANTASY | TWIST ENDING | RANDOM |
READ LONGER STORIES
| THE DEMON’S CANTOS | INCIDENTAL SUPERHERO |
| BENEATH | THE HUMANITY SAGA |
| THE TRAVELER | I, LYCANTHROPE |