Marooned on Giri Minor
You pack up the three 2-liter bladders that you managed to fill, and each one of you takes one last turn at the hole getting your own personal fill of water before making the return trip. Then you dash up the game trail toward the open hillside, finding Giri Minor's large sun hovering over the far horizon. You practically jog down the mountainside and up to the crest of the foothill. You can make out the wreckage of the ship, where there is now a spot of light--someone has lit a campfire, which will guide you like a beacon across the desert plain.
And in the light of the two remaining moons, your own tracks from earlier in the day are still easy to follow.
But soon after the sun has completely disappeared and the temperature cools, there is an eerie skittering sound all around you. The desert floor seems to be alive.
"We need to book it," the lieutenant says, but in the dim light you see hundreds of tiny little creatures crawling out of the ground and up his legs. They remind you of tiny crabs, black and shiny, with one ragged-edged claw pointing forward. Ibanz is covered too, and to your horror so are you. They bite into your exposed skin with their claw and you immediately feel dizzy.
The next thing you know you are hallucinating that the entire desert is on fire, burning you alive with it. You frantically open your pack and empty the contents of the water bladders over your head, but the flames continue to spread across your flesh, undeterred. Then your vision goes black altogether, and you collapse to the ground. When your bodies are located the next day by Dr. Munro, your bones have been picked clean--and the creatures that devoured you and absorbed your moisture have scurried back into the desert floor.
And in the light of the two remaining moons, your own tracks from earlier in the day are still easy to follow.
But soon after the sun has completely disappeared and the temperature cools, there is an eerie skittering sound all around you. The desert floor seems to be alive.
"We need to book it," the lieutenant says, but in the dim light you see hundreds of tiny little creatures crawling out of the ground and up his legs. They remind you of tiny crabs, black and shiny, with one ragged-edged claw pointing forward. Ibanz is covered too, and to your horror so are you. They bite into your exposed skin with their claw and you immediately feel dizzy.
The next thing you know you are hallucinating that the entire desert is on fire, burning you alive with it. You frantically open your pack and empty the contents of the water bladders over your head, but the flames continue to spread across your flesh, undeterred. Then your vision goes black altogether, and you collapse to the ground. When your bodies are located the next day by Dr. Munro, your bones have been picked clean--and the creatures that devoured you and absorbed your moisture have scurried back into the desert floor.
THE END
