Castaway Planet

Galactic Calendar 259872/ 2000 [ Sol Year 4387/ Day 154 of 365. Sol standard year]

Days after of Crash landing/ 2

Uninhabited Island / Clearing of Escape Capsule # 405

Galactic Standard Time / After 1350

The man panted as he looked around the clearing. To think that he had made it to other survivors after everything! He couldn’t help but see the truth that he had found was the reason for survival.

“So who are you then?” A hard voice caused him to turn.

Standing there was an older-looking man who hadn’t had his rejuvenation yet. He was wearing a uniform like the people who had saved him but the crutch was the most eye-grabbing.

“My name is Roch Dacount, a simple man. I’m on my vacation time if you must know,” Roch said as he looked at the man.

The man only chuckled and shook his head. “Duncan, chief of security on the Spirit. On Vacation Time, lucky! Mine was to start once this cruise was over!”

Roch only looked at him and started to laugh as he looked down. “Very unlucky Mr. Duncan, very unlucky!”

“Yeah, but why are you here?” Duncan asked softly as he looked at Roch.

Roch looked up and let his eyes move around, seeing a few other deckhands all around, all armed. He almost swallowed and knew he had to talk the right way now, one misstep would see him dead. One thing was sure, he couldn’t bring up anything about what he did. He needed to slowly bring these people the truth, and not show them everything all at once. Thankfully he had used a speaker who believed in him to tell the others at the capsule the truth. Any survivors would think he was just one of those who were swept up in it.

“I…… the capsule I came down in, the people went mad. We went out into a small clearing and these things attacked us. We fought our way back into the escape capsule and well, that’s when things changed. There was talk about sacrificing lives to the creatures out there! They almost gave over a baby and one of the workers to the beasts!” Roch said in a rush.

As Duncan reared back, Roch fought off a smile. Good, by letting this fool believe that he had nothing to do with it, he had bought his life.

“So what happened? I mean you’re here alone, so something happened. But was it before or after the bastard did that?” Duncan asked softly.

Roch felt his anger spike for a second, but he forced it down. He couldn’t give the game away, not now. He had to be smart and play this carefully.

“Someone spoke against the sacrifice. Then he was one of the offerings. Then others tried to stop it. When I saw what they were doing, I reacted. And then these things that had attacked us came again. In the chaos I just ran into the forest, I didn’t see what was going on behind me. I just ran,” Roch said as he looked away and down.

All in all, he hoped that he was getting through to the fool before him. The greatest way to lie, tell the truth but not all of it! All he had to do was keep his story straight and try to keep from getting caught in a lie.

“So that happened already? Then it might happen at other places too. And that’s bad. But there’s nothing to do now, gotta keep on track. Well, welcome Roch! You go and head over to the far side of the clearing over there,” Duncan said as he raised his arm.

Roch saw that Duncan was pointing at what looked like a turret connected to a small tower spike.

“Just until we can give you a basic psychical of course. With everything that’s out there, the idea of parasites isn’t too out there, is it?” Duncan asked with a small grin.

Roch felt a spike of fear. They couldn’t have a way to detect what he was now, could they? He had been elevated beyond normal beings, and that was why his words made such an impact. And there was no way, no way at all that they could see his abilities. He was just a little on edge because of running for his life. He smiled at Duncan before speaking, trying to send all his joy and hope out.

“Of course. That’s just being smart. I would have suggested it myself if you didn’t sir,” Roch said as he nodded. Turning, he walked towards the station and the deckhand there. He was stuck in here with them all, and it was best to make a good impression on the guards after all.

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Duncan watched the man walk towards the station. From the remains of the good quality lounge clothing, that showed an easy life. The man's blond hair was even cut, and his black eyes showed the signs of corrective work. All Duncan knew was there was just something about him wasn’t right. Duncan had attacked a few cults that were into sentient sacrifice in the past during his service. It was something he was proud of really, some of the only good he had done.. But from processing the people in those cults, Roch didn’t seem like someone who had been forced into it.

“So what are you thinking boss?” Terra asked as she walked over to him.

Duncan looked up and saw Jessie was back, and his team had brought in the two creatures he killed. Duncan remained silent for a few minutes before sighing. “He wasn’t forced into it. I think he was one of the ones who was swept up in it and didn’t realize the end goal. Maybe he was scared, maybe he didn’t think it through. Maybe the bastard responsible had abilities like Jinn. Ones that helped him convince most of the others.”

“Abilities?! What do you mean?” Terra asked with a strange note in her voice.

Duncan looked at her and sighed. “Let that slip did I? Wonderful. My old CO would have a field day with me. I don’t know what you know, but the Ancients? They can do things that we can’t explain. Some people in the Service think it's tech, me? I think it’s what Jinn can do really. And I don’t think we’ll ever figure out the limits on them.”

“Oh. Then you think… yeah, that makes sense. So why’d you bring those things in Jessie?” Terra asked as she and Duncan reached the creatures.

Jessie just sighed and looked back into the forest. “Those things were called back. And I think by something bigger and stronger. We need to know what we can do to hurt these things, and what they can do. And that means I need to take one of them apart. Plus we need to see if we can eat them.”

Duncan just looked at the creatures, frowning as he moved around them. He stayed silent as he inspected it, and no matter what his eyes went to the spikes. There was something about them that set his insides on fire. And as he had long ago learned to trust his gut, this was bad. And the longer he looked at it, the more that feeling grew. There was just something about it, something that just made his skin crawl. He looked up at Jessie and sighed, shaking his head. “Pay attention to anything about the spine. And if you need anything, you tell me. This is level one order, got it?”

Jessie looked at him and nodded, both him and Terra saluting Duncan.

Duncan turned away and walked back towards the crater, a small smirk on his lips. But he frowned and looked over his shoulder. “Oh, Terra, Jessie? Once it’s done, both of you come to my office. Let’s have that talk!”

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Terra looked at Duncan and swallowed as she realized what talk he meant. With a sigh, she brought a hand through her hair as she looked around. Her eyes Roch and tried to not scowl.

“So what’s his story?” Jessie asked, prompting Terra to look at him. Jessie was at one of the corpses looking it over.

“Long story, this thing?” Terra asked.

“Thing is right! I can find no sexual organs as we know them on this thing. Perhaps they are internal, but what kind then? I need a tarp, a sharp knife, and some gloves. And maybe no audience!” Jessie said as he looked at Jones who was still standing there.

“I’ll help! I was great at dissecting at the community college!” Jones offered.

Terra felt a spark of fear. He would say that he was great at cutting up the dead. Jessie seemed to share her feelings but he nodded.

“Fine, then go get the materials we need. And it needs to be a very sharp knife!” Jessie said and Jones saulted before he ran off. Jessie turned to Terra and sighed. “So, the guy we rescued?”

“Said that the capsule he was in went mad and…… he never said what he did,” Terra said with a shocked look on her face.

Jessie turned to her, a slight scowl on his face. “Terra?”

“When he explained what happened, he rarely said that he did anything! It was like he was reporting what others did, not a fight to survive!” Terra said with a scowl.

Jessie only sighed and shook his head. “Great! He knows that trick!”

“What trick?” Terra demanded and Jessie raised his hands.

“Someone at the Guild called it the ‘Politician’s Lie Approach’. Tell lies by only saying part of the truth. Pretty good trick, able to fool the greatest people if done right. So what exactly did he say?” Jessie asked and Terra looked at him, feeling shocked that such a thing was even named.

“Then what do you think? That he was…… he was the cult leader wasn’t he?” Terra asked flatly.

Jessie only shrugged and looked toward Roch. “Don’t know, but he was more involved for sure. We just need to keep an eye on him and go from there.”

Terra was about to say something when Jones appeared with the supplies.

“Okay, Jones you can help me. Terra, I’ll need you to take notes for me while I work,” Jessie said and Terra nodded.

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Jessie looked down at the corpse he and Jones had spent the last five minutes moving. It was spread out on its back. “Jessie, dissecting a canine-like creature killed while chasing down a survivor. Helping me cut them is Mr. Jones, and Miss Terra is taking notes. All three of us crashed onto this planet in Escape Capsule # 405. Starting with my initial observations of what I can see..”

Jessie started to walk around the creature, talking as he did so. “The creature is canine-like, and hunted the survivor, a Mr. Roch, in a pack. The creature looks like an upright hunched-over canine, but moves on all fours.”

Jessie stopped at the face and dropped down to his knees, moving the gums back. “Teeth are mostly straight, with eight in the back on the top and bottom. The first four are fangs, and the back are four molars. Mr. Jones, do you have an observation?”

“Yes! Based on what I know of normal evolution, the molars are for to chew plants. The fangs would be for meat. But the number is double what a normal animal has. Based on my knowledge, this is an omnivore. But the number of teeth is surprising. Outside influence maybe?” Jones asked as he squatted down across from Jessie.

“The idea that this creature is a hunter is obvious, yes. But the next trait throws that into doubt to me. Above the muzzle is one singular eye,” Jessie said.

“I agree. Most hunters have at least two eyes set on both sides to allow them to track prey. The few creatures found that only had one eye were all on worlds with few predators. And even then their size usually made them not prey. But with their the speed and how they tracked Mr. Roch?” Jones asked.

Jessie looked at Jones and tried to keep calm. So far Jones had been insightful about the evolution of lower life forms, and that bothered him. He remembered a hunt a long time ago, and the target had been a following of Purity’s Path.

“Yes. Based on combat with this thing, it’s fast. I can see no way that a herbivore would need such speed based on the general idea of evolution. But then that brings us to this thing's next trait, the spikes. A line of black metallic spines goes down above the spine, and might even grow from it. The spine is the highway for electrical impulses from the brain. But why would this creature even need them?” Jessie asked as he looked at Jones.

“I don’t know. The few creatures that I know have been found on planets with one eye never have spikes set this way. The idea that a creature attacked their spines, and this mutation was to protect them? I believe that the dissection will tell us more about this trait,” Jones said.

Jessie looked at him and shook his head. “Not yet, we still need to examine the limbs. Not the four limbs, the front pair are longer than the back. Why this…. hello! The muscles are solid, and I mean solid! Beside them, the claws look quite sharp, and a closer look shows that they are a bit angled. I would expect that this thing used them to climb trees.”

“Now dissection?” Jones asked and Jessie nodded, handing over a knife to Jones.

“Mr. Jones will be making the cuts. The first will be to open its stomach,” Jessie said.

Jones smiled and slowly started to cut the creature open. As soon as Jones reached the groin area, he stepped back. With a look from Jessie, the two of them pulled the creature's skin away from its organs.

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Duncan sighed as he looked around the main chamber, the passengers were all clamoring to be heard. He just sighed internally and then looked around, whistling to get their attention. “Now then everyone, what’s wrong now?”

“We know that something happened! What was the reason you called battle stations!?” Kenny yelled.

Duncan only looked at Kenny and saw the looks on the other's faces and sighed.

Duncan looked around before he spoke, and projected his voice so all would hear him. “Well, I saw a few creatures take flight far away. And I remembered how birds take flight in a group if something stuns them. And so I figured out that something was coming towards our little shielded paradise. And I was right, another survivor was being chased towards us. My people moved through our shield, fought them off, and killed two of them.”

“What kind of creature?” One of the other passengers called out the question.

Duncan looked but couldn’t see who asked and after a moment answered. “Canine-like, and they were big!”

The passengers all looked amongst themselves and after a few hushed words, Kenny spoke again. “And what about the survivor?”

“Well, what medics we have are looking him over as we speak. I expect after a day I’ll be able to let him in here. Just if nothing happens and the shield stays up. And folks since we’re all here I just want to say that everything is still going as good as I hoped!” Duncan said as he looked around.

As he tried to find Bradford, Duncan couldn’t see a single tell that Bradford was there.

Kenny spoke again before Duncan could try and close the meeting. “And what about that party you sent to find that resource? When do you expect that group to return here?”

Duncan only crossed his arms as he leaned against the door to his office. “The team only left earlier today. And I expect that they’ll still be gone for a week at most. And with luck, they’ll all going to come back alive.”

“What about the survivor? Why was he even out there?” Another voice called from the mob.

“Ahh. That,” Duncan said as he looked around and tried to think. He didn’t know what to say, and that was telling to the crowd. He didn’t know how much he could say, and Roch might want to tell others. The most true thing he could say was something that might not go over well, but he had no choice. “Well, I can say that he had problems with his capsule. Total loss of everyone beside him if I must be honest.”

Kenny and the others all stared at him, shocked beyond words.

“Well, if that’s all,” Duncan said as he turned to open the door.

“Wait! We need more than that!” Kenny called out.

“He’s right, what happened?” A male passenger demanded as he took a step forward. But then Kenny threw his right arm out and blocked him, something that surprised Ducan.

“Was it the creatures out there!?” A female passenger asked with fear in her voice.

Duncan sighed again and took a deep breath. He knew that this was going to happen. But what could he say while allowing Roch some privacy?

“No, it wasn’t anything to do with the place it landed. All I can legally share was that the threat came down with the capsule,” Duncan said as he looked around the room.

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Bradford listened from the hallway to the bathroom he had claimed. He scowled as he heard Duncan’s answer. The fact that the threat came from within, was terrible. He knew that there had to be other people with brains like his, but here was proof. The line that Bradford had to balance on to take power was small and to slip either way was terrible. One way, everyone would know the truth. And the other way would show nothing but death for everyone involved.

Whoever had tried to take power in the other capsule must not have known something. That was the only thing that made sense, the only way the things out there could beat sentience. Then that was the only motivator he needed to know that his path was the right one for him. The way to gain power was to do it slowly, to do it the right way.

To take true power, the masses had to give it to him. Plus Duncan had to die, and soon. The more that old man lived the longer that he had to choose a successor. And that was something that Bradford wouldn’t let happen. The only one who deserved the power to lead was Bradford, and he alone had the iron will to do it. Maybe he should see if this survivor had any among them who could help him. He might have been close enough to the fool to have seen what not to do. it wasn’t like he had