Angels and Wormholes

Naga

A loud creaking and groaning noise exploded up from behind them. Water pushed past, throwing them forward in its wake. They turned to see that the Astrid was gone, sunk below the swampy surface.

The two of them stood, breathing heavily in the swampy water of the alien planet. The surrounding jungle buzzed with the sounds of exotic creatures and insects. The jungle swayed and bobbed. Cassia could see bubbling in the water where her ship had piercing through the green, floating carpet.

"You wanted a place with plants." Cassia turned to Nigel. "Well." She waved her arm, presenting the swampy jungle to Nigel.

"Not quite what I had in mind." Nigel suddenly stood up straight. "Oh shit!"

"What?"

"I didn't activate the beacon!"

"Don't worry," Cassia said, "I got it. Geez, you almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry. It'll work from down there, right?" Nigel nodded towards the hole through in the green jungle floor.

"Yea. For another few decades." Cassia laughed. "Hopefully we won't need it that long."

"No kidding. So what do we do now?"

"The mountain." Cassia said. "Solid ground, and maybe a cave for shelter. I don't want to stick around to see what kind of predators evolved here."

"Good call."

The two of them turned back towards the mountain, leaving the crash-site and their sunken ship behind. They trudged forward along the thick carpet of spongy moss.

Cassia stopped in her tracks. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Nigel looked around.

Cassia took the energy rifle off her shoulder and readied it, pointing into the jungle. "Something's out there."

"Do you mind?" Nigel bent down and unhooked the laser pistol hanging from Cassia's belt, taking it and aiming into the trees.

"By all means."

They pointed their guns outwards, scanning the foliage.

"You sure you heard something?" Nigel asked

"There's something out there. It's watching us."

"How can you tell?"

"Just keep looking." Cassia kept her eyes ahead.

"How am I supposed to see anything? Everything is moving."

There was a splash from behind. They felt the ground underfoot dip towards the weight of something massive that hit the ground. Nigel fell backwards. Cassia stumbled and regained her balance, turning to see a towering green creature standing behind her: a scaled, lizard-like alien, eight feet tall, standing on two legs, wearing a rope belt and loin-cloth. In its hands it held a wooden spear. The creature stared at her with red eyes, bared a pair of long teeth, and held up the point of its spear to her neck.

Cassia levelled her rifle at the lizard, just as two more of them landed to her side, dropping down from the trees above. The creatures hit the ground gracefully, then held their spears towards Nigel and Cassia. There were more of them moving in the surrounding jungle. Cassia could see several in the distance, crouching behind trees and burrowed into the moss.

Nigel was lying on his back, staring up at the scaled aliens. One of them had pinned Nigel him to the ground with a spear against his chest. The others kept their weapons trained on Cassia. They spoke to each other, exchanging hissing and humming sounds.

"What do we do?" Nigel whispered up to Cassia.

Cassia kept her eyes on the lizard in front of her. "I think they're wondering the same thing."

There was a loud sound from off in the distance: one of the creatures screeching loudly from the jungles. Their lizard captors turned to look, screeching back in return. Cassia saw a group of four more lizards approaching lizards. They rushed over, closing the gap with frightening speed. One was much larger than the others, nearly nine feet tall, and incredibly thick. Its feet plunged into the mossy green ground with each step.

"I guess that one's in charge." Cassia watched as the largest of the creatures approached within a few feet. There was a sudden flash of movement as the creature swiped the rifle from Cassia's hands. It held the gun up to its face, rotating it slowly to examine it for a moment, then threw it to one of the smaller lizards waiting behind. Shit.

The large one hissed something to the others, and Cassia felt herself yanked off the ground, slung over the shoulders of one of the creatures. Nigel was plucked off the ground like a ragdoll, and thrown onto the shoulder of another of the lizards. The pack of lizards then charged into the jungles away from the mountain, with Nigel and Cassia bouncing on their shoulders.

"What do we do?" Nigel yelled.

"I don't know," she said. "Maybe just hope they're not hungry."