Author's note (2024): Hey all, Brennan here! This is one of my older works, a short fiction created when I was in a spooky mood.

I usually preface these older stories with a warning about how I've grown as a writer and whatnot, but... I'm actually still pretty proud of this one, so I won't do that.

Enjoy!

ORIGINAL STORY (2019) CONTINUES AS FOLLOWS:

THUMP.

The impact jostled my stomach, the sudden motion lurching me the into consciousness after the monotony of sitting still. The drop from the orbital station had left me alone and exposed in the darkness of space with nothing but the drop-pod's walls for my protection.

However, planet 4546B wasn't much safer, or warmer, than the void. I could already see crystalline permafrost racing along the drop-pod's triple-insulated windows, and the heating system did nothing to prevent my breath from fogging up the air. I pulled my PDA from it's holster in my parka and tapped the screen, wincing as my bare finger impacted the frigid, glassy surface. With a hum it sprang to life. The small, handheld Personal Digital Assistant busied itself creating a map of the planet's surface. Nothing but flat, barren ice fields as far as the eye could see.

My communication earpiece crackled, the dull hum of static fading as planetside connection was established. I smiled. Dennis and Silvia were already fighting.

"-damn cold here, Silv. All this snow is blinding and I'm freezing my gonads off!"

I cleared my throat.

"Mission appropriate language, you two. Remember, our benefactors record everything on this channel. Have you touched down safely? Over."

Dennis' teeth chattered as he spoke.

"Touched down smoothly on the ice field. GPR registers hidden crevices under the snow drifts but they should be well covered. Got a strong breeze but good visibility. Preparing the sledge and buckling up for the ground mission now. Over."

"Alright," I nodded, "I see you on the screen, Dennis. Take care and good luck! I'll join you as soon as I can. Over."

My comms crackled. The interference really was bad. Dennis' voice was but a whisper among the roar of the snow outside my pod.

"No worries, Captain, we got this covered. It's only ice and snow, right Silv? Let's move! Denis out."

My PDA flickered, and for a moment the map disappeared. I frowned and tapped the side of the device, sighing with relief as the map blinked back into existence.

My comms crackled.

"Captain, I've got a sighting of ¥£@$# av¢lanche or earthquake. Will try #$¢¥π avoid that area. Roger and out."

I frowned again. No alerts had registered on my PDA. Something was off. I glanced down at my PDA again, feeling deeply unsettled. It flickered, and I swore I saw part of the terrain model shift.

"Roger and out ...Denis? Stand by, we read a strange signature near your landing site. Denis? Silv?"

"Ẃ̙͜͝h̙̱͕̝͝ͅa̛̠͚̩͖͖t͖̟͎̯͜?"

THUMP.

The pod shook, and I shook with it, my outstretched hand latching onto my seat for support. My PDA's map was changing every few moments. The storm outside had reached full force, snowy tendrils lashing out at my pod's smooth surface. The mountains in the distance seemed to sway with the wind, as if-

Oh my God.
We were in an ice field.
There were no mountains.

"What the hell," I breathed.

BOOM!

The ground shook as something gargantuan shifted, the air ringing with the impact. I tapped my PDA and spoke quickly.

"Prime pod engines for emergency launch."

In the distance I could see a wall of ice, far taller than anything I could've imagined. It dwarfed comparison to a tsunami, was beyond a magnitude of avalanche I could imagine. All around me, the air resonated with the staccato shattering of ice. A cacophonous roar split the air, the likes of which I hope I'll never hear again.

Something was breaking the ice, and that something was heading this way!

I stared at my PDA, desperately wishing for the all-clear to launch, my escape into the empty peace of space.

"Are engines primed?" I asked, desperation lacing my voice.

The screen flashed an error message and my heart sunk. Engine three was out of alignment. That meant that my only options were to accept my fate-

-or to fix it myself!

The pod door fell open with a hiss and cold air pushed it's way in, twisted whips of snow lashing at my uncovered face. I staggered down the pod's ramp, shielding my face against the onslaught. It was bitterly cold and incredibly dark out, but nowhere close to sunset.

Whatever it was that was headed this way, it's bulk blocked the out the sun.

SNAP!

The ice splintered under my boots, broken by the unseen impact of some gargantuan creature.

My comms crackled.

"#$¶@ï"

For a moment I hesitated. If I realigned the engine and left, was I abandoning my crewmates?

A second roar put an end to those thoughts, permeating everywhere at once with a terrifying resonance. I rounded the oblong side of my drop-pod and leaned down, squinting in the darkness at the engines below.

Crystalline tendrils of ice wrapped around my pod's engine manifest, seemingly delicate yet impossibly strong. It was as if the planet itself wanted me to stay and meet my end! I lashed out with my foot and the tendrils broke, making a pretty tinkling noise that felt entirely out of place in this situation.

I smiled and sprinted back around to my pod's hatch.

"Are engines primed?" I shouted, glancing at the PDA's screen.

It flashed the go-ahead, but I hesitated for a moment, standing at the edge of the pod's doorway. Peering into the storm. The thing was practically on top of me now, but I wanted to see it. To know what I was running from.

Then I saw it.
The being at the center of the storm.
The one who waited behind the ice.
I understood. This world was it's domain.

Then I closed the door in it's face.

"Launch!"

And the planet fell beneath me.

I don't know what happened to Denis or Sylvia, and I never will. But what I do know is that we were not meant to set foot on that planet, because it doesn't belong to us.

Whatever lives there is awake, and it's angry.