Salvage

A Pitch Black FanFiction

This is the personal log, lieutenant Cherise Terone, assigned for salvage retrieval of casualties and cargo from the downed transport ship the Hunter-Gratzner on Planet Two of the M-344/G system. Of the several hundred passengers and crew who went down with the passenger transport, only two were reported to make it off world.

Only two. Such a lose of life. Bad enough it were the first incident but my findings indicate a geological survey was lost to this desert world as well under mysterious circumstances.

From interrogation of the two survivors, most of my useful information came from the older Muslim priest, who lost all four sons to this deadly world. He called the planet a cursed world, full of monsters. From the Imam al-Walid, we learned of the planet's dark secret, a lasting eclipse of all three of the desert planet's suns. The Imam spoke of the planet's wildlife, voracious predators, photosensitive, who hunted and killed multiple members of the crew when the eclipse caught up to them. The same celestial occurrence which claimed the lives of the missing geological survey team and their families.

I carried the Imam's parting words with me as I gathered my team for the recovery operation.

There is nothing on that world for you but bones and sand.

The Imam is correct, but it is part of our duty to bring the dead and their trifles home.

Planet Number Two of the M-344/G system

It is half a day's trek from the crash site of the Hunter-Gratzner to the remnants of the geological survey colony. Both locations are rife with death. Garreth swears he can hear their ghosts on the sand choked winds. Many of the ship's passengers died on impact, their mummified remains caught in final screams. Despite their terror filled last moments, their fate doesn't compare to the bone pit at the colony.

The Imam was wise to warn us of the pit, the dark recesses still festering with the winged hunters, the small vicious flocks that devoured many of the colonists. Garreth lead the charge, all too happy to burn them out. The high pitched shrieks of the dying predators filled him with a sick sort of glee. The whole affair left me feeling queasy.

We've spent the better part of three days gathering the remains and cargo at both sites, loading them into the Mariner's hold. There is incentive enough to gather up every strewn possession not swallowed up by the sands. Aside from a few burn outs of wildlife hiding in dark corners, the trip was proving to be uneventful.

"How many days do we have left till the next eclipse?" I wanted to be long gone from this cursed world by then. Harker is studying the planetary model left by geological colonists, comparing it to our own notes of the planet's celestial rhythms. Garreth is squinting down into the earth, perched on the edge of the whole left by the colony. He's itching for another opportunity to burn the terrestrials. Idiot is more likely to tip in. He's been twitchy since we landed. I half wonder if he's doping but Harker says he is eager to mete out a little vengeance, though my science officer won't enlighten me on the subject.

Harker is frowning down at the model, spinning it round and round, worrying his lips between his teeth.

"This model doesn't account for shifts in orbit," he said slowly. "In theory, we should still have a few days until the full dark falls again, but I suggest we pack up what we've found and haul ass out of dodge."

Few days in theory. No wonder he's so antsy. The moment we are off this rock, they will hit it with a burn order, labeling it a kill zone to discourage further colonies. His theory makes me rather uncomfortable as well despite a full cache of flamers and the aid of the sun. All our precautions and those vicious little monsters nearly ripped off Murphy's arm before Garreth torched them to the ground. I couldn't imagine them in their element or the larger monsters rumored to live beneath the surface.

"Leave, we can't leave yet," said Garreth, snapping up to look at us.

"Harker could you give us a minute?"

The big man sauntered out, leaving my alone with my second in command.

"Alright, Gary, spit it out. What's had your panties in a twist since we landed on this shit hole?"

Garreth sighed, leaning back from that yawning pit, his fingers flexed on the gun. "Not a what. A who." He ripped the dog tags off his neck, tossing them to me. The metal winked to gold in the flash of sunlight through the windows. I caught them one handed, rubbing a thumb over the metal to slick off the sand. One tag held Garreth's info but the other...

"Carolyn Fry," I said, my tone softer than I intended. We all knew about her, never expected her to meet her end out here. The Imam said she was brave to the end, giving them the final chance to survive. "Who was she to you, Gary?"

His dark head dropped further, until his chin rested on his chest. "Doesn't matter now. Her remains weren't among the bodies we found outside."

No they were not. There were a couple bodies still unaccounted for, the ones who'd been dragged below.

The Imam claimed that is what happened to the criminal Riddick, though even our superiors had trouble buying that one. A few of my men feared running into him out here, believing him the rare sort who could skulk out a living on this hostile world. As for Carolyn Fry, the holy man was clear on her fate. Pierced through the gut, and dragged off into the dark.

"Ah, Garreth, why did you even volunteer for this detail?"

"To bring her home," he muttered, giving a vicious kick to a piece of rock on the grit covered floor. The rock ricocheted off the wall, zig zagging into the pit with a hollow echo.

Harker burst into the room. "Lt. Terone! We have a problem."

Not words I wanted to hear when we were set to depart. "What is it?" I hadn't meant to snap, easing back on the throttle at Harker's expression. "The eclipse?"

"No, an unexpected issue," said Harker. "The ground is caving under our ship."

Garreth and I exchanged a glance, dashing out of the building. Sure enough, the Mariner was sinking into the earth.

"What the hell? Tell the men to get the engines hot and humming. We need to move now!"

The effort was too little, too late. The ground rumbled and cracked, the Mariner sinking until it was half buried, wedged in the rock, nigh impossible to fly out.

"How did this happen? Send out a distress signal now! I want a damage report."

The crew poured out the nearest port, a startled ant hill, taking a head count.

After dancing around the settled ship for a few teeth grinding hours, Harker sidled up next to me.

"It appears there is a honeycomb structure of caves beneath us. The concentrated weight of the Mariner caused enough stress fractures to sink through," he said, handing me a digitized read out. "Even if we dump weight, it might not be enough to pull us out of the hole."

"That's fair disturbing, Harker, especially since I aim to be off this rock before the suns start setting."

"Not nearly so disturbing as this," he said, ushering me to a nearby crack. Even before he tipped his light, I could hear the movement, the rushing noises of things moving in the dark. They scattered from the light but I still caught flashes, of wedge shaped heads, lithe bodies and teeth, so many teeth.

"Can they...can they get into the ship?"

"I don't believe so," said Harker. "The hull integrity is sound though-"

The ground creaked beneath us. Spiderweb cracks shot out from the ship, shifting the sand beneath our feet.

"Everyone move," I shouted as a chunk of ground gave way beneath their feet. My men tumbled into the dark, including Garreth. Our eyes met the moment the ground gave way.

For a moment, all was silent, my heart beating furiously in my chest. The second I heard their yells I sprang into action, skidding to a halt at the edge of the hole.

"Stay in the light," I screamed at them, gesturing frantically at Harker and the others to break out repel gear and torches. The men huddled in the weak stream of light pouring down on them, but it wasn't enough, not enough to protect them all. The first silenced scream chilled my blood.

"Torches, they need torches, lanterns, anything that will give off light," I shouted, dropping my own rifle with light into Garreth's upraised arms. They were roughly thirty feet down, but the distance was deadly. Another gurgling scream echoed from below as the monsters swarmed around them, picking them off one by one.

Harker slid beside me, dropping two more rifles down the hole. Shouts and gun fire, flashes and sparks, bullets and blood, with nothing to do but wait for the repel gear and hope there were still men to save. The wounded Murphy went down, the sent of his already injury arm driving the creatures into a frenzy. One risked the light to snap him up, separating the arm from his body while he was still alive.

"Please hurry with the gear," I whispered, clutching the sand beneath my fingers. After a small eternity Harker and another were fitting me into a harness, lowering me down. I shot the ones I could see as I dropped, screaming for the survivors to fall in to the center. The moment my boots touched the stone I lit a flare, dropping it at our feet to keep the beasts at bay.

I struggled out of my gear, loading up the first man to be hauled out before I risked taking in the sight of them.

My breath caught in my throat. There were thousands, pacing at the edge of the light, swarming up the walls, crawling over each other as they scented the blood in the air. There were sounds of scuffle through the thick of them, high pitched screeches wrought with wet tears as they fought over freshly won meals...

My stomach rolled. They fought over the remains of my men. How would I recover their bones for their families?

I shot into the thick of them, bullets and light forcing them to momentarily scatter, revealing the half eaten corpse of Murphy. His face was already gone, though the stump of his arm remained.

I screamed and shot until my clip was empty.

Garreth pulled me back into the center, guarding my flank as the others above continued to haul the men out of this hell hole.

"Not worth dying Cherise," he murmured in my ear, keeping me calm as the number whittled down to the two of us. Garreth grasped the lowered harness. "Come on, we'll ride out together."

He reached for me, but his eyes were elsewhere. I followed his gaze, spotting the glint of dog tags, the bits of metal blood stained and corroded. Not one of my men. They hovered at the edge of the light, far too close to snatching distance for the creatures.

"You listen to me," I said, turning to face him. "Those aren't worth dying for either, Gary. Now you strap into that harness and we will get out of this pit."

The words were slow to register. I could read the determined mien, his eyes glinting, ready to dive for a rusted string of metal. I clocked him across the jaw.

"Strap yourself in, soldier," I snarled at him, nudging the muzzle of my empty rifle beneath his chin. He was so caught up he forgot I was out of bullets.

"They could be hers," his eyes pleaded with me. I scowled at him.

"Those buggers will spear you the moment you get in reach."

I squinted at the unearthed tags, making a decision I wasn't sure of as I scuffed forward two steps, reaching a toe for them.

Garreth yanked me back as black spear like appendage stabbed the air I just occupied.

"Are you insane," he shouted at me. "Didn't you just finish explaining to me what a piss poor idea it was to nab them?"

"For you, idiot," I said, dangling the dog tags in his face. "I needed your reflexes to make sure I wasn't kebabbed."

"I've never been so tempted to throttle a superior officer," he muttered, taking the tags from me. He swiped off the grime and rust on his shirt best he could, and held them up to the light.

"They hers?"

He nodded, wrapping an arm around me before tugging on the repel line. "Let's get out of this pit, yeah."

I clung to him as we rose, my eyes glued to the swarming mass of creatures on the wall. So many of them, so many still hungry. I didn't take my eyes from them until Harker hooked an arm around my waist and pulled me free.

Sand never felt so good beneath my fingers. "How many did we lose down there?"

"Five, including Murphy," said Harker.

I nodded, taking a breath for their loss. It would be a hard conversation with their loved ones. "Are we any closer to extracting the Mariner from the earth?"

"A distress call has been sent out. We can expect a ship within one to two cycles tops."

I rose to my knees, placing a hand on Garreth's shoulder. He was still staring down at the tags, rubbing his fingers over the eroded lettering over and over. He was so certain they were the lost Carolyn Fry's but who knows how many those creatures dragged into the dark below.

The geological survey team, the survivors of the Hunter-Gratzner, and now my men. This world claimed so many lives. I lifted my face to its suns, wishing for nothing more than a hot bath and to be far away from this cursed world. I blinked at the sky.

"Harker, what do you see?"

Harker looked up, paling at the celestial alignment in the sky. "It appears my calculations were incorrect. We don't have a matter of days."

A planet rose on the horizon, heralding the oncoming eclipse. In the hole, the creatures chattered, eager for the oncoming night.

The End