The Aliens of Calvary IV (Flash Fiction)
On the fourth rock from the star Calvary, three mercenaries arrived to investigate the disappearance of the Dominus Colony.
By Michael P. Marpaung
The fourth rock from the red giant Calvary is a lush world teeming with life. Despite its Edenic setting, it remained unsettled by man.
People who had been to this world would speak of its hostile alien creatures. They swore that the planet has a mind of its own and does not take well to foreigners and invaders.
The first and only real attempt at colonization was the Dominus Colony. Dominus was a religious settlement seeking to escape the cold and degenerate mainstream culture of the 31st century. After a few months of existence, it just disappeared. All contact between Dominus Colony and the Commonwealth suddenly ceased.
That’s where we came in, the Commonwealth had contracted my team of mercenaries to ascertain the fate of the Dominus colony. All three of us.
It took about 50 years and a lot of pestering from the religious higher-ups, and they sent three guys for the job.
Just shows us how much they care. But I’m not complaining.
Our ship was orbiting over Calvary IV. Initial scans didn’t show anything out of the ordinary. We decided to get planet-side, particularly the exact coordinates of the settlement.
Thankfully, Calvary IV is a Class-E world. We didn’t need any special environmental suits to survive here. We just used our standard combat gear. That meant some protective armor, an assault rifle, the complete package.
Oh, and the rosary I kept in my pocket.
No, I’m not religious. It’s a gift from my wife, a very pious Catholic woman. She told me it might save my life, if not my soul.
My soul perhaps, but my life? I don’t see how that could be. But if holding on to it makes her happy, then I don’t see the harm. As for me, I figured that God prefers to be left alone. He has enough things on His plate as it is.
My pilot brought us close to where the colony once was. The buildings looked like it had been abandoned. But upon closer look I knew that someone, or something, was there.
And then we saw them…
We couldn’t help but feel disgusted by what we saw. A horrifying insect-like creature was inside one of the houses. I then watched the streets down below, there were more of these… creatures. Some looked like overgrown mantises, others looked more like a mix of every single insect species known to man.
The fate of the colonists was certain as far as I was concerned. Now, there was only one thing to do. I ordered my pilot to launch a barrage of missiles at the horrifying facsimile of Dominus Colony.
What followed happened very quickly.
A horde of locust-like insects appeared from the trees. It appeared that the natives had been aware of our presence for quite a while.
Knowing that we were outnumbered, my pilot tried to get our ship out of the atmosphere and away from the insects. But it was to no avail, the locusts were mobbing the ship. Before we knew it, our engines had been destroyed and we were sent crashing to the ground.
I managed to survive the crash unscathed, but my pilot wasn’t so lucky. He was dead on impact.
I was able to get my other partner in crime. He was still alive, though the crash seemed to rattle him a bit.
We took our weapons out, we knew that we had a fight on our hands.
The mantis-like creatures were attacking us from all sides. Fighting with my partner back-to-back, we managed to keep the insects at bay.
But then we ran out of ammo.
I managed to survive out of dumb luck. The bugs could have gotten either of us… and chose to take out my partner.
As he died, stabbed by the sharp legs of the mantis-like bugs, I ran away.
I knew I couldn’t outrun these creatures, so I tried to hide myself in the woods. It was no use, they found me anyways. This was their turf, after all.
Finally, I was cornered by the bugs. Out of them raised its sword-like appendage at me.
With my strength and wits failing me, I knew that I was doomed. Just as the bug was about the stab me, I cried out:
“Jesus, have pity on me!”
I did not know what drove me to do that, probably desperation.
And yet, the creature stopped in its tracks.
I don’t know what exactly was going on, but I knew that I had to press my advantage. I took out the rosary that I had kept in my pocket. I then held aloft the crucifix to these creatures as if they were a horde of vampires.
In response, the creatures froze, some even bowed to the crucifix that I held; or perhaps, they were bowing down to what it represents.
Afterwards, the creatures stood back up. I could tell that they were trying to communicate something at me. Alas, I knew not what it was.
But I do know that I had found the missing colonists.