Exploratory MIssion
Chloe was with Eli in the Kino room looking at some of the footage they had taken from the planet that the ship had stopped near. It had been nearly three years since they left the other galaxy behind and they needed to get resupplied with some food. Though the spider bots had fixed the ship’s greenhouse while it was in FTL, the crew was still a long ways away from having more food than they had at the moment. It would take a few more months for the food to grow to eatable size so hence the need to go to the planet below and collect some food and water.
Chloe, Eli, TJ, Varo, James, Scott, Grear and a few others were headed for the planet in just five minutes and Chloe and Eli were packing their bags just in case they got separated from the main group. They both had a Kino as well as a remote just in case they needed to get back to the gate and fast. James and Varo had gotten very close after everyone was let out of Stasis and Grear and Park had stayed close, though Dr. Park still couldn’t see. TJ and Colonel Young had also gotten close after Stasis, well closer than they had been in a long time. Camille had wanted to go, but had opted to staying behind.
Camille caught up with Eli and Chloe as they left the Kino room and headed for the gate room. She asked if they could possibly find some kind of strawberry or since they were going off world to bring back whatever fruit they could find. The two friends smiled and said they would do what they could as the three of them walked into the gate room. With the rest of the off world team ready to go, the gate was dialed and the team stepped through the gate.
The Planet:
The first things they noticed after stepping through the gate was the noises surrounding them. TJ was the first to realize that something seemed off. That the planet was somehow watching them. They set up a temporary command center right next to the gate just to have a little more security and then the groups were given separate assignments and moved out. Scott was with Eli, Chloe and Grear; Varo was with James and Dr. Volker. The others split into teams and headed out in different directions.
The four friends laughed as they made their way into the jungle, the two soldiers always on the lookout for anything dangerous. Little did they know that they were being watched. Chloe was the first to see the fruit hanging from the tree and they went immediately to the tree, picking as much of the fruit as they thought necessary and placing it in the bags that they had brought with them. They moved on, spotting clusters of fruit and vegetables and picking as much as they deemed necessary and putting them in the bags. By the time their bags were full, they had almost circled back to the first fruit tree that they had spotted. And that’s when it happened.
The roar stopped the four friends dead in their tracks. Chloe looked around and tried to figure out where the roar had come from until something started crashing its way straight towards them. With Scott and Grear holding the bags of food they started running towards the gate with Eli yelling into the radio that they were being chased by something and that everyone needed to get back to the gate immediately. They kept running until they couldn’t hear anything chasing them anymore. It was then that they realized Chloe was no longer with them.
Missing:
Chloe had tripped and fallen down a small incline. She was sitting very still; unable to move for fear that whatever had been chasing them might have seen her fall. She had tried to peek behind her but couldn’t see without moving her head. She felt someone or something breathing on the back of her neck and was about to move when it jumped in front of her. The beast was huge and the two teeth protruding from its mouth were long, almost as if it belonged to some kind of prehistoric cat. And that’s all it took for Chloe to start screaming.
She got up and started running, not really paying attention to where she was going, and screaming the entire way. She could hear the cat chasing her and she kept going. When she couldn’t scream anymore, she shut her mouth, looked behind her once and kept on running. The cat had stopped for some reason and was letting her run. She looked forwards again and saw why the cat had stopped. She stopped running almost immediately and gaped up at the animal in front of her. She was about to start screaming again when a hand slipped over her mouth and someone whispered in her ear.
“Whatever you do, don’t scream! It’s blind and it can’t see you but if you scream it will lash out and kill you. Now, slowly backup, turn around and let’s go.”
She didn’t need to be told twice and did as she was told. The girl kept a hold of her hand as she pulled her along, back towards the cat which was laying on the forest floor as if waiting for someone. And that’s when she realized that the cat was somehow tame, not wild like the rest of the animals that she had encountered thus far. When they got near the cat, the girl climbed onto its back, turned and offered her a hand up. Chloe took the hand, not wanting to be left here with the creature that could kill at the slightest sound. Once she was settled and holding onto the girl, the girl kicked the cat into gear and it ran off into the jungle, probably taking them to where the girl lived.
Will the rescue teams be able to find Chloe? Will the girl help Chloe get back to the gate? Will the girl and her cat be able to leave the planet and live with the crew of the Destiny?
