Inside every room is a single bed and a set of drawers for clothing. In the center of the compound is the kitchen. On the back end are the very primitive toilets.
“Gross,” I mutter.
Roy chuckles. “Just as I thought. Not much better than the starship.”
“Worse,” Hugh says. “But we’ll have to make do for now.”
“Check the drawers inside the rooms,” Halloway commands. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll find something useful.”
I walk into my room and nearly shit my pants. Carved on the wall is the word:
BETRAYAL
The crew runs to my room.
Roy jogs past me, shaking his head with confusion and fear. “What it mean?”
Hugh rolls back. “Guys, what more proof do we need? Something went down here.”
“Yeah, but what?” Roy asks.
I run my hand across the carving in the cement wall. “Do you think they turned on each other?”
A horrendous scream echoes in the far distance. A chill travels down my spinal cord, and I suddenly don’t want to know the answer to any of this.
I don’t care what happened here. I just want to go home.
The captain rolls his shoulders forward. “My gut tells me we’ll find out.”
Fassbender turns. ?
??Sunset’s in less than thirty minutes. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to get caught in the dark. I know it’s not ideal, but the beds are fine. We can sleep here.”
“Well, I’m not dying on this planet, bud,” Roy says.
Halloway swallows. “We’ll take shifts. It’s the only logical thing to do,” he says.
“Agreed,” Hugh replies.
“Sure. Whatever gets us to day number two,” I say.
Fassbender nods and pulls a pistol from his hip. I notice that he’s not shaking like the rest of us. “Good. I’ll take first shift.”
I choose a room far away from that one. Mine still has clothing in the drawers. Someone’s wallet, too.
Sitting on the narrow cot, I go through each pocket. He was a man named Steven N. Grubber, a doctor in psychology. A photograph of his wife and two children rests in the last pocket.
I glance over at the window near the door to my new room. Outside, the stars are visible. I used to hate those stars, but the vastness of the universe is comforting.
Standing below them is Fassbender. He cocks his head back, notices me, and waves. I wave back before lying down.
The scream that we heard sounded like it came from a terrible beast in pain. Although it terrifies me, I find my curiosity take over.
What betrayal led to the death or disappearance of the first crew?
Predatory aliens? There are more of them. How many, I am not sure.
I close my eyes, holding the picture of my parents.