They broke through the clouds fast, too fast. Ramsey had just confirmed breathable air and temperate weather when the static hit just before the warning lights. Someone screamed just as something unseen tore through the ship’s side like paper. The next thing she knew, fire was everywhere. She remembers the captain reaching for her, his face twisted in horror before a blast from the left engulfed him in flame.

She didn’t grab her gear. Didn’t call out for Michael. Instinct took over and she ran. Her drone, the survey orb named Kip, followed her down the access chute just before the ship cracked open like a burning coffin. She hit the ground hard, mud exploding beneath her boots, outfitted with nothing but her recon suit. Behind her, their only way off this world lit the sky in a funeral blaze. That’s when she saw them for the first time, the mechanical people. Silent. Precise. Firing on the ship. Firing on the survivors. Firing on her.

Now the sand stings her skin, and the machines move without sound, hunting. Kip beeps low, scanning, searching, trying to help, but he’s all she has.

Michael’s voice echoes in her memory “No matter what happens, I will always love you.She doesn’t know if he made it. Doesn’t know if any of them did. All she knows is that she’s not alone on this world.

Not anymore.

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NOTES:
My homage to vintage pulp covers from the golden age of sci-fi.

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