AEKIS
CHAPTER 2
Kael hid among the wreckage of a downed ship.
As the radio crackled, he heard a child’s laughter.
As the radio crackled, he heard a child’s laughter.
When he looked at the reflection in his rifle’s scope, he saw behind him his daughter’s room: her photo, the drawing she made of him.
But the drawing was wrong.
The face on the paper was the same creature that had stared at him in the crater.
The face on the paper was the same creature that had stared at him in the crater.
He blinked, and everything vanished.
Kael fell to his knees.
He never had a daughter.
None of it was real.
None of it was real.
It was the parasite, replacing memories, mixing emotions, rewriting who he was.
The next day, the squad received orders to strike at the source of the swarm.
Kael marched with the others, but something felt off.
Kael marched with the others, but something felt off.
The alien was there, floating above the field, completely still.
Her eyes were covered by tendrils growing from her massive carapace, forming false membranes over her face.
Her eyes were covered by tendrils growing from her massive carapace, forming false membranes over her face.
The liquid in the orbs and the tubes boiled as if alive.
When the membranes opened, a burst of green light erupted.
The troops began to fall.
The troops began to fall.
Translucent larvae, tiny as dust, hatched from a nest located near her lower back.
The other parasites looked larger, with new colors and hardened shells, as if rapidly evolved.
They carried glowing antennae that paralyzed the troops while another swarm pierced the soldiers with serrated stingers.
They carried glowing antennae that paralyzed the troops while another swarm pierced the soldiers with serrated stingers.
The alien tore through the soldiers with her claws, advancing with animal fury.
When finally cornered, she used her stinger, capable of piercing a victim’s chest with surreal speed, as a blink of an eye.
The soldiers’ blood mixed with the creature’s green pulsing fluid.
When finally cornered, she used her stinger, capable of piercing a victim’s chest with surreal speed, as a blink of an eye.
The soldiers’ blood mixed with the creature’s green pulsing fluid.
Kael watched men and women dissolve, consumed from the inside out.
But he wasn’t.
He stood untouched, protected.
She didn’t attack him. The parasites didn’t either.
But he wasn’t.
He stood untouched, protected.
She didn’t attack him. The parasites didn’t either.
“Kael… listen to me…”
Her voice was calm, almost sorrowful.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this… we are prisoners too.”
Her voice was calm, almost sorrowful.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this… we are prisoners too.”
He raised his weapon at her, hands shaking with pure terror.
And then he fired.
And then he fired.
When the sound faded, the one lying on the ground wasn’t the creature.
It was the general, the man who had trained him.
It was the general, the man who had trained him.
His body bled over the rocky soil.
His eyes, still open and confused, begged silently for answers Kael didn’t have.
His eyes, still open and confused, begged silently for answers Kael didn’t have.