the ship. He pointed to a team of burly men unloaded monitoring equipment.
“See you later, Andromeda.” Corvus bowed his head once and followed the officer to the ship, leaving me alone, teetering on the forest’s edge. I looked down the beach. Mom scooped samples of the black sand into her vials, and Dad talked with other men. No one paid attention to me.
As my eyes returned to the tangle of flowers and vines, a glimmer of pure white light glowing deep in the jungle drew my attention. The sheen of light differed from the ruddy purple rays of Paradise 21’s filtered sun, reminding me of the fluorescent lights inside the ship. I stepped from the beach onto the turf, the foamy membranes of interwoven plants.
The jungle floor squished under my boots, and I grabbed a vine the width of my hand to steady myself. Pin-sized insects with curling tails rose from the flowers around me and jittered off into the canopy of vines overhead. The heady scent of nectar intoxicated me, and I pulled up my uniform to cover my nose and mouth. Twirling stigmas and anthers splayed out of each blossom, reaching out to stain my white uniform with a rainbow of pollen. I remembered the bright hues of the man-eating giant we’d discussed in class, but I didn’t see any flowers resembling it so I pressed on.
As much as I feared this new world, I didn’t want to return to the ship and face my assignments. Both worlds collided and smashed me right in the middle. All I wanted was to get away.
The glow of light eluded me, drawing me farther into the jungle. The distant voices of the colonists faded into murmurs. I heard the buzz of tiny insects and the whisper of a faint breeze. The vines tangled around an outcropping of sharp stalagmites of crystal, gleaming like the inside of a geode in the purplish rays of the sun. A strange vibration shook the air, as if someone hit a tuning fork and let it ring. The light moved and I blinked, disbelieving. A gray silhouette emerged from the glow, and I fell backward into the flowers, the soft veiny petals brushing my skin.
The pollen released in my fall was so thick it obscured my vision, and I coughed, trying to clear my lungs and decide if I should run. The humanoid figure glided closer as if it floated above the turf. It had two bumps above each shoulder. At first I thought it was a backpack, but then I wondered if the lumps were folded wings.
Was it an angel? Had I died in the jungle? Been poisoned by some unidentified species or pulled into the stomach of a man-eating flower I couldn’t even name? Trillium something. My mind whirled as the being moved toward me and came into focus. It wasn’t an angel at all.
It was an alien.
I scrambled backward, but thorny vines clutched my feet. It stared at me through glassy pearls with no pupils, the eyes popping out of a slick opal-skinned face longer than it was wide. A beak-shaped nose below the eyes inhaled as it parted two plastic-looking lips.
I screamed and kicked until the vines bled a green, inky substance all over my white pants. Finally their hold loosened and I pulled myself up, sprinting through the dense vegetation. I didn’t check to see where I tumbled as I threw myself forward. I could have stepped right into the Trillium what’s-it-called monster flower’s tentacles and died on the very first day.
A break in the vines up ahead gave me hope. I increased my pace, hearing the now-familiar sound of the waves rushing to the shore. I broke free of the jungle, plunging onto the beach into a whimpering heap. A few women collecting samples at the jungle’s edge rushed to my side as I wheezed. A crowd gathered around me, everyone asking questions I couldn’t answer.
Mom’s voice cut through all of their gossip. “Annie, my goodness, what happened to you?”
She put her arm around me and I propped myself up on my palms, the crystal beach cutting into my skin. “I saw something in the jungle.”
“Trillium Bisonate?” My mom pointed, and a
“See you later, Andromeda.” Corvus bowed his head once and followed the officer to the ship, leaving me alone, teetering on the forest’s edge. I looked down the beach. Mom scooped samples of the black sand into her vials, and Dad talked with other men. No one paid attention to me.
As my eyes returned to the tangle of flowers and vines, a glimmer of pure white light glowing deep in the jungle drew my attention. The sheen of light differed from the ruddy purple rays of Paradise 21’s filtered sun, reminding me of the fluorescent lights inside the ship. I stepped from the beach onto the turf, the foamy membranes of interwoven plants.
The jungle floor squished under my boots, and I grabbed a vine the width of my hand to steady myself. Pin-sized insects with curling tails rose from the flowers around me and jittered off into the canopy of vines overhead. The heady scent of nectar intoxicated me, and I pulled up my uniform to cover my nose and mouth. Twirling stigmas and anthers splayed out of each blossom, reaching out to stain my white uniform with a rainbow of pollen. I remembered the bright hues of the man-eating giant we’d discussed in class, but I didn’t see any flowers resembling it so I pressed on.
As much as I feared this new world, I didn’t want to return to the ship and face my assignments. Both worlds collided and smashed me right in the middle. All I wanted was to get away.
The glow of light eluded me, drawing me farther into the jungle. The distant voices of the colonists faded into murmurs. I heard the buzz of tiny insects and the whisper of a faint breeze. The vines tangled around an outcropping of sharp stalagmites of crystal, gleaming like the inside of a geode in the purplish rays of the sun. A strange vibration shook the air, as if someone hit a tuning fork and let it ring. The light moved and I blinked, disbelieving. A gray silhouette emerged from the glow, and I fell backward into the flowers, the soft veiny petals brushing my skin.
The pollen released in my fall was so thick it obscured my vision, and I coughed, trying to clear my lungs and decide if I should run. The humanoid figure glided closer as if it floated above the turf. It had two bumps above each shoulder. At first I thought it was a backpack, but then I wondered if the lumps were folded wings.
Was it an angel? Had I died in the jungle? Been poisoned by some unidentified species or pulled into the stomach of a man-eating flower I couldn’t even name? Trillium something. My mind whirled as the being moved toward me and came into focus. It wasn’t an angel at all.
It was an alien.
I scrambled backward, but thorny vines clutched my feet. It stared at me through glassy pearls with no pupils, the eyes popping out of a slick opal-skinned face longer than it was wide. A beak-shaped nose below the eyes inhaled as it parted two plastic-looking lips.
I screamed and kicked until the vines bled a green, inky substance all over my white pants. Finally their hold loosened and I pulled myself up, sprinting through the dense vegetation. I didn’t check to see where I tumbled as I threw myself forward. I could have stepped right into the Trillium what’s-it-called monster flower’s tentacles and died on the very first day.
A break in the vines up ahead gave me hope. I increased my pace, hearing the now-familiar sound of the waves rushing to the shore. I broke free of the jungle, plunging onto the beach into a whimpering heap. A few women collecting samples at the jungle’s edge rushed to my side as I wheezed. A crowd gathered around me, everyone asking questions I couldn’t answer.
Mom’s voice cut through all of their gossip. “Annie, my goodness, what happened to you?”
She put her arm around me and I propped myself up on my palms, the crystal beach cutting into my skin. “I saw something in the jungle.”
“Trillium Bisonate?” My mom pointed, and a
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