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of its body. Its serpentine head came up towering over Ira as it struck out with vicious intent.

The creature had to be twelve meters in length, probably even more. It was as thick as my torso with blackish-brown scales covering it from head to tail.

“What the f—”

The alien snake creature came down on Ira as we opened fire, taking half of Ira’s body from the head down in one vicious bite. Meenaz roared in a mix of fear and hate at the creature.

I gritted my teeth, aiming at the thing’s body, and let loose with a volley of red blaster rounds.

The jungle exploded with ear-shattering sounds of our rifles going off in unison.

Pulling the trigger, I aimed for the section of the creature on the ground beside Ira. I didn’t trust my marksman skills enough to try and take it in the head without hitting Ira himself.

Meenaz and Boss Creed seemed more comfortable as rounds hit the alien animal in its skull and neck area, flinging its dark scales and blood in every direction.

Ira screamed from inside the snake’s gullet, and then it was over. Within the space of a few seconds of firing, the snake creature slumped dead.

As soon as the monster went down, we ran to Ira.

The carcass of the alien monster was still over him. If I thought for a minute about what I was doing, I might not have the courage to pull the creature off Ira. I couldn’t allow myself to stop to think about how gruesome the act was or what I might find.

Boss Creed and I slumped to the ground, grabbing at the burn holes in the creature’s head and neck. We forced the jaws open and struggled to pull it up and off Ira’s still body.

Mutt was still barking like a maniac. I couldn’t blame him. I wanted to yell in anger and frustration at the moment too.

“Meenaz, Meenaz!” Boss Creed screamed at the woman. “Snap out of it and help us.”

Meenaz swallowed hard. She looked like she was in some kind of daze.

“O-okay,” she muttered, then nodded briefly as she finally moved to help.

As one, we pulled the head and neck section of the snake off of Ira. There was so much of the dark alien blood covering him, I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.

I couldn’t believe it, but when we pulled the impossibly heavy monster’s head off, Ira was still alive and breathing.

Boss Creed went to work on the med kit he carried on his back, ripping open the zippers. I grabbed Ira’s groping hand, trying to steady him as he lay there shaking.

The snake had sunk its fangs deep into Ira’s chest bones, breaking his sternum and ribs. I wasn’t a doctor, but years of being around injuries had taught me a few things. Ira was losing blood, and I suspected he probably wasn’t going to make it. Red poured from the open wounds across his chest like water from a broken pipe.

“Are—are we—I—” Ira said in short, painful pulls of air.

“Hey, I’m here, buddy,” I said, grabbing his hand.

Meenaz fell to her knees. She placed Ira’s head in her lap and grabbed his other hand. Tears were already in her eyes.

Boss Creed had taken out a Heal Aid from the pack. He started scanning Ira’s wounds with it. We all knew what was happening, but no one had the heart to say it. Not even a full staff at a hospital with all their equipment and doctorate degrees could save Ira now.

“I—I just want to—I just want to—go home,” Ira said, still quivering. “I just want to—go home.”

“I know,” I said, gripping his hand tighter. “I know. We’re going to get you home. You hear me? We’re going to get you home.”

“Promise—promise me,” Ira said, moving his eyes from the sky above to meet my own.

“I promise,” I said. I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep that promise, but I wasn’t about to sit here and deny him what he wanted to hear. I wasn’t going to tell him I had no idea if any of us were ever going to get off this rock.

Ira let out a final, slow breath from his lips.

And then he was gone.

The Heal Aid in Boss Creed’s hand came with a readout. A syringe extended from the device filled with what I could only guess were pain Inhibitors and something to stop the bleeding.

“Here we go, Ira,” Boss Creed pressed the syringe into Ira’s left arm. “Hang on. Hold on!”

Meenaz was rocking back and forth, crying. She still held Ira’s head in her lap. His unseeing eyes were open.

Mutt’s barks turned into whines.

I released Ira’s hand and moved my fingers to close his eyes.

“What are you doing?” Boss Creed snarled in anger. “I can save him. I just injected him. The meds are going to kick in.”

“He’s gone,” I said, rising to my feet. “Let it go, he’s gone.”

“No.” Boss Creed shook his head. The big man sat back on his heels, looking at the mess of the corpse that had once been Ira.

Meenaz rose to her feet, grabbing her blaster.

“I hate this place!” she roared, free of all reason. She raised her blaster at the corpse of the alien snake and laid into it with round after round of red blaster fire. With each round placed, she obliterated a new section of the monster.

“Meenaz,” Boss Creed said, rising to his feet.

She didn’t answer. Instead, she kept pumping rounds into the mutilated alien corpse, eviscerating it beyond recognition.

The noises reverberated into the interior of the jungle like deep drum rolls.

“Meenaz!” Boss Creed yelled again. This time, he placed a hand on her shoulder. Meenaz finally stopped, but it wasn’t because of Boss Creed’s shout. A roar came from deep within the lush jungle so loud, it drowned out the sounds of the blaster.

2

I was still trying to get over what just happened to Ira when the thought struck me that there was something else