Back To Krypton

Chapter 31

The ship flies closer. It's a bit bigger than they originally thought, probably around the size of a couple of The Rebellion's pods if they were put side by side. It hovers overhead, the nose of it pointing right at the dark creature looming over them and then, suddenly, there's a bright beam of light coming from the front end of the ship, just beneath the nose. It's neon green and so bright all three women are forced to look away.

They cover their eyes and turn their bodies away from the light to avoid being blinded by it while being immensely confused about who the hell is in this ship and how they know to shine the light at the creature as dark as a shadow in an unlit room.

It turns out, the person doesn't know it works because it actually doesn't.

The ginormous creature rears up, showing off its snakelike body as its head, also similar to that of a snake, but with whiskers reaching several feet off the side of its head and the underneath of its chin, drops its jaw in a low screech that's so loud it shakes the trees and sends the small ship spinning off-kilter through the air.

Kara gasps when she looks up just in time to see the ship careen into a tree and drop down several metres before regaining its stability and flying back up and into the open space.

The creature is moving towards them but there's nowhere for them to go. They can either make a break for it and hope for the best that they can dig their way out of the fallen trees and foliage that would almost certainly injure them if they tried, or they can try and run back for the ship they have just spend entirely too long escaping to go back inside now.

Kara's eyes are frantically searching around for somewhere to run to or to hide but there's nowhere available for them to go.

The ship is lowering down, hovering just above them, but the glass dome fitted over the top of the ship for the pilot to see out of is tinted a harsh blue that they can't see into, but no doubt the pilot can see out of. All in all, that means they have no way of identifying the pilot at this current moment in time and they haven't got a clue whether they are a friend or foe.

From beneath the ship, panels slide out to the side and thick, metallic ropes fall from the space exposed, hitting the top of the ship Kara, Lena and Alex are standing on harshly, the impact making a tinny thud and causing the ship to vibrate under their feet for a second.

The implication is clear. They are meant to hold on and then they can be lifted out of there but there's no way they can leave Bolt behind. They just can't leave him there to be a snack for this creature.

Alex grabs at one of the ropes, testing its strength in a quick movement but it takes her long enough that she's lagging behind on the wavelength Lena and Kara seem to be sharing because they waste no time dropping their packs beside the ropes and running towards Bolt as fast as they can.

Alex goes to run after them but can't because the snake-like animal is really very angry about that green light the pilot of the ship shone at him. Angry enough that it's now forcing its way around the crashed ship to try and get closer to the small ship, its mouth opening wide. Its jaw unhinges so it can open its mouth wider than normal, wide enough that it's very possible that it could swallow the small ship whole.

They need to hurry and grab Bolt so they can get out of there. Alex starts working on attaching their packs to the tail end of the ropes, keeping her eye on the movement of their current life-threatening enemy.

It circles, going around and around and around, just twisting and turning over and over, each circle getting closer and closer to its prey. It's trying to trap the small ship so it has nowhere to go. That's not true but they can't go anywhere yet, not until Kara and Lena are back with Bolt.