Nightmares in the Light

Nightmares in the Light - Chapter 1

August 20, 2136

Captain Kerula's last several missions had gone well; not a single exterminator had been lost to predator or flame in months. But she of all people knew such good fortune could never last.

She ruffled her green and turquoise feathers as her gaze rested on the living symbol of her downturn in circumstance. The brown-pelted primitive stood as tall as Kerula did, his posture excited and keen. She'd successfully avoided having any uplifts assigned to her unit for years, but that lucky streak was at an end. All she could hope was that the inevitable damage caused by the Yotul's ignorance would be contained to himself. It wasn't likely; she prayed Inatala would help her best exterminators survive whatever chaos the ignoramus might cause.

Reliable sources had rumored that the Yotul actually thought predators could be tamed before the Federation had arrived to teach them the error of their ways. With such backwards thinking, no wonder so many of them had predator's disease! If anyone had cared to ask Kerula's opinion, it would be another few generations before they'd rise to the intellectual and social level needed to join civilized society. No one had, unfortunately, and so she was forced to accept the impossible task of turning this backwards idiot into an upstanding exterminator.

The other recruits looked decent enough. Regardless of the quality of the batch, it was time to put them to work.

"Team!" she squawked, as they all snapped to attention. "We have chosen this path, knowing the danger into which we fly and march. We brave few cleanse the galaxy of the dangerous monsters that threaten our very lives. Many of you have done colony preparation before. For some of you, this will be your first time. All of us must work together, as a team, to overcome the evil we must vanquish. There will be danger, yes, but ours is the noblest possible pursuit. Everything we do, we do to help our people."

Next to the Yotul, she saw Jalim shuffle impatiently. She knew he found her inspirational speeches redundant and exhausting, but they were nothing without their honor and conviction. The years had turned him into a fine exterminator, but those good looks of his seemed to keep him from reaching the true understanding of their ideals that she possessed.

Without remembering the importance of their values, extermination could easily become mere killing. Her own people could slip into the very monstrousness they opposed. Contamination was a genuine danger of contact with predators. Everyone knew to be wary of predator contamination; that was why they had to be burned, after all, so that their corruption could not spread disease through the soil and water. But few understood the risk of spiritual contamination. Constant contact with predators, even from the other side of a flamethrower, could damage one's mind and soul.

Kerula would protect her flock from that most insidious of dangers. And so, she would never miss an opportunity to remind them of their noble ideals.

Sauno stood listening to his new captain's speech. His nerves steadied as his spirit soared to her words. She spoke of the importance of keeping strong and united in the face of evil, of the vitality of their mission, of their commitment to doing what was right no matter how difficult it might seem. Captain Kerula was exactly the type of moral, passionate exterminator he dreamed of someday becoming.

She bore scars from her commitment to her work, even a slight notch in her beak from what he could only assume was an epic tangle with a monstrous predator. She was tall for a Krakotl, and held herself with a stiff pride that he did his best to emulate in his own Yotul frame. He tried to keep his tail from wagging — this was a solemn moment — but he just couldn't keep his optimism from bursting through. This was exactly what he had hoped for when he joined the corps!