Toshi’ko kept her eyes glued to the figure in front of her as her right hand slowly slid behind her, reaching for the gun holstered to the back of the seat. She was hoping that when the ship crashed it hadn’t been destroyed or thrown into another part of the ship. When she felt the cold steel of the gun butt slide against her palm she sighed and unclipped the latch holding it in place. Sliding it out of the holster she carefully moved the gun to her lap, keeping her movements invisible to the figure standing outside. Although the figure had stood there staring, unmoving for the past few minutes, and didn’t seem to be threatening in any way, she still didn’t want to take any chances. This was an alien world after all and she had to be ready for anything.
What disturbed her the most though was that whatever or whoever it was out there hadn’t made a move. It was as if they were frozen in place, unsure of what to do. Wind whipped around their body, white dust, or what she thought was dust, blew in all directions. At some points the wind blew so strong that a wall of the white dust obscured her view of the figure. When that happened, her body tensed, waiting for whatever was out there to pounce on her. But when the wall cleared she could see the same, solitary figure standing there.
And then movement. She saw an arm extend from the coat of fur and reach behind it. When the arm came forward again she saw that it held a gun in its hand. Although it was primitive in its make she new what it was immediately. She picked the gun up from her lap and gripped it tightly in her hand, her knuckles turning white from the pressure. She looked down quickly and flipped a switch on the gun turning it on. Three red lights came on and blinked in a rapid sequence across the barrel of the gun. The lights blinked quickly at first and then began to slow. When they finally stopped moving they suddenly turned green and a low humming noise emitted from the gun. That sound alone indicated that the gun was armed and ready to fire. Shooting a blast of red hot plasma that dissolved anything in its path, Toshi’ko felt confident that whatever she aimed the gun at wouldn’t be standing after she fired. She held the gun close to her, ready to make a move at any moment.
The figure outside took a slow, deliberate step toward her. She still wasn’t sure whether or not it knew that she was inside. If it didn’t then she definitely had the advantage of surprise. The figure moved closer, one step at a time, the gun aimed directly at her ship. It was still too far away for her to make out any details, but she could tell that it’s body was very similar to hers. It walked on two legs, had two arms and a head, but beyond that it was still a mystery. Whatever was on it, whether it was fur or another garment that it wore, hid the true creature that lay underneath.
It was only a few feet away now. Within moments it would be on her. With the agility of a cat, Toshi’ko slid her body off of the cockpit seat and onto the floor in front of her keeping the gun pointed above her the entire time. The figure walked past her cockpit window, moving slowly, the gun waving back and forth in front of it. From her point of view she could only see the top part of the figure. And her view of it was becoming increasingly worse as a strong wind started blowing in moving an enormous amount of the white dust around. And then suddenly the figure stopped and turned. She had to squint to see through the white blizzard, but she knew that it was looking directly at her. Could it see her? Had she been discovered?? She pushed her body even further under the control panel she was hiding under. Her hand began to shake, she forced her body to calm down. No, it couldn’t see her, it was impossible. She had forgotten that the outside of the window was covered by a reflective lense that acted as a mirror. It was useful when traveling through space because it reflected the suns light away from the ship, preventing radiation particles and light quarks to travel through and kill her. Now it was saving her again, only this time it was reflecting the figures image outside back to itself. She calmed down a little, knowing that it definitely couldn’t see her.
And then she heard a knocking sound above her that startled her. She jumped a little and looked up to see that the figure outside was knocking on the top of her window. What was it doing?? She could hear a low moaning sound coming from it but it was barely audible through the 1-inch thick material that made up the window. It kept yelling over and over but she couldn’t make out what it was trying to say. And then it did the strangest thing. After giving up on the yelling it slung the gun back over its shoulder and hopped on top of her ship. She stared in astonished fascination as it knelt down and began to feel with its hands, or at least what she thought were hands, around the outside of her window. What the fuck was it trying to do, get in here?? This revelation sent waves of panic through her body. What if it could get in?? Then what??
She brought the gun up in front of her and aimed it directly at the figure outside. She noticed that it had found the release on the outside of the window. Once it pressed that then the cockpit window would open and she would be discovered. She couldn’t take that chance.
Sliding her body out from under the control panel she moved back into the cockpit seat and held the gun in front of her. When the window opened, she would fire and blow whatever was out there away. She waited, tense.
The window began to open, it had flipped the switch. She felt a wave of cold air rush in at her. It was colder than anything she had felt in all her life. It stung her face, which was exposed without the helmet. She looked to her right and saw the helmet lying on the floor, useless at the moment. Damn, she thought to herself. But there was nothing she could do about it now. The window was halfway open. She saw the figure outside crouch down further, it was trying to get a better view of the interior of the cockpit. It hadn’t seen her yet, she was hidden in shadow. The window was almost open. She pulled the action back on her gun, waiting for the perfect moment to pull the trigger. In a few seconds she would fire…too late. The figure saw her. It new she had a gun pointed at it. She fired anyway. It jumped out of the just in time as a spray of hot plasma shot out of the front of her gun. The force of the blast was so strong it pushed her hard again the seat, the gunblast was accompanied by an ear-piercing shriek as the fire shot at lighting fast speed toward the open window. She had missed, fuck!
She hopped out of her seat as fast she could, the gun held out in front of her. She heard a quiet humming noise and then a beep emit from the gun. It was armed and ready to fire again. She waved the gun in front of her, looking for the figure. The air outside burned her skin, tears began to roll down her cheeks and instantly froze to her skin. She looked around, frantically looking for the figure but it was nowhere to be seen. Where in the hell did it go? She was panicking but if she wanted to get out of this alive she had to remain calm.
Turning her body to the left she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Reacting too quickly, she pulled the trigger again and was knocked backwards by another blast of fire. She swore at the gun, begging it to reload faster. And that’s when she felt an intense pain explode in the back of her brain and a feeling of déjà vu overcame her as she sank into the inky blackness of unconsciousness once again.