Trophy: Horror Shorts, #2

Trophy

This ebook is a work of fiction and any similarities to persons living or dead, places or events is coincidental.

Copyright: Paul Le May

First edition; July 2019

Second edition; September 2023

Written by Paul Le May

Trophy

Sometimes things are not always what they appear.

As the first humans to visit Alpha Centauri come to the end of their epic journey, they have to come to terms with both apocalyptic events on Earth and a senseless attack by an unidentified assailant.

First Officer Claire Mathews finds herself hunted and brutally slaughtered. Now she has to make sense of why she is alive and what the hidden purpose of the aliens might be.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright Page

Description

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Epilogue

Also by Paul Le May

Prologue

Claire Mathews was sitting up in a cross-legged position staring out across the lake. Her hands were pushed back behind, holding her in a position where she could absorb the warmth of the sun's rays.  Despite her nakedness, she felt comfortable under the large red star that burned down from overhead.

It was midday and it was at its hottest. Her youthful, fair skin would have burnt easily on Earth but here it remained untouched, not even releasing protective tanning chemicals into her epidermis. Instead, her complexion remained pale and unblemished with just a  hint of a healthy rosiness to her cheeks and lips.

In front of her, the waters remained calm in the almost still air, just a slight rippling across the surface.  To Claire, it was just water, but its unusual metallic sheen still had a strangeness to her eyes. She had swum earlier. Its clarity and coolness were a welcome sensation on her lithe body.

Above, the pink sky contrasted sharply against the lake, disturbed only by wispy white clouds and a lone four-winged bird-like creature.

Claire was watching. She couldn’t decide how large the animal was. They came in various sizes and in flight against the unfamiliar sky she had no reference point. It was difficult to judge its height.

This was a raptor. Or at least that was the niche it occupied on this world. She’d seen it hunt, seen larger ones strike down animals the size of pigs. However, she didn't fear it.

Instead, she felt completely safe. Serene in fact.

An alien planet under a red dwarf star and three small moons. Without a protective suit or breathing apparatus she should have been dead from far worse things than the wildlife. She should be worried about pathogens and natural gas’s that would invade her body or choke her lungs. Even pollens that could trigger a fatal allergic reaction.

It shouldn't have done, but it felt as pleasant as when she was a child sitting in her beloved Lake District in the north of England on a warm summer day.

Claire looked down at her long toned legs and her feet. Uncrossing them she stretched out with her feet slightly apart and wiggled her toes, concentrating on the sensation. Everything felt normal.  Better than normal. The blue grass beneath her feet smelt like a freshly cut lawn though again with a slight metallic tinge. She could feel the heat of the strange sun and sensed the beat of her heart.  She could even see the steady rise and fall of her small, firm breasts as she breathed. Everything was as she had known for as long as she could remember, except the alien world. 

The bird overhead made what sounded like a croaking sound and drew Claire's attention upward again. The brightness made her squint a little as she brushed the straight blonde hair of her neat bob cut aside.

There were now two of the birds, much lower. She could see them clearer now. Probably around the size of large crows, mostly black but with flashes of white at the tips of the feathered wings. And she could see they had beaks like any other bird. Powerful hooked tools for biting and tearing. A perfect example of convergent evolution she mused. Nature anywhere overcoming the same problems with similar solutions.

Finally, she stood up slowly and shielding her eyes with a hand, she looked back, away from the lake. Trees with sharp fern-like, blue leaves rose into the sky as tall as redwoods. And in the distance snow capped mountains towered like proud sentries along the horizon, guarding the rest of this world from her eyes.

There were other creatures, strange and exotic, living amongst the trunks and foliage of the forest but like the birds, they would never present a danger to her.

Then above it all, floated the gleaming metal and glass orb. Sunlight glinted off its surface, reflecting a myriad of colours, exaggerating the artificialness of the object in a pristine natural environment. A paradise in any other circumstances.

From here it looked small but Claire felt, no, knew that it was truly a massive citadel defying gravity in a way only old science fiction movies envisaged. She assumed it was from there that they watched her. At least from the ‘real’ there.

It didn't really matter, she was as good as alone. They may watch but they wouldn't interfere. It would be just her from here on, alone in her little world. Confined to this one valley on this planet. She would never leave, never know what lay beyond the mountains, never meet another person, and would probably be here for all eternity. Existing like a ghost of her former self.

For it was here that she had died. 

Chapter One

One Month Earlier

‘New Horizon One’. 

A name emblazoned large and white along the central hub of the multi-hulled interstellar craft.  Four national flags decorated it further, all proudly announcing ownership and intention.

The vessel was a collection of long tubular capsules linked by conduits, or corridors. Each section an individual launch on individual gigantic rockets before final assembly in Earth orbit. Thousands of manhours performed by astronauts dedicated to the success of the mission and mindless drones performing repetitive tasks.

At the centre of the structure, one long structural shaft supported shielding to protect against a giant fission-powered motor that protruded rearward.  Smaller solid fuel thrusters for manoeuvring were attached around the periphery. Ungainly solar panels, thin sheets of golden sail, stretched further out, each the size of a football pitch to capture every possible photon even far out in the depths of space. Every mili-amp was precious, helping to power life support and other essential systems for the environment inside.

Hurtling through deep space at near the speed of light the fragile vessel was a glinting star in the blackness of space. A miniature world carrying the first twenty-six humans to venture beyond their solar system. Encased inside the multiple hulls and protected from radiation by a plasma shield which stretched invisibly around them, like their own mini Van Allen Belt.

Now five years, seven months and twenty-one days since departure the interstellar craft was fast approaching the small red dwarf star of Proxima Centauri and its habitable satellite Proxima B.

Onboard First Officer Claire Mathews had started the day with coffee in one hand and a data pad in the other. Another usual shift of checking and double-checking systems and trajectories whilst trying to overcome the monotony of it all. It was a well-practised routine performed daily, laboriously, so repetitive that even her speech felt automated.

In any other walk of life, it would have been easy to skip things or experiment with new ideas, but space was harsh and unforgiving. What would be a minor inconvenience on Earth could quickly end in her and everyone else's death.

Four light years from the nearest help, eight years for a round trip communication, everything was critical, much more so than the relatively routine Moon or Mars shuttles that had become common during her lifetime.

Morning Claire.

Captain Damon Harris gave her his best flashy smile as she entered Main Control.

Evening. She replied without a hint of sarcasm.

After five years I wish you would drop the ‘morning’ crap. It's all the bloody same out here.

She continued to look at her datapad with an occasional glance at one of the large 3D touchscreen displays.

Right you are. The American-born man smirked.

Yer know, I'm beginning to think you're not a morning kinda person.

Not until this takes effect.

She gestured with her mug before downing a mouthful of the sweetened drink. The glint in her eye said she was less grumpy than she pretended.

What you got for me this morning?

See there ya go. You used ‘morning’ as well. He grinned.

She pulled a sarcastic smirk and waited for him to get serious.

Damon leaned back in his chair at the end of the Main Control cylinder. Behind him, a large observation window set him in relief against the blackness of space. Even the glare of the OLED displays didn't reflect in the glass.

"Another exciting shift of watching lights blink.

Man, it's boring."

Two more weeks and we begin the Orbital insertion phase. You get to press a button. She grinned.

"Oh, the joy. Almost as exciting as the deceleration phase where I got to... Push a button.

And let’s not forget the monumental acceleration phase where I pressed a button.  My excitement has hardly waned.

He joked but deep down the monotony of their trip was gnawing away at him.

You know they could have automated that but someone obviously thought that the Captain should at least push a button or two during the mission. He lamented.

If the hibernation research had been a bit further on the whole thing could have been automated. She said without a hint of her inner humour.

Damon was grateful they hadn't. "Damn that.

Pumped full of chemicals and wired up to a machine asleep for five years. Doesn't appeal I’m afraid."

Claire frowned at her datapad before adding.

Anyway. You have a button.  What did the rest of us get?

She tapped the pad with evident frustration.

This thing’s not working properly. Keeps losing LiFi uplink.

There's another one over by Navigation. Damon offered.

Everything on this ship was out of date when they fitted it. Surprised anything is still working.

"Thanks.

I’ll get Ella to have a look at this one later."

She popped it down and headed for the Navigation Station.

Damon ran his eyes over Claire's trim butt as she bent over to retrieve the other device. Her tight-fitting blue ASA uniform stretched over her slim figure as she reached out to take the pad. The material