The space she laid in was dark and cramped, The only light coming from a crack in the debris.

She felt frozen in time. Even if the debris wasn’t weighing down her legs, the fear coursing through her body was enough to paralyze her.

The picture she brought with her, her one personal possession, hung limply from the control panel just a hand stretch away. the small stream of light perfectly illuminating the young boy bundled in her arms, smiling in the grass just days before she had left.

The woman wondered if he would be ok. If he would forgive her. Even if she could somehow repair the craft and make it home. It was clear that there were more obstacles than she anticipated…. The creatures lurking outside proding at her ship being the most pressing.

Noises outside fought over each other for dominance. The Beeping of multiple machines, the scratching of ice under boots, a faint ‘aircraft integrity failing’ mechanical voice sounding from the controls of the ship, and finally a muffled voice that sounded anything but human

“I didn’t think C4 had aircraft’s that could travel this far”

She swallowed the dry lump building in her throat. The voice was close. They clearly weren’t far from finding the cockpit. And in turn… her.

She stretched her hand to grab the radio, sending prayers that she hoped would reach the god 4 light years away, for the radio to work. She clicked in the mechanism on the side and a familiar hum sounding from the speaker.

“This is captain Corey Mays. Captain and sole occupant of spacecraft 048WZulu. I have reached the planetary destination. The craft was unable to withstand entry and I have crashed. Specific location unknown….” She paused, unsure how to word her next revelation, knowing thousands would listen to it in the coming years.

“… the planet is already occupied. I have not made contact yet. I’m trapped in the cockpit but they have approached the aircraft. I am yet to make visual. Unsure if they are friendly.”

Corey wondered what the report would say. What the world she left behind would actually know about what happened to her. She could imagine the article

‘First human. First woman, to brave the trip to the planet that the scientists assumed could support life, crashes and finds existing extraterrestrial life forms. Never heard from again.’

No sound came from the radio. No confirmation or response. But someone else Definetly heard her.

“Sir. Did you hear that?”

The metal of the craft groaned as what sounded like a machine mounted the roof… right above her.

An orange glow illuminated the roof, tracing in a perfect circle… they are cutting into the hull… they were coming.

_Perhaps they are friendly_. She thought to herself. Perhaps the aliens she had always dreamed of when she was a kid actually existed, not the kind they portrayed in the sc-fi movies.

The fully formed circle above her gave way and fell to the floor with a loud thud just inches from her side. The light that streamed in blinded her as 4 shadows peered into the room.

Corey took a deep breath in. Ready to face whatever horrors or dreams that were about to be revealed.