Red Sea

The creature that had been relentlessly pushing Jake with its strong yet mechanical movements finally pulled away after pouring a viscous liquid inside. Until that moment, Jake had been physically and mentally exhausted, unable to confirm the creature’s true nature, and had been submitting his body to its will. Even for someone like Jake, a retired soldier, being physically overworked before the aftereffects of the fall had even subsided was a harsh treatment. The poor trader struggled to grasp what was happening to him, but he failed to hold onto his fading consciousness.

*

When he opened his eyes again, a considerable amount of time had passed. In the moment of the fall, he had thought this might be the end. Yet, he was still alive. Unlike the first time he opened his eyes, he could now see light and distinguish the objects around him, and the unidentified being was nowhere to be seen. Regaining his composure, Jake looked down at his body. There were no major injuries or broken bones, only the remnants of where he had been grabbed, marked by dark red stains. The moment he noticed the clear handprint on the inside of his thigh, a deep furrow formed on his brow. Jake’s blue eyes trembled as he felt a chill run down his spine upon seeing the marks left on his body.

It was chilling to realize that the creature had enough strength to leave a bruise on his thigh, but what heightened his fear was the size of the handprint. Jake, almost in a trance, placed his hand over the handprint on his thigh. It was a handprint that was almost two to three finger lengths longer than his own. Jake had never thought of himself as small, and he was actually on the taller side for a human. Although he had likely shrunk a bit with age, the last time he measured himself during a physical examination, he was 187 centimeters tall. How massive must the creature be to have hands that were significantly larger than those of a nearly 190-centimeter tall human?

Jake urged himself to stay calm and not to be afraid. He rubbed his face with his palm and slapped his cheeks a couple of times to regain his senses. He felt the rough stubble on his face, indicating that he hadn’t shaved in a while. Regardless of how different the standards of beauty might be for this alien race, he had tidied himself up before sending the landing signal for trade, which meant that a considerable amount of time had passed since the fall. As Jake tried to push himself up from where he had been lying, he grimaced at the squishy texture of the sand beneath his hand. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a handprint on his wrist as well. Recalling the memories before he lost consciousness, it seemed the creature had been holding his wrist to prevent him from moving. However, everything was so dark that all he could remember was the intense shock that had clawed through his mind.

He thought that the place he had been lying in resembled a bed by their standards. It was just a mound of sand piled up haphazardly, but the surface was flat. What was peculiar was that even though he lay on the sand, it didn’t cling to his body. Jake, who felt there was no need to marvel at the artifacts of an alien planet, was determined to figure out what was going on as he stepped out of the bed. The sensation of the front part of his foot touching the cave floor was a type of feeling he had never experienced on his home planet.

“Ugh….”

The moment he tried to stand up, Jake felt a surge of liquid churning in his stomach. The slick liquid poured out from his mouth, which he hadn’t managed to close properly, causing the older trader to grimace in discomfort. As soon as his feet touched the ground, a sharp pain shot up, akin to someone sawing at his pelvis. Although he wasn’t dizzy, he couldn’t stand properly and had to lean over in front of the bed to catch his breath for a while. Damn it, the words slipped out involuntarily. He tried to grab the bed, but it was entirely made of sand. As a result, Jake flailed his arms in vain and fell forward, struggling. With the continuous pain and his inability to stabilize his body, he felt nauseous.

Even though bright light was coming in, the interior was still dark. It was questionable whether the space could even be called an interior. The strange space with the bizarre bed was inside a cave, and it was currently daytime on this planet, with sunlight pouring in from outside. Jake didn’t care about scraping his knees on the dirt floor as he crawled toward the cave entrance. He had to understand what was happening. What had happened to the damaged spaceship after the crash, and had communication with his home planet been cut off, or were they waiting helplessly for a response? If contact had been lost since the signal of an emergency situation, he thought that perhaps those on his home planet were worried or taking measures for rescue.

Whether it was due to cultural differences or the creature’s savage nature, it seemed that the being from last night had only frightened him without resorting to cannibalism or violence. Aside from the strong grip marks, his body was unscathed. Unless he was killed by that creature, he hoped to endure somehow, believing that his fellow comrades would come to his aid. As a retired soldier, Jake thought that at least based on his experience, as long as he survived, a way would surely present itself. Being a member of the Federation, they must be a civilized race. What happened yesterday could just be an unfortunate accident, so he needed to stay calm.

His principled nature led him to believe that there must have been a valid reason for what happened yesterday. A civilized race that had joined the Federation wouldn’t suddenly assault an alien sent for diplomatic purposes from another planet. There must have been some misunderstanding. He wanted to believe that.

Crawling out with the alien’s bodily fluids on his skin, Jake grimaced at the intense heat on his face. The moment he stepped out of the cave’s shadow, he felt an overwhelming heat. The sunlight was much more intense than it appeared from inside, and he could see a sun that was far larger than the one he had seen on his home planet. That star was likely the sun of this planet, Centric. Exhausted from the heat, Jake decided to refrain from further observation and poked his head back into the cave. He had thought he was thirsty since yesterday, but the planet of the Thermo race was extremely hot. It wasn’t hot enough for humans to perish, but it was stifling, fitting the planet’s red hue. Realizing that the suffocating feeling wasn’t simply due to his poor health, Jake leaned against the cave wall and closed his eyes.

The cities on his home planet were also quite hot, as humans had settled in the jungle. He believed he had become accustomed to the heat after countless marches, but it seemed that was not the case. Even now, lying naked without a single piece of clothing, he still felt hot. As he contemplated whether he should go back inside and attempt to converse with the alien from yesterday, he suddenly felt an overwhelming chill wash over him and opened his eyes.

The creature was standing at the entrance of the cave.

“Ah… damn it.”

The moment Jake confirmed the creature’s form under the bright light, he let out a sigh. It was an imposing presence that exuded intimidation just by being seen. The fact that all he could see was black was not merely an illusion caused by the darkness of the cave. The creature itself was large and entirely black. It was the very silhouette he had seen walking through hell right after the crash.

Is this the Thermo race?

He hadn’t expected it to be this big. It appeared to be well over 2.5 meters tall, a giant that walked upright with limbs similar to a human’s. It even had a face. However, unlike a human, it had no eyes, nose, or ears. Only a gaping, jagged maw sat ominously above its chin. Where a human’s eyes would be, there were red marks that looked like someone had clawed at it. Overall, its body resembled basalt, muscular and well-defined. It felt like looking at a well-trained, muscular human. However, it had a color that was fundamentally not skin-like but rather heavy like stone, with irregular red cracks running across its body as if lava flowed beneath its surface.

In short, it looked like a demon that had just crawled out of a volcanic crater.

Jake knew that judging something solely by its appearance was foolish. Humans had committed horrific acts while wearing innocent faces, so he had no grounds to complain. However, this time was an exception. The Thermo race looked terrifying, and even facing a primitive life form that devoured humans and wore their skins would seem less frightening than this.

Still, it was too early to despair. According to the information, the Thermo race was said to have six arms, but this creature had only two attached to it. Even if one generously included its legs in the count, that made four. Jake thought that perhaps the Thermo race could be a lowly monster living on a planet dominated by primitive life forms, and he remained wary of the creature before him.

“Grrr…”

It seemed that it couldn’t even speak the universal language. The sound it made was not a combination of consonants and vowels but rather a beastly growl. The moment it bent down toward Jake, he once again locked eyes with the writhing red mass. Its body was about two heads taller than Jake, so its gaze fell directly on his chest. What he had thought were eyes appeared to be an organ that resembled a heart, firmly situated in the center of its chest, pulsating irregularly, proving that it was indeed a living being.

As it examined Jake’s face, even as it leaned in closer, Jake found himself unable to utter a word. It felt very strange for something without eyes to lean in like that. As it scrutinized Jake’s expression, it suddenly reached out its arm and hoisted Jake up, walking into the cave.

“Hey…! I can go in by myself, so let me go!”

In an instant, Jake was seized by the monster and dragged inside, his view filled only with its calves and the cave floor. He felt the creature’s bodily fluids surging inside him, making him nauseous. The creature strode deeper into the cave and unceremoniously placed Jake on the bed.

Previously, he hadn’t noticed because it had been backlit, but there were four bizarrely shaped holes on the creature’s back. They were very thin holes with no thickness, appearing unrealistically black and grotesquely suspended in the air like a broken screen. Even though they were visible from the front, when he looked up while hanging from its back, he couldn’t see the holes. All he could see was its black back. In a brief moment, he deduced that it was a cave-like structure with only the entrance to the holes protruding into the space.

Before he could even ponder the creature’s identity, Jake turned pale with fear. From those unidentified holes, muscular, bright red arms crawled out, binding his body. On the surface, it appeared to be an alien life form with two arms and two legs walking bipedally, but in reality, it had a total of six arms, with each arm emerging from the four holes. Only then did Jake realize what had been pinning him down yesterday and how the handprints on his thigh and wrist had formed. At the same time, before confirming the true nature of the arms, he had held onto a glimmer of hope for the refined, civilized Thermo race that had joined the Federation, but now that hope had completely burned away.

“Isn’t there a way to communicate…?”

The monster wouldn’t understand words. It mercilessly grabbed Jake’s legs and spread them apart.

“Hey…! Let’s talk about this!”

Having learned that there was nothing he could do against the red monster’s strength, Jake struggled to escape. The hands that emerged from the black holes were different from the arms attached to its body. They were all bright red, resembling skin that had been peeled off a human. Someone might have described them as having uniform stripes like tree rings etched along the muscle fibers, but to Jake, who had faced injured soldiers for half his life, they looked like grotesque arms with the skin peeled away, exposing the muscles. As Jake felt the red hands gripping his wrists, he despaired at the realization that communication was impossible and began to curse.