Altar to an Unknown God

A small space craft cut its way through the expanse of the cosmos. Small that is in comparison with the surrounding cosmic environment. In truth the ship was large enough to house a crew of six.

The craft itself wasn't entirely remarkable. It was a drab white wedge shaped hunk of engineering with two thrusters or more simply rocket boosters on its rear. There were others just like it and they were slowly being phased out for newer models.

What was remarkable about the craft was actually its mission. A new celestial body had been discovered by the Copernicus 9, a deep space telescope that had replaced the decommissioned Hubble Telescope. Like always it created a buzz to rival the liveliest beehives. So now six intrepid astronauts sat on the edge of their seats as the craft came closer to the shadowy sphere of interest.

The crew themselves were a hodge podge. In the left row of seats sat Herbert Quinones, the part Latino part Canadian pilot. Next was Jorge Yang, a youthful athletic former track star whose family immigrated from Japan in the late 2040's. He gave up rushing toward finish lines to rush to the stars even if it was as the ship's mechanic. Completing the scene was Eve Jackson. Of all the women available for the mission, why did they have to be stuck with her? She was,to put it nicely, a shrew and she couldn't be tamed. For now she was remaining silent and everyone was grateful.

That brings us to the right row's first occupant, Kimberly Masters. If Eve was a shrew then Kimberly was a virago. Her tomboyish nature was reflected by her short brown hair. She had a love of adventure and getting her hands dirty. She was one to play GI Joes while the other girls her age played with Barbies. Everyone enjoyed her company. Her and Eve were as dissimilar as the Mona Lisa and a kinetic sculpture.

Behind her sat Dustin Stevens, an African American from Shreveport Louisiana originally. He had a jovial personality.

Lastly was Jack Wallace, a man descended from a thousand warriors from Scandinavians to Native Americans. He was most happy with his Irish roots. He was average in most every way and was content with it. He and Quinones were the only two creationists aboard the shop Quinones being Catholic while Wallace swung in the way of non-denominational protestant. Regardless of all their differences the crew got along well together except for Jackson. She was determined to be antagonistic toward anyone with a Y chromosome. For that matter anyone with an X chromosome was subject to her wrath as well if they didn't see things from her view point.

As they neared X247, the planet in question Jackson finally spoke. "Oh my…"

"What is it?" asked Wallace but only because he was the closest to her.

She pointed out the window. "The Stars they just seem to vanish near the planet!"

Sure enough all around the planet was a giant ring of inkinesss as if all the stars were being deflected away from the planet on all sides. "Holy crap you're right!" exclaimed Dustin.

"Of course I'm right!" she snapped.

"Keep your tits on, Eve. No one was trying to disprove you. The sight is just shocking is all." This came from the pilot who'd had just about all he could stand from her during the trip.

"Maybe they all went supernova," speculated Yang.

Jack Wallace scratched his beard in quiet thought. Something wasn't sitting well all of a sudden.

The pilot announced they were going to land & Wallace who served as defacto commander reminded everyone of their objective. "All right we land, take some photos, make minimal contact with the natives if there are any and then get the heck back to Earth with our findings."

"I wish we could have sent a probe down." said Stevens.

"That's been done remember? It malfunctioned though and only sent back pictures of blackness," answered Wallace.

"So we are the probe." Stated Kimberly.

Helmets were donned and firearms were prepared. All astronauts carried them now after a nasty incident ten years prior with a rival nation's space agency and some hostile aliens. Of course Eve refused to carry one. She pulled her long purple hair into a bun and put on her helmet dropping obscene as she did so to the point of annoying Stevens who was not beyond dropped eff bombs himself.

At last the crew landed and departed from the craft. "Strange, said Wallace the gravity is equal to that on Earth."

"That's really what is concerning you, Jack," Kimberly asked, "Look around us. It's pitch black. There's no sun, no moon, no stars.

Sure enough the only lights came from the ship. "No wonder the probe only sent back blank images." stated Yang.

"Who's doing what?" asked Kimberly.

"First off, Eve, scan the atmosphere."

"One step ahead of the men like always. Oh, and you'll have to keep the helmets on. This planet has a very thin atmosphere and it's not compatible with human biology."

"Ok," said Jack, "Quinones, Yang I want you two here with the ship. I'm getting some creepy vibes of this planet and I don't want to lose our pilot and mechanic. Also if you could set up the artificial lighting we packed that would be helpful."

"Right away!" Yang said.

"All right the rest of your are with me."

The crew turned the lights on their helmets and Kimberly strapped the high-res camera around her neck. As the quartet made to leave the landing sight Wallace felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face Herbert. "Should I pray, Senor Wallace? "

"Yes, that would be a very good idea."

"This is a lonely planet," Dustin. commented. "It might be a good place for Eve to start a race of Amazons away from us men."

"Blow it out of your butt, Stevens." Jackson replied.

"Everybody shut up!" ordered Wallace with agression that was uncharacteristic for him. "Look here!"

The crew had gone on a few yards from the craft. In front of them rose a structure illuminated in the glow their head lamps. It was the height of a two story house. The edifice was bulit from stone. "Should we let the other guys know about this." asked Dustin.

Wallace turned and looked a few yards to his right. The two men were already setting up the lights around the ship. "Not yet they're doing their job. Let's do ours. Kimberly looked down at her feet. "Dead grass!" she exclaimed.

"That means at one time this planet was evolved to sustain some form of life." Dustin pointed out, "I wonder what could have happened to it."

Wallace looked up at the void that should have been a firmament. "It became a dead planet."

His observation was made with such an ominous coldness that even the hard nosed Eve shuddered.

"Should we go inside? asked Dustin.

"Yes,"said Jack." I only pray we're not about to open Pandora's box."

The doors opened perhaps a little too easily. The group went inside and found themselves in a windowless corridor lit by mysterious stones in sconces like candles. The yellow glow was so brilliant that the lamps on the helmets became unnecessary. "Kimberly, how is your Uncle doing?"asked the leader for the sake of breaking up the deathly silence.

"He's doing better, Jack. The new medication is helping him with out all the nasty side effects."

"I think that's underselling that pharmaceutical monstrosity considering you had to pull the gun barrel out of his mouth."

You know those people who butt in where they are not needed or wanted and act like some holier than thou paladin slaying dragons that are really just iguanas? Guess who was one of those people. Yep, Eve Jackson.

The woman huffily replied. "How dare you talk about suicide that way?"

"Because it's true," responded Kimberly hoping to defuse the situation. "The war really messed up my uncle. The meds didn't help any."

Nothing more was said on the topic. Wallace was getting more and more on edge. Stevens took him by the arm and walked a few steps ahead of the ladies were they could talk privately. "Jack you know I don't go in for all that spiritual mumbo jumbo of yours but I'd like to know some more about those bad vibes of yours."

"It's hard to describe. It's less spiritual and more instinctual. Something unfriendly dwells somewhere in this planet's shadows. It's malevolent but not demonic per say. The feeling I'm getting is like being in a jungle with a tiger nearby."

"In other words, Jack, we've entered the lair of an apex predator."

"Something like that."

The corridor seemed to go on forever but the curious stones lit the way. Soon wierd frescos and glyphs revealed the unintelligible history of a civilization long since vanished. The pictures depicted a people that had slender bodies and tall rectangular heads.

"The life of this planet evolved strangely but they seemed to have built a civilization not unlike ancient Earth. They have water craft in some of the pictures and what appears to be hunting parties are shown in others." This was said by Kimberly in awe.

Even though the glyphs were unreadable and the paintings on the walls were on a artistic level just above Egyptian hieroglyphs the story was clear and the planet had apparently once teemed with all sorts of fantastic flora and fauna.

"I'm sure Preacher Man over there would make an argument for his so called intelligent design." said Eve in a rude manner.

Wallace didn't want to give her the satisfaction so he said simply," It is all very strange."

Everyone took notice of a sudden headache not caused by the shrew. Toxins were ruled out because of the recycled air inside the helmets. Despite the malady the four astronauts pushed onward.

At last the crew came to Large room on either side were passages leading off into other directions. In the center of this room was sort of raised pedistal. From the ceiling hung a large cousin to the torch stones as the astronauts called them now. It shone with dazzling radiance. The walls here were covered with more of the strange images.

Eve looked around. "Well, I say we should split up and and explore these other passages."

"No," protested the leader,"We stick together."

The woman put her hands on her hips and responded, "Why? So you men can take credit for something a woman might discover? Typical!"

"Blast it all, Eve Jackson! There's something off about this whole place. I don't know what it is but until we can find out everyone here is going to follow my orders regardless of anatomical make up!"

"I will not be ordered around by a–"

"Fine! Do what you want."

With that heated exchange at an end the woman left to explore the corridor to the her left. Her haughty footfalls echoed in the spooky silence that she left behind her. "Kimberly go with her. There's safety in numbers. Don't let her take too long either. I've got a gut feeling we shouldn't stick around longer than we have to," commanded Jack Wallace.

With a cock of her rifle Kimberly nodded her head and departed after Eve. "That's a fine woman. If I wasn't already married she'd be at the top of my list, man."

No sooner had Stevens spoke then he was signaled to be quiet by Wallace. "Come in Yang, Quinones over!" Static. "Look guys I want you to stay on the ship. We are in some sort of building.

"We're not going to stick around here any longer than we have to. Again, I want you guys to stay on the ship. In fact, get the engines fired up. Do you read over?" Static.

"Answer me damnit!" As a Christian Jack Wallace was not given to profanity so his companion knew he was in a poor state of mind.

"Calm down, brother the stone walls are probably interfering with the signal is all."

The astronaut took a deep breath.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

To lighten the mood Dustin said, "You know it amazes me we grew up in the same region of the same state and we only met two years ago."

"That's not really unusual, Stevens. Besides I spent most of my time around Ruston."

The men resolved themselves to waiting for the females. "This room looks empty; I wonder what it's for." Stated the Shreveport native.

The men looked at the paintings the images showed the natives looking up at what was supposed to be the sky. Behind an orange disk that the two assumed to be the sun was a larger circle with squiggles coming off it.

"Wonder what those mean," Stevens pondered tracing his finger across them.

"Sun beams maybe. Perhaps they worshipped the sun." replied Wallace.

"I don't think so because look here."

The man indicated the next image which clearly represented night. The circle with the squiggly line this time was drawn almost like Pac Man. It seemed to be eating a star. The subsequent image showed the people of the planet looking up that mysterious glyph except this time it was surrounded by small versions with the same lanky bodies as the aliens.

"Those things almost look like…." Dustin couldn't bring himself to finish. It was to wild to speculate.

"I know exactly what they they look like," Jack said grimly,"except without out the wings and reptilian body. All at once this whole planet is something out of H.P. Lovecraft's wet dreams."

"But what is this building for?"

"There!" exclaimed Jack as he pointed a finger to the center painting just above the pedistal. It showed an alein standing laying on a platform. The outline around the grisly image was in the shape of the building they stood in now. "This place was a temple. We're in the sanctuary,"concluded Wallace, "What's more is this pedestal was probably an altar."

"And that god that ate the sun is our apex predator."

"Yeah, and now that we know what happened to the stars. Let's get out of here."

"But we still don't know what happened to the people." Dustin pointed out with his curiosity piqued now.

"It is better that way."

Just then a bloodcurdling scream reverberated through the derelict temple. It had come from Kimberly and it was flowed by multiple gunshots then nothing. Wallace & Stevens ran down that corridor. The headaches had worsened. Now it felt like something was trying to split open their skull to slip inside.

The walls were well lit but devoid of markings. The men had guns at the ready they called to Eve and Kimberly but silence was the sole answer they received. Soon they made it. At their feet was the smashed camera. Kimberly's rifle lay on the cold stone floor as well; all the bullets had been spent. A mangled helmet completed the aftermath.

They spotted the forms of the two women ahead they called out again and were greeted by a sight that chilled the blood. The bodies were those of the ladies but their heads had been morphed into a mass of fleshy tendrils! The heads opened like a flower revealing a singular eye there in. The pounding in their skulls became language, intelligent language like English.

The words spoken telepathically were thus: "Join with the one who is many. Join with the many who are one. Praise the Eater of Stars!"

The mind of the Christian astronaut reeled under the psionic blasphemy that assaulted him. He let out an angry cry and opened fire on the mutants. They reeled back beneath the assault, the bullet holes sealed leaving the tattered fabric as the only trace of them.

The message was repeated, "Join with the one who is many Join with the many who are one. Praise the Eater of Stars!"

Dustin dropped his gun and ripped off his helmet. He screamed in agony and then his head twisted and contorted in unnatural and nightmarish ways until he had become one these creatures.

Jack turned and fled down the hallway. "My Father in heaven, protect me this day from these abominations!"

He at last was out outside but the beings who were once his friends had followed him repeating the telepathic message over and over. Two more octopus headed figures approached him from the ship. He realized they were the mechanic and the pilot. From the shadows stalked more of the creatures.

They joined in with their psionic voices as well. They'd been lurking in the stygian corners of this dead planet and had come to greet their brethren.

Wallace literally sprayed and prayed as he fought his way to the ship. Once inside he turned on the engines and took off. Looking out the cockpits window he saw a mangled and twisted pile of metallic scrap. He realized it was the probe. The ship must have landed on it.

The lone survivor of the failed mission would have probably been driven to insanity if he'd seen the ancient creature that rose above the temple calling thecongregation of its bipedal counterparts to it. But he didn't. He was already leaving the nightmare planet and Its ancient and unknown god far behind.