Ushas climbed toward the top of the tower, working off breakfast.She still had several thousand days rations left before she had to live on the fungus of the planet alone. She laughed. Her crew had searched for ancient artifacts so their species could increase their tech level and their standing in the inter-galactic game of politics. The found 256 of them spread out over the world orbiting in tidal locked orbit to the dying red sun. Their ship died like the red sun and crashed. Ushas had broken her arm. She was absolutely sure there were other survivors. There had to be. She set her own arm and searched. She searched outside her section. She searched outside the ship. The shuttle-ship deck had been crushed in the crash and she lacked the technical skills to repair any of the flying devices that were wrecked in the crash. The ship was dead except for ship capacitors were charged and she could use the refrigerators and freezers and microwaves. She tried the radio and reached no one. She sat down and stared at the crystal and wondered why there was a human skeleton laying there. She screamed to the sky, like she had a thousand times, "AM I IN HELL? WHY AM I ALONE?" She fought back tears at the rhetoric question, when she heard a reply, "You're not alone now." She looked up at the small green girl floating in the sky like an angel. A pale field-effect in the form of transparent wings bracketed her. She blinked and started laughing, verging towards hysteria. "The mushrooms! They must be hallucinatory!" The little girl said, "I dunno about that. My name is Lime. YOU ARE AN ASURAN! The only living mobile form on the whole planet! I found thousands of ships all across the planet. What happened?" Ushas sighed and said, "Why not a handsome lover or my best friend? Why an alien green girl?" Lime said, "I can hit you with a lightning bolt if you want. Low enough power to let you feel I'm here, if you want." Ushas shrugged, "Do your best," and imagined all the excuses the girl might make to not do it. The lightning snapped loud as a gun-shot and slammed Ushas to the cold stone, next to the skeleton. She got up shaking in terror. "You're real!" "How long have you been here?" Ushas shakily said, "Maybe five years. My name is Ushas. I'm a gunnery officer of the Asuran Space Force. I'm soul survivor of the Space Battle-ship Bokken." Lime looked at the sun on the horizon and asked, "How long are the days? Does that thing ever raise?" Ushas said, "Never. Each day is an eternity long, filled with waking nightmares." Lime said, "I am Lime of the Four Sisters, a Special Forces unit attached to the United System Commonwealth Office of Military Management. As an officer of the armed forces in conflict with the Asuran military, you are my prisoner. I detect no weapons on you. I have no hand guns or such, but I AM capable of killing you if I have too." She rotated and focused her hands at the wrecked ship. A bolt of light struck the ship miles away with a sound of thunder. A huge hole blew into the side of it, with the cloud of incandescent shrapnel falling all around the downed battleship. Lime landed on the stone wall and jumped up and down, "WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO! Oh my GOD! Did you see that? I never used that power before! I am BAD-ASS!" Ushas held up her hands and meekly said, "I give up. Stop shooting. Are all the armies of Balaam made of children with powers like yours?" Lime almost answered. She then said, "I'm the only child. The rest are all adults and super machine-life beings of greater power. Why? Find out you guys are cannon fodder for the Scourge?" Ushas said, "We can't fight against people like you!" Lime sighed, "That IS the whole idea! When we teleport, swallow. Your ears will pop." Ushas just had time to ask,"TELEPORT?" Lime grabbed her by the arm and they left the dying world behind with a loud POP to continue dying. Alone. --TO BE CONTINUED!--