The Creatures

Start your story with a character struggling to remember the date, because every day is like the last one.

The screaming never stopped. It took away the screamer with all its might. The deadly creature restored the silence in the space with one life lost.

The spaceship was drifting for days, and Tim lost the count. 

The space expedition to another planet, some lightyears apart from the Mars colony, turned out to be fatal for the crew aboard the spaceship.

'Can you time that event, Ron?'

'Two sunrises.'

'Are you sure?'

Ron forwarded the paper on which he had marked nearly 54 sunrises. The quantum jump had taken them to a place where the technology ceases to function, and the only thing that was familiar to them was the routine appearance and disappearance of the Sun-like star. The accident trapped the spaceship inside the outer orbit of a vast planet.

'Sir, the plants are responding to the sunrays and the water droplets. What about the soil, Sir?'

'Let us see, what we can do. Meanwhile, stock the items available. Also, give me the count on the crew,' ordered Tim.

'Sir, the last attack reduced us to nine,' Ron replied without any emotion. The sorrowless eyes full of redness and fatigue indicated the strain of this fruitful turned futile journey. The hope of returning the Mars Colony was dead in that eyes.

'Okay, count how many days we can survive with the available stocks?'

'Sir, oxygen, and water are on our side. We need solid food,' said John, the payload specialist. John was on this expedition to establish communication with Mars via a satellite. He would place a satellite into the orbit of the newly found planet. Luck had it that they were now orbiting like a satellite into the orbit of another unknown planet. 

'Where are you on our SOS?' asked Tim.

'No technology works in this orbit. It is like electromagnetic jammer is active around this planet infested with the deadly creatures,' said John.

'Is there nothing we can do? Think John, you are the specialist. Let us return home safely, shall we?' suggested Captain Tim.

'Yes, sir.' shouted both.

Tim resumed watching the atmosphere of that unknown planet that resembled mother earth, where his ancestors thrived for billions of years. The blue sky reflecting the abundant source of water on that planet. The terrain resembled the Earth, and that is what intrigued Tim. The only thing that was out of context was that cruel and vicious creatures that attacked and took away more than half of the crew of Tim's spaceship.

Three sunrises passed quietly as there was no incident of that vicious creature attacking the crew. The only thing that worked in their favor, for now, was that the creature never attacked the spaceship. It only went for those who were out on a spacewalk.

No big nails to mutilate the body or no long tongues or hairs to penetrate the body of the crew. Just a set of vicious teeth and blue eyes that can wreak havoc inside the mind of prey. There was never blood to be found, only the sudden stop of the scream followed by a deadly silence. The creatures attacked at night. That was the reason for Tim to cancel the night spacewalk by the crew. 

The sun trapped them in the day, and the darkness embedded with fear of that creature trapped them in the night. Two crew members escaped during the night to have at it. But the creature was waiting in the dark, and they did what they did, lessen the number count of crew members on that ship. 

Suddenly the alarms went off with a loud bang. The device began to operate normally. Everyone woke up to light inside the spaceship. John immediately let out an SOS. The electricity resumed its function of flowing and the electronic device resumed their work swiftly. 

In those excruciating days, Tim device a plan to enter the lower orbit via the pod and land on the surface, if somehow the device began to operate suddenly. The nine crew members ran towards the pod, apt in size and survival for all nine members. The creature sensed movement and it jumped away from the ship with the sudden outage of electricity.

Tim and crew members were left stranded in the escape pod. With no electricity, they would suffocate to death inside that life-saving pod. They exhausted every resource of survival within three sunrises. The only thing that they could enjoy was the oxygen and water that they had for the land. The time freeze for them with nowhere else to go. 

Suddenly, two loud thuds were heard by the crew members in the middle of the night. The electricity resumed and out of instinct one of the crew members opened the door instead of detaching from the spaceship. They all ran inside and drank as much water as they can and the newly grown potatoes. The energy recharged them but the electricity went out with a sudden jerk as soon as those two creatures flew away. 

'Tim, did you notice that?'

'Yes, Ron. The electricity resumes as they land on our ship.'

'It is like they have inbuild anti-jammer of electromagnetic waves.'

'And they have not attacked us yet.'

'Did you send as SOS?' Tim asked John.

'Yes, but you would not believe it cap. The signal goes out but it freezes like snow after few seconds.'

'What do you mean that it freezes?' asked Ron

'Like it turns into something solid and is attracted back to this planet gravitational pull, Ron.' answered John.

'We will be ready to drop down within a couple of seconds if electricity resumes. Prepare that way.' ordered Tim.

It went on like that for nearly three sunrises without any incident. Finally, Tim decided to bait the creatures. Luring them on the spaceship will help resume power, and all will escape but the bait. 

The plan worked and the escape pod carried all the nine crew to the surface and the bet was attached to the pod. 

They landed on the surface to be greeted with human-like faces. In that sea of faces, Tim located his lost crew members. They were safe and sound.

Those creatures turned out to be advanced robots placed in the outer orbit to protect the planet. The council decided to stay hidden from the rest of the universe to protect themselves from the intrusion by others that can lead to destruction. The new planet secluded itself from the universe by beaming electromagnetic jammer into the outer orbit. 

The creatures would ensure safe passage to the land. Those who got scared would lose the chance to survive, and those who endured would be welcomed by the planet. But no one should know about this planet. 

Tim accidentally got trapped inside the outer orbit of this planet and they were handpicked as a refugee by those creatures inside the planet. No message to be given to the universe of the existence of such a planet. 

The human species on this planet were advanced in their technology. They used that technology to defend themselves rather than expose themselves.