Connected by the Spider's Web

During my latest exploration, the last thing I expected to hear was a sudden shrieking cry. The landscapes I was exploring were filled with creatures that skittered, shuffled, clicked and squirmed around. A shriek meant something entirely different and possibly more dangerous. I slid off a nearby pile of rocks, pulled out my voice recorder, and placed a hand on my blaster gun.

“This is Sam, making my third audio log in the Infernal Caves on planet T-4579. I’ve been exploring the geysers and cave entrances and got caught in a geyser explosion. There was a weird sound after the blast and I plan on investigating the source.” I crept through the bright purple rocks, the color courtesy of the purple lava from the planet’s nearby volcanoes. I made sure my footsteps were quiet as I sat behind a boulder and peered around the side. At first, I saw a geyser still spilling out lilac steam that smelled of burnt sugar. Then I spotted two, hot pink, spindly legs, covered in nasty red and black burns. Then there were three legs, then five, then all eight legs came into view, along with a massive pink spider body, and eight, jet-black, panic stricken eyes. My heart dropped as I dove behind the rocks and I fumbled with the recorder.

“Okay… There is currently a Spiderling near the caves. It looks like they’ve been burned by a geyser…” I snuck another peek at the creature, “It looks pretty bad, they can’t stand up very well.” The Spiderling had given up on standing, and was trying to drag themselves away from the geyser. Seeing a Spiderling like this was odd ‘cause they’re pretty formidable. These creatures were equipped with speed, size, sharp fangs, paralyzing venom and antennae that can sting small bugs. But seeing them in so much pain made my heart clench. I know contact with extraterrestrials can be very dangerous. But I couldn’t just… leave them there to die. 

“I’m going to try and help them, and I’ll get back to this log if I’m successful. If not, you’ll get a warning from me, or you won’t hear anything at all.” I clicked ‘stop’ on the recorder and slowly crept towards the Spiderling. They instantly stiffened as I approached, a low hissing sound coming from their throat. I covered my blaster with my shirt and raised my hands above my head. “Hey, it’s okay. Uh, my name’s Sam and I want to try and help…” The antennae snapped against the floor like a whip, making a thin burn on the rocks. I jumped back to the boulder, “Okay, okay… I’ll stay back here…” I knew the Spiderling couldn't chase me, but they could still spit venom if they felt threatened. There had to be another way to state my intentions. 

Suddenly, Lightbulb moment! The Spiderling watched intently as I dumped my backpack on the ground. After sorting through my things, I grabbed my pocket knife and a glowing blue bottle of healing tonic. One slash later, blood dripped down my arm from a new, painful gash. Gritting my teeth, I shakily uncorked the bottle and squeezed three drops onto my cut. A moment later, the cut healed. I could’ve sworn the Spiderling’s eyes widened as they saw my skin sealing itself together. I tapped the bottle and pointed to the burns, hoping they would understand. Amazingly, the Spiderling stretched their legs towards me, a hiss informing me that this was a rather reluctant decision. I crept closer and squeezed a stream of tonic over the burns. The wounds hissed faintly as the tonic spread over the appendages. Slowly, the burns lightened in color and the burnt skin flaked away. The Spiderling moved gingerly, still hissing in pain, but their movements were much smoother. They looked over to me and bowed low to the ground. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought I was being thanked.

I smiled and bowed back, a neon blue glow worm catching my gaze. The Spiderling’s eyes gleamed at the sight of the worm and their antennae sparked with electricity. Unfortunately for them, the worm crawled away before the antennae could reach them. A realization hit me as the antennas drooped. Spiderlings usually ate large plants and bugs, but glow worms were basically catnip to them. And glow worms were only native in the Infernal Caves. I plucked up the worm and placed it in front of their fangs. The Spiderling snapped it up, making a happy chirping sound as they chewed the grub. It was so cute and innocent, my smile couldn’t help but stretch into a grin.

“You want more food?” I asked. The Spiderling cocked their head in confusion. Right, they can’t understand me. I looked around and plucked two more worms from the ground. I pointed to the worms, the nearby cave, which I knew was full of the critters, and pointed to their fangs. The Spiderling chirped three times and stretched their antennae towards the worms. I left them to munch happily while I packed my bag and set off towards the cave. “What am I doing?” I asked myself, “I was just supposed to explore caves, why am I feeding an alien?” I sighed and shook my head. If I were an injured alien, I would want someone to help me too, especially if I couldn’t get food for myself.

Eventually I made it to the mouth of the cave, switched on my headlamp and began gathering worms. I walked deeper and deeper in the cave, pulling worms from their burrows and keeping my ears open for any creatures. After a while, one hundred glow worms were squirming in a handkerchief and I was about to walk back. Then the skittering started. It was faint at first, like long nails tapping on a table. But as the skittering grew louder, a pitch black monster came charging at me. I was now face to face with a Knight Beetle, a massive underground creature with beady eyes, an immense black armor like shell covering their body, giant black crab-like legs and massive pincers. These pincers were swiping threateningly in the air as they charged at me. I stuffed the handkerchief in my bag and fled, flagging down the now limping Spiderling as they finally managed to stand.

“Run! Run away, go!” I shouted. My foot caught on a loose rock and I tripped, sprawling on the ground and sliding down the rocks. I recovered quickly and grabbed my fallen blaster gun. If I got caught by the beetle, I would definitely die, but I wasn’t going down without a fight. But it turns out the fight for my life wasn't happening today, thanks to the Spiderling hauling me up by the shirt and running away. I clutched my possessions for dear life as we limped away, the cries of the defeated Knight Beetle fading away in the sugar-scented wind.

“This is Sam, continuing the third audio log at the Luminous Lake west of the Infernal Caves. The rescue of the Spiderling was successful, but we were chased from the Caves from a Knight Beetle before I could do more exploring. They’ve also let me wrap their wounds with gauze so that the healing process isn’t interrupted by infection or anything else… I uh, I also learned new things about Spiderlings, like they understand my rudimentary sign language and gestures pretty well… I have to say. I didn’t expect any of this at all, but I’ll see if I can learn more about them and their behavior. This is the end of the third audio log, goodnight.” 

I stopped the recorder and laid in front of my campfire. It was a long way away from my Base Pod or the Spiderling’s web/burrow, so we made camp by the Luminous Lake. Bioluminescent plants, animals and the water glowed all throughout the landscape, turning the whole habitat into a glimmering, pastel wonderland. The Spiderling was having a great time with their food, since over a third of the glow worms were gone by this point. My stomach growled as I watched them eat. All of my food was at the pod, and I was a terrible hunter. But many creatures in the Lake were edible, and they were all I had. The Spiderling watched curiously as I aimed my pocket knife over the lake. I stabbed the blade through the water, but the fish, crabs and snails evaded me. “Come on,” I muttered, “I’m hungry! Just let me have something…” I struck again and almost got a crab on my blade. But my almost-victory earned me a hard pinch on my finger from the alien mollusk. I raised the knife again and violently flinched when my arm brushed the Spiderling’s leg.

“Hey! Didn’t see you there…” I said, putting my hand over my pounding heart. The Spiderling lifted their leg and pointed at an Aramenthia Blossom, a pink flower with shiny purple and blue “veins” in their petals at the water’s edge. My brow furrowed, “Yeah, what about it?” The Spiderling grabbed a few glow worms with their mouth and dropped them at the flowers’ roots. They chirped and hissed at the flower, using their legs to point at the lake and then to me. I leaned around them and watched as the blossom slowly bowed down and closed their petals around the worms. My mouth dropped open as the blossom chewed the worms. I knew it was carnivorous, but I’d never seen the flower eat before. And right now, I wish I could scrub that horrific sight from my brain forever. The leaves of the flower soon lengthened in size, stretching and swaying over the radiantly blue water. Soon, the plant reached in and wrapped one, two, three orange fish with large, flowing fins in their grasp, pulled them from the water, and tossed them at my feet.

“Uh… thanks… Thank you.” I said faintly. I grabbed one more glow worm from the pile and tossed it at the flower. I regretted that decision, since I had to witness the flower grab the grub out of the air and chew it once more. The fish was absolutely worth it though. The meat was so tender, it melted in my mouth and it was smoky and sweet at the same time. I gobbled down two of the fish and wrapped the third to go in my bag. “Thank you for your help,” I said, bowing once more to the Spiderling, “I’m going to go home.” I pointed east, drew a house in the dirt with a stick, and pointed to myself. “You get home safe, okay?” I pointed to the drawing, the Spiderling and signed the word ‘safe’. I began to walk away, but a hiss stopped me in my tracks. I turned to see the Spiderling tap the dirt next to them with their claw, chirping three times. 

“Oh… I can’t.” I said. I shook my head and stepped back, but they hissed louder. Their eyes were insistent as they tapped the dirt faster, dragging themselves closer to me. I ran my hands through my hair and looked around me. Past the Luminous Lake was pitch black wilderness. I had only explored a small section of the planet, and had never gone out at night before. If I went on my own, I could get attacked or killed before I get to the pod. Then all of my research would be wasted. Plus, I’d just saved their life. Staying with them was the least I could do. 

I sighed and set my bag back down at the fire. The Spiderling chirped happily, rolled on their back and clasped their legs over their stomach. I watched the water plants sway and the fish leap out of the water as the Spiderlings breathing deepened. As my eyes grew heavy and I laid down, I brushed against Silky’s legs again. I didn’t notice at the time, but the appendages were actually covered in downy little hairs. I stroked them gently with my fingertips, marveling at their texture. They were so… soft. So delicate. So-

“Silky.” I said softly. The Spiderlings- Silky’s-eyes flickered open. I smiled, “You know what? That can be a pretty good name for you, seeing as you're a spider and all.” I spelled out Silky in the dirt and pointed at them, “Silky.” Then drew my own name and pointed at me, “Sam. My name is Sam, let’s be… friends.” I held out my hand, palm up, hoping for a connection. Silky looked at our names on the ground, tapping them with their claw a few times before considering my open palm. My heart swelled with delight as Silky raised a leg and rested their claw against my palm. In that moment of contact, we just established a very odd, completely unexpected and definitely illegal friendship. If anyone in my research team visited and caught wind of this, I would be fired at best, isolated and experimented on at worst. But as I laid down to sleep with the end of Silky’s leg clutched in my hand, I knew that I wasn’t going to give my new friend up for anything.