Alone on the dusty surface of Hortha, I hover using my jetpack and scan the ground for signs of movement. I keep low—I prefer hunting targets with my eyes rather than my scope. The terrain transitions from smooth brown rock to bright red mud, studded with tiny blue dots. Disengaging my thrusters, I land in a small puff of dust. I crouch, careful to avoid squishing the pulsing critters surrounding me—hundreds of them, spread over Gernam Crater's floor. They roll around and bounce off each other in a frenzy. I pluck one from the group with my gloved hand. Startlingly blue, it’s somehow thriving out here on the sunny orange mudflats, with no camouflage. Its ball-like body throbs, and it struggles to focus on me with its singular eye. No limbs, save for a tiny flexible proboscis. I take my handheld scanner and lift my prize up to the sensor, waiting for the readings to tick on the screen. The blob pulses at me, an eye swivelling in a slimy socket. —Specimen Scanned— A hologram o...
Del Sol SFF Review is a co-publication of the long running Del Sol Review. We strive to give writers a place to publish quality speculative fiction regardless of type or genre.