At the Edge of the Cosmos: SciFi Contest Entries 2022

We Didn't Know What We'd Caught

Contest: Cargo, September 2022
Host: @ScienceFiction
Prompt: Write a story based on this brief conversation:

"Captain, the ship is ready for jump now."
"Thanks, Andy. What about our cargo, Mex? Are you ready for transit down there?"
"Yes captain. All peaceful and quiet here. But - hey, stop this!"

Word count: 1,494
Content warnings: Existential horror; body horror; weird space stuff.

🥈 ScienceFiction Cargo Contest, September 2022

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We didn't know what we'd caught - underestimated what it could do.

We were children, playing with gods.

* * *

The Burch Patterson - a bulky freighter refitted for space exploration - climbed out of atmos, accelerating with enormous force, aiming for a point high above the planet's orbital plane.

In the hemispherical bridge set above the vessel's bulk, an excited crew prepped for transit. They were heading home for fame, glory, and hopefully considerable riches. This was the find of the millennia!

"Captain, the ship is ready for jump now," said the XO, Andy. They were just clearing the no-jump zone, freeing them to dive into hyperspace.

Captain Cliff nodded approvingly. "Thanks, Andy." Next, he lifted a plastic handset from its cradle near his chair. "Cargo bay - bridge. How's our cargo, Mex? Are you ready for transit down there?"

"Cargo - bridge. Yes captain, all peaceful and quiet here. But - hey, stop that! Get away!"

The comm went quiet.

Cliff scowled, leaning forwards. "Mex - Mex what's going on down there?"

More silence. Curious faces turned to look at their captain.

Then, just when Cliff was thinking something must have gone wrong, Mex returned.

"Sorry, sir. One of the lads got a little close to the cage. Everything's fine down here."

Something sunk in Cliff's stomach. For days he'd been ignoring a niggle in his gut that said this whole thing was a bad idea. Moments like these only made it worse.

His jaw tightened. "...and you're sure the cage will hold as we transit?"

"Oh yes, sir, quite sure. We've got this thing locked up tight."

"Hmm ... alright then. Andy? Start the clock."

"Aye sir," replied the XO. "Helm, begin countdown."

"Begin countdown aye."

And, with a scattering of button presses, the Burch Patterson began spooling up its gargantuan Transit Drive, which would poke a hole in spacetime and jump the vessel into hyperspace.

Down in the cargo bay, Mex folded his arms across his slender chest and stared at his cage.

And its captive.

They'd found it quite some days into their exploration of Gliese 412, on a noxious planet which they'd thought surely could not sustain life. But there it was: a floating blob of leathery black skin, prickled with feathery hairs. And oh how it moved! One moment it was a blob, then it would shrink, expand, sprout tendrils, then melt into a blob again. A fleshy lava lamp.

Eventually, the creature vanished into the ground without a trace. It wasn't until two days had passed that the crew saw more of the creatures upon the planet's surface, all of which seemed to care very little for physics. They floated without air or wings, and passed through rocks, lava, even whole mountains without effort. Like ghosts.