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It was late in the afternoon when the drilling finally reached the subterranean world adjacent to the mountain. The massive drill that had been used to penetrate the planet had been fitted with large drills on its sides and had flattened the surface of the small planet. A tunnel, wide enough for six military transports, was now open in the crust of the small planet. All that remained was to drill down into its crust, which would take several hours due to the size of the mountain that was originally on the planet. The din was deafening as the miners drilled down. It was a small miracle that no one had been injured yet.
Barker stood outside the drilling station with his squad leader. He felt confident about the situation, despite the loud drilling that sent vibrations, and drips of condensed water onto the ground. They were out in the open, far from any structure, which was why Barker was puzzled when a large drop of water dripped on his helmet. He looked up to see towering alien creatures that he was told could only be seen from space. He wondered why his sergeant had not warned him about them, but his question was answered when he noticed that his helmet had holes in it. Suddenly, he heard gunfire and looked up to see the sergeant firing at the alien creatures. They seemed to be trying to penetrate the military's defenses and it looked like they had succeeded. The sergeant looked up and then down again to see the aliens shooting at him with some kind of weapon that appeared to fire fast-moving projectiles. An explosive device thudded into the earth near them and several of the miners were blown to bits. The sergeant began firing at the alien creatures with his laser rifle but several more of the aliens landed on the ground near Barker and the sergeant.
"Get down!" yelled the sergeant. A heavy-duty explosive; capable of destroying any non-mechanized, light weight, military vehicle, was then dropped by an alien creature, which blew a hole in the ground right near them. Barker looked at the hole, which he could fit in, and considered risking it. His thoughts were interrupted, however, by another alien who was even larger than the others. This alien had fire shooting from its mouth as it blasted toward Barker and the sergeant. The fire engulfed them and the alien creatures surrounding them. Barker felt intense heat before the world began to spin. Then he was looking at the sky, seeing a pair of legs and feet looking down at him. He reached up to see that the person standing above him was the sergeant. Barker smiled as he saw small drops of water coming from the sky. Then he looked up at the sergeant, who didn't seem to be as excited as Barker was.
"Are you okay?" asked the sergeant.
"Yes," responded Barker.
"It's raining!" exclaimed the sergeant, as he pointed up at the sky.
Barker looked up at the sky, which now was pouring out a torrent of water. The sergeant pulled a survival suit out of his pack and instructed Barker to help him put it on.
"We're trapped here!" yelled the sergeant, as the rain began to pour out of the sky. The sergeant began to laugh, as he joined Barker in taking off his helmet to expose his face to the rain. Barker joined in.
Barker headed into the heart of the alien world, showing his sergeant the way. He found the small rivers that the drilling had opened in the opening of the mountain. The miners could be seen on the banks of these rivers enjoying the sun, swimming in the rushing waters.
The sergeant and Barker, now wearing the survival suits, made their way through the water to one of the alien creatures, which was floating on a piece of driftwood. Barker reached out to touch the creature but was surprised to feel it pass through the creature for several feet in front of him. It seemed to disappear as he moved his hand away. A survival suit was left on the spirit of the creature, however. The sergeant took it and decided to wear it. Barker could not understand why.
"Let's find the river's end," said the sergeant. Barker could see several more aliens lying in the water. He suspected they were dead, but decided not to tell the sergeant. They followed the river for several hours, with every step getting louder and louder. Barker was soon aware of a crackling sound; as if his foot was stepping on something that was being crushed beneath him. He looked down to see black shells of animals, which the sergeant told him were called snails. He then felt something moving underneath his foot and realized it was another section of the river being crushed. He walked on and the sound of the river subsided. They continued and after another hour they reached the end of the river.
"Let's find a place to camp," suggested the sergeant.
"Are there others here?" asked Barker, who was surprised that the sergeant had spoken at all.
"Yes, but getting rid of them would just make the problem we're facing worse," replied the sergeant.
Then they came across a rock ledge, where several small animals were huddled together. The sergeant attacked them and fed them to the alien creatures. Then a small scout ship landed nearby. The sergeant quickly went over to the ship and climbed aboard, leaving Barker on the ledge.
A man, who Barker guessed was its pilot, flew the ship over to him.
"Your suit can keep you alive for a few weeks," said the pilot. "Are you the team leader?"
"No," replied Barker.
"What did the sergeant call you?" asked the pilot.
"Barker. Are there others here?"
"A few hundred kilometers from here. I'm not sure how much time we have but there's an outpost on our world and we can contact them if we need help. But we may have to leave here, and while it's possible we could get back to Earth, if the outpost is destroyed we'll never see Earth again."
"Any way to reach them?"
"Yes, but only if we can rebuild our ship."
"How's that possible?"
"I don't know, but I suggest we move away from here. There are several of those creatures now and they seem about to attack us."
The pilot flew in a wide circle around the mountain and headed out over the ocean, back toward the outpost. He didn't hear Barker's reply but then saw him on the cliff top, waving his helmet over his head.
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