Survivor by Saffron Bryant

the planet's current orbital position,
the day and night cycle aren't consistent," Cal said. "My sensors
suggest there will still be three more hours of darkness."
    Raised voices drew Nova's attention back to
the aliens. Three creatures were gathered around a metal cylinder
the size of full-grown man. An Ancient stepped forward and gestured
towards it. Another Ancient ran forward and spoke in a flurry of
syllables, also pointing at the cylinder.
    The bigger creature nodded once and they all
stepped back, almost to the line of trees.
    The smaller aliens gathered around and
propped up the metal cylinder.
    "What are they pointing at?" Nova asked.
    A second video feed opened on Crusader's
front screen showing the sky and the small red moon. The image was
tilted to one side; the camera feed had to be from a toppled
ship.
    "Based on the angle of trajectory, they're
pointing at the moon," Cal said.
    The faint crimson glow reflected off of the
metal cylinder and bathed the surrounding ground in red.
    An Ancient pressed a raised red button on
the side of the cylinder and dove towards the trees. They scrambled
over one another. Grunts and shouts crackled over the audio
channel.
    One Ancient was knocked back by his
companions and fell into the sand. His heavy metallic body sunk
deep. It struggled to get up, like a turtle on its back. Its head
swung desperately, glancing first at the device, and then at the
other Ancients, safely in the cover of the trees.
    Nova's fingers clenched around her spoon,
something tightening in her throat. The Ancients were scared, and
that terrified the shit out of her.
    The command pod filled with sound. A booming
explosion echoed into every crevice of Crusader, blowing out some
of the speakers.
    Nova ducked, covering her head with her
hands and squeezing her eyes shut. She waited for the inevitable
rain of shrapnel, but nothing happened. She unclenched her arms and
stood on shaky legs.
    The cylinder was still there but surrounded
by a crater gouged into the sand. The Ancient which had fallen over
was now just a red splash on the sand. Pieces of black armour
dotted the ground around the crater, intermixed with chunks of raw
flesh.
    The device glowed red-hot, almost white.
Nearby sand had been melted into chunks of glass.
    Nova's mouth hung open.
    The aliens spoke rapidly in excited tones.
They gestured and pointed to the sky. It was only then that she
noticed the second video feed. The red glow from the second moon
was gone. All that remained was a gaping piece of space with
nothing in it.
    "They destroyed a moon with that tiny
thing?" she said. Her words caught in her throat and came out as a
whisper.
    "Worse," Cal said. "According to Crusader's
readings, they turned it into a black-hole."
    "They what?"
    "The energy from the gun compacted the moon
into a mini black-hole. It lasted only a fraction of a second, but
it was there."
    "How can that be?"
    "Tiny black-holes lose their energy almost
as soon as they're formed. Your eyes wouldn't have detected it, but
the scanning equipment did."
    Cal's voice was panicked.
    Nova's mouth flapped but no words came out.
Such technology was impossible.
    "It can't be," Cal said.
    "You just told me that's what happened."
    "Yes, but it can't. No weapon could create a
black-hole."
    "Well apparently theirs can," she said.
    It felt as though her heart had dropped
through to her stomach with the demonstration. The sight of such
awesome power, tossed around for the sake of a test-run, was
mind-boggling. She trembled at the thought of what else they could
assemble.
    What had felt like an exciting adventure was
slipping into a nightmare. The hairs on Nova's neck stood on end,
poised and waiting.
    She breathed hard. Her hands gripped the
metal control panel, her spoon lying forgotten on the floor like
the porridge at her side. It could get cold, go mouldy and grow its
own ecosystem and she still wouldn't have noticed. It was too much.
There was no way she could walk out there with