The fin rose, revealing an armored exterior, and an insectoid maw. Mandibles clashed together, and the alien leaped, exposing a powerful tail and a streamlined body. It punched through the sand like a bullet, now zeroed in on Adlai. He leapt out of the way, his heart pumping hard. He turned to see their supplies decimated, the water trickling slowly into the sand. Mouth full of MRE’s, the alien disappeared into the sands. All of them stared at the ripped bottle of water, now completely empty.

Shawna spoke for them all. “Well, we’re fucked.”

The rest of the night was spent with them searching for some sort of high ground, not on the sand. The group decided to go back to their pod, the stasis fluid almost completely dried up. The night had brought a relieving coolness, and they rested, Averi and Shawna falling asleep as Adlai kept watch. The sands shifted constantly, and the whole desert lit up as denizens of the cave rose up from previously hidden cracks. Adlai watched in wonder as the night sky was filled with bright lights, and the silent night gave way to the hauntingly beautiful calls of the cave aliens. Some he recognized from his field guide, others were new to him, and to science. The lights got closer towards him however, and he realized that they were heading towards the pod. Panicked, he hopped through the hatch and went to wake up the other two.

Averi woke with a grunt. “Huh?”

He reached for Shawna’s shoulder, and she grabbed his hand. “I’m awake.”

Wordlessly, he gestured to the top of the pod. They climbed up the hatch and were met with the glowing night. Averi’s jaw dropped, and Shawna stared as the aliens pushed past their pod. On the horizon a new glow appeared and the sky turned a beautiful lilac and periwinkle, a painter's brush smearing the colors across the horizon. As the Sun rose, the aliens retreated back into the caves, their exploration of the wreckage halted by the rising sun. The desert was quiet again, and the sun rose quickly.

The burning heat was alleviated slightly by being inside the pod, and the insulation would protect them. He felt thirsty, but not enough to be really worried. Averi had removed her prosthetic, and was massaging her stump. Shawna sat in the opposite corner, eyes closed. They lost their chance to explore the pods, and Adlai guessed that the aliens had come to search the crash for food. Dead bodies would be plentiful. He sighed and leaned back against the pod. Nothing to do now but wait. Suddenly, he remembered something. Rummaging through the storage sections, Adlai searched for his bag. He pulled out a worn wooden case and opened it up, revealing a checkerboard. He pulled out another, smaller bag with a drawstring and emptied out the contents.

“Chess anyone?”

A slight smile split Shawna’s face. “Let’s play.”

Averi snored in response. The two survivors faced each other.

Adlai gestured towards the board. “Your move.”

“Very gentlemanly. Too bad I’m still gonna beat you.”

Adlai only grinned in response. He had learned how to play chess from his mother, and her mother’s mother had handed down the board and pieces. His father would always talk about how his mother was descended from a long line of chess greats, and she would always blush in response. It wasn’t empty talk however, and his mother was at her best over a board of chess. She seemed to always think ten steps ahead, leaving even both Adlai and his father stumped. Eventually, after one too many defeats, an angry Adlai flipped the board.

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“Hey!” His mother said. “There’s no point in getting frustrated with losing. Each time you lose, or fail you learn something. Let me show you what you’re doing wrong.”

Adlai absorbed what his mother taught him like a sponge, literally writing notes down. A few months later, at the ripe age of fourteen, he finally beat her. He remembered his mother handing this chess set over to him, telling him it was his prize. Later on, a few weeks before his parents left on their own colony ship, he played his last few games of chess with his mother. His dad sat to the side of him reading a book. He lost every round. By the fifth game he was staring at his mother in awe, wondering how he won a year ago.

She winked at him. “I let you win that time. You remember? Do you want to know why?”

“You might as well tell me, given that you’re completely crushing my confidence here.”

She laughed, her eyes sparkling. “Confidence is exactly it. You- no, everyone performs better when they’re confident in themselves. I wanted to give you that confidence. Your dad can barely hold out against me for five minutes, and here you are giving me a hard time! Without that confidence, you probably wouldn’t have improved at all. Adlai, you’re a quiet kid, you’re like your dad in that regard.” His father chuckled behind his book.

“The thing is, me and your father learned to be confident. You need to be confident. You are amazing, and you make us both proud just being here. Believe in that! I know it’s hard to, it’s hard to think that you could fit those descriptions, but me and your dad truly believe that. Alright, let’s play one more game.”

Adlai was snapped back to reality with Shawna snapping her fingers in front of his face.

“Beanpole, your move.”

A couple of minutes in, Shawna stared angrily at a board nearly devoid of all her pieces. Adlai’s rook and queen were about to deliver the killing blow. Adlai leaned back, soaking in the glory of his pieces’ bloody victory.

Shawna sighed through her nose. “I forfeit, you win. You’re too smart for this, I never was good at chess.”

“You played?”

“Oh yeah, my parents were really into it. They always beat me though, I don’t think I ever won a game against them.”

“My mom was. She beat me nearly every single game. I learned a lot from her teaching me. I can show you some of the tricks she taught me if you want?”

“Sure.”

Adlai began teaching Shawna the techniques his mother had taught him, the both of them laughing at his struggle to teach her. At that moment, he felt happy and whole. The sun slowly set, swirls of color painting the horizon. Both of them felt the deep chill.

Adlai sighed. Time to go under, but first, the radio.