Mira froze, eyes locked on the enormous saurian head poking in through the tent flaps. Thick green scales studded its immense, blunt, wedge shaped head and a crest of horns ran across the top of its heavily ridged eye sockets, catching the light as it pushed in closer. A pale pink tongue flickered out as if to taste the air. The movement snapped Mira from her daze. She shrieked in terror and scrambled back away from it. The stranger at the entrance acted almost instantly.

“Kopil!” he snapped as he swatted it across the snout with the palm of his hand, barking out a series of unintelligible phrases. The big lizard jolted back, then slunk away emitting an almost puppy-like whine. He turned back to her and said something in what was possibly an apologetic tone. She looked up at him, confused and more than a little scared. He grunted and squatted down in front of her, rummaging through the boxed supplies.

He was a large man, perhaps just under two metres tall, broad shouldered and bull-necked. His rich, black skin was deeply wrinkled from a lifetime out in the sun and the wind. Mira guessed he was in his late forties or possibly even older. He had a broad face with a high forehead and wide, upturned lips under an oft broken nose. His black hair was cut close to the scalp, small patches of grey showing through in spots. He wore tough outdoor clothes, dusty and covered in pockets and pouches under a long brown coat. She spotted a pistol holstered at his right hip, an empty scabbard on his left. He let out a happy sounding grunt as he found whatever he was after. Sitting back down he lifted the carton he’d found and cracked the seal. Inside were several foil packets. Mira recognised them as the emergency ration packs from the Donatello. Pulling out two he tossed one to her and began peeling open his own.

Warily Mira picked up her own and peeled off the foil. Normally the dense cakes of high energy protein bars would be extremely unappetizing to her but it had been many hours and several vomit inducing spins since her last meal. She attacked it savagely, forgetting almost everything around her as she chewed. A piece of it caught in her throat causing her to cough. A long arm passed her a water bottle that she greedily gulped from before wordlessly handing it back. As she finished the first pack another was handed to her. She ate half before looking up at her saviour? Captor? He sat on a stool at the foot of the bed, watching her carefully. When he was sure he had her attention he lifted a hand palm up and spoke.

“Ey Yo, brakatta denello mish?” he said with a searching look on his face. He had a very deep, raspy voice. Mira blinked before staring at him confused. Frowning he tried again in a different language, this one full of clicking consonants and sibilant hisses. When this didn’t work he tried again, this time in a guttural tongue that made Mira flinch back at the harshness of it. Over and over this stranger spoke to her in foreign languages. Finally, he slumped forward, elbows on knees and said in halting Old English. “What about this? You understand?”

It was a dialect everyone on the Donatello had had to learn. The root of one of their own tongues, Old English had been one of the many languages spoken before the Exodus. It had been hoped that it would provide a common ground for communication should any contact be established. Against all odds, it had. As her eyes widened in recognition he beamed delightedly.

“Finally! You understand me, yes? You speak this?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, nodding.

“Good, good! I am Anan. What is your name?” he spoke in short clipped sentences. The way one does when not entirely fluent with a language.

“Ensign Mira Sands, of the United Planets Ship Donatello” she said quickly. “Where am I? Who are you? What was that thing outside!?” The questions came thick and fast, her voice rising as she spoke. Anan raised both his hands and made a ‘slow down’ gesture.

“Speak slow please” he said “out of practice. Will get better. I am Anan. Big lizard is Kopil. We found you. Days ago. Kept you safe. Nasty bang on the head, didn’t know if you’d wake up.” He gestured towards her leg under the blanket. “Stitched your leg too.” He dug around in the boxes near his feet before tossing a small package to her. “Clothes from your...” he searched for the word, “ship? Ship. Clothes from your ship. Get dressed. I wait outside. Shout my name when ready and we can talk.” He stood and turned to leave. As he reached the exit he stopped and faced her. “Don’t come outside yet. Big fight last night. Cleaning up”. He stooped and left the tent, leaving Mira on her own again.

She began to dress in the clothes Anan had given her, wincing as her aching limbs protested. An almost comically oversized grey three-piece uniform it nevertheless was relatively comfortable and hard wearing. After carefully slipping the trousers on she pulled the tab at her waist until it was tight enough to not fall down. She repeated the process at the knees and ankles before donning the long sleeved shirt and jacket. Once these had been tightened up she looked around for her shoes. Not seeing any she swung her legs out from the camp bed, hissing as the motion caused her thigh to ache. Taking care not to aggravate her injury she carefully rooted through the boxes of survival gear until she found a pair of socks and boots. The boots like the uniform could be resized to fit her. Not as comfortable as made to measure clothing but better than going around barefoot.

Picking up a water bottle and toying with it she sat back down on the bed. She was surprised by how calm she felt. She knew that she should be out of her mind with fear or mourning the loss of her friends and ship, but right now she felt detached from it all, like it wasn’t real. Too much had happened for her to properly process things. It was like there was a wall between her and all the turbulent emotion, eventually this wall would come crashing down but for now it stood strong and unyielding.

“Anan?” she called out. With a sudden rapid patter of steps Kopil’s huge head poked in through the tent again. Mira shrieked and threw the water bottle at it. The bottle bounced off the crest of spines arcing over the beast’s right eye. It hissed at her but stayed where it was.

“Kopil!” Anan shouted from outside. Kopil’s head jerked and suddenly retreated from the tent. Anan stepped into the tent, drying his hands on a rag. “Sorry about him,” he said, “looks scary.” He paused. “IS scary but means no harm. Like big scaly dog”.

“What is it?” Mira asked, nervously looking around Anan in case Kopil came back.

“Scalehound,” said Anan simply, “best friend I ever had. You not seen one like him before?”

Mira shook her head. “There’s nothing like it, him back home. Nothing like the blue thing either.”

Anan’s expression hardened. “Cloud hunter, nasty thing. Eats everything. You get stung?” She shook her head. “Good,” Anan continued, “strong poison in tendrils. Lucky to be alive. Bad times, yes? Safe now.” He sat down on the camp chair and studied her carefully. “Who are you?” he said finally. “Said United Planets before,” he stopped, his eyes widening, “you’re from EXODUS aren’t you?”

This took Mira by surprise and she answered before she could stop herself. “Yes, I’m from Tamaho on Gilese. We, I mean the Donatello, came through the transit ring. We wanted to see the home world, see if anyone survived. The-then…” she trailed off, her voice quiet. Tears began to trickle down her cheeks as the fear and stress of the last few days finally washed over her. The wall had begun to crumble. It took a long time but she told him everything.

She told him about how proud she felt when she joined the crew of the Donatello, watching her parents and siblings wave her off as the coach pulled away. She realised she might never see them again. She broke down, tears streaming down her face.

In faltering Old English, she spoke of her first days aboard the Donatello, the nervousness and excitement she felt every time she was called to the bridge. She remembered seeing the gleaming wheel of the transit station and realised there were no words to express the awe she felt at that moment.

Talking about the transition was difficult. While she had been on the bridge at the time as a porter she wasn’t privy to the secrets of faster than light travel. All she could talk about was the tense atmosphere and feeling of anxiety that only increased as the countdown ticked away. That sudden feeling of intense acceleration, gone as soon as it started, took her several attempts to convey. Anan seemed to understand in the end, he grunted something about a push field and motioned for her to continue.

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She smiled when she recalled what happened next, her crushing the captain’s tablet and her subsequent dressing down by the grumpy quartermaster. It had seemed so scary at the time but paled in comparison to what happened next.

She talked about the days of training and preparation as the Donatello cruised through space towards Earth. The boredom and frustration as she struggled with the language lessons on top of her normal duties.

Her smile faded as she spoke of the terrifying flight from the Donatello. The way the floor shook with each unseen impact. Her fingers gingerly touched her bruised throat as she talked about her fight with Jaz. That awful moment when the lifeboat launched, the way Quartermaster James’ eyes stared into hers as they shrank away into the distance and the pounding on the door suddenly went quiet.

It was some time before she could continue.

When she spoke of how helpless she felt at hearing her crewmates die out in the void - their voices on the radio cutting out one by one- she almost broke down for a second time. Anan handed her a bottle of water and waited patiently for her to continue.

The strange combination of terror and boredom, trapped by lifesaving restraints for hours on end. Tired, hungry and covered in vomit. Her only companion a murderer. Her voice turned harsh and her words bitter. Even in death she couldn’t forgive Jaz for what he had done.

The re-entry into the atmosphere and subsequent attack was still fresh in her mind; she could still feel its claw as it ground against the bone of her thigh.

“Then I crawled out of the lifeboat and passed out. Next thing I knew I was here,” she finished, gesturing at the tent. It was dark outside now; she’d be talking for hours. At some point Anan had switched on the light hanging from its hook in the tent. The soft yellow glow cast shadows across the room. These were made more disturbing by the sharp spines on ridges across Kopil’s large saurian head. At some point the huge lizard had once again nosed its way into the tent. It, he, lay there, chin resting on one equally large, scaly paw. Mira flinched at the sight of his curved claws but didn’t say anything.

Anan glanced over his shoulder and shrugged. “He likes stories,” he said, simply. “Want to go outside? Get some fresh air?”

Mira realised how stiff she felt as stood and stretched. She made for the tent flap and paused. “Is it safe?” she asked.

Anan nodded. “Camp is safe, beasties here when we found you but Kopil scared them off.” At the mention of his name the big lizard raised his head and gave that odd hissing bark. “Come outside,” Anan continued, “have fire and food then you can get some sleep”. With that he stood and walked out of the tent, stepping neatly around Kopil as he did. The beast withdrew a few seconds later.

Mira paused before leaving. She felt much better than she had before telling Anan everything. Simply talking about it all helped. She knew the feelings of panic and fear would never leave her but for now they felt fainter. She felt safer. The wall was taller than ever.

It took some effort to lever herself to her feet but she managed it. Actually walking proved to be a bit more difficult. In the end she was able to slowly shuffle along, leaning on the stacked supplies for support. She found a spare tent pole and used it as a makeshift walking stick before cautiously stepping outside.

The air outside the tent was cool and refreshing. Anan was sitting on a crate a few metres away, toasting something over a small fire. He waved her over and she approached, looking around the small campsite as she did so.

Three tents had been set up in a ring around the small fire pit in the centre, a dozen metal poles -capped with black plastic like an artificial mushroom- ringed the perimeter of the camp. Wires at ankle, waist and head height stretched from each pole to its neighbours. A small truck had been parked behind her tent.

A quiet, almost polite bark from behind her caused her to freeze in her tracks. She slowly turned around to see Kopil lounging on the floor next to her tent. She shrieked and scrambled away, falling to the floor as her wounded leg gave out. The beast was massive. Perhaps 3 and a half metres long from the blunt tip of his snout to the bony blades on the end of his whip-like tail. The crest of spikes stretched the whole length of his body too, with more jutting out at the knee and elbow joints. Four long, powerful limbs let him move with speed and grace as he circled her. He didn’t move like any reptile she’d seen before, more akin to a tiger than a crocodile.

Kopil stopped circling and slowly advanced towards her, a low rumble building in his chest, Mira could see the wicked sickle claws on each foot tapping out a beat as he advanced. She felt his hot breath on her face.

Suddenly, Anan was between the two, a steaming piece of meat in his hands. Kopil’s eyes snapped to the meat and he let out a happy bark, his tail stirring up dust as it swept back and forth. Tossing the meat to the big lizard Anan held out a hand to Mira and helped her back up; she hid behind him, her eyes locked onto Kopil.

“Sorry bout him,” Anan said as he guided her back to the fire, “gets excited with new people, wouldn’t have hurt you”.

Mira glanced over her shoulder and watched Kopil as he dashed around the camp, the bit of meat hanging out of his mouth. Acting for all the world like a dog with a new toy.

Anan motioned Mira to a stool in front of the fire, and then dropped into his own opposite her. “Hungry? Thirsty?” he asked, holding out a tin mug. She took it and stared at the brown liquid. “It’s tea,” he said, taking a swig out of his own mug.

Mira took a cautious sip. The tea was strong and sweet with a pungent aroma. “Thank you,” she said softly. “Is all this yours?” she asked, gesturing at the camp with her free hand.

“Yup,” Anan said, nodding. He took another gulp of his tea. “Mine and Kopil’s.” He pointed at the truck. “The tents are mine too. Don’t normally have other people with me but good to be ready,” he looked around for a few seconds before bellowing, “Kopil! Trol!”

Kopil’s thorny head shot up and he began to run in small circles, picking up speed he leapt over the wire fence and disappeared into the dark, hissing happily as he did so. Anan turned back to Mira. “Sent him to patrol the camp, nothing round here but us but pays to be safe. He scares you?”

The question caught her by surprise, and she blurted out her answer. “Yes,” she said and nodded, “he’s a monster”

Anan’s eyes narrowed and he spoke carefully. “Don’t use that word. Lot people round here don’t like it.”

Mira flushed and stammered an apology which he waved away. “You didn’t know. Is OK. Words change,” he nodded to the fence Kopil had leapt over, “you not seen re-genes before?”

Mira shook her head. Anan was quiet for a moment as he worked out what to say. “Re-genes, old war tech. Change bits of an animal or add bits from another one. Make it better for different things. Like Kopil. Made for tracking, hunting. Really hard to kill. Bought him in….,” his voice trailed off as he remembered, “German city ten years ago. He’s a small one but clever.” He paused again before looking at Mira over the top of his mug. “Why are you here? Why has EXODUS come back?” he asked.

The sudden change of subject caught her by surprise and it took her a moment to answer the question. “Curiosity. This is where we came from. We’ve been working on it for 50 years. We wanted to see what it was like. If anyone was still alive. All we found was death,” she trailed off and was silent for a moment before asking, “do you know who shot at us?”

Anan shrugged and pointed at the sky. “TITANS.” he said. Seeing her confused look, he continued. “Metal gods made in the war. Made to fight but rebelled and turned on us. They rule. From the deep, from the ground and from beyond the sky. Paranoid fuckers.”

Mira realised her mouth was hanging open. It was a lot to take in. She didn’t know where to start. Instead she tried a simpler question. “You said there was a fight, the night I woke up. I heard it outside the tent then Kopil appeared. What happened?”

Anan shrugged and refilled his mug before speaking. “Claim jumpers, scavengers. Lotsa old tech and supplies left after the wars. Sometimes old stuff falls out of the sky. We found your ship and you first. Stitched you up and set up camp. Buried your friend and pulled out all the supplies. They showed up and tried to take it. Buried them next to your friend.”

The casual way Anan spoke of violence sent a chill down Mira’s spine. She had to force herself to remember that this man had given her nothing but kindness since she’d woken up in her tent. She began to speak but it turned into a squeak as, with a softer sound than she thought he’d make, Kopil landed next to her. He dropped something on the ground in front of her and backed away. Seated as she was, the beast's head loomed over her. Kopil ducked down and nudged the lump towards her with his snout. It was a ball. Made of a tough, leathery material the head sized ball was nonetheless scratched and battered.

Anan chuckled into his cup. “Throw it for him,” he said. Gingerly, Mira picked up the ball. It was heavier than it looked, she realised, as she looked for a good direction to throw it in. With a grunt she hefted the ball to her left, in the opposite direction from Kopil. It had barely left her hand before the beast sprang and leapt over her head, seizing the ball in his jaws before landing gracefully. He padded back over- somehow looking terribly smug- and dropped the ball next to Anan. The man smiled and launched the ball into the camp. The next hour was spent in relative quiet. Each taking a turn to throw the ball for Kopil, who very rarely let it hit the ground. They spoke little but Mira decided that anything more would spoil the moment. She’d talked enough for today.

Eventually the game came to an end. Anan stood and helped Mira to her feet. He carefully led her back to her tent and bade her goodnight. “Sleep well miss,” his deep voice rumbled, “busy day tomorrow”. She could hear him outside sending Kopil on another patrol, his voice muffled by the tents thick fabric. Her leg still hurt but eventually she found a comfortable position on the camp bed and burrowed deeper into her blankets. Before she realised she’d fallen into a deep and thankfully dreamless sleep.