Gbryl stares down at his hands and notices the red hue that is one of the first signs of the disease. He holds them up to show his wife Eaana. She puts a hand to her mouth and a single tear falls from one of her bulbous eyes. They had seen most of the life on their home planet decimated by the disease; it gave no mercy to any living thing, not even the vegetation survived. Gbryl and Eaana are the only ones on the tiny craft as it leaves the orbit of their home planet, save for the tiny immature life-form that swirls in dirty looking liquid inside a four foot cylinder. The life-form is their soon to be born son, Brbyb.

"No!" is all Eaana can say before she begins to cry uncontrollably. Gbryl knows that it is best if he keeps his distance from his wife, the disease hasn't reached the stage where it's transmutable yet but still he'd rather err on the side of caution.

"Shhh, Eaana." Gbryl soothes. "It doesn't mean that you'll get it." Gbryl knows that this isn't true, that the disease is inside the very walls of the ship, living within the very bacteria that inhabit the nano-world.

"Of course I'll get it." Eaana spits, her mood changing from morose to one of anger, as though she was inebriated. "Everyone's got it. How long since anybody spoke to us?" She asks, pointing a leathery finger toward the communication system. Gbryl can only look at her; his mouth wants to move, to tell her that everyone is still alive. Tell her there is still some hope, that the blue planet will offer new life, new prospects, the building of a better world. He says none of this, merely allows it to trawl through his mind, his lips twitching intermittently as though to speak.

"We don't know that they're all dead." Gbryl says after a time.

"Oh for all that is holy, Gbryl!" Eaana screams. "When are you going to realise that everything's not going to be alright? They're all dead Gbryl. We are dead. He," Eaana points at Brbyb. "Is dead. There is no hope Gbryl. CSO Gbryl, Chief Science Officer, what a mistake that turned out to be."

"It's not over." Gbryl's voice comes soft, barely detectable but Eaana hears him easily enough. His tone gentle yet so firm it quashes Eaana's rising panic in an instant. "Not until I am dead will it be over."

"Where are you going?" Eaana asks, needlessly as there are only another two rooms on the ship, the tiny laboratory and the bedroom.

"Well I'm not going to sleep." He retorts with a final backward glance.

Gbryl works feverishly in the laboratory, mixing chemicals and analysing the results with the computer.

You should rest Gbryl.

"Just compute, computer." Gbryl spits, cursing the time he installed the empathy chip. There's a whirring sound and Gbryl imagines the computer going into a massive sulk, refusing to compute again until he apologises. Gbryl taps a leathery finger on the worktop, miming a repetitive bass-line that no ears will ever hear again.

Computations... complete. Gbryl ignores the computer's haughty tone and looks directly to the screen for the print out, reading it far faster than the computer can say it.

Disease immunisation...Fail...the disease will infect the whole ship in two BI-hors.

Matter transmission module...complete...module has been programmed to your specifications. Gbryl sighs, the disease had beaten him again and with only two BI-hors left, less than that maybe, he is glad he thought of a back-up plan. He takes the tiny, black, spherical module and whispers into its shiny surface. The module listens to the coordinates before floating into the control-room and towards Eaana. She turns in time to see it coming in, Gbryl following after it.

Gbryl sighs, the disease had beaten him again and with only two BI-hors left, less than that maybe, he is glad he thought of a back-up plan. He takes the tiny, black, spherical module and whispers into its shiny surface. The module listens to the coordinates before floating into the control-room and towards Eaana. She turns in time to see it coming in, Gbryl following after it.

"What is it?" Eaana asks, she is familiar with her husband's work and the question was asked in shock. "They're experimental!"

"It is your only hope now." Gbryl tells her from the doorway.

"No!" Eaana squeals. "What of Brbyb?"

"Him to."

"No! You can't, he's not ready." Eaana moves away from the cylinder.

"Move back to the birth chamber." Gbryl warns. "We have no time, he is ready enough. If you don't move back now he will go alone, and die alone." Eaana is stunned by his words and out of instinct she stands next to the cylinder; the black module floats into the air directly above.

"Come with us." Eaana pleads just at the moment the module activates itself. Gbryl doesn't bother to answer instead he merely watches as both wife and cylinder are demoleculised.

Gbryl waits until they are gone before walking fully in to the control-room. He sits down at the panel; he knows exactly how long it should take, if it takes any longer than that then he will know that both his wife and son are dead. He will have failed and the whole human race will be extinct.

A led flicker on the control panel gives Gbryl cause to grunt satisfactorily. The light indicates that they have both been transported to the planet safely.

"Computer, initiate self-destruct."

Gbryl, you do realise that if I activate the sel...

"Just do it."

Eaana pleads with her husband to come with them, to not leave them alone on an Alien world. He has always looked after her, how will she cope? And then... he is gone.

The roar of some gigantic beast at her back is the introduction to her new home. She doesn't look back, her fear too great to bear facing it. Eaana wraps her arms around the cylinder and drags it as quickly as she can away from the beast. It roars again, the sound loud enough to cause her left ear to ring. The terrain is very rocky and in her haste, along with the heavy cylinder, she falls. Eaana turns in horror to see the cylinder crash to the floor, a jagged rock manages to pierce it and the fluid starts to pour out from inside. All thoughts of the beast instantly leave her mind as she rushes to the cylinder and hastens to take off the top. She knows that her only hope is that the child's lungs have developed. The top comes off and the fluid gushes into her lap, her hands waiting there to catch her son as he rides the current. She emits a slight panicked sob as he falls lifelessly into her hands, memories of tele-dramas- the midwife lifting the baby by its ankle and smacking its rear- Eaana mimics it, only the drama is real and so are her prayers.

The child inhales his first realization of breath, then promptly begins to cry with shock. Eaana cradles her son to her middle breast, cupping his tiny head in her hand; it is only then that her thoughts turn back to the beast.

The child inhales his first realization of breath, then promptly begins to cry with shock. Eaana cradles her son to her middle breast, cupping his tiny head in her hand; it is only then that her thoughts turn back to the beast.

The beast, although large, hairy and sporting two mammoth tusks had not appeared to be interested in her, or indeed even given chase. The beast roars again and she realises that this may simply be its want rather than the prelude to aggressive intention or even the intelligent need to communicate.

Another roar, very similar to the beast's that is standing fifteen feet from her, this time though it comes from a position she can't see, from the hill that she is leaning against. The beast in front of her roars back in reply and she realises that she was wrong- that the roar is some kind of communication. Just as this realization has fully revealed itself in her mind she sees the reason for the creature's, now obvious, distress. A group of humanoids, hunter/gatherers have sectioned the beast away from its herd. The humanoids are similar in structure to her, only squatter, more pronounced, not as subtle as her own features. They are wearing furs and some seem to have a better idea than the others do about the art of tailorship.

Three of the eight humanoids are female, Eaana reasons, as they are a couple of inches shorter than the males, although just as hairy, and they have a pair of extended teats for suckling their young. They seem to communicate almost mentally with each other as they circle the beast; three of the males are striking at it with long spears that have sharp stone tips. The others are throwing large rocks at it as it runs out of places to go, but each of the throwers are holding back a special sharpened rock in their hand. Eaana guesses that it is saved for the finale, when the beast is down. She decides to move while the humanoids are busy, she would be an easy kill for any one of them, her intelligence no match for the dangers of an alien world.

Eaana gets to the top of the hill and looks out over an expansive plain, she can see the herd fretting as it worries over their lost member, can see a mass of greenery a few miles ahead, what she doesn't see is hope. The scientists were right, the planet does harbor intelligent life, only none capable or willing to help her. She drops to her knees; her son takes a break from suckling to look up at her, and smiles. She knows she should end it all, but how could she take the life of something so precious? She knew she wouldn't be able to do it, she didn't need the memory of her husband niggling at her that there is always hope. Aye, and what a hope that is, she retorts to the vision of him in her mind. It is a slim one, she knows, and she'll most likely be killed the moment they lay eyes on her, but she has little choice.

Eaana turns back down the rocky hill, towards the humanoids that are cutting large pieces of meat from the beast while it lays breathing its last. One of the females spots her first and squeals a warning to the others, pointing her finger to emphasize the direction of the danger. Eaana drops to her knees to show she means no harm, kissing her son's head in an effort to control her rising panic.

"Shhhh." She soothes into his wispy hair, smiling in genuine pleasure as it sways against her breath. The three spear carriers pick up their weapons and begin to approach her cautiously, the stone tips waving this way and that as the humanoids appear to be deciding where to stab her first. Eaana looks at them, knows she has to meet their eye if she is to have any chance of surviving. One of them smiles showing mottled teeth, and she realises that he is looking at her breasts. Their women only have two where as Eaana has three, and it is with a certain severe disgust that she notices his arousal.

One of the women suddenly runs in front of the spear-carriers, shouting at them unintelligibly and pushing them away. She turns to Eaana and smiles showing the same mottled teeth, she motions with her hands towards Eaana's son. Eaana shows him to her and she stares in wonder, her puzzled look meets Eaana's eye and something passes between them, something akin to friendship.

Eaana joined with the group and was soon taken as the randy spear-carrier's mate. The group didn't seem to have a regular base because they moved around quite a lot, Eaana soon learned that they were all their regular bases that are situated in various spots around the territory. Which meant that there were also similar bands of humanoids out there. She found herself idly dreaming of an intelligent civilization that is somehow set apart from all this madness, maybe to the north, or maybe under ground. Of being given a comfortable bed and being warmed by artificial heat, the luxury of a hot well cooked meal. It was only memories of these things that kept her from descending into madness, these and the survival of her son. She needed to stay sane, for him.

Eaana witnesses her first evidence of other humanoids one night as she is dreaming of home. A small band of three males raid the camp, it comes as a surprise and in the confusion two of the raiders manage to get away with some of the beast meat and, Eaana. Eaana drops her son as the male lifts her easily onto his shoulder; she has no idea of what these new humanoids have in store for her, so she leaves him, just looks at him one final time before she can't look at him any longer. He lies there on the ground of the small cave, and then he is gone.

The female, who pushed the spear-carriers away spots the baby on the floor and quickly rushes to pick him up, she looks around puzzledly for Eaana. She calls for her but Eaana is nowhere to be seen. She feels a pinching at her breast and looks down to see the baby happily suckling from it, she smiles and blows gently at his wispy hair.