Desolation of Erimos
Copyright© 2026 by Rycliff
Chapter 4: Erimos
Erimos filled the forward viewport in dusty browns and rust-colored swirls.
Alliyanna had expected a desert world.
The ancient book had warned them clearly.
She had not expected the planet to look so completely dry.
No blue oceans interrupted the surface. No large inland seas reflected the system’s light. The cloud patterns were thin and dirty, stretched into long ribbons over the atmosphere.
Talak studied the sensor display.
“Atmosphere?”
Viki answered. “Breathable within normal human tolerances. Particulate load is high. Respiratory protection recommended during wind events.”
“Temperature?” Kahlan asked.
“Current equatorial day-side surface temperatures range from one hundred twenty to one hundred thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit. Night-side lows range from thirteen to twenty-six degrees.”
Alliyanna looked at him.
“So during the day we cook, and at night we freeze.”
“An oversimplification,” Viki said.
“But accurate?”
“Yes.”
Talak brought up the scan from the ancient book.
They were not looking for a city.
They were looking for composition.
The Obsidian Temple was described as a black structure unlike the surrounding rock. Viki searched for artificial geometry and unusual onyx-like mineral readings beneath the shifting dunes.
It took nearly four hours.
“I have a candidate,” she finally said.
A basin appeared on the display.
Most of it looked like nothing but dunes.
A faint rectangular anomaly sat beneath them.
“How deep?” Talak asked.
“Variable. Wind-driven surface accumulation.”
“Can we land there?”
“No.”
Talak looked up.
“Why not?”
“Subsurface stability is poor. Dune migration and loose sand create unacceptable landing risk. The nearest stable landing zone is approximately twenty-five kilometers from the target.”
Kahlan leaned back.
“Of course it is.”
Alliyanna looked at the route.
“Twenty-five kilometers isn’t impossible.”
“Not in ordinary weather,” Talak said.
Viki added, “Surface transit should occur primarily during local night.”
The Star Shadow made two orbital passes before Talak committed to the landing zone.
On the first pass Viki mapped temperature changes and wind patterns.
On the second she searched for movement around the suspected temple basin.
The giant scorpion was not the only lifeform Erimos supported.
Smaller burrowing animals moved beneath the sand. Several reptile-like creatures clustered around shaded rock shelves during the worst part of the day. Something winged appeared briefly near the terminator before disappearing into a canyon.
Nothing looked friendly.
“Any sign of civilization?” Alliyanna asked.
“None current,” Viki said. “Several geometric anomalies may indicate ancient foundations or natural formations. No active settlements detected.”
“Any sign of Imperial ships?” Talak asked.
“No confirmed contact.”
Confirmed.
Talak noticed the word.
“Unconfirmed?”
“Sensor noise near the outer moon may be natural interference.”
“May be?”
“Yes.”
Talak looked at Kahlan.
Kahlan understood.
“If somebody is cloaked, we are not going to solve it from orbit by staring harder.”
Talak did not like that answer.
He accepted it anyway.
They spent the first day preparing.
No one suggested rushing.
The powered collapsible cargo sled came out first. Broad runners spread its weight over sand, and its small electric drive could pull far more than any one of them could carry. They loaded reflective shelters, cooling equipment, compact heaters, portable power, medical supplies, water, rations, filters, emergency oxygen, environmental suits, tools and ammunition.
They planned for ten days.
The distance should not require ten days.
Erimos did not care what should happen.
Viki completed another orbital life scan while they worked.
“Large arthropod movement detected approximately thirty-one kilometers from the landing site.”
Kahlan stopped packing.
“How large?”
The display changed.
Alliyanna stared.
The creature looked like a scorpion.
That was where the familiarity ended.
It stood perhaps nine feet high on eight armored legs. The tail arched above the body and reached close to fifteen feet at full extension. Its pincers were enormous. Dark brown and black armor covered the entire thing.
The recording showed it moving.
Fast.
A smaller animal, something roughly the size of a large dog, ran between rocks.
The scorpion crossed the distance in seconds.
The pincers caught the animal.
Alliyanna grimaced.
“How fast?” Talak asked.
“Estimated thirty kilometers per hour over firm ground.”
Talak stared at the screen.
“We bring rifles.”
Kahlan looked at him. “That was already the plan.”
“We bring more ammunition.”
That was also the plan now.
Talak carried his rifle and a heavy sidearm. Kahlan and Alliyanna carried desert rifles with sealed actions designed to tolerate dust.
The landing itself was uneventful.
That was the last easy thing Erimos gave them.
The Star Shadow settled on a broad stone shelf surrounded by low dunes. The engines threw sand outward in a glowing ring before power dropped.
Viki extended the landing gear and ran a stability check.
“Surface stable.”
Talak did not move.
“Again.”
“I expected that request and have already completed three additional checks.”
Kahlan looked at him. “She’s learning you.”
“That worries me.”
They did not leave the ship immediately.
The first sunset was for observation.
They watched the temperature fall more than forty degrees in a few hours.
They watched wind erase the marks left by the landing engines.
They watched the stars sharpen as airborne dust settled.
Alliyanna stood at the open inner airlock door in full gear and looked at the desert.
Twenty-five kilometers.
On a temperate world she could have imagined walking it in a day.
On Erimos the distance felt much larger.
Talak joined her.
“Nervous?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Alliyanna looked at him.
“Good?”
“It means you understand the planet.”
“Are you nervous?”
Talak looked outside.
“Yes.”
That answer helped more than she expected.
They left the Star Shadow shortly after sunset.
The first hours were almost pleasant.
The heat of the day bled from the sand. The sky darkened into a field of hard stars. Their suits compensated for the falling temperature.
The sled hummed behind them.
Alliyanna found a pace she could maintain.
Talak took point.
Kahlan watched the rear.
They covered nearly eight kilometers before Viki’s warning came through their suit receivers.
“Large movement approaching from the west.”
Talak stopped.
“Distance?”
“Nine hundred meters.”
Alliyanna turned.
At first she saw nothing.
Then the ground seemed to move.
The scorpion came over a low ridge.
Even knowing the size did not prepare her for seeing it in person.
Its body was taller than Talak. The tail curved above it like a segmented spear. Each step threw sand backward.
“Speed?” Talak asked.
“Twenty-eight kilometers per hour and increasing.”
Kahlan raised his rifle.
“All right. I officially dislike this planet.”
Talak waited.
The creature closed.
Six hundred meters.
Four hundred.
Two hundred.
“Fire.”
Three rifles opened almost together.
The first rounds struck the armor and sparked away.
Alliyanna adjusted her aim.
The creature kept coming.
Talak fired into the joint beneath one forward leg.
The scorpion stumbled.
Kahlan hit the same area.
Alliyanna aimed for the darker material beneath the head.
The creature reared.
Its tail snapped forward.
They were still too far away for it to reach them, but the speed of the strike made Alliyanna’s stomach tighten.
They fired again.
And again.
The scorpion collapsed less than seventy meters away.
Nobody moved toward it.
Talak changed magazines.
“We go around.”
Alliyanna stared at the dead thing.
“Agreed.”
Viki’s analysis of the creature’s venom was not reassuring.
“Probable neuromuscular toxin. Respiratory failure is the primary projected fatal mechanism. Broad antitoxin may slow progression. Neural stabilizer, filtration, oxygen support and fluids may extend survival.”
“Specific antivenom?” Kahlan asked.
“None aboard.”
Talak looked at the dead creature one last time.
“Then nobody gets stung.”
They did not reach the shelter site until less than two hours before dawn.
Alliyanna’s legs ached.
The powered sled had done most of the carrying, but walking through loose sand demanded more effort than the distance suggested.
Talak chose a shallow depression shielded by rock.
The shelter went up quickly because they had practiced aboard ship.
Reflective outer panels.
Insulated inner layer.
Cooling unit.
Power connection.
Emergency shade extension.
By the time the first sunlight touched the ridge, all three were inside.
The temperature outside rose with frightening speed.
Ninety.
One hundred.
One hundred twelve.
One hundred twenty-one.
The cooling unit hummed continuously.
Alliyanna drank measured amounts of water even though she did not feel thirsty.
Talak insisted on it.
Kahlan tried to sleep and failed.
“This is going to be the longest day of my life.”
Alliyanna looked at her chronometer.
“You’ve been lying down for nine minutes.”
“That supports my argument.”
They slept eventually.
In shifts.
The shelter creaked when the wind rose, but it held.
When sunset finally came, the outside temperature dropped rapidly enough that condensation formed inside parts of their equipment.
Erimos did not transition politely between extremes.
It simply chose a different way to be dangerous.
The second night was quieter.
They traveled until several hours before sunrise, then raised the reflective shelter in the lee of a rock formation. Cooling units ran continuously while daylight turned the outside world into a furnace.
They slept in shifts.
The third night brought wind.
Fine sand worked into everything despite seals and filters. The sled slowed. Visibility dropped. They traveled less than planned.
The third night cost them distance.
Wind came out of the west carrying enough sand to cut visibility to less than thirty meters.
They sealed their helmets and switched to short-range navigation beacons so no one could drift away from the others.
The powered sled fought the loose surface.
Twice Talak had to stop and clear sand from the drive assembly.
Alliyanna took over the lead while he worked.
The strange thing about the storm was the sound.
Sand struck the suit and helmet continuously, a soft hard hiss that filled every pause in conversation.
For hours there was no horizon.
No stars.
No landmark.
Only the navigation arrow in Alliyanna’s display.
She thought about the temple somewhere ahead under meters of sand.
An ancient civilization had chosen this planet deliberately.
She was beginning to understand why.
Anyone who reached the fragment had to earn the right merely to knock on the door.
On the fourth night, Kahlan found the tracks.
Not animal tracks.
Boots.
Three people, maybe four.
Military tread.
Talak crouched beside them.
“These are recent.”
“How recent?” Alliyanna asked.
“Hard to tell in this wind. Less than a few days.”
Alliyanna looked toward the dark horizon.
“We’re not alone.”
They followed the tracks because they led almost directly toward the temple basin.
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