TRIAL AND ERROR | short stories + snippets

Caleb freezes. The speech is accompanied by chirps or squeaks, similar to what a gecko makes, but the words are easy to understand.

"Put your hands up," the voice repeats.

"I can't. I need my crutches to stand."

There's a rustle, a chafe, and then the being stands in front of him. She points a spear at him. In addition to a flat blade, there are prongs on each side. Caleb has no idea what such a thing might be called, but he can figure out enough to know that it's a weapon.

The being pointing it at his chest is massive. Muscled and wide. She has a head, two arms, and two legs like a person, but her skin is pale blue. Where humans might have body hair, she has bark. It protects the back of her hands and the top of her head. She wears a uniform.

"I already caught your friend. There's no point waiting for rescue," she tells him. "Come with me."

Caleb follows her a short but winding distance through the trees. This being has not bothered to restrain Nicolás in any way. All she needed was to tell him to stay and he never considered moving.

He's still inspecting the shrub in front of him with heart-eyes. It has bulbous violet flowers. Or maybe they're fruit.

With her weapon, the being guides Caleb to stand beside him. She moves the weapon between them.

Must be a soldier. Or a guard. Either way, they're fucked.

"What is your business here?"

"We don't have any," Caleb says at the same time that Nicolás pleads, "It was an accident."

The soldier begins to speak but they're interrupted.

"Zilša, did you put–? Zilša!" The second repetition of the name is shrill. "What are you doing?"

The soldier—Zilša—glances at her comrade. "These intruders have attacked the forest."

"We've not attacked owt¹," Caleb protests.

The second soldier is barely half the size of the first, which is still taller than the average human, which is to say, significantly taller than Caleb but just a tad shorter than Nicolás. They're also much slimmer and have two sets of arms. They wear the same uniform, though have on a sunhat and shoes, whereas Zilša has neither. Their blue skin is translucent with none of the bark-like protection.

They wrestle the weapon from Zilša and smile at the duo. "What are you addressed as?" they ask.

"Caleb."

They turn to Nicolás. "And you?"

Nicolás has barely noticed the arrival of the second soldier. He watches Zilša, not a single thought echoing in his skull.

Caleb knocks his ankle with a crutch and Nicolás jolts back to present. "Hm?"

"Nice to meet you, Caleb and Hm. I'm Aff."

"No," Caleb corrects. "His name is Nicolás." He glowers at his friend and lowers his voice to a hiss. "We're about to be killed by aliens and you're horny? Every day, my respect for you lessens."

Nicolás has affixed his focus to his feet, nodding several times. "Yeah, that's fair."

At the same time, Zilša scowls. "Aff, stop being so nice. They're intruders! They could be Belion."

"They look nothing like Belion." Aff dismisses the accusation with a wave of their left hands.

"What defence do you have?"