Chapter 3: The Drakthian Beacon

The broken transmission from IRIS echoed in the oppressive silence of the crash site, broken only by the incessant, low hum of the jungle and the soft drip-drip of moisture from oversized leaves. Reproductive pollen injection vector. Anti-parasitic. The words clawed at Aris’s mind, layering a new, violating horror on top of the grim reality of being stranded. She scrubbed furiously at the puncture marks on her arm with a sterile wipe from her medkit, heart pounding, feeling suddenly, profoundly contaminated.

“Orb-E, scan again,” she ordered, her voice tight. “Focus on those vines. Analyze pollen composition, energy signatures, anything that looks like a delivery mechanism.”

The drone whirred closer to the nearest pulsating purple vine, its remaining functional sensors bathing it in multi-spectrum light. <Analysis ongoing. Vine exhibits complex cellular structure with internal fluidic channels. Energy signature concentrated near terminal nodes – correlating with stylet deployment observed previously. Pollen samples acquired remotely show high concentrations of complex proteins, neuro-active compounds, and unidentified gamete-analogues… Confirmation: Biological mechanism consistent with targeted inter-species impregnation attempt via transdermal injection.>

Impregnation attempt. The clinical phrasing did nothing to lessen the visceral revulsion that coiled in Aris’s gut. The planet was actively trying to use her, turn her into unwilling breeding stock. Every plant could be a potential threat, every beautiful flower a lure, every dangling vine a trap in waiting. Monstrous. Unnatural. Predatory. A grotesque distortion of nature itself.

How could the Drakthians have missed this? Or worse, how could...