It was the year 2095 on XERBAB-7. Darian sat by the usual lake, fishing. It was probably still 12:49. Here, time moved much slower, one day felt like two Earth days.
CLICK! something was on the line.
"Ohh, c'monn… this feels really bigg!"
A fish had taken the bait. It hadn't been long; Darian had only been there for about thirty minutes and had already caught three. He pulled the rod toward him until the catch broke the surface.
"Ohh, this one is really big, eh? It surely is my lucky day today."
He slipped the fish into his bag with the others and began the walk back to his base. It had been ten years since he'd been sent to XERBAB-7. When this planet was first discovered, it was called the New Earth. Because Darian was a biologist, he'd been chosen to study its plant life. He was twenty-three when he first arrived, and now he was thirty-three, at least in this world's time.
XERBAB-7's proximity to a black hole meant time passed far more slowly. At first, scientists estimated one year here equaled ten years on Earth. That meant when Darian returned, not many years would have passed back home. But they had been wrong. The planet was closer to the black hole than they thought, one year here was actually fifty years on Earth.
He walked the trail toward his base, which stood near the starship that had brought him here. As he moved, a rustle in the nearby bushes caught his attention. Darian's hand went to his knife. There weren't supposed to be dangerous animals on this planet, but you could never be too sure. He shifted into a defensive stance, ready to strike.
The figure that emerged was no predator. It was the small snow fox that sometimes wandered near his base. He hadn't seen it in seven months. Knowing it posed no threat, Darian slid the knife back into his pocket.
"Ohh, hello there, old friend!"
Relief warmed him. The fox was the only living thing on this planet that seemed to understand him. Its coat shimmered with a palette of colors he had never seen on another creature. Darian had explored every inch of this world and found no others like it, this fox was probably the last of its kind.
It leapt onto his shoulder, curling comfortably against his neck.
"Eh eh, today is your lucky day, little fox." He scratched its head, smiling as its tails swayed. "I caught more food than usual. Maybe we can eat together, how does that sound?"
The fox, as always, gave no reply. But its ears twitched at the word food, and Darian chuckled.
A sudden siren wailed in the direction of his base.
"DRIINN DRIINN DRIINN"
Darian froze. Only one thought crossed his mind: It's time to go home.
The starship's power came from a battery linked to Earth. When it drained completely, that was the signal, the mission was over. The battery's internal timer, set for ten XERBAB-7 years, triggered the siren when the time came. Darian wasted no time. He ran full speed toward the base.
The mission had been meant to last a decade, but somewhere along the way, he'd lost track of the years.
Snowy tumbled from his shoulder in the rush and began chasing after him. Darian reached the ship, dropped his bag, and stood at the controls.
"No way… it's already been ten years. Hehe, it was such a nice journey. I discovered so many things here, I can't wait to show them to everyone."
He was too excited to notice the coordinates displayed on the panel were nothing like Earth's elliptical path.
"Oh, I need to take everything before starting this ship. Let's go!!!"
He ran back outside. The little fox slipped inside and curled up in a corner, unnoticed. Five minutes later, Darian returned, arms full of the plant samples he'd collected over the years, and secured them inside the ship.
Back at the controls, he activated the autopilot. The ship would handle the journey, he only needed to sit back and relax.
As the vessel rose, Darian's mind drifted to his memories of XERBAB-7, especially the day he first met the fox.
It had been during his fourth year here. The creature was unlike anything he'd seen, a white fox with nine tails. Cautious, he had approached, but the fox leapt at him, fusing with his right arm. His skin turned white, veins freezing solid until his whole body followed.
Then his arm pointed skyward on its own. A massive ice shard erupted from it, shooting into the heavens. Moments later, a scream echoed from above. The shard had hit something, or someone, in the sky. Darkness fell instantly, as if something colossal had just passed overhead.
The memory blurred after that. Now, as he glanced around the ship, he spotted the fox curled up and sleeping.
"Oh, you're there… EHHHH, WHEN DID YOU GET IN???"
The fox jumped, startled.
"Well, I guess you slipped in while I was gathering everything, huh?"
He picked it up, holding it gently. "I hope people won't treat you badly… maybe I should keep you a secret."
The fox's curious eyes met his, unafraid. It wanted to see more... or at least, that's what Darian believed.
"Well, I guess you need a name… ehh, let's go with 'Snowy'. You like that?"
The fox nodded. Darian grinned, it was perfect.
Days passed in the starship. Darian studied Snowy and discovered it didn't need to eat at all. He avoided trying to fuse again, worried it could damage the ship.
On the ninth day, he realized something was wrong. The journey was taking longer than expected, and the stars outside weren't the ones he knew.
"This doesn't feel right…"
He checked the coordinates, they were completely wrong. He'd memorized Earth's patterns, so he knew how to recognize them, and this wasn't even close.
Looking out the viewport, his breath caught. Earth was nothing like he remembered. Most of the land was gone, swallowed by endless oceans. Worse still... a massive black planet had collided with it.
"What the hell is THATTTTT?!"
Panic gripped him. How many years had really passed? Where was everyone?
The ship began its descent. Darian landed in shallow water, just deep enough to stand.
"Well… looks like I won't be able to bring much. I'll take what I can and come back for the rest."
Snowy hopped onto his shoulder.
"I'm sorry you won't see Earth in all its beauty… well, let's find out what happened here."
He walked for ten minutes until he reached land. There, a figure waited.
It was black, darker than anything he had ever seen. About 5.9 feet tall, with a long blade growing from its arm down to its knee.
"What are yo—"
He didn't finish. The creature advanced.
Darian walked scared, then he ran. Snowy clung to his shoulder as his legs pumped with everything he had.
The monster moved slowly, but with purpose, as if it knew where he was going.
Then he stopped dead. The cliff before him dropped thirty-two feet into eerily still water.
"What the hell…"
No time to think. He had walked into a trap.
He had just returned to Earth, only to find this. What had really happened? How many years had passed?
His body shook. And the black creature was getting closer.