~~~

Dante had presumably been to the hellish planet many times, he knew quite a bit about it and Lectes had built off of what the human had fed him. The plan Lectes had concocted from the sitting went as such: fly with the flow of the hurricane winds buffeting the topmost part of the atmosphere, gradually they descended, shields up for minimal damage. Once free of the clouds, Dante would direct Lectes through the blind spots on the Research Citadel’s radars. Again, Dante would point Lectes in the direction of Maxwell Montes where “Portalite is not so deeply buried.” Finally, with a special drill Dante swiped from his father’s old laboratory, they’d uneventfully harvest some of the stone and slip away the same way they snuck in.

They were fast approaching the planet, the light reflecting off the swirling clouds was almost blinding up close. They’re flow was deceivingly sluggish, the moment Lectes guided the ship into them, the violent winds swept them away. He fought hard to regain control and even then, the ship shuttered in defiance. The clouds roared with electricity, formally hidden lightning danced about, teasing the ship. Dante was undaunted, as though this was normal, confirming his claims of being a casual visitor. 

By the way sunlight filtered through the clouds, the natural grey rocks of the surface are bathed in a hue of orange. It’s tesserae surface flowed with molten plains and winding canals, disturbed only by mountains and the vomiting mountains that fueled the chaos.

A volcano in the midst of a violent eruption flung boulder sized glops of lava and plumes of ash every which way. It was not the only erupting volcano, however, in contrast with the rest of them, it was the only one actively raining death on the ship. Thank the gods for shields.

Mutated abominations wandered the wasteland, the remnants of a ferociously resilient plague long since quarantined. The creatures’ skin was a bruised plum color, accompanied by sunken eyes and swollen joints. Some had even grown extra limbs, which Lectes abruptly realized may have been the reason for Dante’s disturbance at their first encounter.

“Don’t let the station see us, unauthorized vessels are prohibited within orbit.” Dante warned.

“Yeah, yeah-” A ribbon of light appeared in Lectes’ peripheral, an odd squealing sound accompanied it, growing louder the closer the light approached. Lectes threw the ship into a nosedive, the ribbon of light nicked the tail and exploded upon making contact with the dense clouds above. More lights followed suit, all aimed at the ship. Just before striking a mountain, Lectes jerked the ship up and rolled it on the wind, escaping critical hit after critical hit.

“I thought you said there were blind spots!”

“There used to be! With the volcanic ash clogging the systems and the acid rain eroding the protective coverings, they shouldn’t be functioning this accurately.” Dante was slammed into Lectes for a second time from the force of a sudden turn.

“You don’t say-” Boom, a shot swept past the wing and dug a fresh crater on the surface. “The least you could do is tell me where to find a safe spot, Dante.”

“Put some distance between us and the Station first.”

Faster, he encouraged the machine, testing if the throttle’s max could be broken. They crested a hill, pulverizing the poor mutant wandering just out of Lectes’ sight. The ship crashed, skittering across the unstable sand mounds. It came to a spinning stop at the bottom of a mountain. How convenient, they’d crashed into Maxwell.

They pair hopped out, swathed in special environmentally-resistant suits, sweating oceans. Dante secured the drill to the rocky side of the mountain. While he wound up the engine, adjusting the setting along the way, Lectes eyed the hill warily. Their collision was painted over the sand and surely gave away their presence.

Dante chuckled. “This reminds me of the time my father tried to take me fishing. We tipped the boat, I cried, and mom scolded us for it but I had the time of my life.”

“Are you almost done with the drill?”

“Nearly.”

Lectes turned back to see the near horizon bleeding with figures. Like a wave, mutants washed the hillside, by then Lectes could hear them, distant wailing and spurts of gargled gibberish. Whatever their motivation for bearing threat to visitors, he could only guess at. They’re condition did not in the slightest look particularly pleasant, maybe they wanted some comfort or maybe they simply wanted to spread their disease and force their misery onto others.

They were fast, surrounding Lectes at the ship in seconds. Things weren’t going nearly as terribly as they could at first, he could crumple the brittle-coned things with a hefty punch or two. It was the growing numbers that overwhelmed him and they were getting past his guard.

The infected caught ahold of Dante’s collar, swarming the human before Lectes could get to him. They were dragging him toward a lake of lava faster than Lectes would escape his own assailants. Frustrated, Lectes drew his gun and blasted his way out.

Orange sand flew wildly under Lectes’ feet as flew to Dante’s rescue. Vaporizing the faces of the infected humans clawing at Dante’s suit, much like he had a century before. The image of a giant bird wrapping its talons around his eldest son and dragging the child from his bed flashed in Lectes’ mind. He’d chased it down and blown it’s head off to get his son back.

Dante scrambled to his feet, glaring. “I could have handled that, you know.”

Lectes had had enough. Rolling his eyes, he seized Dante by the suit and dragged him back toward the ship. Stopping only to kick the drill out of the way and harvest a lump of Portalite.

Starting up the ship was another story, the machine scourged Lectes’ wishes, only roaring to life when he jammed a crystal into the newly repaired wormhole spawner. A portal opened up, swallowing the ship and spitting it out into Venus’ orbit. Just in time too, the mutants had surrounded them, foaming at the mouth, slamming gnarled limbs against the glass, and grabbing for the doors. Some had been dragging through and bumped against the ship, frost already coating their frozen bodies.

“At least they won’t suffer anymore.” Lectes began. “You could be the one who saves them too.”

“Not even my father could fix that.”

“Exactly.” Lectes turned the ship toward Earth. “You could be the first.”

“Why did you even come to Earth?”

“I didn’t arrive by choice. My people are (or maybe no longer are) at war with the Chridonians over Portalite deposits. My ship was damaged in a scuffle and I crashed on Earth some time later.”

“Is it really worth fighting over?”

“Besides being a source of energy, it keeps us warm, fire is forbidden since the trees are sacred to us. It’s a type of currency on other planets and used for some medicines too. That's not why I fight though, I have to support my family.”

The sun cast long shadows across the MacFarland’s family paveway, a wide strip of cobblestone wrapped is a lazy “U” around an ornate fountain depicting a gaggle of children dancing in a circle. A dark sky tinted with a beckoning pastel blue, inviting the choruses of the planet’s unusual birds. The ship landed as the world was waking.

Dante’s hair was especially reflective in this light, though not as intensely as Venus, Lectes thanked his gods that he’d never have to set foot on that hellhole ever again. Perhaps he could convince his leaders to pursue a better connection to Earth if only to secure a fresh deposit of Portalite, that they’d be grateful for at the very least.

“Do you really think I could cure Aphrodite Syndrome?” Dante began, stepping out of the ship.

“You’re closer to the cure than anyone else on this hunk of dirt.” Lectes said, claiming a vial from one of his ship compartments and handing it to Dante. “You humans know how to break down samples, right?”

“Since the early 2000’s.”

“Good luck then, I'm heading home.” 

Dante waved as Lectes tugged his door closed, starting up the engine and blasting through the atmosphere. Dante had grabbed a considerable amount of Portalite, all together it could have teleported Lectes a good few galaxies away. He didn’t need that much, plus it was free, meaning: more money to put food on the table and keep the roof over his family’ head. It would serve him well, hurtling the ship through a whimsical tunnel on route toward a long missed world.