In front of one of the worm-flowers, a slow trilobite moved quickly around the small forest of stalks. The bloom end slammed down on its back like a hand, and stuck there. Then the hapless creature was dragged, mewling, below the ground.

“Shit.” Abrams fired on a few of them, but whether he hit them or not wasn’t clear, as they disappeared so quickly it was hard to tell if there was any damage. More of the creatures rose to take their place.

“Save your ammunition,” Adira said, while keeping her gun up.

Like rippling waves, Matt saw that the sand was lumping and rolling toward them – they were attracting more and more of the creatures. He turned to Adira. “There’re too many of them and more are coming. We need to be away from here.” When he turned back, it was to stare directly into the face, if that’s what it was, of one of the muscular segmented worms. Once again it bloomed open, the edges of its petals shivering slightly. The puckered hole opened inches from Matt’s nose, and he saw rows of tiny, needle-sharp teeth, all pointed inward and disappearing down into its throat. This was a mouth designed for gripping and holding on, something Matt had no intention of experiencing. He fired point blank.

He hit it; he had to have at that range. But the thing still shot forward and momentarily gripped his shoulder. The pain was excruciating. He punched at it, and tugged, but the neck was like a cross between leather and rubber, giving a little, but not breaking away. It suddenly let go, and withdrew below the soil, taking with it a small chunk of his flesh.

“Ah, fuck it!” Matt gripped his upper arm, dripping blood onto the sand. The effect was instantaneous. The ground began to boil beneath him.

“Run.” Adira charged, putting her shoulder into him, to barge Matt forward. She aimed her gun down at the sand and loosed a dozen rounds into the agitated surface at their feet. She then turned and aimed at a few of the trilobites still making their way back to the water, and fired again, killing some and injuring several who bucked and flipped on the dark grains. The movement was enough to attract the worm-like predators. Adira ran hard, dragging Matt along with her.

Abrams followed, turning to fire back at the feeding frenzy, and yelling over his shoulder as he pulled the trigger. “This place is a nightmare.”

“And it will be like this on the Earth’s surface for the next few thousand years unless we send this thing back.”

As they neared the speck of light, the water beside them at first smoothed and then lumped again – not just in one or two places, but the entire surface became uneven, as if there was something under the water that couldn’t break through. Matt felt his heart race. “I don’t like the look of this.”

“Forget it,” Abrams yelled. “Unless whatever that is comes out, it’s not our problem.” The major caught up with Matt, shielding him on the water side, with Adira on the other.