Human Chronicles Part 2 Book 2: The Apex Predator by T. R. Harris Page A

beginning to wonder if this was such a good idea. All it would take would be direct hit on his engines by one of the larger objects and they would be stranded on the planet – a planet soon to become a prehistoric nightmare completely hostile to life.
    Some relief from the fallout was found when Adam steered the ship around to the opposite side of the planet and the impacts became less frequent and severe – at least for the moment. This was the daylight hemisphere, yet in approximately twelve hours this side of planet would become a shooting gallery as well. And then the cycle would begin again, day after day until the system was clear of debris. By then it would be too late.
    Arcton once supported a population of over three billion indigenous Primes, with cities and roads, schools and parks – all the trappings of a modern, pre-spaceage society. Now everything was burning or stood as blackened ruins, crumbling to the ground with each new thunderous impact on the surface.
    The Pegasus swept over the smoking remains of several medium size settlements until Sherri guided them toward what had been the planet’s largest city, a place called An-kar-em, where the Human consulate was located.
    The city loomed in the distance; now only a ragged range of burned out spires and crumbled silhouettes on the horizon giving birth to a massive black cloud that blocked out nearly all the sunlight at midday in An-kar-em.
    As they cruised over the absolute destruction below, their depression grew to new levels. Nothing could have survived, not even the technologically-superior and possibly forewarned Human contingent at the consulate. And when Sherri guided them to the spot where the consulate had once stood, all they found was a hundred-foot deep crater, filling rapidly with water from broken mains. The building was completely gone.
    Adam set the Pegasus down in one of the open fields near the large hole – open now because the buildings that had once occupied the space had been converted to ashes in the conflagration.
    Relying on the external video monitors – those that still functioned – rather than the cracked and sealed main viewport, Adam and Sherri were shocked to see creatures moving within the ruins of the city. The natives – tall, thick-legged beasts with two main arms and two smaller ones below – moved slowly towards the Pegasus , unsteady in their gait and with dour expressions on their blackened, dirty faces.
    “It’s a miracle anyone has survived,” Sherri said. “Maybe some of the people from the consulate did, too.”
    “They may have survived so far, but once the planet rotates back around, this area is going to get blasted again and then again for weeks and months to come. It’s a pretty good bet no one is going to make it out of this alive. And then the nuclear winter will set in. No, this planet is finished—”
    “And all because of those ships that passed by here!” Sherri sat staring teary-eyed at the monitor, watching the natives approach the ship.
    “Don’t get any ideas about offering them a ride, Sherri,” Adam said. “We couldn’t take more than a handful, and then we don’t even know if the ship will make it to Earth. Besides, we don’t know what they eat or anything about their physiology; we just don’t have the resources to take care of them.”
    “I know all that, Adam,” Sherri said softly. “It’s just so sad….”
    “I’m going out to see if any of the Humans survived.” As he rose from his seat he reached behind his back and switched on the telepathy device.
    Sherri saw him do it. “Do you pick up any electrical signals nearby?”
    Adam shook his head. “Nothing, the place is as dry as a desert, but remember my range is only about half-a-mile. I’ll go out a little further, which shouldn’t take too long in this lighter gravity. You just keep an eye on things from here … and get ready to lift-off in a hurry if necessary. These natives may see the Pegasus as their