Yuri

Before he could even ask the question, Yuri was at his side looking enthusiastic as Sam had ever seen him. “You’re going out to scout?” He asked with a strange excitement. “Mind if I tag along?”

Sam hesitated a moment. Yuri wasn’t exactly the strongest or more capable of the crew at on the field work, which could prove to be a detriment. But on the other hand he was a genius, so there might be use from him.

“Alright, if you’re so eager,” He cautiously handed a pistol to Yuri, “I assume you know how to use one of these?”

Yuri blinked at the weapon as he took it into his hands. He looked at Sam for a moment and made a decent enough effort to imitate his posture and the way to hold the weapon. Truly Sam didn’t think the scientist would need it, but he supposed that it was always better to have an extra set of eyes at the very least.

The two of them exited the pod near the caves, and watched as the vehicle rolled off just down the track to the area. Sam moved first, his pistol’s light equiped as he entered the nearest of the caves, “follow my lead,” he muttered quietly to Yuri, “and don’t make too much noise. Don’t know what the hell could be in here.”

They moved cautiously though the claustrophobic tunnel, for the most part seeing nothing but dark rock and some form of alien moss. Sam assumed that there would be...more. Most caves had small creatures within it, even if they were only rodents and bats. This cave, however, just seemed like one long tunnel with no real habitation being provided. It was unnatural, and he found his questions only raised when he came across an malformation in the stone wall.

The two men paused, both their lights aimed at the strange pattern. Quickly it became clear what they were looking at, and Sam felt a true chill run up his spine. It was hieroglyphics, cut into the stone by sentient hands. They depicted a figure that vaguely seemed humanoid, and then another depicting a jar of some sort. Finally the figure was shown again, this time cut into a rounder shape.

“What does it mean?”

Sam blinked, his mind working so fast that he barely heard Yuri. Taking a breath he turned back tobthe scientist. “It means we’re not alone on this planet.”

They continued on, weapons held extra tight as they ventured further. There were no more hieroglyphics, and that only served to make Sam even more uncomfortable. Eventually they came to a dead end and that was all Sam needed to see; he needed to inform the captain of his discovery ASAP. Yuri however, lingered.

“Do you see this groove?” The younger man asked as he approached the stone wall, his hand gently rubbing over its surface. “I think there’s something here, I just...” he trailed off as he found some indentation and began to press down. “Would you look at this.”

His wonder was short lived however, as something shot out from a crevice in the wall and sprayed Yuri right in the face. Sam stepped back for a moment and had his gun readied to shoot, but what he found was instead a trail of oil-like substance slowly dripping down the wall. Yuri leaned against the cave wall, desperately rubbing the stuff from his eyes and spitting in disgust.

“Jesus,” he huffed, spitting and rubbing his face, “ got some of that shit in my mouth...I...” There was a spasm that went through his body for a moment, and when he turned to look at Sam his expression seemed vacant before his pupils dialated and he blinked. “I...never mind, let’s just get back.”

Sam was dubious. “Are you ok?”

The vacant expression crossed his face for a moment before Yuri settled into a smile. “Never better, now let’s get back to camp.”