My fingers weren't human-like anymore. Instead, they were now claws, just like Wriik's though longer and sharper. Sweat dribbled down my face and my body as more and more horn-like bones appeared throughout my flesh. Two more spikes came out of my perforated skin and muscle on my shoulders. My ears became long and pointy, and my hair became elongated. My pupils turned from black to golden colored and my canine teeth in my mouth lengthened. They had sprouted so long that they began to appear outside the corner of my mouth. My skin turned navy blue, and my legs became longer and stronger with reptile-like feet.
It seemed like ages, but when I had finally completed my unexpected transformation, Wriik was blurting out thousands of questions.
"What? How... where... When? Have you... I don't!" he stammered over words and occasionally used his alien language.
"I really don't know," I said. I found out that my voice was deeper as well. Now fully renovated of my original physique, I was standing as tall as Wriik. Showing him my new sharp canine teeth, I grinned. "Cool, isn't it?"
He was struck speechless as he measured his height against mine. The room had become so petite that I began to feel restless.
"Can we go out onto the Bridge and talk? I feel cramped in this tiny space," I proposed as I pushed my friend along.
Wriik kept on glancing back at me while spurting out queries. "How can you... I really don't..."
"Come on, Wriik. We'll go to the Bridge first then you can ask all you want, but I can't really answer about my new appearances." I smiled.
When we had reached our command center, I glanced around at the destruction surrounding me. The place was gloomy with light gray smokes floating in the air. Pieces of computer monitors littered the floor. Wires dangling from the top and continuous sparks flashed here and there. When I turned around to the left, my broadened and hardened right shoulder with a spike smashed into a metal panel that was hanging on by a screw. It got dented in the middle and clattered onto the cohesive tiles. Wriik cringed and I grounded my teeth at the noise.
Walking toward the main view screen, which was cracked and was blank, my new feet crushed the debris underneath.
Surveying the whole place for a few moments, I finally turned around and looked at Wriik.
"So what happened?" I asked all the while feeling the sharp horns on my shoulders with my claws. "We crashed?"
Nodding, he said: "Yeah. The Starflyer is a goner now. Everything is wiped out completely. The engines were blown apart, and Arteesa... well, she died." I could hear a tone of remorse coming from him. My guess was that he thought he could help the Artificial Intelligence and perhaps save her from devastation. "I think we are in a sector in the space that has not been charted yet. I don't recognize any part of the system here."
"But we can still breathe. Does that mean this planet supports life forms?"
"I don't think so. But this is a vast star. I probably haven't covered one tenth of the whole planet when I ventured out to check the environment. This area is HOT! Though you can't really see me sweating, but I am feeling rather overly heated right now."
I agreed. "I can feel the air is stuffy. What's out there?"
Wriik sighed. "Nothing but red dusts. This isn't Mars I can guarantee you that. No water, no food, nothing. We are stranded here with no way of surviving this." He picked up a length of wire and began to strip the plastic covering with his claws. Looking up at me, he said: "At least I have a friend to die with me. I don't like to die alone."
Laughing, I slapped his shoulder. "Well, I don't want to die here, and I am not going to seek revenge anymore. You have opened up my scarred mind, and shoved that marvelous lecture deep into my heart."
His face brightened. "That's good to hear. At least we don't have to kill each other while we are the only ones on this cursed planet. This is a death planet. I don't see how we can get out of this one now."
Shuffling my legs across the fallen objects, I reached the door. "There's always a hope, no matter how trenchant the situation is." I pressed the release hatch button, but there was no movement. Looking back at Wriik between strands of my long, dark brown hair, I waiting for his suggestion.
"The power is out. I guess we are trapped here. What a great way to die."
Shaking my head, I stepped back a little. Then with a strong kick with my clawed foot, the metallic door exploded outward and crashed onto the pile of sand outside. Instantly, a wave of unbearable heat slammed into me and rushed into the ship.
"Holy mother of... " Wriik shielded his face from the intemperate temperature.
I squinted my eyes as I exit the vessel. I dropped onto the desert and glanced at the barren landscape before me. The view was not clear, for the sporadic wind kicked up sand and dust into the air and obscuring the scenery. It was a good thing that I was still naked. I could barely tolerate the heat coming from the three suns high above the atmosphere. My new, dark blue skin absorbed the rays from the suns effectively. After a while, I went back to the ship. Before I entered the compartments, I could see the nose of the craft was buried in the dark orange sand. The back of the vessel where the twin engines should be, contained nothing but emptiness. The hull of the Starflyer was blackened, and it was still sizzling with black smokes rising up and disappearing into the peachy sky.
"Well? Nothing's out there right?" Wriik said knowingly as I reappeared inside the ship.
"Pack up your things, we're leaving," I said as I headed toward the bedchamber.
"Why? There's nothing out there..."
"We are going to die if we don't leave now. At least if we leave this place, we might be able to find some food and water or maybe some creatures out there who can help us. I'm going to get some white clothes to deflect the intense beams of sunlight. I suggest you gather up all the necessary equipment and put them into a backpack or something."
Wriik complied as he got up from the console that he was sitting on and began to sort out the items scattered on the messy floor. I got two large robes each with a hood, all colored white, from the closet and punched some holes in one of them for my horns and spikes on my body. I wore it and grabbed a black haversack from the bed. Reaching Wriik, I tossed the other garment to him and began to stuff in things that I felt were important for our long journey.
As we worked, the air grew hotter. Sweats began to form on my new leathery skin. I looked at Wriik and asked: "By the way, what are those bag-like things that you have placed beside me when I was running a high fever?"
"Oh! Those are Icy Plants from the planet Plakectri, used for cooling stuff down. They last forever, I tell you. I figured those are useful to bring down your temperature rapidly, otherwise you might die. They don't look like plants do they?" he laughed.
"Ah. Okay. Let's bring four of them with us. We might need them in this arid climate."
Nodding, he walked into one of the room to retrieve the items that I requested. I crammed the last of the commodities into the backpack and strapped it onto my back. The sack was dangling in an angle awkwardly as the spikes running down my back pushed against it.
Wriik's bag had the same position when he placed his on his back. We both grinned foolishly.
He looked around his once beautiful vessel for the last time, and then he followed me out into the scorching plain that sustained no life. The distant sand dunes wavered within the hot air currents, and we both had to stop every now and then to take a rest.
"Do you think we can survive this?" the blue alien questioned as he took a small, delicate drink from his water bottle. We had to conserve our water supply for not much was left.
"Funny. That's the same question I've asked before when the Federation ships were pursuing us. Yes, Wriik. We can prevail death if we don't give up," I winked at him.
"My, you sound as if you've changed completely."
"I have changed. And I am still trying to forgive," I whispered as I stared far off into the distant land.