A mercurial, opalescent hand surges from thawing permafrost, dives into waves, twisting as it searches for victims. It pools around the goggles of deep sea explorers and plunges into the gaping mouths of fish.
The Astral Queen landed on the planet's surface. The pilot descended. Wind whipped her face and her green skin was blasted by sand. She surveyed the land. Black clouds blotted out sky and sun. Mangled metal towers sprouted from dunes of ash and sand. She turned and boarded. Inside she paused before a glass chamber. […]