Penumbra

Raw rays of sunlight glinted off the gold plating of Carter's Z-3 EVA. The suit was the best-fitting that he had ever experienced and had revolutionized space exploration.

"Careful with the PGT," Eve said. "New ones have stronger torque."

"Noted," Carter said.

He checked his watch and oxygen gauge; two hours left. He kept working until his first oxygen alert sounded.

"Time to wrap up," Carter said. "Let's head in once you have H-2 secured."

Carter's blood froze when Eve looked at him. It was the eyes; icy-blue that glowed against the inky backdrop of deep space.

Eve's eyes were hazel and Carter shouldn't have been able to see them through her visor. He looked closely now, realizing that Eve had the PGT in her right hand. Eve was left-handed.

"Uh, Eve," Carter's voice crackled through his helmet's mic. "How is that last bolt coming on H-2?"

Eve was slowly drifting towards him, her movements unnatural to what the Z-3 should have allowed. She was untethered and her arms were twisted at an awkward angle.

"Eve?" Carter gasped at the flashing blue eyes.

It was a bakuver.

Carter had heard of other expeditions running into the nasty creatures. He didn't understand the science behind it, but they were somehow able to project hallucinations.

The bakuver abandoned Eve's shape, limbs stretching into talon-tipped legs and torso contorting into a mass of hardened muscle. The face was like that of a boar with an elephant's trunk, razor-sharp tusks and a lolling tongue.

Carter frantically checked his suit's gauges. His oxygen levels had red-lined and the warning alarm blinked silently. Why hadn't it warned him sooner? He tugged at his tether and turned towards the station.

The end of the tether clinked against Carter's visor; he had drifted yards away from the station. His rattling breaths echoed inside his helmet, he was losing it.

A shadow passed over Carter, blocking out the sun. The bakuver glowered at him, and for a moment, he swore it smiled.