Drone

The air was thick with moisture as Lieutenant Victor Hale guided his reconnaissance drone low through the dense, tropical forest. His visor glowed faintly, displaying a bird’s-eye view of the vibrant world below. The alien planet, Xalov, was home to a complex web of towering trees, their trunks as wide as houses, with braided roots that stretched into decomposing foliage. The pilot wasn’t here to admire the scenery. Somewhere beneath that canopy lay the broken remains of an exploration drone—one packed with advanced tech too dangerous to fall into local hands.

Hale’s fingers danced across the controls with precision, weaving through the foliage like a ghost. The signal from the downed drone was faint, but it was there, a beacon calling to him. As he descended, his eyes scanned the horizon, wary of the inhabitants—massive, gliding creatures that swooped effortlessly between the towering trees. They were as large as hang gliders, with leathery wings stretched between their limbs, sleek fur that rippled in the wind, and large, keen eyes that glittered with intelligence. Their grasp of mathematics and physics was said to rival humanity’s, but their civilization had never discovered electronics.

That was why the humans had to be careful. Even without advanced computers, these beings, the Xalovi, could reverse-engineer fluid dynamics like it was second nature. It wouldn’t take them long to figure out the propulsion system of the drones, and after that… well, command didn’t want to find out.

The pilot’s drone slipped past a thick tangle of vines, its sensors picking up subtle heat signatures. Xalovi patrols were active in the area, possibly aware of the fallen human machine. Hale had to stay one step ahead.

He brought the drone to a near-hover, drifting it silently along the tree line. Below, he saw them—three Xalovi gliding effortlessly between trees, their wings catching the humid breeze as they studied the ground beneath them. Each carried intricate tools, likely measuring the changes in the wind or scanning for odd materials. He had seen reports on their gliding techniques—how they moved with the precision of a machine, their understanding of airflow shaping their every motion. Despite their advanced minds, they remained so disconnected from humanity’s way of thinking, their approach organic and deeply rooted in the natural world.

Hale’s mission was simple: stay unseen, recover the tech, and leave no trace. But here, on this heavy planet, every move felt sluggish, every breath a struggle against the thick, alien atmosphere.

He dropped lower, guiding the drone towards the signal. The broken machine lay half-buried under fallen leaves, its bright casing dulled by dirt and debris. But it was there. And he needed to move quickly.

As the drone hovered just over the wreckage, Hale exhaled a slow breath. He had the tech in sight, but it wasn’t just about the drone itself—no, there was something far more valuable embedded in its core. Not because of the threat posed by the Xalovi, but because of the logistical nightmare it would cause.

Nestled inside, was the quantum-entangled particle—a critical part of humanity’s exploration efforts. One half of the entangled pair was in the drone, the other half was back at the human’s home system in a secure facility with the drone pilots. The nature of the entanglement allowed for manipulating the spin on one side, and that being deciphered into communication on the other. The paired particle was the only way for them to maintain instantaneous communication across the stars. Losing this particle meant losing one of the limited channels.

And replacing it? That would cost untold sums in money, effort, and time. If too many drone’s links was severed, they’d be cut off from Xalov, and printing more drones on-site would be worthless without the ability to communicate with them.