A dying world
By the year 2145, the Earth had almost been destroyed by its own people. The air was thick with pollution, the ozone layer was gone and every plant had died.
The warning signs had been clear for a century. But people kept living the way they always had, without a thought for their children, and year by year the air grew harder to breathe.
Then, around 2105, came war. Right after the Chinese destroyed the last nuclear warhead, the world fell apart. For more than a hundred years there had been peace in large parts of the world. Now, suddenly and for the smallest of reasons, every country turned on its neighbours. People said that God Himself had left the world.
The Avalon cult
A small group called the Avalon cult was convinced the world was coming to an end. Groups like that were nothing new, but this one had a plan: escape the dying Earth before it was too late.
Their target was a distant planet called Avalon, which they believed had a climate much like Earth's. To get there they would need a spaceship, and a new technology that could freeze people for centuries. Stealing the ship was not easy, but they pulled it off.
On the fourth of July, twenty-five people froze themselves aboard the New Apollo, a spacecraft originally built to fly to Pluto. Its equipment suited them perfectly, and its atomic engine could carry them across the enormous distance. They started the engines, and the journey into the unknown began.
Paradise found
Almost two hundred years later, the ice in their tubes began to melt and the colonists woke up. They were in orbit around Avalon. Their joy did not last long: six of them had not survived the long sleep.
First they scanned the planet for alien life. Strangely, they found nothing but plants. Vast forests covered the surface, yet the scanners showed no animals and no intelligent life at all. That was odd, but nobody paid it much attention. They did not double-check their equipment. They simply picked a good spot and landed.
The colonists built a small village. Expecting no danger, they did not bother to fortify it.
For four years they lived in happiness and plenty, and came to believe they had found their way back to paradise. Their dangerous gamble had paid off. Avalon was just like Earth: the air was clean, the sky was blue and full of clouds, a day lasted twenty-two hours and twenty-seven minutes, and the average temperature was twenty-six degrees Celsius. Several of the local plants turned out to be edible, and the chickens they had brought from Earth gave them eggs and meat.
Caddman's warning
One colonist did not share their faith. He was called Caddman, and nobody knew his real name. He was sure they were not alone on the planet. He was the only one who fortified his house, and he kept warning the others about the dangers that might be waiting for them. He told stories about strange, dangerous creatures in the woods.
The villagers thought he was paranoid, or that the long journey through space had damaged his mind. They trusted their equipment, saw no reason to be careful, and ignored him.
The attack
Their mistake nearly cost them everything. One sad day, hundreds of strange creatures attacked the village. The colonists were taken completely by surprise.
They survived only thanks to Mace, a young man who had fought as a soldier in the Great War on Earth. He held the line and killed several of the creatures that seemed to lead the attack. Even so, the spaceship was destroyed and several colonists were killed.
As fast as they could, the survivors built a wall around the village. But they were paralysed by fear and knew nothing about defence, and their fortifications were weak. If the creatures came back, the village would almost certainly fall.
Mace volunteers
Caddman was nowhere to be found. Most colonists believed he had fled and left them to die. Mace did not believe that. He was sure Caddman was not mad, and that he was out there looking for a way to defeat the monsters.
Lee, the leader of the colonists, was not so sure, and decided to end the threat himself. He went out to negotiate with the monsters, but they captured him.
Now only one person was capable of finding out what was going on. Mace, who had already saved the village once, volunteered to find Lee and to learn what the monsters wanted, so that humans could live safely on Avalon.
He had to succeed. Otherwise the last villagers would die a quick and violent death, without ever knowing who had killed them, or why.
This is where you come in.
