"Graham, there's some very large lizards down here. We should leave."
"After I've gotten these mineral samples. Anyway, it's only a lizard, what's the problem?"
"Its jaws are around my ankle." -- Anon Guest
Graham looked. This was just one among the many reasons why Planetary Survey Teams had combat-ready livesuits as part of their essential equipment. The lizard in question looked like a boa constrictor had somehow had children with a sarcosuchus and, owing to the subterranean environment, didn't have much in the way of eyeballs any more. They did, however, have whiskers, which was how one had found Sal.
Titanium-enriched, carbon fibre cerametal couldn't dent a combat-ready livesuit, so there was no way a giant albino snake-crocodile could get through one without also being cogniscent enough to disassemble it. Nevertheless, the creature insisted on persisting. The scraping sound its teeth made against Sal's boot was nails-on-the-chalkboard annoying, but otherwise all was relatively well.
"You know," said Graham, "this could be funny in the right circumstances."
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