From the bluff overlooking the ocean Jadin could see a low wispy fog that was almost not there. Jadin did not like the looks of it. It looked unclean and evil. He was glad he wasn’t in that evil fog. He watched for a while and saw it creep slowly inland, holding to the low ground. More was coming out of the ocean, replacing that which went inland. He retreated inland, sticking to high ground, doing his best to avoid any contact with that unclean fog.

    Jadin outpaced the fog as he headed inland and soon left it far behind. An hour later he reached the ridge overlooking the village. Everything looked peaceful. The evil fog hadn’t arrived here yet. He couldn’t say why he felt it to be evil, but he was sure it was and it scared him more than anything he’d ever experienced before. He descended the ridge and entered the village. He had to warn his people.

    He made his way to the Elder’s house in the center of the village and knocked on the door. Shana, the maid, opened the door.

    “Hello Jadin. what brings you here?” she asked with a smile. She liked this shy, sensitive guardsman.

    “Hello Shana, you are as beautiful as ever,” he answered, “but I have no time to flirt with you just now. I must see the Elder immediately.”

    She saw that he was serious and worried. “Follow me.” she answered and held out her hand.

    Jadin took her hand, wishing he’d done so long before that evil fog showed up, and followed her into the recesses of the house. They reached the door to the Elder’s study and Shana knocked.

    “Enter.” the Elder bid them.

    Shana opened the door and, for once, entered ahead of the guest she was escorting. The Elder raised an eyebrow in surprise. Jadin sat before the Elder and Shana sat next to him instead of leaving, telling her father of her intention to wed this handsome guardsman. Jadin took her hand, confirming his intent to wed her.

    “It’s about time.” he told them. “We’ve all been expecting this for the past year. But that’s not what brings you here, is it Jadin?”

    “No, it’s not sir.” Jadin replied. “There is an evil fog heading inland. It is wispy, unclean and unnatural. I believe it is caused by those uncommunicative aliens who are circling our world. I am more afraid of this fog than anything I’ve encountered before. I fear that before it is done, it will kill us all.”

    “Well, you’ve never been wrong before,” the Elder said. “So you’re sure to be right about this too. The question is what can we do about it?”

    “Move to higher ground and travel inland.” Jadin answered. “But that is just a delaying tactic. I fear there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves.”

    “And yet you are wedding my daughter?” the Elder asked. “If things are that dire, why?”

    “I wish to spend whatever time I have left with the woman I love.” Jadin replied. “I wish it could be much longer but however much time we have left, I want us to be together.” he gave Shana’s hand a squeeze, which she returned.

    The Elder rang the bell on his table, summoning his son, the runner. “Spread the word throughout the village. We are going to have a meeting to discuss a very grave problem facing us. It is mandatory for everyone to attend. Then come back here with the other runners for further assignment.”

    “Under the circumstances,” the Elder said, “a formal ceremony would be out of place. As Shana’s father, I give you my blessing. As your Elder, I pronounce you man and wife. May you enjoy your time together. Like you, I wish it could be longer. I would like to have grandchildren and I’m not ready to die.”

    “We must all prepare to meet our maker.” the Elder told the assembled villagers. “There is an evil fog heading this way that Jadin says will kill us all. I have never known him to be wrong. Go, do what you must to get ready to meet your maker. Then, either compose yourselves here or take to high ground so you can live a little longer.”

    “Isn’t there anything we can do to survive?” one of the villagers asked.

    “Jadin says no.” the Elder answered.

    “Where is he if things are so bad?” the same man asked.

   “My son-in-law is with his new bride.”the Elder replied. “What better way for him and my daughter to prepare for the end than to spend their remaining time together.”

   Jadin and Shana were high in the mountains on a path that led farther away from the ocean and to higher ground. They looked back toward the ocean and saw the evil fog laying lightly in the valleys far below them. Shana shivered and Jadin drew her close in a warm embrace. “Oh my love, I don’t want our world to end.” Shana said. “At least not now, not just after we found love together.”

    “I know, my darling,” he replied, “but those aliens above us don’t care about our feelings at all. They don’t care about our lives either, they’re deliberately killing us. I don’t know why and that bothers me.”

    “How long do you think we have?” Shana asked.

    “I don’t know.” Jadin answered. “The fog is moving slow. Unless it starts moving faster, it will be several months before it gets this far into the mountains. After that, how long will it take to kill us? I just don’t know.”

    They turned back to the path and continued their journey. There was a hunting lodge Jadin had used before another thirty eight miles up the trail and thirteen hundred feet higher in the mountains. If they could make it that far before a general panic set in, then they could live there until the end.

    King Menshel listened patiently as the runner gave his report. This was the fourteenth report he received about the evil fog that was plaguing his world. The fog was first reported by Jadin of the village of Nomso. Since then, it spread both up and down the coast so that it almost extended the entire length of this continent’s west coast.

    That the fog was a killer was certain. Jadin first declared it so, and he hasn’t been wrong yet, and his declaration has been confirmed by all the other guardsmen who have seen it. It was also confirmed that no life on this planet would survive it. The only thing they could do was send a message to their people on the other planets who hadn’t forsworn science and technology as his people had.

    This planet was just a lifeless ball when his people colonized it some two thousand three hundred years ago. They decided to create a peaceful, non-technological society here. Now, Menshel wished that they had at least retained some of the biological sciences. Then, they could make an antidote to the poison in the fog. As it was, their only options were to flee to high ground and live a little longer or die where they were. He was going to stay put.

    “So, we are doomed.” Rontrue, Menshel’s chief advisor said. “At least we can warn the rest of our people about these evil aliens.”

    “Yes,” Menshel replied, “Dontol, prepare a message and send it. We must not let our fate befall the rest of our people.”

    “If only these aliens would tell us what they want,” Rontrue said, “then maybe we could negotiate with them and reach some sort of an agreement. But they won’t even answer us.”

    “If they answered us,” Menshel responded, “they would have to tell us why they’re killing us. They don’t seem to want to do that. They might not have an answer that satisfies even themselves.”

    “You are too willing to make excuses for them, my king.” Rontrue replied.

    “I’m not excusing the evil they’re doing to us but I just can’t believe that a completely evil species could live long enough to achieve space flight.” Menshel said. “Science requires cooperation and evil beings don’t cooperate, even with others of their kind. They just take.”

    “You may be right,” Rontrue conceded, “but either way, we are doomed.”

    Jadin and Shana settled into the lodge two weeks ago and now had several neighbors. The news was slowly trickling up from the coast. The first deaths had occurred and the fog was about a quarter of the way up the mountains. Most of the people were already poisoned, just not dead yet.

    Fortunately, there was still plenty of game here and the wild fruits were in abundant supply so they wouldn’t go hungry. They barely used any of the supplies they brought along. Another few months and that would change. Except they probably wouldn’t live that long so it didn’t matter.

    Another month went by and there were a lot more deaths. The fog was about two thirds of the way up the mountains now but rising more slowly. Jadin figured in about another month and a half the fog would be here. The remains of living things near the ocean were dissolving into dust. Soon, that’s all there would be left on this world, dust, mud and rock, like it was before his people colonized it. That’s a real pity Jadin thought because it was such a lovely world before the fog.

    Maybe the aliens would make it lovely again after his people were gone. Jadin hoped so but he wouldn’t be there to see it. At least he still had some more time to spend with his beautiful Shana. He loved her so much but soon that wouldn’t matter any more, they would both be dead.

    Another month and a half and the fog was just a few feet below the lodge. Jadin and Shana decided to move up higher, into a cave that was a few hundred feet above the lodge.

    “Is this where we’re going to spend our last few days?” Shana asked. “It’s not as nice as the lodge.”

    “No,” Jadin replied, “once the fog reaches us, there’s no reason to continue avoiding it so we’ll move back into the lodge. I just wanted to squeeze out a few more days with you.”

    “I’m pregnant,” Shana said. “But I guess that doesn’t matter now. Except that it’ll be one more life lost to that killing fog.

    “I’d really like to know why those aliens are doing this cruel thing to us.”Jadin said in anguish. “I don’t want to loose you or our child.”

    “Oh my love.” Shana cried out as she threw her arms around Jadin and cried hard. Jadin cried with her, wishing hard that it could be different.

   Three days later the fog reached the cave. Shana was very afraid. “Might as well get it over.” she said as she walked down into the fog.

    “No,” Jadin cried out in anguish. ‘I don’t want to loose you yet.”

    “Nor I you.” she answered, trembling in fear. “But we have no choice. The aliens stole that from us.”

    They moved back down into the lodge and it was indeed much more comfortable than the cave. Shana and Jadin raced for the shower. Jadin won but decided to share it with Shana, it was nicer that way.

    “Oh! It feels good to be clean again.” Shana exulted. “It’s just too bad we can’t wash off the ill effects of the fog. Then we could have a long life together.”

    Nine days later Shana was sick. Jadin knew he too would be sick soon. He wished with all his might that it didn’t have to be so but all the wishing in the world wouldn’t change the way things were. Soon, they would both be dead.

    Jadin held Shana close all day, giving her what comfort he could. She tossed all night long and neither one of them got much sleep. In the morning Jadin too was sick. They spent the day comforting each other, wishing yet again that their world wasn’t dying.

    Ten days later Shana died and Jadin was too weak to bury her. At least there were no animals left alive to disturb their bodies.

    Four hours after Shana died the aliens showed up. They were hideous looking creatures with beaks for noses, not lovely like Shana had been. Jadin was barely able to raise his head. “Why?” he asked them, not expecting an answer.

    “Our population has outgrown our planet so we need yours.”one of them answered. “I’m sorry, but there’s not enough room for both our species.”

    Jadin let his head fall. It was too heavy to hold up any longer. He was surprised the alien answered him and even more surprised he understood the words. He thought the answer was woefully inadequate. It was getting hard to think, he felt himself losing consciousness.

    “Why’d you bother to answer that gook, Pete?” George asked. “They ain’t smart enough to understand. They’re so ugly we’re doing them a favor killing them. How could anyone love something so ugly?”

    “He was smart enough to ask.” Pete replied. “And he’s the last one alive. It just seemed like the right thing to do.”

    “That ain’t true, what you told him.” George said. “The corporation woulda took a soakin’ if the word got out about these intelligent aliens livin’ here. Our contract was to deliver an uninhabited planet to the Colonial Authority. Just think about the big bonus we’ll get for bringin’ this thing in under budget. Besides, he don’t look too alive to me.” George said as he kicked Jadin and pointed his acid wand at Jadin’s face.

   Jadin stirred and Pete said, “wait George, he’s not dead yet.”

    “He will be.” George answered as he sprayed acid in Jadin’s nostrils.

   The pain was excruciating. Jadin’s dying thought was thankfulness that Shana hadn’t lived long enough to go through this.