CHAPTER 5
“It means ‘human from Earth’ or somethin’ like that,” someone answered matter-of-factly as we strapped ourselves into the seats aboard the troop transport. “Terra’s like the Greek or Latin word for ‘Earth’ or some shit.”
At least that answered that.
Despite my preoccupation with the giant spider-like alien, I had entered the hangar bay hoping to find evidence of this being an elaborate ruse, but nothing indicated so. The transport vessels looked real enough. As I stepped aboard my assigned craft, I considered the amount of effort needed to build several dozen mock spaceships and create such a realistic, giant insect costume. It seemed a bit out there to test a bunch of average twenty-something year olds, but it was a lot more believable than humanity having colonised Mars and
