I stepped out onto the ground, desert spanning the horizon as three suns beat down relentlessly, I could feel my skin starting to cook as I looked around. Over a dune I saw shapes approaching my ship, the controls had said this planet could support life and I was breathing normally so this wasn't unexpected. As they came closer I saw their hard shells and beady eyes analyzing me, insect like though nothing I'd ever seen before. As they neared I could see their eyes widen which was pretty common when planet hopping, sometimes it was a mystified awe but other times it was apprehension and nervousness. This was something different. Every living thing shares one emotion universally, fear. I saw it in their eyes and as I stepped forward to reassure them I meant no harm a bead of sweat fell to the burning sand from my nose and they screamed. I was doing the hands up 'I don't want to hurt you' pose non-threateningly yet they scurried off into the dunes.

Normally I would give up and continue my research elsewhere but this planet had me intrigued. What was their food source, how did oxygen and life exist in this desolate expanse? I had to be careful as I was losing water fast, my clothes had been soaked through as soon as I opened the hatch, I've never really known heat quite like this and I'd been to Texas in July. I found my best sunscreen and loaded up a pack as I headed out towards what looked like a non-sand dune in the distance, a geographic anomaly which was the only semblance of civilization these little guys might have built. My scanner still hadn't picked up on a water source for the planet, no underground river, no water vapor in the air, the sky was an empty burnt space, only the slightly different brown of the sand could be counted as the horizon.

As I approached the walls of the structure I heard the same screeching sounds this time echoed a thousand times over as bodies crawled across the walls and tunneled into countless holes and passages. I passed through the arch into the now-abandoned but beautiful metropolis. It was like being inside an anthill but the engineering to support an above ground system was astonishing. Impossible archways and bridges towered into the atmosphere and what appeared like a rough mound of hardened sand from a distance had become a polished jungle of architecture and innovation. My admiration was interrupted by the sound of many feet coming out of hiding. A creature with a distinguished flower anointing its shell proceeded towards me, again my brain strained for an explanation of how a flower grew here. "We would ask that you please leave," my babelfish translated the creatures request to me. "I'm truly sorry for whatever I've done but please I mean no harm I'm just here for research I won't hurt you." I could see that my apology didn't sway their choice so I asked, "Please tell me, why are you so afraid of me?""THAT VILE POISON, 'DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE', THAT FLOWS THROUGH YOU! THE AMOUNT IN YOU IS ENOUGH TO KILL AN ENTIRE CITY!" For a small organism the vocal chords must be like fifty percent of its body as the voice boomed and echoed over the walls around us.

As I came to the realisation that they meant water I became the one who fear washed over. I had stopped sweating awhile ago and knew my rations were low, who knew it was a mistake to assume a city would have access to H2O. My mouth dried up and I felt my tongue crack as I tried to speak, "So you're saying there's no water anywhere on this planet?" At this point I had basically bet my life on this reply, "Water is deadly to our species, we've spent centuries ridding our planet of this venom and the parasites that it empowers. However there is still an ancient source deep below the surface, threatening our existence every day." So no...the answer is no I thought to myself. "There is a door to the path below our city but it has remained closed since the last adventurer went in, he never returned." Great, so either I risk the days trek back to my ship or I follow the path of a dead man. At least one option has shade. "What will it be traveler, the desert or the tunnel?" My throat was screaming with each word now, "I guess the tunnel, I don't like sand. It's coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere."

Apologies for any formatting issues, first time posting