[ IP ] Nebulous Nightmares [ x-post from /r/creepy ]

Iliana had had nightmares that started a little like this. 
 
 Started with a something that could destroy a planet. Usually her planet. At least these... things... were holding a different one. Destroying a different one. 
 
 Iliana should've been cold to that. The planet in the claws of this... thing, it was already lost.The proper thing to do was wait for the strangers to finish their destruction and then send in her diplomats. Say hello, please, what can we give you to not kill anything important? 
 
 This planet- Iliana did n't even know its name- was n't important. 
 
'Was n't important.' 
 
 That's what the rules told her. The government's mandate. Her mother's teachings. 
 
 `` Captain?'' her first officer said uneasily. 
 
 `` Do we know the planet's name? How many people live there?'' 
 
 Her first officer rattled off name and numbers. 
 
 Iliana wished she had n't asked. 
 
 She stared at the strangers, looking at the gaps in their hoods- if that's what they were- for anything she might recognize or understand. She found nothing. She stared that the point of red light where most species would have their neck. Or chin. 
 
 Or mouth. 
 
 The flames from the planet's destruction trailed up to that point of light. What if they were being drawn in? Sucked in? 
 
 She'd heard the legends about things that ate planets. 
 
 Not legends anymore. 
 
 `` Commander.'' She sounded calmer than she felt. That was some victory, at least. `` Make sure every sensor is online and focused on the planet and those entities.'' She had n't hesitated when she'd said'entities.' Like they were just another phenomenon. That was some victory, at least. `` Record everything the ship can, and send it back to the Core. In instant time. So they'll get it even if-'' And there, her voice faltered. `` Even if they destroy us.'' 
 
 Her commander set up the link to Core Communication. They fed information back to home. 
 
 That almost made Iliana feel okay about things. Like a planet dying, like the idea that her ship might be next. 
 
 But it was n't. 
 
 In the stranger's hand, the planet became all red fire, and all drawn into the bright point that could be its mouth. Iliana's heart raced after that, but the stranger turned away, melted away, and looked like part of the nearby nebula. 
 
 Exactly like part of that nebula, in fact. 
 
 Iliana petitioned as often as legality allowed, but it did n't become part of official policy to avoid nebulae. 
 
 The next time she faced a nebula, she said `` I have nightmares that start exactly like this.''
