Well I got something done.It's amazing how it sounds so much better in my head than what I write. I wrote this this morning because after weeks of staring at the first attempt I finally gave up on it. You should be thankful you don't need to read that crap. In any case the idea is here but the ending is either abrupt or nonexistent depending on your point of view.

Top Predator

The Bracian ship dropped out of warp a few light minutes from the planet. Brin scanned the sensors and bared his fangs. The barely capable of space flight inhabitants had no idea he was near.

"Computer, monitor for detection and take the ship to the site." Brin displayed the info he had bought from the scout. A nearly uninhabited expanse full of food animals called Alaska.

"Captain," the ship started, "there are a lot of detection beams in the area we’re approaching but nothing we can’t handle. The gravity is about a quarter above than Bracias normal."

So I have to wear a grav belt but the atmosphere was breathable enough so a suit was not needed. I wonder why the Galactic Federation had not absorbed this planet, he thought. The feds were a bunch of plant eaters who couldn’t understand the need for Bracians to have real live meat, not something grown in a vat. Well, that created a high paying black market for those who could harvest animals from other worlds.

As the ship approached the atmosphere the captain ordered it to slow down. No sense in negating all those radars but then show up on thermal scanners. The ship picked a valley with little signs of habitation by the locals. They might not be federation citizens but taking a few of them would cause a lot of problems. The ship settled in a clearing near a stream.

* * *

Brin loaded an animal onto a drone carrier, the info on the planet called it an elk,. It was just above the load limit for the drone but it was too good a catch and late enough that he didn’t feel like butchering it in the field. He guided the drone back to the ship. His storage compartments were near full and he contemplated making this his last hunt. Still it cost him little to stay and another couple of the smaller animals, caribou he thought they were called, would be an easy catch and he could leave the following night.

Distracted by the thought of leaving soon he walked in front of the drone which swerved to avoid him. The elk shifted and the drone tipped allowing the elk to slide off and land on the loading ramp. Brin swore to himself. The animal was half on the ramp on half off. Easier to butcher it here than to drag the whole thing into the ship. He went into the ship and got his knives. The head would make a nice trophy along with the hide but the real value was in the meat. Still some of his clients might want to hunt these animals instead of simply eating them. He cut open the elk and pulled out the entrails and left them at the side of the ramp. The elk was now light enough that the drone could easily move it into the ship.

Inside the ship he opened the storage locker and turned to the elk. Two animals half his size were sniffing at the remains. Brin smiled, maybe he would be able to fill his ship with these two and take off in the coming night. He backed away and moved between the two and the ramp. He started to raise the ramp when a roar nearly knocked him down. A large creature twice his size jumped onto the ramp. The ramp buckled and bent. One of the supports pulled away from the ship and wedged in the track.

Brin backed away from the animal. He recognized it as a grizzly bear and had been warned to stay away. He swung open a hatch and jumped inside as the bear lunged at him. It caught the door as he tried to close it and tore it from its hinges. Brin scampered down the hall as the bear tried to reach him. It was too big to fit through the hatch. Brin ran to the weapon storage locker and pulled out the blaster. Back at the loading bay he pointed the blaster at the mother and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Brin looked at the weapon to see if it had a charge when the mother swatted it out of his grasp. The blaster split in two and slid along the floor. Brin ducked back into the hall before the bear could swing again.

"Captain the weapon will not work inside the ship. None of the weapons will."

"What?"

"The weapons include a safety feature which inhibits firing in the ship or in its direction."

"What am I supposed to use?"

"Knives have no safeties."

"Did you see the size of that thing. I could take the cubs but that mother is huge."

"It would be unwise to hurt the cubs. According to the databases I can access on this planet the mothers are extremely protective. Also some report that they hold a grudge and will pursue whomever or whatever attacks their cubs."

Brin checked the monitors. Maybe they had eaten their fill and left the ship. The mother had reached into the storage locker and pulled out another elk carcass. The three animals were happily gnawing away at his stash.

"OK, take the ship up. I’ll put on a survival suit. When the air gets thin enough they'll pass out and I can use them to replace what they’ve eaten."

"That won’t work. Parts of the ship are not vacuum rated. Many of the control circuits require an atmosphere as part of their cooling." the computer said.

Brin kicked the wall and raked his claws across it. His claws were barely a tenth of that of the grizzly. A load screech echoed through the ship. On the monitors Brin could see the mother ripping off chunks off the hatch. "Take us up. We’ll shake the ship and get those creatures to fall out." The ship rose about ten feet into the air. "Higher, I want those things dead."

"Sorry captain, I am prohibited from injuring or killing any animal that shows signs of sentience. Unless they are pose a direct and immediate danger."

"Fine, they can live. Start rocking the ship. They’ll slip eventually."

Brin secured himself in the pilots chair and watched as the ship rocked back and forth. The first thing to fall out the open loading door was the drone. One of the cubs followed and landed on the drone. The drone split open and the power pack glowed a bright red. "What happened?"

"Self destruct. If advanced tech is disabled on a non-federation planet it is required to destroy itself."

The ship rocked again and the contents of the storage locker spilled into the loading area. One by one the carcasses slid out of the ship. The second cub grabbed one as it slid out and landed next to its sibling. The mother gave up trying to tear the ship apart and followed after its cubs.

"Good thinking captain. The bears are off the ship and I can began repairs. By tomorrow night we should be able to return home."

"Home! I’ve lost all my cargo. The ship is damaged and, and…"

"And the drone is destroyed, the blaster is destroyed, the cold storage locker is damaged and much of the coolant has leaked out. Repairing the ship will require what supplies I have left. You have no means of catching animals nor loading them onto the ship nor preserving them for the trip home. Oh, and much of your own food supplies have been lost. My safety protocols require that I take you home as fast as possible."

Brin sat and stared at the monitors. Half the ship showed damage messages and the repair bot was cutting the warped and damaged parts of the loading bay door away so it could begin the task of sealing it.