Arbor

Returning to his pod, Neil began preparations for the long night ahead.  Digging in the back corner of a kitchen cabinet, he extracted the last of a small stash of coffee which he had brought from Earth.  He'd been carefully rationing the precious substance since arriving, knowing it would be quite some time before they had any coffee of their own ready for harvest.   Getting the brewing started on a large pot of strong coffee, he rounded up a chip reader and a couple of books.  Tonight, he'd get caught up on his reading.  A short time later, his shoes kicked off and comfortably clothed, he was settled into his recliner for the night.

It was well past midnight and both moons had set when Neil jerked suddenly awake from the light doze into which he had inadvertently drifted.  Not sure what had startled him awake, he held his breath, listening intently.  With his heart hammering loudly, the blood roaring in his ears seemed to drown out all sound.  He waited, willing his racing pulse to slow; breathing again, but only shallowly.  All was dead quiet.  Into the silence came a faint scraping sound.  Neil cocked his head, trying to hear better.  The sound came again, followed by a soft, intermittent tapping.  It was apparently somewhere in the bedroom part of the pod, and sounded as though it might be under the bed.  Of course, that's where he was expecting trouble to come from, and he might just be imagining things.  But, the sound was definitely real.  Placing the chip reader soundlessly on the table next to his chair and grabbing his flashlight, Neil stealthily got to his feet.  Barely breathing, he crept slowly across the living room towards the sound, his sock-clad feet silent on the padded floor.  Arriving at the bedroom door, he paused, listening.  The tapping had stopped; for a few moments all was quiet, then the scraping sound came again.  Pushing the bedroom door gently to open it all the way, it swung wide without a sound.  Two steps into the bedroom, and he paused again.  There was the faintest of scraping sounds, receding into silence.  Neil stood there, immobile.  After what seemed like an eon of silence, he lurched forward, lifted the bed covers, and shone the bright beam of the flashlight under the bed. . .