"The Enemy" is a science fiction short story by American writer Damon Knight.
It first appeared in the January 1958 issue of Venture magazine[1] and has been reprinted twice, in the books Far Out (1961) and The Best of Damon Knight (1976).
[2] Fifteen-year-old Zael, who was born in space, is left alone on a planetoid to begin mining operations.
While charting mineral deposits, Zael discovers an alien who has been held inert, presumably for thousands of years, in a metal globe.
Zael realizes that the creature is hostile, and speculates that it has been in suspended animation since a war with humans in the distant past.