“Alright. LARS, can you level the ship?”
The machine followed my order, sitting us down on a natural slope suitable of supporting the ship’s dead weight. Once the ship landed safely and the other systems began their standard operations, I took the time to address my crew.
“Listen well, we have crash landed on an exo-world after an attack by the old forces of the Sirian legion – the remnants. We need information – not just the location of the galaxy, we need to know the possible dangers here, the climate and if it’ll be suitable for our short stay. Lea, how’s the communications? Are we able to contact The Council?”
“Communication systems are down but I should be able to get them back operational in a few minutes.” Lea responded
“Good, Andrew I want you on weapons detail. I want to know what we used, what we have available and any damages at all.”
“On it.” Andrew was strangely happy to get to work. I could tell he was not one for idle activity
“Michael, see to it that LARS is fully functional. Collaborate to achieve the best results concerning repairs and possible upgrades.”
“Will do.” Michael said
“Logikos, find possible plot regions for another hyperjump. We won’t be staying here long.”
“I’m on it.” He also replied in a similar fashion to the rest
“And Colin…” I looked him directly in the eye, “Your disciplines allow you to cover a multitude of activities here. You will start by aiding the outside repairs with LARS.”
Colin simply nodded respectfully to me. His face was not like the others, he was fearless. The rest were prepared and more than ready to follow the orders but they were scared and I could see the agitation building in them. Still, they knew they had to keep it together and that’s why I had to reassure them, even in the darkest hour.
“Don’t go breaking now.” I said sternly, “You all knew the cost of this mission and what we can and will discover out there. Keep it together, we’re all in this together and we need to be strong. Love is the key to all problems, big or small, and this is no exception. Do not forget we are still a people and one people if I may add. We’ll get through this together – don’t give up.”
I could tell it was what they needed. I knew each of them had something they wanted to say, yet they were mature enough and frankly, strong enough, to keep it under control. At least until we understood where we were and where we were going.
“Astraea, you might want to come take a look at this.” Lea called me from her terminal. It was only minutes after everyone had went out to do their duties. Colin had already got in his spacesuit and went outside with a holographic extension of LARS
“What is it?” I immediately expected the worst and yet despite that, I had to make sure ‘the worst’, didn’t under any circumstance, break me.
“Communication links are being reestablished, however, I did find something while I was fixing the relay.” She slides her fingers on the three dimensional holographic terminal so we can both see what was generating Lea’s face full of worry – “Here. Do you see?”
In front of us showed the surrounding area. These mountains were not simply mountains alone, below them laid a dormant turbulence that had slumbered for far too long and was more than ready to reawaken in all its glory and all its wonder.
“A supervolcano…” I blurted out unintentionally.
The data could not be argued with. We were sitting on top of a geologically active region, filled with a hot pool of magma at the bottom, bursting in excitement for the grand explosion soon to come
“Is it active?” I asked
“Hasn’t been for approximately 60,000 years. Unfortunately for us…” Lea turned her attention to the central area of the room where LARS, naturally arranged a 3D screening showcasing the possibilities and timeframe of when this volcano would erupt.
‘Oh no…’ I thought to myself, thinking of any way we could divert this disaster. But how? We were not more than a single unit and we weren’t packed nor equipped with the answer to every problem in the universe.
“How much time do we have?” I asked not only Lea but LARS too
“One hour.” LARS neutrally responded
“It will have to do. I’m going to check on Colin. Lea make sure we continue operations inside and inform the rest of the crew.”
“Understood.” She replied.
Our spacesuits were not the clunky astronaut variants seen long ago, we wore slim, form-fitting clothes that were lightly armored and contained different types of machinery and other computing systems for each user strapped with a visor-helmet for protection against hostile alien environments. Slipping into the suit was simple enough, seeing Colin talking to LARS outside by himself while they were working together, was another matter. I approached them quietly, not immediately wanting them to feel my presence.
“You know LARS, you haven’t changed one bit.” Colin playfully teased his AI companion
“Is that a bad thing?” The hologram humanoid asked
“For you? Not at all. Not at all!”
“Damage to outside reactors at 15%.”
“Yeah, I got it pal. She should be up in no time.” Colin pointed the gun-like tool at the ship and fired. A short blue beam shot out and begun returning all of the scarred or broken pieces back to original shape.
“Hello.” I inserted myself into the picture
“Hey.” Colin temporarily turned his attention to me, “Everything on course?”
“You tell me. Does this look like we’re on course?”
He shook his head and continued working with a small mixture between a sigh and a chuckle
“LARS, did you inform Colin of our findings?”
“I have.” LARS response was no later than his usual timing
“Supervolcano, huh? So that gives us, what? About an hour?” Colin had already caught up in the knowledge
“Repairs should be completed sooner.” LARS responded
A few more strokes on the outside plating and then Colin took a step back in satisfaction over his hard work. It was quick, yes, but efficient and nevertheless required very accurate precision that I must confess, was surprising for someone like Colin to perform. I started realizing the more this trip went on how much I respected him.
“Colin?” I called for him after the repairs were complete, “Can I speak to you for a moment?”
He looked at me then looked at LARS and his expression simply said, ‘sure’
I moved away some distance from the ship, allowing Colin to trot behind. I wanted to talk to him in private and at least a more decent setting, even though we were not in the position to demand any formal pleasantries out here.
“What is it?” He asked me once we were alone, looking over the ledges of the combined mountaintops. Its horizon and the sunny shores below, reminding us just how unpleasant it would be to fall.
“I’d like to talk you about our previous encounter.” I glared him deeply in the eyes.
He looked around, making sure no one else was around – “Is now a good time?”
“You’ll soon understand that this trip, won’t have many ‘good times’. This is the time when we can speak. Allow it to be.”
“Okay. What is it then?”
“First, I’d like to thank you for what you did back on the ship. It did not go unnoticed.”
I could see he didn’t care much for the thanks but it did ease his frustration that I acknowledged his heroism. He simply shrugged it off, as if it were just something natural to do and it was, because I would’ve done the same thing too.
“Second, I haven’t had much time to think about what you told me but my gut feeling tells me one thing.” I took a step forward and held his hands in mine, placing mines at the top and bottom, “I know I can trust you.”
A shyness crept in Colin to the likes I hadn’t seen in him before. Instead of trying to shrug it off again, he said this – “You say that as if you aren’t sure.”
>
My head tilted in curiosity with a slight sting of agitation since he wasn’t accepting my sincerities. I released his hands and took a step back, “Do you question my intention?”
“No, no, no!” He held his hands up asking me to calm down, “That’s not how I meant it. It’s just a joke, I know you’re sincere and I don’t doubt you. Please don’t misunderstand…”
My face had grown quickly serious but upon realizing the cultural clash between us, especially one that started centuries before mine, how could there not be a misunderstanding here and there?
“I’m sorry, I do not always understand your gestures and references, despite my travels in your time.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He smiled warmly – “We both have things to catch up on.”
And his smile? It crept into me too. I found myself smiling with him as well
“You’ve been showing good resolve.” He went on, “Keep it up, the crew needs that right now.”
“You don’t have…” I paused abruptly.
Something caught the corner of my eye. At first I thought, maybe it’s a wild animal migrating away from the incoming danger. Like humans, they too have pineal glands to sense possible disasters. However, this was no animal at all… it was running, and I could sense a deep aspect of fear as the creature came unintentionally closer to us – bit by bit, revealing that it was a human sentient. A native to this planet. Colin also caught my suspicion, so he too looked with me wondering what to do.
“Be ready to activate the cloaking field.” I spoke to LARS softly
“Wait!” Colin insisted, “We can’t just leave him up here! You know what’s about to happen!”
“We have to. Get back to the ship.” I instructed, already activating my cloaking field but Colin did not follow the procedure. He kept watching.
“Colin!” I raised my voice, “We have to go. Now! These natives cannot know we’re here.”
He still kept looking. I should’ve known then that he would not budge. He wasn’t prepared to see an innocent life die on his conscious, despite it being natural selection. The creature, from what I could tell, had a very black skin – shining off the sunlight. It was shorter than the average human height, perhaps a teenager or younger, and it was running for its life. Then the poor thing slipped on one of the rocks and fell on its face. That was more than enough for an instinctual protectiveness to raise up in Colin. He instantly dashed away from me and ran to the fallen creature.
“Colin!!” I shouted while chasing after him.
This isn’t protocol. We’re not trailblazers, divine beings or saviors. It is not our duty to prevent every turmoil out here in the universe. We should not do this. We should leave. And yet, I can’t help the humanity inside me; begging and pleading for me to go over there and help them. Still, this is not our fight. Not our world and not our people. We need to leave.
Can’t you understand that Colin?
“What do you think you’re doing!” I spoke harshly to Colin as he wrapped his arms around the unconscious creature, scooping it into his embrace and revealing it was not male, but rather a beautiful hairless female creature.
“We can’t leave her here.” Colin demanded
“This is not our fight. Not our world.” I responded
He looked back at me, wondering the question – ‘where is your humanity’?
I was still cloaked, regardless of if the native woke up, she would not see me but Colin refused to budge. A quick thought ran across my mind if I should leave them both but I shook it off. Protocol, yes, it is important but we are thinking creatures. I found myself suddenly unwilling to leave the native behind. Then I felt something in the ground. A strange rumbling.
‘No.’ I thought to myself, ‘It can’t be. Not so soon…’
As if that were the end of my miseries, a faint set of war drums could be heard in the distance. When I glanced to the right, I can’t say I was prepared for what was coming. Scores of native war machines trembled across the rocky landscapes in search of blood, armed to the teeth and ready for chaos. Their vehicles were based off a sort of steam power with the ability to face off-road dangers and ride uphill yet wretched and tribal. They were hunting and searching and that’s when it became all clear what this woman was running from. We stepped in the middle of a war.
“Let’s go. Now, come on!” I was already running back to the ship.
“Astraea! Astraea! Do you read?” Lea patched in
“We’re on our way to the ship. Get the engines started. We’re leaving this place immediately!”
“That’s just it, we may have a problem.”
“Lea!” I stopped her – “Get the engines started. NOW!”
As I neared the ship’s entrance, I stepped over something I initially registered in my mind as a sharp object. When I turned back to see what it was, I couldn’t be more wrong. It was steam. Hot steam, rising from the ground – indicating the catastrophe to come. Soon as we got on the ship, Andrew had gathered an inventory of hand held weaponry. I didn’t even need to ask, the others had already seen the coming native war party.
“We’re interfering in exoplanetary matters?” Logikos suspiciously questioned me while I got out of my spacesuit. I had to ignore him, at least for the moment and focus my attention on LARS.
“LARS, start the engines, get us airborne.” Without his permission I was already heading to my terminal to start a manual override
“Astraea!” Lea’s voice cracked desperately trying to get my attention
“What?!” At last I gave it to her
“The volcano…it’s going to erupt a lot sooner than we thought.”
“That’s why we’re leaving now.”
“With the native?” Logikos interjected
I ignored him
“I’m not sure we can.” Michael pitched in, “Even if we go airborne, we won’t be able to fire the hyperdrives. The system needs at least another fifteen minutes for preparation.”
The pressure, I could feel it in everyone around me. Everyone, looking for a reason or some breaking point to lose their calm. And the worst part, was that I could feel their frustrations slipping into the cracks of my spine
“Then we…”
I could not finish my sentence. A violent hiss shot across the air as a spear-like missile speeded right outside our windows from left to right – headed the opposite direction. Our heads followed the missile only a second or two before it exploded maybe about thirty feet from us, unveiling another patch of warlords narrowly evading the shot but nevertheless being overthrown by the impact of the blast radius. Our ship was also knocked back and began slipping off the hill as the ground beneath us started cracking due to the fury of mother earth below. The ship’s cloak also began failing.
“LARS! Activate manual pilot mode!” I shouted, grabbing the controls as the ship swapped from spacedrive to planetary-system drives. Although this is probably a horrible idea for ship stability since the total repairs were incomplete – it had to be done, and now, because we were in another war we did not account for and we stole someone who also does not belong to us.
More war machines drove past us, heading for their enemies in the distance, firing their own barrage of missiles and kinetic-energy weaponry. The attempt at manual override was an utter failure. The ship would not start.
“LARS, what’s the problem?!” I demanded
“Rerouting powerdrives. Give me a moment.” It responded
“The outside repairs are causing the delay. I can fix it.” Colin stated
I looked at him and he looked at me. We both know he needed to go back out there. We said no words but the look we gave each other probably spelt out a whole book on silent goodbyes. He dashed to the exit of the ship, Andrew storming right behind him.
“You know they’re not after us Astraea. This is their war. Their fight. Get that creature off our ship!” Logikos’ scorned
“You’re right, it’s not our fight, but I’m not going to sta
nd here and watch death happen if I could prevent it. Even if it’s as small as saving a simple creature from a life of despair.”
Outside, Andrew kept watch while Colin got to work with LARS on finishing the final repairs. The heat was steadily rising. Without reading any data on the temperatures, we could feel it from inside. I could only imagine what our men were feeling out there.
‘Come on Colin.’ I was barraging him unintentionally with my eagerness telepathically.
Another patch of war vehicles skidded up one of the hilltops, firing a frenzy hailstorm of wailing arrows not only at their foes in the distance, but now – they were firing at us, probably thinking we were some sort of ally to the rivals. The ship’s energy shield was more than capable of withstanding the primitive firepower, however, our shield was not active… We had to solely rely on the expertise of Andrew and LARS to cover us outside.
Fearless, brave and determined beyond measure, Andrew held his wrists forward and two hand-held beam guns detached themselves from his suit and floated midair, firing rapid successions of electromagnetic pulses that disabled many of the war vehicles that came this way. He went on to slide his hand across his wrist unit for more weapons and out popped out two orbital cannons which came from the ship itself – aided from LARS computing, which floated around the vicinity of our ship to keep our new enemies at bay; also firing thick, straight beams of plasma energy. Colin could not spare the luxury of being swayed by the fireworks outside, he had to keep his cool and focus only on finishing the repairs which I must confess had to have been probably the most challenging thing one can think of doing in their lives because the way things were looking at this point? It was grim.
The ship was still not starting and more and more of these crazed maniacs were pouring from the grounds, on top of the rising earthquake that was once a rumbling had now evolved into a full blown planetary shakedown and we, the natives and all the other unaccounted creatures on this desolate rock were about to experience just how small man is compared to the will of nature.
Magma began spewing from the ground, Colin couldn’t keep his hands straight. Andrew was busy keeping the others back still silent and to the point but even with all his vigor and all his strength, he could not hold off out there forever.
Zero Sphere: A Space Opera Thriller Page 27