“Professor… listen!” My Own barked. “We will find another way to free them.”
Defeated, Charles moved away from the entombed control panel. “If that’s even possible,” he said, following My Own back up the corridor.
High Orbit of Kepler 369
The Expedition Ship Requiem – Command Center
May 5, 2442 – Earth Time
“We are in stable orbit now thirteen hundred miles above Kepler 369,” Captain Kevka reported, his Russian ancestry prevalent in his accent. He leaned forward and tightened his grip on the control panel. “Have crews check the outer hull for structural weakness… we took quite a wallop!”
Da’Mira stood out of the way and watched the crew work. After the Seeker achieved orbit in tangent with Requiem, she shuttled back to assess the damage of her vessel, though she wasn’t sure she could help. Her fields of study were philosophy and art. Being a mechanic fell to the subordinates, not a daughter born into the nine. However, she would have to learn fast. Whatever phenomena caused both her vessel and the Xavier ship to lose all power and plummet toward the surface of the planet wouldn’t be discovered by an artist.
Da’Mira looked toward the planet and thought of Charles Long. She stepped behind Kevka and asked, “Have we been able to contact our expedition teams?”
Captain Kevka turned to Da’Mira, his face knotted with worry and replied, “No Milady. Scans are showing a low-level energy field around the planet strong enough to affect our controls and presumably the landing party’s communications.”
“Have you tried to launch anymore probes toward the planet?”
Kevka’s voice darkened, “We’ve got operations up and running, we haven’t had the time to do so.”
With the captain under pressure, Da’Mira overlooked his boldness. “Get your crews working on sending more probes to the planet soon, commander,” she said in a sharp voice. Hek’Dara taught her that any sign of weakness toward a low-born could shift the command structure. Da’Mira didn’t like becoming something she despised, but she worried about My Own and the rest of the people on the surface. So, taking a step further in her orders, although unpleasant, needed to be done. “Find out what is happening on the planet commander or I’ll have you stripped of command. Do I make myself clear?”
Captain Kevka regarded Da’Mira, browbeaten, her bravado astonished him. With renewed vigor, he said, “I… I will get my people working on it at once Milady.”
Da’Mira didn’t reply. Her hardened brow tightened more, and she turned deciding it was better not to push the captain too far. When a voice from the upper deck called out, “The Seeker is launching a Monarch shuttle toward the planet!” Her face slacked, and she turned toward Captain Kevka.
Da’Mira leaned in to a scanner and watched the image of the craft move toward the planet. She sighed, assure of who flew the shuttle. “Contact that ship,” she ordered. She had to be sure.
A turbulent sound blared across the speaker. “I’ve no time to talk – I’m rather busy at the moment,” Gregaor’s voice came over the speaker.
“Gregaor you need to turn back… the shuttle won’t make it – you’ll lose power long before you reach the upper atmosphere.”
“I’m aware of that… but if I intend on claiming the planet as part of family Xavier then I need to be on the planet to do it.”
“What about our deal of working together?” Da’Mira knew she shouldn’t have believed him. She allowed her feelings for him to cloud her judgment.
“An honest ruse wouldn’t you say? Now please Da’Mira I need to concentrate if Van and I will make it to the surface in one piece.”
The channel went clear and Da’Mira fought with what to do next. If she wasn’t on the planet, even though her people were, the Xavier’s could claim it and all her teams as their own. She sighed… “Ready my shuttle.”
Astounded, Captain Kevka said, “Milady, no…”
“You heard him. If he reaches the planet and I’m not there he can undermine our claim, as loose as it might be at this point,” Da’Mira said. She might die in the attempt. My Own crossed her mind. And the others loyal to the Tannador family, who would become property of the Xavier’s if they claimed the planet and all who landed there.
“If you must go… I’ll fly the shuttle,” Kevka said. “I wouldn’t trust anyone else at the controls or with your life, Milady.”
Da’Mira’s brow knotted, and she said, “Thank you, captain, let’s go.”
When Da’Mira’s shuttle shot from the landing bay it rocketed along a trajectory that coincided with the entry spot for Professor Long’s expedition team. The ship vibrated out of control. Warning alarms cried out, the front panel lit up with a series of colorful lights alerting her of complete system failure. She still wore her expedition coveralls, and Da’Mira slipped a pair of shaded glasses out of her upper pocket and pulled the elastic strap around her head; the glasses fit firm to her face.
The invisible magnetic field around the planet played havoc with the ships controls. Systems flickered off and on, and the turbines whined and whaled like an animal. The klaxon blared in warning and Da’Mira held onto her chair’s armrests watching Captain Kevka struggle with the controls. She didn’t talk to him. Instead she allowed him to do his job, though she couldn’t help thinking she could have come up with a better option than flying to Kepler 369. Gregaor and Van might have died in their attempt and she wouldn’t have had to worry. If they made it however she would have lost all claims to the planet. Something she refused to allow.
The shuttle slammed to the right, Da’Mira jerked in her seat. The image of the planet filled the front window of the ship. They passed into the upper atmosphere and soon after the power in the shuttle flickered off, and the ship flipped out of control. The shield around the shuttle shimmered off and the inside of the vessel heated up.
The captain shouted something but Da’Mira didn’t hear him over the sound of reentry and the roar from the engines. She knew he needed to rely on his skill as a pilot more than ever.
Monarch shuttles were heavy and never meant to act as a glider. Constructed with the idea that all systems would work… and with all the fail safes in place that should never be a problem. Da’Mira wondered what the designers would say if they knew their failsafe protocols didn’t work due to an alien intervention.
A veil of super-heated air glaze over the front windshield and for a moment Da’Mira thought she saw the face of a creature lunging toward them. Then the windshield cracked… and pieces of the craft flew by the window. Her ship was breaking apart.
“This shouldn’t be happening!” Kevka shouted.
The seat where Da’Mira sat ripped free from the deck plate. She unbuckled herself and stood, but the G-forces inside the shuttle pulled her to the floor and held her there. The force of the impact tore the sunglasses from her face.
Kevka screamed over the alarms, warning, “We need to get out of here! I won’t get this ship to the surface in one piece!” He unstrapped from the flight seat and pulled himself out of the chair – steadying himself on the back of the pilot seat. The shuttle shook violently, but the G-forces subsided and Da’Mira was able to move. Kevka cupped his hand in the crook of her arm and scooped her from the floor.
“What do you mean go?” Da’Mira asked once on her feet.
Kevka pulled open a hatch and pushed Da’Mira inside a six-foot by three-foot escape pod. “The pod has a parachute. It will deploy once it blasts free!”
“What about you?” Da’Mira asked, but she got her answer when Kevka closed the hatch between them and locked it shut. She hammered her fist on the door, yelling, “Captain, what are you doing… Captain!” She forced her face up to the tiny porthole. Stoic, Kevka stood there waiting for the inevitable.
The shuttle’s fuselage ripped open like paper. The intense heat of reentry ignited Kevka’s body – he had the look of certainty in his eyes, certainty that he died fulfilling his loyalty to House Tannador. Micro-seconds late
r, Kevka was shredded to pieces and ripped away from the dying craft – he didn’t even have time to scream.
Da’Mira pulled the escape handle, and the pod blew out of the doomed ship. The lifeboat tumbled end over end. Disorientated she fought to pull the parachute release lever. Unable to focus and nauseous, Da’Mira laid her head back – afraid she might blackout. She closed her eyes, tightened her grip and pulled. With a forceful tug, the pod jerked, Da’Mira was thrown forward and in seconds the tumbling ended, and the life pod began a slow descent toward the surface.
Da’Mira gazed out the small porthole, her wits shaken, but her resolve undiminished. She floated over the thick foliage of the forest and the lush valley where the expedition team arrived. To the west, she saw the mountain region, and further west of that she saw the smoke of Gregaor’s shuttle. She wondered if he and his brother survived.
The parachuted capsule landed in a crop of trees on the edge of the meadow where Charles Long’s expedition team set up its initial landing sight. The high tree canopy acted like a cushion and eased the impact of the pod. Da’Mira, tossed around like a child’s toy, bumped her head on the wall; a blinding shock of light sent a swirl of stars dancing in her vision. She gripped a railing in front of her and pulled a muscle in her shoulder when the lifeboat came to an abrupt stop. Her stomach flip-flopped, turned and twisted, unsettled from the sway of the pod. She leaned forward to peer out the porthole but screamed when the hatch gave way and she tumbled out of the pod. Out of instinct, Da’Mira reached outward and snagged a large weathered vine in her fist. The sudden jerk sent more pain through her injured shoulder. Her hand knuckle white, she squeezed the vine as tight as she could. A cold sweat raced down her back, and she grabbed hold of the vine with her other hand.
Looking down, realizing she hung over thirty feet in the air, she tightened her grip. She drew an equally tightening breath, but when the cords of the parachute that suspended the escape pod above her snapped, she released her grip plummeting ahead of the falling escape pod as it tore its way through the tree branches. On the ground seconds before the falling pod, Da’Mira rolled free, threw her arms over her head and buried her face in the dirt. The pod exploded with a great crash. Da’Mira glanced up, but a flash of light behind her eyes sent a wave of pain through her – blackness.
Startled, Da’Mira flung open her eyes. The daylight dimmed, the planet’s sun sunk in the distance. She saw a faint pink linger in the sky – beautiful and surreal. It would be night soon. She sat up, a course of pain stabbed through her, but she pushed it aside. Sitting all the way up, Da’Mira reached for the scanning tool in her right leg pocket and hoped it hadn’t broken in the fall. She switched it on, nothing. Then she remembered the dampening field surrounding the planet. Useless, she placed the device back in her pocket. She had to rely on her eyes and other senses to find her way.
Charles Long was headed toward the mountains, and Da’Mira set her sights there too. Her only hope was to contact her expedition. Starting out of the woods, Da’Mira entered a crop of tall bushy weed-like plants. The tops bloomed with blue fuzzy-looking peddles that broke free from the stem when she moved through them. The fuzz floated on the evening breeze gently going ahead of her – she followed them with her eyes as they glided away, disappearing in the evening haze. She focused on the vista ahead. Never thinking she’d see a world pure and untouched like Kepler 369, it was intoxicating.
Da’Mira smiled taking in the beauty of the planet but remembered Kevka, and his sacrifice to get her to the planet. She narrowed her attention on her intended destination. She saw the top of mountains over the fuzzy plants and knew if they remained in sight she would stay on course.
It wasn’t long however that Da’Mira heard a rustling from behind, when she turned she found no signs of anything there. Standing quiet for a long moment she waited, wondering if she was being stalked by a predatory animal. She didn’t like the thought of that.
Da’Mira picked up her pace – her heart tightened in her chest. If an animal approached, she had no intention of letting it easily catch her. When a snarling growl followed, Da’Mira ran, tripping over the long stems of the plants ahead of her. She forged forward, bushels of blue fuzz rose into the air. She didn’t dare look over her shoulder… afraid she might stumble and fall. The beast or creature or whatever chased her came closer.
She had never been a screamer… and she’d done more on this voyage than she’d done in her whole life. Just when she thought she might scream again she broke through the long stem weeds into the meadow and into the arms of a man. Da’Mira pushed back but noticed he wore an expedition uniform. Before she could say anything –”
“Give her some room… give her some room,” Hyta Winter said. She stood, leaning on a wooden cane she fashioned from a tree limb. “Are you all right Milady?”
“There’s… there’s something behind me,” Da’Mira said trying to catch her breath. She noticed a small group of people standing behind the old scientist.
“Security!” Hyta shouted.
Da’Mira wondered if the armed men could contain the creature her imagination concocted. Everyone waited and no one in the group spoke… after a long few seconds everyone relaxed.
“I swear there was something chasing me,” Da’Mira said ashen faced.
“I don’t doubt you, Milady… we were attacked last night at base camp. Some kind of creature killed most of my lead team. When we lost power, we had little choice but to join up with Charles and his people.”
Da’Mira looked behind the short Hyta Winter, but she didn’t see… “Where is Professor Long?”
“We haven’t rendezvoused with him yet,” Hyta explained. “It will be night before much longer… and if what happened last night happens tonight we might never get the chance to meet up with Charles again.”
A roar came from out of the tall weeds. The fierce rumble in the creature’s voice echoed through the valley. Da’Mira looked at Hyta; the old sage’s eyes were red and apprehensive.
“Everyone, we will head toward the mountain,” Da’Mira ordered and pointed at two of the men from the expedition team. “You two will carry Professor Winter.”
“You don’t have to do that Milady,” Hyta said with a renounced tone in her voice.
“I have no plans of leaving you behind. We will need all the help we can get if we hope to uncover the mysteries of this planet. Now everyone – keep close and stay focused and we’ll get through this,” Da’Mira said – her voice strong but her wits frazzled. Before long she knew the creature that stalked them would attack. She needed to be strong.
Kepler 369 – South of the Mountain Region
The sight of the Xavier Crashed Shuttle
May 5, 2442 – Earth Time
Gregaor woke amid fire and smoke. It smothered him, and he struggled to breathe – hacking an arid charcoal grittiness from his lungs. His eyes leaked acid and blinded him. Disorientated and unable to move he called for his brother, “Van!” no reply came. Gregaor tried to move his legs, but they were penned under the wrecked flight console. His hands were a mixture of soot and blood and he couldn’t tell if the blood came from him, or his brother. He reached out, searching for Van, but he couldn’t find him. He chastised himself over the stupid decision to bring Van along.
Why didn’t I leave him on the Seeker? Again, Gregaor called out for his brother and still no reply came. He bellowed, unsure what he would do if he found Van dead. My fault you’re here… always my fault.
All his life Gregaor blamed himself for Van’s mental condition. The doctors tried to convince him he wasn’t to blame for Van’s disability even though his mother told him many times. “It’s your fault he’s like this! It’s just lucky you’re so perfect or I would have you both sent to live on Ioshia Station with the rest of the low-born refuse.” His mother’s words rang in his ears. This close to death, Gregaor didn’t want to think of his mother. “Van!” he yelled again.
“I’m here!” Van replied in a cry, c
oughing through the smoke.
Gregaor wiped his eyes, the blurred image of Van before him. He pulled and tugged at his legs trying to free them. “Are you, all right?” he called to Van. The smoke thickened and hung over him like a blanket. Before long they’d both pass out from lack of oxygen, if they didn’t get out of the ship soon.
“I’m okay,” Van replied. “But I can’t see you.”
“Come toward my voice.”
“It’s hot and I’m frightened,” Van said hacking more smoke from his lungs.
“I know, Van, but I’m trapped under the flight controls. Help me, you have to be brave.” Gregaor said struggling. Water pooled in the crooks of his silver eyes. He hacked and wheezed trying to take a breath. His whole chest burned like a raging inferno, but he fought past the searing pain when Van came into view. “Here, little brother… I’m here!” he said stretching out his arms.
Though small in stature, Van had strong arms, anvils. He took hold of the panel pinning Gregaor and lifted; he grunted and screamed until the heavy panel moved.
Gregaor used his arms to pull himself away from under the console. “I’m free,” he told Van and his brother dropped the panel.
Van reached down his large hand and took hold of Gregaor’s bloody hand. He pulled him up. “Can we go back to the ship now?”
Gregaor stood, his ankle wrenched, but he hobbled, using Van’s shoulder to brace him. “I hope we can soon, but right now I’d just be happy if we can get out of here,” he wheezed, each step was a chore.
Fire blocked their exit. The heat poured out at them like a fire breathing dragon. Gregaor steered Van toward the back of the ship and the escape hatch. The manual release controls didn’t need power to open, but Gregaor hoped that part of the shuttle remained above ground.
Van froze in his tracks.
“What’s the matter?”
“I’m scared,” Van retorted. He refused to move.
Origin Expedition Page 30