by Mel Todd
"Done, she is gone to the coordinates you provided. The pod auto adjusts speeds so if your people are there, they should be able to watch her land with little danger unless they are directly underneath. "
"Okay. One thing's off the list. Ash can you do a ship-wide announcement that we’re landing on the planet, but there’s a very good chance we won't make it. I'd rather have the remaining Elentrin off the ship and not have to worry about our backs."
"Very well." He moved over to another console and pressed a button. "Attention all crew, life support has failed and the ship will be landing on the planet below. The odds of survival are low at this time. Please brace for impact." He cut it off and turned to her.
"Not exactly what I would have said." McKenna commented looking at him, no idea what prompted that sort of announcement.
A long whistle escaped as his tail lashed back and forth. "Elentrin are odd creatures. They are not brave, but if you tell them to run, they will never run. It is like they absolutely must do the opposite. But if you tell them to stay, they will flee almost as if to deny that they have to follow your orders. But only in battle. In classrooms and normal work situations they follow orders just fine. But when their life is at risk? Their behavior is like that consistently. I have never understood, but I can use that trick."
"He is accurate," Thelia's voice was thoughtful. "I had never thought about it, but he is correct. I wonder if there are resources that I could use to research that? It would be interesting to track down the source of that reaction through our culture."
McKenna blinked at her and then laughed. "You're a scholar. You love research and books. That’s what drives you, knowledge."
Thelia jerked upright, her spine stiffening. "I do not. It is simply another tool to use to crush my opponents." Her retort was instantaneous, and she pulled back a little bit blinking.
Ash whistled a bubbly sound burbling sound.
"That is exceedingly strange." Her eyes narrowed to slits, but McKenna could tell she wasn't looking at anyone, just thinking. "And very worrisome."
"Right now it qualifies as amusing and something to think about at a later point. If there is one. Ash, did your little message have the desired effect?"
It took him a minute, tail lazily drifting back and forth. McKenna glanced at her tail, wondering it if was waving also, but only the tip twitched. She pulled her attention back to him as he looked up.
"Yes, in odd ways. There should have only been three Elentrin left, but eight pods have been used."
"How is that possible?" McKenna asked, worry creeping up her spine.
Ash didn't respond immediately, tapping on the strange icons, his tail speeding up a bit. "It looks like some of the Kaylid chose to leave also. There were other Kaylid like me on the ship. House Kaylid that had been with their families for generations. Most of them also have AIs like I do."
[Yes, but theirs are not enlightened as I am.]
A faint hint of laughter came through at that comment and McKenna wasn't sure who had laughed.
Rarz had stood there watching all of them, but when another shudder shook the ship he moved. "What is the current plan?"
McKenna bit her lip, and instantly regretted it, as blood welled up from it. She closed her eyes and tried to get a grip.
~Cass, is everyone there and through the portal?~
~I sent Cass down, she’s relaying things to the people in charge, Roark and Coran are with her. We’re still getting people out as fast as we can but it’s getting smoky down here.~ JD's soft rumble of a voice soothed her, though she knew if they all made it through this he would be chewing on her for months for making him leave.
McKenna flipped her tail at Ash, and startled herself, though she tried to cover it.
"The life support systems are failing, much faster than I thought. We have about two hours before the air will be unbreathable."
~JD, one hour from now, if I don't tell you to bail sooner, get down that portal and I'll have Perc drop it. Good luck,~ she said, her mental voice soothing.
~You too.~
She didn't try to talk to Charley, Nam, or the twins, just sent them a wave of love and turned to Thelia. "Time to pay the piper. Show me how to fly this ship."
Thelia looked at her, a sneer to her lips. "You are really going to do this. You have the ability to walk away at any moment, to any planet since you have a Drakyn by your side, and you are going to willingly stay on a ship that will most likely crash and kill us all?"
McKenna shrugged, "Yes."
Thelia turned her strange purple gaze on Perc. "This is true for you also?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." He responded, baring his teeth at her.
"Your world is very strange," she replied, her purple brows drawing together for a moment. "I would enjoy exploring more of your odd thought processes." She seemed like she was going to say something else, but cut it off and walked over. "Let us begin."
"One minute. Ash, where are the spacesuits? We should all get in them in case life support fails or we get a breach in the hull."
Ash looked at her, then for the first time glanced at Thelia who had her head tilted slightly as she looked at them.
"What are spacesuits? The word does not translate into Elentrin."
"What? You know, suits, to wear in case we get exposed to space? Has oxygen and stuff in it?"
"You mean the exosuits? They are too big to do any fine motor control and that is needed to steer or fly the ship. Also your commands would not be recognized through the gloves." Ash responded haltingly, as if unsure what she meant.
"No, like suits. To protect you? Provide life support?" At this point all the aliens were giving her looks that she figured conveyed confusion at the least. "Rarz? You don't have them either?"
"If you are talking about clothes to protect you from a vacuum or provide breathable air, no. I am able to exist in a vacuum for a few minutes in any of the scaled forms. All Drakyn have the ability to seal eyes, ears, and nostrils until I could create a relocator to move me back to a planet. But this is rarely done. Space is cold and inhospitable."
"If the ship breaks you die. Why would you put on something to prolong your death? Death is best met swiftly," Thelia chimed in, looking back and forth between the two earthlings.
"You guys have the weirdest blind spots. Either that or Earth has too many sci-fi writers who overthink everything." Frustrated, she looked at the consoles. "Fine, we do it like this, but I'm shifting back to human since then I can use the controls." With that she reached for her other self and slowly slid into it, conserving energy. But as soon as she was in that form, she reached for one of the energy bars.
"I'll stay in warrior. I'm faster and stronger in this form if we need it," Perc said as he moved over, standing more protectively near her.
Ash and Thelia stared at her as she shoved food into her now human mouth. Molars were good things, trying to chew these bars in warrior form got annoying fast.
"That is your normal form?" Ash finally asked, just as McKenna started to check if her kilt had fallen off or something.
"Yes? I'm human. Surely you saw what we looked like? Thelia, you were there on Earth."
"All the people I saw were dark-haired and short. They had flat faces. You, except for your bland coloring and marred features could almost pass for Elentrin."
McKenna shrugged. "I'll let the anthropologists fight over why humanoid is such a popular a body style. Not my issue. But Ash, what’s your issue? Didn't you see humans on TV?"
"TeeVee?" He repeated slowly.
"Yeah you know, cameras, ways to see what was going on down there?"
"We have no cameras on that are watching what you are doing. We receive telemetry reports from the Kaylid and the shuttles, counts, information. But why would we need pictures?"
"To know what’s going on?" another shudder shook the ship and McKenna waved her hand. "Never mind. Time to land or die trying. Aren't there seats for these things?" She asked, as she loo
ked at the work stand next to the one Thelia leaned on, traces of her blood still touching the surface.
Ash walked over and pointed to a button on the side of the stand. McKenna pushed it with her human finger, and shivered a bit. The ship's environment came across as much colder without her fur. Out of the floor rose a weird stand that had a crescent arc to it. She glanced over at Thelia whose chair stand had also risen.
McKenna copied her actions, stepping back into it and feeling it flow up her spine and around her waist, taking much of her weight but let her keep full mobility. "Interesting design. Not sure how practical it is, but it should work." She glanced around and saw Perc had secured himself, as had Ash. The air was getting thinner, and for the first time she could taste smoke.
~Cass, JD, Toni, it's time, get off the ship now.~
~What about you?~
~As soon as you’re all on the ground Rarz can kill the portal and then we can use it if we need to. Go. Now. I don't have time to argue with you.~ A few tense minutes passed before Toni spoke in her head.
~It's done. All the awakened are on the ground, as are we. He can close the portal now.~
"Rarz, do it now, please." She had sensed him following the discussion, so he had no doubt as to what she was asking him to do.
He closed his eyes then opened them, the multicolor orbs swirling in a way that seemed to suck her in. "They are out, and it has been disconnected." She noticed his color seemed a bit brighter and shot a mental note to Wefor to add that to the ever-growing list.
"Thelia, let's land this ship."
Thelia's eyes locked onto hers, in that vivid purple no human had. "You do realize the odds are we may all die, as well as all the Kaylid?"
McKenna channeled her best action hero and forced a smile. "Then it's time to beat the odds."
"Strange beings you are." Thelia shook her head and pushed buttons. "It is started. Enter the coordinates to the place you wish to place the ship."
Wefor provided what she needed and McKenna swallowed past the bile in her mouth.
We'd better succeed, or a lot of people are going to die.
Chapter 39 - Coming in Hot
The sudden retreat of shuttles has people all over the world cheering, but the lack of reaction from the White House has everyone worried. There are no proclamations of success or word on why they have retreated. This is leading some to believe that whatever is coming next won't be good for anyone. We are receiving odd reports about impacts? ~TNN Invasion News
With shaking hands, she put the coordinates in the computer in a way their systems would accept them. It took her three tries with prompts from Wefor and Elao before they were correct. "Done."
Thelia pushed another button, then tilted her head. "Something is wrong. The engines will not start. There is a password lock, but the standard captain's password is not working."
McKenna frowned, then horror washed through her. ~Toni, we need to unlock the engines. We need to start them to land. What’s the password?~
She felt more than heard the ripple of horror and surprise that rippled through the mindspace.
~Crap, of course. Okay you ready? You'll need to write it down or it won't make sense.~
McKenna looked at the console and hit an icon that brought up something analogous to a notepad screen. ~Go.~ Toni listed out the letters and numbers, specifying capital or not. When she was done McKenna looked at her pad. ~Really? That is what you set the password to?~
~I figured no one from their culture would ever hack it.~
McKenna looked at what she had written down and fought back a laugh. ~That's for sure.~
Th31nt3rn3t1s4P0rn!
~I think I'm glad I don't need to tell a human that.~ She shook her head and passed the information over to Thelia who typed it in. Another few keystrokes later the engines started. "That resolved the issue. The engine has started."
"Now what? How do we steer the ship?" McKenna tried to keep the itchy panic out of her voice, but where was the helm for her to grab and fight through the atmosphere? Or levers to pull on to make sure the ship landed correctly?
"Steer? Like a driving vehicle?" Thelia looked over at her, purple brows raised.
"Well, yes. We need to guide the ship down." McKenna looked for something that she had missed, to pull or push.
"The computer will land us. There are no rudders or axles in a spaceship. " Thelia said the words slowly, as if talking to a child.
Stopping her efforts to find some controls, McKenna turned and stared at her.
~Why do I think all those sci-fi movies lied to us?~ She asked in the mindspace as she stared at the impossibly gorgeous woman. ~And why, even with her nose swollen and a yellowish color, is she still so beautiful?~
~Yes, I'm getting that feeling.~ Perc sounded just as sour and frustrated as she did. ~And no idea, but purple isn't my favorite color. I'm a bit partial to golden brown.~
~Are you two really flirting again? Now?~ Toni asked, exasperated amusement in her voice. McKenna started, and pulled herself back to the current situation.
"Ash? I thought you said we needed her bio-electric signature to fly the ship?"
"I had thought that also, as none of these commands would react to my touching them. Yes, I tried in secret. It never occurred to me to be in another form to try." He sounded affronted, but not at her. "There is not always information in the computers as to what is or is not required. Some things are assumed."
Cultural blindness, things we all know, like red is stop.
It made sense to McKenna, but what else had they missed in their interpretation of this new world?
"You needed me regardless of the forms. Because I was an ambassador, it means I have command rights to all the ships. All three of us had those. Even Scilita," Thelia smirked at Ash. "Your pet traitor doesn't know everything, even with a piece of overly smart tech in his head." She turned her attention back to McKenna. "Also there will be questions and options that I will need to choose as we descend. If something fails, I will have to decide how to react."
McKenna's fingers itched to wrap around the woman's neck. Then she realized her nails were turning into claws in response to her emotional desires.
Stop that.
Her irritable thought must have worked as the claws started to go back to nails. She closed her eyes, took a long deep breath through her nose and looked at Thelia. "Is there a way to see what’s happening outside the ship right now? The view screen isn't a real camera, it’s a representation of what is out there?"
At this point she didn't know for sure, as things kept changing. Besides, she now felt like an idiot. Why in the world had she imagined wrestling the ship down, like there was anything she could do with a ship that probably outweighed most aircraft carriers. But that sparked a thought.
"Exactly how big is this ship?"
Ash tilted his head then answered. "Elao says it is the equivalent of 1575 meters long and 932 meters wide."
"And in feet that is? Why in the world does an alien know meters and not feet but speaks English?"
[Elao has been communicating. Meters are a much more logical measurement than feet are. But for your information it is 1722 yards by 1019 yards.]
McKenna swore. Wefor sounded smug, but she got caught hung up on the size. "Isn't that like twice the size of an aircraft carrier?"
[Not twice, more like 1.75 times the size.]
~JD, can you make sure someone gets the info to White Sands how big this thing is and—~ Mckenna broke off. "Ummm, I don't think the runway at White Sands is more than a few miles."
"That will not be an issue. There is enough capacity in the engines to do a controlled landing and use the propulsion system to come in slowly." Thelia touched something on the board. "I think."
Those two words dashed any feelings of hope McKenna had harbored.
"What does that mean?"
Thelia nodded at the screen. "This is still a representation of sensors, there aren't cameras on the outside of the ship, that
would make no sense. But the sensors can extrapolate what we are going through." Another shudder shook the ship. "That is not good. Not only was life support taken out, the engines suffered damage. While the computer core is correcting and can make corrections much faster than I ever could, it is rapidly making course adjustments. I am assuming your top priority is getting this ship down in as much of one piece as possible, with the damage to the planet being inconsequential?" Her tone had acquired that smug tone again and McKenna gritted her teeth before relaxing them to respond.
"Yes, that would be accurate."
"Then it is what I am attempting, though you should note most computers are not programmed for crash landing on a planet. I am not aware of any incident where it has happened. At least not that anyone lived to report on afterward."
Her words helped not at all, and McKenna desperately wanted something to do. But other than stare at the screen where the earth came closer to them at impressive speed, there wasn't much to do.
"How long until we land?"
"The currently estimate is 1.1 htserc, though that keeps changing as more systems are failing." Thelia licked her lips.
"What is that in my time?"
Wefor replied, [110 minutes until landing.]
"Okay, that isn't too bad, right?"
Thelia cast her a glance full of contempt. "The computer is asking it if can remove power from the life support system to the guidance modules. Most of the ship is vacant except our area, and all Kaylid in canisters will flip over to their emergency supply power. If we are not lucky, we will have much less time."
"And the backup canister power will last how long?" She knew they had told her, but at this point she couldn't pull it out with all the other thoughts rushing through her brain.
Wefor provided the information at the same time Thelia did. "About one and a half of your months."
"That long? We figured it was hours." A bit of stress faded. "Wefor, how much oxygen do we have in here? How long can we last with what is in this room?"
A soft hum, then a response. [There is plenty of oxygen to last for longer than what the ship will take to land.] McKenna let out a breath of relief, but as she opened her mouth to talk to Thelia, Wefor continued. [The problem is the smoke is still increasing. You are breathing out CO2 and the air quality will deteriorate. Assuming none of these factors change, with four of you in these two rooms, you will have a window of about 30 minutes. Though it would be advisable to keep your breathing rate steady.]