Marooned on Giri Minor
"We're marooned on an alien world, and we have almost no food or water," you say. Then you lower your voice. "Captain Siggo told me before we went down that no one probably knows where we are, as the hyperspace comm was the first system that went down."
"Right," Andrade says. "So we can't just sit around expecting help to come any minute."
"Therefore I say we head out now," you say, "and find out right away whether or not there is anything at that colony that can help us."
Andrade nods slightly at your assessment, but then says, "How is it no one ever made you an officer?"
You don't know how to respond to that.
With Lieutenant Nimjey and Dr. Munro wishing you luck, you set off into the dark desert with Commander Andrade. The burning forward portion of the ship quickly recedes behind you, and your eyes adjust to the pale light cast by Giri Minor's two remaining moons.
The desert plain is strewn with dark objects that at first make no sense to you, and which are far too easy to trip over. Then you look closely at one in the dim light and recognize that you are surrounded by ancient tree stumps and logs--the desiccated remains of a forest that stood here two centuries ago, before the third moon exploded and triggered the planet's ecological disaster.
Things seem to go well at first, with the commander navigating with the aid of her WristComp, and you scouting a path through the maze of half-buried logs. Every now and then you look back toward the crash site, and the fire is more and more distant each time you do.
"Ow!" the commander says. "Something just bit me on the ankle."
"Do you need to stop?" you ask.
"No, I think I'm fine. Probably just a fly or something."
So you continue deeper into the desert, but now you think you can hear something scurrying across the dry ground. It's probably just the sound of the gravel being kicked up by your boots, you decide.
That is, until you take another step and something crunches under your boot. And your next step, and the next.
"Do you hear that?" you ask, but when you turn around Commander Andrade is not there. You can make out her silhouette about 100 meters back.
"This water is exactly what we needed!" she shouts. "It feels so good. Starman, I don't know how you could pass right by this pool without wanting to jump right in!"
You have no idea what she's talking about. This is a desert; there is no pool of water.
But now as you examine the space between where you stand and Andrade stopped, you can see in the moonlight that the ground seems alive. Hundreds--no, thousands--of small black creatures the size of your thumb are on the move, heading in the commander's direction.
"Ohh-hoh-hoh-ohh, this feels so good!" she shouts again, as if she were swimming. You run back toward her, stomping on the creatures with every step. The commander is kneeling on the ground, her arms and hands acting as though she were splashing water over her body, even though the spot where she stopped is as dry and barren as anyplace else.
You can see that the creatures are starting to latch onto her exposed skin, with more on the way.
"Right," Andrade says. "So we can't just sit around expecting help to come any minute."
"Therefore I say we head out now," you say, "and find out right away whether or not there is anything at that colony that can help us."
Andrade nods slightly at your assessment, but then says, "How is it no one ever made you an officer?"
You don't know how to respond to that.
With Lieutenant Nimjey and Dr. Munro wishing you luck, you set off into the dark desert with Commander Andrade. The burning forward portion of the ship quickly recedes behind you, and your eyes adjust to the pale light cast by Giri Minor's two remaining moons.
The desert plain is strewn with dark objects that at first make no sense to you, and which are far too easy to trip over. Then you look closely at one in the dim light and recognize that you are surrounded by ancient tree stumps and logs--the desiccated remains of a forest that stood here two centuries ago, before the third moon exploded and triggered the planet's ecological disaster.
Things seem to go well at first, with the commander navigating with the aid of her WristComp, and you scouting a path through the maze of half-buried logs. Every now and then you look back toward the crash site, and the fire is more and more distant each time you do.
"Ow!" the commander says. "Something just bit me on the ankle."
"Do you need to stop?" you ask.
"No, I think I'm fine. Probably just a fly or something."
So you continue deeper into the desert, but now you think you can hear something scurrying across the dry ground. It's probably just the sound of the gravel being kicked up by your boots, you decide.
That is, until you take another step and something crunches under your boot. And your next step, and the next.
"Do you hear that?" you ask, but when you turn around Commander Andrade is not there. You can make out her silhouette about 100 meters back.
"This water is exactly what we needed!" she shouts. "It feels so good. Starman, I don't know how you could pass right by this pool without wanting to jump right in!"
You have no idea what she's talking about. This is a desert; there is no pool of water.
But now as you examine the space between where you stand and Andrade stopped, you can see in the moonlight that the ground seems alive. Hundreds--no, thousands--of small black creatures the size of your thumb are on the move, heading in the commander's direction.
"Ohh-hoh-hoh-ohh, this feels so good!" she shouts again, as if she were swimming. You run back toward her, stomping on the creatures with every step. The commander is kneeling on the ground, her arms and hands acting as though she were splashing water over her body, even though the spot where she stopped is as dry and barren as anyplace else.
You can see that the creatures are starting to latch onto her exposed skin, with more on the way.