Marooned on Giri Minor
You state the coordinates of the crash site, and the artificial voice acknowledges the instruction. The main hangar door slides open to reveal the vast desert, and the ship glides out of its hiding spot into the light of day.
You hardly have to do a thing as the autopilot follows your command, swooping over the plain before shifting course. Despite the length of time it took you to cover all of this distance by foot, the smoke from the crash site is visible as soon as the ship turns in that direction.
It was nighttime when you left, and so you were unable to see more of the ship than was illuminated by the fire. Now, as you approach the wreckage of the EWR210819 from the air, the view is much more alarming. In addition to the burned-out fuselage and the detached cargo hold behind it, yesterday's crash left a long streak of debris and scorched earth stretching for several kilometers across the desert.
You can see the other survivors rushing out of the cargo hold and waving their arms as you circle overhead. The autopilot system identifies a place to set down, and the landing thrusters fire. Warning! the artificial voice says. Power levels low. Please recharge all power cells before attempting lift-off.
Lieutenant Nimjey is surprised to see you emerge from the antique ship, which has come to rest at a slight angle on its damaged landing struts. "Where in heavens did you find this?" he asks.
"In a hidden bunker halfway to the colony site," you say. "But it doesn't have enough power for another flight."
The trio of engineers accept your statement as a challenge; Lieutenant Oviedo-Nandez had already been circling the craft and giving it a visual assessment, and he calls over his two men to start inspecting the power cells.
"Commander Andrade is on board," you say to Nimjey. "We only made it a short distance last night before some bizarre wildlife attacked us. I think they infected her with some neurotoxins, because she started acting strangely. First she thought she was swimming in a pool, and then this morning she wanted to kill me. I had to stun her with the plasgun."
Along with Dr. Munro, you enter the ship and find Andrade starting to stir again where you left her in the passenger compartment. Dr. Munro removes the WristComp and uses it to scan the commander. "Yes, her system is pumped full of some pretty potent stuff. The best we can do for now is to keep her sedated."
Nimjey turns to you, concerned. "Wildlife," he says. "Tell me more."
"Well, they were small, but there were thousands of them," you say. "They crawled out of the ground in the dark, but ran off when I shined the handlight on them."
"Any idea what they were trying to do?" he asks.
"Only that I strongly doubt it was an act of friendship," you say. "I was concerned they attacked you guys here, too."
"We never saw a thing," Nimjey says. "But if these creatures don't like light, then the fire would have kept them at bay."
At that moment Oviedo-Nandez and Chief Ibanz find you. "The starman is correct, this bird doesn't have enough power to lift off again," the lieutenant reports. "And I doubt even solar chargers will work in this dusty atmosphere. But there should be plenty of energy to shoot off a distress signal into hyperspace."
Nimjey smiles, and looks at all of you. "That's the best news I've heard since landing on Giri Minor!"
That evening, as the Girian sun is about to set and you worry that the darkness will bring the beetle-crabs back out of hiding, Chief Ibanz runs out of the antique spaceship. "Guys!" he shouts. "We've just made contact with the Starship Orion. They're on their way to rescue us!"
You hardly have to do a thing as the autopilot follows your command, swooping over the plain before shifting course. Despite the length of time it took you to cover all of this distance by foot, the smoke from the crash site is visible as soon as the ship turns in that direction.
It was nighttime when you left, and so you were unable to see more of the ship than was illuminated by the fire. Now, as you approach the wreckage of the EWR210819 from the air, the view is much more alarming. In addition to the burned-out fuselage and the detached cargo hold behind it, yesterday's crash left a long streak of debris and scorched earth stretching for several kilometers across the desert.
You can see the other survivors rushing out of the cargo hold and waving their arms as you circle overhead. The autopilot system identifies a place to set down, and the landing thrusters fire. Warning! the artificial voice says. Power levels low. Please recharge all power cells before attempting lift-off.
Lieutenant Nimjey is surprised to see you emerge from the antique ship, which has come to rest at a slight angle on its damaged landing struts. "Where in heavens did you find this?" he asks.
"In a hidden bunker halfway to the colony site," you say. "But it doesn't have enough power for another flight."
The trio of engineers accept your statement as a challenge; Lieutenant Oviedo-Nandez had already been circling the craft and giving it a visual assessment, and he calls over his two men to start inspecting the power cells.
"Commander Andrade is on board," you say to Nimjey. "We only made it a short distance last night before some bizarre wildlife attacked us. I think they infected her with some neurotoxins, because she started acting strangely. First she thought she was swimming in a pool, and then this morning she wanted to kill me. I had to stun her with the plasgun."
Along with Dr. Munro, you enter the ship and find Andrade starting to stir again where you left her in the passenger compartment. Dr. Munro removes the WristComp and uses it to scan the commander. "Yes, her system is pumped full of some pretty potent stuff. The best we can do for now is to keep her sedated."
Nimjey turns to you, concerned. "Wildlife," he says. "Tell me more."
"Well, they were small, but there were thousands of them," you say. "They crawled out of the ground in the dark, but ran off when I shined the handlight on them."
"Any idea what they were trying to do?" he asks.
"Only that I strongly doubt it was an act of friendship," you say. "I was concerned they attacked you guys here, too."
"We never saw a thing," Nimjey says. "But if these creatures don't like light, then the fire would have kept them at bay."
At that moment Oviedo-Nandez and Chief Ibanz find you. "The starman is correct, this bird doesn't have enough power to lift off again," the lieutenant reports. "And I doubt even solar chargers will work in this dusty atmosphere. But there should be plenty of energy to shoot off a distress signal into hyperspace."
Nimjey smiles, and looks at all of you. "That's the best news I've heard since landing on Giri Minor!"
That evening, as the Girian sun is about to set and you worry that the darkness will bring the beetle-crabs back out of hiding, Chief Ibanz runs out of the antique spaceship. "Guys!" he shouts. "We've just made contact with the Starship Orion. They're on their way to rescue us!"
END OF PART I