The large sea animal lolled about in the waters off the coast of the big land, its flippers hung long and low sometimes even touching the soft sandy bottom. The sun had been hot today, as it had been for the last several weeks and something in the animal told it that it was nearly time for the herd to migrate north to its summer hunting grounds.
A sound bounced off of the calm waters, into the antler shaped ears of the aquatic mammal and it looked around to see the origin. It saw nothing yet the noise was there and a bit unsettling. It did not cause the animal to feel unsafe, only the Giant Slag, with its massive jaws and its 6 inch teeth was a threat, and it was too big to get into these shallows waters.
The noise came again, and though it had only been a few seconds since it first broke the silence, it caused the same response from the animal, this time, however, it saw a flash above, in the fading dusk.
It was a large object and reminded it of other things in the sky it had seen in its life, things that fell from the heavens and into the sea, or hit the land. It had once swam down to the deeps to investigate such a site but could not get close enough because of the heat it radiated. Weeks later it went to see the spot again and found only the sea floor and an odd rock. The object it now watched was different. It was long and flashed silver and left a trail of clouds as it fell, and it was very large. Not Giant Slag large, or even Whale Shark large but… reef large.
Something triggered in it and the fear response, which until now had been waiting patiently off stage, caused it to submerge and swim away. Meanwhile the object continued to quickly descend.
****
“Dran, did you get the landing pods operational?” The Captain screamed over the throb of the engines and thunderous rush of wind against the ship’s hull as it plummeted out of control towards the planet.
Captain, landing pods are now operational” First Officer Dran yelled. “Wait, correction, half the pods have not come on line, however we have slowed our descent to half.”
The Captain selected a switch and began to yell into a knob on the ceiling. “Engineer, we need the landing pods activated now!”
Captain, the pods were physically damaged in the explosion, and Captain?” the voice said.
Yes, Nerg?” The captain responded.
“Captain, this is Ruul, Engineer Nerg died in attempting to reanimate the landing pods. Captain, the explosion was in an area where there was not anything flammable or explosive, could this be…”
“We don’t have time to worry about that now Ruul… we have one thing left to try. Divert emergency power to the maneuvering drives. When I give the signal, reverse thrust. That should give us a chance, slim I know but it’s something.”
“Yes sir. Ruul out.”
‘Well, that… I should have expected that, what with the cargo.’ The Captain thought. ‘Could have said no but Shersh- damn woman, don’t know why I even married her. He smiled, Oh yes, her father made me! “Take the passengers and cargo,” she said. “It’s a good thing. Those people deserve to populate too, and the gods will bless.” And look where that’s got me! Gods will bless… right!’
The captain flipped another switch and spoke again into the knob. “All passengers prepare for landing. We have technical difficulties but we are doing our best to get you down safely. Please take crash positions.”
A narrow smile pried at the edges of his mouth, And that was the last thing he said before driving his 4000 mega ton star freighter into the unknown planet’s surface. Great, just the way I want to be remembered!
The captain swung around a pole to get into position, even with the steep angle. He thought about telling Dran they would be the first to die but he was sure Dran already knew the score.
“Dran, ‘been fun. You’ve always done your job well and were well respected with the crew. Thank you.” The captain said, placing his thumb on the microphone switch.
“Do you think they’re right sir, the passengers? Do you think there’s something after this? They seem so confident, and…”
I don’t know Dran. Get prepared if you think you need to. You’ve got about 30 seconds.” The captain said, flipping a switch. “Ruul, on my mark, full reverse thrust.”
The captain watched out of the observation glass as the clouds parted to reveal a sunny day. They appeared to be heading towards a large continent on the equator of this world. ‘No,’ he squinted. ‘The continent is split, and they were heading for the Northern sliver. Was that… thank the gods… an inland sea, it looks like we might hit water.’
“Ruul, you’ve done well. The countdown begins now. Five, four, three, two, one, mark!”
The captain jerked forward, lost his grip on the pole and was thrown head first onto the flight console at 80 miles an hour crushing his skull. First Officer Dran lasted 45 seconds longer until the ship hit the water.
Upon burying its first fifty feet into the sandy muck sea floor, the Blue Star rested.
****
Of the 543 passengers aboard 271 perished in the collision. When everything stopped moving the service and operations crew left the forward section. After reading compartmental monitoring consoles and realizing most of the ship was mostly underwater, they climbed up to the stern and popped a hatch where they discovered they were a mere 25 feet above the surface of a calm sea and sandy beach lay only 500 yards away.
Evacuation procedures were implemented and they removed all the living to the shore. The cargo followed and what was not already sealed in air-tight crates and easily floated, did so on quickly fabricated rafts made of empty supply boxes. The next day a massive storm sent the ship to the bottom and even though they had shut the hatches, the water was too deep to permit diving. Even had they been able to get to the ship there was no way to get inside without scuttling it.
Second Engineer, Ruul Tac’ree, now in command, stood on shore and looked toward the place his ship was last seen. What now? He considered. These people wanted to pray when we started to evacuate, and they wanted to pray when we reached land, and they wanted to pray when the ship went under…how can I lead such a people? A glint appeared in his eyes. But, I am alive so I guess there is something to be thankful for and their god is as good as any to thank.
He heard a scuffle from behind and turned to see Mirht, one of the leading women of her people, these settlers. “Yes?” he said.
“Yes sir, we would like to know if you have a plan for the immediate future. We are of the mind to go a little further inland and build shelters. We have several injured that need a stable environment in which to heal properly and our animal stock must be brought out of stasis. If you have no particular plan we will implement ours.” She finished with a sweet smile.
“Well, no, I have no immediate plans. This place looks fairly safe, and somewhat fertile. Feel free to do–do whatever it is you want I am not your captain.” He said finally in an abrupt confession.
“Will others come to look for us? Isn’t this standard procedure in these matters?” Mirht asked.
“Normally it would be but I don’t think so in this case.” He looked behind Mirht at her people who were taking inventory or their equipment and supplies.
“I have the idea.” Mirht said.
Ruul really looked at her for the first time. She was a tall woman, 30 something. She was not a ravishing beauty but he considered her above average pretty with large green eyes, long auburn hair and full lips. She had a graceful walk and seemed able to easily hold an air of nobility though he knew that she was a simple farmer.
She set her mouth askew a moment before speaking. “It has always seemed odd to us that in a culture that promotes the acceptance of all personal beliefs as one of its highest value… that these same people could hate us so much. It is true that we have disagreed with many of the prevalent philosophies and ideas of the ruling culture, but is that our sin? We have also fought for the rights of those who could not fight for themselves. We have always tried to love people, as well as the environment in which we considered ourselves stewards. We have tried to be a positive force in the world but in all we do, very little of it is accepted.” A tear beaded up in the corner of her eye but seemed to have resolved not to fall. “Don’t you find this odd Second Engineer Ruul?”
Ruul looked at the ground. He felt as though he was being held accountable for the bad behavior of an entire planet. “Yes.” He said finally. ”Yes, it is odd.” He thought for another moment. “No, not odd- wrong. I think it is wrong. They… we… I should have treated you… your people with more respect, we all should have. But it appears that is irrelevant now. You have your new home, provided there are no deadly bacteria or viruses, or poisonous snakes, or vicious birds, animals or fish, or poisonous fruits, vegetable or herbs, and provided the storms aren’t so violent as to wipe us out… I think you can begin to think of this as your new home.”
Mirht smiled and the tear finally rolled down her face.
“And, if it’s not too much trouble…” he said as a tear now beaded up in his eye, “Would you allow me and my crew to be a part of this new world of yours?”
“Gladly,” She said wiping her face then reached up and wiped his. “If they would like, however you will understand if we do not tolerate poor behavior from them. Our women have minds and can decide who they will marry, and our children do not need to be taught other than what we choose to teach them.
We hold freedom both in action and of will to be a high value but we also understand the need for rules and to hold people accountable for their actions. If this is not a problem with your people they are welcome to live with us.”
“Understood, I will explain this to them and they can make up their own minds, although…” He looked at the ground again, like a shamed school boy. “You might give them a little time for change. Unlike you, they did not choose to resettle and will still have emotional connections to the old ways, and they will need time to mourn.” Ruul said.
“I understand.” Mirht looked at the sky, shielding her eyes with her hand, then dropped it and looked at Ruul. “Perhaps you should gather your crew and create your own place for now, not far from ours. We will separate ourselves with some distance and allow your people to deal with their issues. When they are ready, when they choose they may come and be a part of us. We will be there.”
“It is a good plan. In time, we will speak again.” Ruul said, then turned and walked toward the 25 men and women, who had begun to build shelter using local scrub and materials scavenged from the ship.
****
Mirht watched him go then turned to rejoin her people. She knew many of the crew would never join them and Ruul was right about one thing. She smiled, The other ships are filled with those who do not want to live with us, and will not search for us, even if they knew we had survived. This is our home and we will make the best of it. God is here of course, as He is everywhere, and he will help. God be blessed, He will help.
I liked it as well this second time as I did the first! Congratulations!