Kulren brought up the map of the surrounding area. His ships beacon pulsed ahead of him but it wasn't his ship in front of him.
'Hey! Who's in there?'
There was no response.
Kulren hurried over, his sensor drone absorbing every scrap of data it could. He clambered up the hull and hopped up to peer through the glass dome viewport.
A man slept in the pilot's seat.
Kulren knocked on the glass, 'Where's my ship?'
The man startled awake, frowned, and clicked his fingers. 'Oh that little thing. Sorry, had to land on it. Emergency.'
The oval hanging in the trees emitted light and warmth, as Kret's hovering robot took readings. The readings confirmed what Kret saw - the light was not attached to anything.
It had appeared just when Kret noticed the wildflowers turning a colour she couldn't describe. The robot did another 360° circuit and then shrugged in a robot-like way. “Does not compute,” it bleeped.
“Haven't you ever heard of The Sun? The voice came from the bright light.
“Erm, no.”
“This isn't Earth?”
“Eh..?”
It vanished, leaving Kret in darkness, shivering and wildly discombobulated.
'That's not my ship.'
Kulren brought up the map of the surrounding area. His ships beacon pulsed ahead of him but it wasn't his ship in front of him.
'Hey! Who's in there?'
There was no response.
Kulren hurried over, his sensor drone absorbing every scrap of data it could. He clambered up the hull and hopped up to peer through the glass dome viewport.
A man slept in the pilot's seat.
Kulren knocked on the glass, 'Where's my ship?'
The man startled awake, frowned, and clicked his fingers. 'Oh that little thing. Sorry, had to land on it. Emergency.'
The year was twentyone twenty three.
In the Starship "Relativity",
We warped away for Rigel five
trusting to the hyperdrive.
We knew of life on five and nine
from a video call near a Hydrogen line.
Our Phasistors were a disgrace,
they dumped us out in empty space.
(That's what you get when you build a boat
with everything sourced at the lowest quote!)
But up spoke Jock, our engineer
"Dinnae worry! Never fear!
For I have built a Teleporter
To make our journey that much shorter"
He pressed the switch, turned on the ray
And we arrived! Hurray! Hurray!
If the battle-scored ship had crashed anywhere else and hadn’t been giving off an SOS signal, Jayra wouldn’t have approached.
Jayra powered her communication’s array.
“Need help?”
“Message.” Her array indicated the language was Traxian.
Jayra calmed her fears with a slow breath inside her protective suit.
The door hissed open, and a Traxian limped down the ramp, his armored shell leaking fluids. He fell at Jayra’s feet. “Message.”
Jayra scanned the translation. The information could stop the war.
Gazing at the surrounding forest, Jayra considered. What did peace feel like?
Was it like the surrounding dusk softening the horizon?
“For the love of Thandi! What's this now?”
The oval hanging in the trees emitted light and warmth, as Kret's hovering robot took readings. The readings confirmed what Kret saw - the light was not attached to anything.
It had appeared just when Kret noticed the wildflowers turning a colour she couldn't describe. The robot did another 360° circuit and then shrugged in a robot-like way. “Does not compute,” it bleeped.
“Haven't you ever heard of The Sun? The voice came from the bright light.
“Erm, no.”
“This isn't Earth?”
“Eh..?”
It vanished, leaving Kret in darkness, shivering and wildly discombobulated.