《Land of Blue Skies》


 Chapter 1

    Illi-Triata-Yunda, Reactor Systems Engineer, Crew 2, Cycle 99


    IHV-101 Legacy


    11 light-years from Dayden


    |||||


    I was deep in thought, as I often was during our journey.


    In my mind, I frequently imagined myself on the planet¡¯s surface. Fresh, cool wind flowing across my scales, the alien sun shining down as I lay under its rays, one hand feeling the lush grass while my tail felt the sand against my scales. I take a great big breath, the salty air filling my lungs as avian fauna soars above me.


    The sky above me is a beautiful brilliant blue, as white billowy clouds swirl and travel across the sky, bringing with them fresh, cold water, freely falling from the sky. An utterly alien world, a paradise planet.


    A loud, electric BEEP snaps me out of my fantasy. I am surrounded by dark red lights, illuminating the cramped access vent I found myself inside. During the long periods of time waiting in here, it was not uncommon for me to daydream about our destination.


    Sixteen years of travel.


    Sixteen years coasting through the cosmos sleeping, waiting, working, and sleeping again.


    This was my 8th¡­ no, 9th cycle, part of group 2 while groups 1 and 3 hibernate. The rows and rows of switches and terminals surrounded me as I almost subconsciously twisted the appropriate knobs and checked their corresponding segmented displays.


    "Alright Yunda, reactor readings appear stable. Stand by while we run the self-test."


    I gently pushed away from the manual console, slowly drifting back into the wall of the maintenance tunnel. The inside was dimly lit by the lights of the interface, the reactor systems so dense and complex that even a systems check would require a specialist in one of the two shafts to work on them in-person.


    "Self-test nominal. I think we''re good Yunda, you can get on out of there while we prepare the first entry burn."


    I wrapped my tail around a handle near the hatch, pulling myself out of the narrow, zero-g passageway and into the larger maintenance area. Waiting for me was an upside down Hybeto, or, was I the one upside down?


    "Well look who''s finally crawling out of their burrow," he teased. "You''ve been in there, what, six hours?"


    "Closer to seven," I told him.


    "Might as well be your personal quarters with how much time you spend there."


    "Reactor stability is important, Hybie."


    "Yeah, yeah, I get it," he said with a snicker.


    I stretched my arms and let my tail float about in the extra space, before it subconsciously wrapped around one of the many wall-mounted handholds throughout the zero-g modules of the ship.


    "Seriously though, you really should stop by the rec area more. We barely get to see you. Feels like I barely even get to see you," he told me.


    "I''ve never been a party person. Maybe I''ll be more up for it once all of us are safe on the ground."


    "Well," he replied, "by the looks of it, that''s happening sooner rather than later!" A smirk growing on his face as he said it.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    "Speaking of, aren''t you on the Habitat Systems team? Shouldn''t you be making sure the hab is ready to despin and brace for engine burn?"


    "That''s already done. You really have been in there for a while," he chuckled.


    "Oh, wow. I guess I have¡­" I scratched my head for a moment.


    As if on cue, our radios crackled on simultaneously, with the familiar voice of Mission Commander Riys making his presence known. "Inspection crews are ingressing now; make sure you''re all in your places and have something to hold onto. Main engine burn begins in one hour.¡±


    "Well, that''s our signal," he said, prompting me to follow him and float to the main access tunnel. I opened a compartment in the walls and placed my work equipment inside; gloves, my work vest, and a dosimeter, fastening them in place. Locking it shut, Hybeto and I made our way out of the reactor tunnels and into the now stationary habitat ring. ¡°Copy that,¡± we both replied on our radios.


    Fluorescent lights dotted the inner circumference of the ring, handholds, previously folded into the walls and floor, now sprung out to assist movement in zero-g now that the ring''s centrifugal force had ceased. Usually, this ring would be under a steady spin, mimicking a level of gravity in between that of our destination and that of our home planet, Dayden. It and it¡¯s interior layout were designed in such a way that, during the ship¡¯s multi-month long burns, the acceleration and deceleration of the ship itself enabled the habitat to have a form of artificial gravity without needing to spin it, which could provide unneeded mechanical stress when under the extra load of an engine burn. As such, the habitat¡¯s floor was curved; from the rearmost wall and the outermost circumference, keeping the layout sensible regardless of either direction the ship¡¯s gravity was providing. Right now of course, there was no gravity present, but this would only be temporary as we prepared for the first major deceleration burn entering the Criah star system.


    Progressing along, we arrived to the rest of group 3, forty others, plus Hybeto and myself. "There she is!" Shouted one fellow astronaut. "Finally fished her out, eh Hybie?" Said another. I rolled my eyes.


    "Alright everyone, that''s enough," Riys commanded. Everyone knew what to do now, essentially a repeat of the first few months of our journey. We strapped into the floor-mounted seats for safety, and waited.


    Minutes passed. We quietly laid in our seats, keeping our backs fastened.


    Then, there it was.


    "Engine re-light in 10 seconds."


    ¡­


    "4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­"


    I felt my body press into my seat, slowly at first, as the deceleration provided an aft-facing force that imitated gravity. The engine strength plateaued, settling on a deceleration that would enable a safe living space while constantly slowing its speed to safely enter orbit. After a few minutes, we were cleared to leave our seats.


    "Engine burn is nominal. Take it easy folks, we''re on the last stage of our journey now."


    :::::


    I was still only a child when the excitement first broke out. Hope-27, one of many probes sent out to 36 planets across our neighboring stars, more than 100 years after its launch, sent back photographs of a living planet. An impactor probe, it imaged white clouds, green landmasses, and a vast blue ocean that covered the planet before landing in that expansive saltwater. Birds flew by during its descent, schools of fish were just visible before contact was lost with it, as it slipped beneath the waves of the planet¡¯s massive oceans, drowning out any radio contact.


    Hope was the culmination of our civilization¡¯s pre-war technology. Back when the world¡¯s powers were at the peak of their technological and economic prowess, an international project was born in which dozens of probes were sent out into interstellar space, at speeds nearly a quarter of the speed of light. Relatively simple, each one consisting of a transit stage and a simple atmospheric entry probe. It¡¯d enter the atmosphere and land, taking and transmitting photographs, audio, and various scientific measurements until its power died.


    None of those that sent them out would live to see the program¡¯s results, and this was understood back then. The journey was immense, even at the absurd speeds they travelled, it would be several decades before any reached even the closest star, and sent back its findings. Even without the wait, most wouldn¡¯t live for much longer anyway.


    The riches, comforts, and inventions of this era would be squandered, as less than ten years after this feat of cooperation, the world was flung into a very brief war.


    I wasn¡¯t born yet, but its said it only lasted a few days. The antimatter bomb, one of the first inventions to come from the harnessing of antimatter energy, was used. It didn¡¯t matter why it happened, or who started it, the end result was the complete collapse of every nation, and the total uninhabitability of the surface. Those that survived fled underground, building what would eventually become our new city-states, shielded from the unfiltered solar radiation that our close, red star bombarded the surface with. The bombs stripped away our atmosphere¡¯s protective layers, and now nothing could grow on the surface.


    By the time the Hope probes sent us their data, we had rebuilt our cities and antenna arrays. We had a rudimentary space program again, launching missions into orbit. The remaining scientific community excitedly examined the data the probes sent us.


    27 was the only probe from the Hope program to confirm a habitable world. Every other probe found the same thing: dead, desolate rocks. This exoplanet, 11 light-years away, we had named Criah-3, the third planet around the planet Criah. Rich with water and oxygen, it was the only habitable planet within 30 light-years of our own.


    There was a real excitement for space travel. Ever since the collapse, rebuilding efforts had been focused on city infrastructure, obtaining clean water, linking the societies of the world back together, hoping to one day return to our pre-war glory. When their signals reached us all these decades later, it reminded us of what came before, and what we could return to. Space was exciting again.


    But there was more to it than just the excitement of another world. There was something in the data, something only spoken of in hushed tones. A terrible discovery that never left the walls of the space center, built out of an old launch silo. Something that was only told to those making this trip, something that justified a suicide mission costing the yearly economic output of an entire nation¡­


    I was one of them, one of the 252 astronauts who gave up their life at home to survive in a new world. To maybe, find an answer, and save our species, even if it meant the people back home¡­ might¡­


    No, you cannot let yourself dwell on it.


    It''s been almost 30 years since then, though at least 10 of those years were spent in hibernation aboard this ship. This ship and its sister, Admiralty, were the absolute culmination of all our rebuilt technology. A fleet of ten were intended to be built, all Criah-bound, but of course, plans change.


    Cost overruns, missed deadlines, slashed budgets, even the public began to gradually lose interest, as people argued the resources could be better used for other programs. Only two were ever sent out, each carrying 126 astronauts. The crew would cycle in and out of hibernation, while a third of the crew maintained the ship, the remainder would sleep, and crews would shift in and out so no one spent too much time working.


    That had all come to this. As I looked out a window, the brilliant light of a foreign star illuminated the exterior of our ship, the engines I had helped design working to slow us down into its orbit, and in a month''s time, Criah''s.

 Chapter 2

    Growing up, I always struggled to socialize. My family wasn¡¯t from Tryci, the supercity I grew up in; we moved there when I was still only a child. The language was not their first, so I often had to translate for them, being the only one to have grown up around it. They couldn¡¯t get any desirable jobs, so my father ultimately took on the job of being a courier¨C, transporting cargo between unconnected underground cities, by travelling across the surface. The job had a high mortality rate; over the course of years travelling above ground, invariably couriers would develop some form of radiation disease. Few other options existed for us though, so my father took on the role. I rarely saw him, and so I was usually in the custody of my grandmother, who would regale my young mind with tales of the darkest days, growing up in the decades immediately after the bombs, trying to rebuild.


    ¡°You had to always stick with the handful of people you knew you could trust. It was all we had back then¡­ people didn¡¯t care about rebuilding, they just wanted to survive. People robbed and killed each other¡­ you couldn¡¯t avoid it. Sometimes, you had to find any place to sleep, even if it meant being naked in the cold. There were nights¡­ that I thought I wouldn¡¯t wake from. Never take what you have for granted.¡±


    She was always a stickler for being unwasteful; she would always reuse every container no matter how worn down and useless, and when food was burnt or otherwise ruined, she almost always made me eat it anyway. Nothing could go to waste, she always told me, even though the worst was behind us. If history books were anything to go by, the pre-war days were glorious, paradisiacal even. The world we lived in now was a far cry from those days¡­ but we had food, water, and shelter. Even if it wasn¡¯t as nice, it wasn¡¯t like I had ever experienced the old world¡¯s luxuries for myself.


    Grandmother was from my mother¡¯s side; Father believed that in my mother¡¯s absence, someone on the other side of the family from him should be present in my upbringing. And besides, someone had to watch me when Father was gone.


    One night, Father woke me from my bed. He looked even older than he should have, his work undoubtedly putting its toll on him. Yet he never complained. He told me to quietly get dressed, and not to wake Grandmother. He had something to show me.


    I still remember the feeling of the rough wood floor against my scales, slithering across quietly, following his instructions. He brought me out of our dwelling, and to the service elevator that carried his rover. This time, it was empty, as he was not due to go out again for a few days. I wondered why he would want to go outside again; he should try to spend every moment he could underground with us. But, it was nighttime, so perhaps it was okay to visit the surface if only for a moment. He lifted me into the rover¡¯s cargo bay, covering me with a blanket.


    ¡°It''s cold,¡± he told me. ¡°Do you trust me?¡± I nodded my head. He closed the cargo hold with the opaque, hard shell that blotted out any visibility. ¡°Wait in here,¡± he told me.


    I felt the elevator lurch and take us up to the surface. The electric motors of the rover¡¯s wheels turned, and my father drove out into the surface of the world for miles.


    Is he taking me to see the surface? I know what it looks like, we took the journey when we first moved here¡­ I wondered to myself. The journey was far too long to just be to see it, he could have just shown me as soon as he drove out of the elevator. I couldn¡¯t tell how long it was, but it felt like hours. I was already drowsy from being woken up, and with the blanket around me, I fell asleep again, hugging my own tail in my arms.


    Eventually, the vehicle came to a stop. My father gently roused me from my nap, gently stroking my face. ¡°Hey¡­ we¡¯re here.¡±


    I groaned, my body had finally found some modicum of comfort in the back of the rover, but he was insistent. ¡°Come on Yunda, I didn¡¯t take you all this way just for you to get grumpy on me now. Don¡¯t make me grab you by the tail.¡±


    I took a breath, noting the chill of the air. It was pitch black, only the faint glow of the rover¡¯s cab providing any light. I could just barely make out my father¡¯s dull, keeled scales. I grabbed onto him, and he lifted me out of the cargo hold. He placed me down¨C loose, unkempt soil beneath my tail as I slithered around the side of the rover, my father¡¯s hand in mine. We were in the middle of nowhere, not even on one of the roads. He leaned into the cab, and shut off the lights. We were left in total darkness.


    ¡°Why did you take me here? We¡¯re in the middle of nowhere¡­ and I can¡¯t even see anything! Did you bring a light?¡± I asked him. Father hushed me, and gently moved me to lay down, my back against the soil.


    ¡°Look," he said.


    The sky above me was clear, not a trace of smoke or fog or dust. No lights illuminating the area, just total darkness, and the night sky. As my eyes adjusted, I saw it.


    ¡°What is this?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°That¡¯s our galaxy. And every single one of those stars? That¡¯s a sun, just like ours. Maybe they even have other worlds there, like ours.¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­ even¡­ other people, like us?¡±


    My father gently placed his hand on me. ¡°Maybe.¡± He said.


    //////////


    My work shift was over, and the commander had encouraged us to unwind and socialize. This was a time for celebration after all; we were on the final part of our journey, and we would be far too busy setting up camp to celebrate once we arrived. I had slipped into a far more comfortable uniform, a soft and loose fabric that covered parts of my tail. It made movement trickier; the soft material against the smooth, hard metal lacked a lot of the friction needed to slither, but after spending so many hours in that reactor corridor, I didn¡¯t care. I just wanted something soft on my scales. Most of the crew were celebrating; flavored drinks and games abound. I spotted Hybeto, playing a card game against Aiyin, and by the looks of it was winning. ¡°What!? There¡¯s no way you had that!¡± He shouted. Hybeto had that grin he always made when he won. ¡°Cards do not lie, my friend.¡± ¡°I demand a rematch!¡± Hybeto shook his head, ¡°Oh don¡¯t be so sore about it. I¡¯ve had enough cards, I think I¡¯m going to go get something to eat.¡± Hybeto¡¯s eyes lit up as he spotted me, slithering out of the rec room.


    ¡°Hey, look who it is!¡± I rolled my eyes as he called me out. ¡°You¡¯re always playing games,¡± I told him. ¡°No, no, I pull my weight just as much as anyone! You just don¡¯t ever have any fun!¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    He was right, honestly. I just didn¡¯t have a lot of friends growing up; I instead elected to bury myself in my research, but it got me here, one of the 252 chosen to go where none had gone before.


    ¡°What are you up to, huh? I barely ever see you in casual clothing!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to get something to eat, Hybeto.¡±


    ¡°Me too!¡± he replied, though of course I already knew. ¡°You eating by yourself?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°I never said that.¡± There was that smirk again.


    We ended up heading toward the galley together. It was on the other side of the habitat ring, so it would be a ways away regardless. I wouldn¡¯t ever admit it, but I really did enjoy his company. His orange-brown scales reminded me of the soil back home, smooth and uniform; he took pride in his appearance, he told me, and he wore his work gloves and kept his goggles around his neck almost all of the time, even when he wasn''t working. "They''re distinguished! There''s always something that needs fixing, and you never know when you''ll be called upon!" His voice repeated in my head. I was pretty sure he just wore them because he thought they looked good on him though.


    ¡°Sooo¡­ whats the first thing you¡¯re gonna do?¡± He asked.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You know, when we get there! What are you gonna do first?¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­ help set up base camp and get the mini-reactors going?¡±


    ¡°Oh come on Yunda, you know that''s not what I meant! When everything is all said and done, when we get everyone down safely, when everything is stable and we have time to enjoy our new world!¡±


    I thought back to my daydreams.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t going there to enjoy it. We¡¯re going there to find data on that force from a new vantage point, and be the Plan B if it fails.¡±


    He frowned at that answer. ¡®Yunda¡­¡±


    ¡°Sorry. I uh¡­ I guess I¡¯ll feel what the sun is like when it doesn¡¯t kill you. Yeah, that¡¯s my answer.¡±


    ¡°I want to see the alien life, study it, log it all, I mean, a whole alien ecosystem, completely untouched,¡± he said, seemingly already in awe. The probe did see birds and fish, presumably there would be so much more.


    I snickered. ¡°Isn¡¯t that the biology team¡¯s job?¡± He turned back to me, ¡°Hey! Come on, I get to be excited too!¡±


    We passed by the hibernation pods as we talked, Crews 1 and 3 in a long nap. Our crew was separated into thirds, with only one active at any given time. This kept the interior space relatively small compared to its population, and prevented anyone from spending too much time awake during the 11-year-long journey.


    Hybeto nudged one sleep-pod with his elbow. ¡°Bet it sucks to be those guys, they miss out on the big event when we finally reach orbit!¡±


    We finally reached the galley, and admittedly I was starving. We each punched in our crew codes and received a standard ration; a tasteless and colorless fist-sized slab of synthetic meat, surrounded in a nutrient gel, with calcium powder and a flavor packet off to the side. We sat at a table with our trays, skewering the meat with the included two-pronged utensil. Mixing the gel with the powder and flavored dust, the meal was just edible. What mattered was that it was extremely calorie dense and nutritious.


    I swallowed one chunk. ¡°Think we¡¯ll get something real to eat when we land?¡±


    ¡°Pretty sure we¡¯ll have to,¡± Hybeto replied. ¡°Most of the resources we¡¯ll be relying on will need to be on-site and in-situ, and I imagine the food supply would struggle to feed all of us at once, since we¡¯ll all be awake. Just have to make sure its actually edible.¡±


    ¡°Hope so. I don¡¯t want to eat this stuff for the rest of my life,¡± I told him.


    ¡°What, don¡¯t you know you ought to be grateful?¡± He said in a mock old-person voice.


    ¡°Oh no Hybie, don¡¯t-¡±


    ¡°Why, I remember when we would kill each other over a pail of clean water! No one had pets anymore, because we all had to eat them!¡±


    ¡°Hybie stop, stop, I can¡¯t-¡± I had to hold back my laughter. ¡°Come on, not while I¡¯m eating.¡± We both chuckled, but then something odd happened. The food¡­ got heavier. Actually, everything was.


    Hybeto noticed it too, he was looking around, confused. ¡°Hey¡­ do you¡­ feel something?¡±


    The gravity was getting harsher¡­ rapidly harsher. And then, suddenly-


    BOOM¨C and we were weightless.


    //////////


    The lights went out almost immediately. There was confused yelling all throughout as I grasped for something to hold onto, my tail finally wrapping around what I think is one of the table legs. The lights flicker back on to a dim red, but there''s still no gravity. A siren blares through the loudspeakers, and everyone is yelling. We exited the galley through zero-g, the emergency handholds thankfully extending out from the walls and floor. The reactor and engine teams were scrambling, trying to figure out what had just happened. I could overhear them, though they weren''t exactly being quiet.


    "Reactor 2 is unresponsive! Reactor 1 is in a forced shutdown, we are on emergency power!"


    "What about the engines!?"


    "No response from any of them. All primary power is offline and communications are down. There was a brief deceleration in velocity before a complete shutdown of all engines."


    "Exterior sensors are reading heightened radiation levels, cameras are down, we can''t see what''s outside."


    There was some deliberation between them as they debated on what to do. Commander Riys joined them, and issued his verdict.


    "We need to send an EVA team out immediately. This may be a time sensitive problem, and we cannot afford to lose time not knowing the full situation. There isn''t time for pre-breathing, use the mixed tanks."


    //////////


    No camera feed was available, emergency power only permitted voice to be transmitted. Four crew members were now making their way across the exterior hull of our ship.


    "All personnel have egressed. We''re making our way toward the reactor assembly now."


    "We can¡­ see a large quantity of liquid vaporizing rapidly, from what appears to be Reactor 2¡­ we are going to have to detour to avoid it. We should have a clearer view soon."


    ¡­


    "Reactor 2¡­ uhm¡­ Reactor 2 is¡­"


    "Reactor 2 is completely destroyed. There appears to have been a¡­ pressure differential resulting in a rupture inside R2''s main coolant tank. Reactor 1 still appears intact, but fuel and coolant is venting out rapidly from the shared tanks."


    Riys quickly called on the communicator, "isolate the main tank from R2 immediately. Same for the engines, and keep only enough flowing to sustain R1 in standby mode."


    "Copy," came a small voice.


    The EVA team spoke up again. "Venting is reducing¡­ the reactor is broken into fragments¡­ most have cleared the work area though. We''re going to attempt to get a closer look at the engines."


    "... mobile access platform is out of commission. We will have to travel manually."


    "Negative," Riys told them. "That''s too far to travel."


    "Sir, with all due respect, the engines were the first to malfunction. We need to know their current state, if we powered them back on without seeing what damage they may have, then¡­"


    Riys thought for a moment. "Fine¡­ but be careful."


    "We will sir."


    //////////


    We waited for what felt like an eternity. The team did not say much, and nothing could be seen visually until they reached the very aft end of the ship.


    A crackle came in as the communicators came back on.


    Through the line was what we were all afraid to hear.


    IHV-101 has six antimatter-fusion engines. It can still perform its insertion burn with missing engines, it was designed with redundancy after all, that''s why it had two reactors. The ship can lose up to two of its engines and still have enough power to decelerate.


    The sullen voice on the other side spoke.


    "Engines 2, 3, and 5 are irreparably damaged."


    We''re screwed.

 Chapter 3

    My new favorite place became the space center. I was present for every launch, every return trip, and I would bring home books from the center¡¯s library, technical diagrams of spacecraft and our star system, and bury myself in them for days. I didn¡¯t have any friends, but I didn¡¯t need them. All I needed were my books, and the obsession even enabled my father to convince me to attend schooling. My lack of a social life helped; I mastered physics and mathematics, and I spent every minute of my spare time in the library. This was something I was good at.


    The moment I graduated, I immediately began volunteer work at the space center. It essentially became my new home, and after Father and Grandmother passed, nothing held me back. The space program was my life. Administrator Teyin took me under, personally, earning me the nickname Teyin¡¯s Girl. I dedicated my life to the cause, even as the space program drew ridicule. Protests were not uncommon, and politicians frequently threatened to slash funding; and sometimes, they did. What we were doing was not particularly popular¨C the money could be used elsewhere, was the common complaint. With how shaky funding was, we were only able to do what we did thanks to the leftover missiles and antimatter bombs from before the war. The technology to repurpose them into launch vehicles kept the program afloat for those tumultuous years, until asteroid mining was achieved, and at last we could achieve some modicum of self-sufficiency.


    It was around this time that the old Hope probes¡¯ transmissions reached us. For the first time that I could recall, there was public enthusiasm for space travel. When it was announced that a fleet of crewed ships would depart for this planet, we were met with support, and even extensive funding from the governments. We used everything we had learned, and the technology that had been used to ravage our world was now being used to create the most powerful engines to ever be built, rivalling even what came before the war. Something that could propel a crewed spacecraft to more than a quarter of the speed of light; and I helped to build it.


    /////


    Commander Riys was determined to save the ship, 3 dead engines or not. 6 hours had passed since our craft became dead in the water, and Riys had gathered every lead engineer to discuss what could be done to save the mission.


    "Aiyin, your mass report?"


    The structure engineer spoke, "As you know, three engines are not enough to decelerate us with the mass we are carrying; however, that doesn''t mean we can''t do anything to save this."


    "Go on, you have our attention," Riys told him.


    "Right well, we can shed weight. The heaviest parts of the ship are the reactors and the cargo. One reactor is dead weight anyway, so removing that is obvious. As for our cargo-"


    "You can''t mean¡­," the HabSys engineer, Ujinke interjected. "We need that cargo for the surface operations! We can''t dump that, the crew needs shelter and a pressurized environment to ensure a safe medical transition to the planet''s biosphere, we can''t just slither out onto the planet without-"


    "Ujinke, if we don''t drop that cargo, we won''t be getting to the planet at all. It accounts for nearly 15% of the ship''s total weight, if we remove that we''ll be light enough to perform the engine burn at this lower engine capacity!"


    "No we won''t¡­" I spoke up. Everyone started looking at me.


    "Yunda? You''re the Reactor Engineer, do you have something to add?"


    I swallowed a lump in my throat. "I¡­ went over the engine and reactor data that was recorded just before it blew. There''s a flaw in the engine design, something we never caught."


    "You know why it went out?"


    "I¡­ I think so, yes. Reactor 2 is situated behind Reactor 1, because of its position, pipes from R1 have to go around its tank to reach the engines, and the thermal insulation there is thinner as a result."


    The others seemed to catch on to what I was saying.


    "Just before the reactor blew, the engines increased their thrust for a few moments, before they shut off," I continued. "I think¡­ I think that after years of inadequate shielding, thermal cycling allowed for the engine fuel valves to expand, allowing more fuel than safely acceptable into the engines. That caused the increase in thrust¡­ and the subsequent pressure overload in the reactor."


    "That''s¡­ good to know, but why does that mean the ship won''t be light enough?"


    I answered him, "as it stands now, the remaining engines are still functional, with minimal damage. However¡­ attempting to fire them at full power, for the several months an orbital insertion burn would take¡­"


    "Would risk another breakdown," Riys finished.


    "Exactly¡­ and we absolutely cannot afford to lose another engine."


    Riys turned back to Aiyin, "is there any more mass we can lose?"This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Not without significant risks to structural stability and crew safety. The only remaining things would be the shuttles and satellites, and those don''t weigh enough to justify removing them¡­"


    "Remove them anyway, and keep only one shuttle. We''ll ferry it back and forth to get everyone off the ship."


    "S-sir! The satellites I understand but¡­ if anything happens to that shuttle, we''ll be stranded in orbit! Please reconsider!"


    "... drop everything but the two shuttles. The moment we need to drop more weight, one of the shuttles is getting jettisoned. Do you understand?"


    "Yes sir¡­"


    "Good. Is there anything else we can do?"


    "I have something, Commander," answered Ginil, the Navigator.


    "Well, what is it?"


    "Currently, our flight plan has us flying within range of the outermost gas planet in this star system. I believe¡­ we could perform a gravity assist."


    "Is that alone enough to reduce our velocity?"


    "No¡­ but that''s not all."


    He laid out a large paper sheet with the star system mapped out, including the individual planets'' positions and orbital paths. ¡°I¡¯ve¡­ been mapping something out.¡± He pointed to the 8th and outermost planet.


    "This planet¡­ we''ll call it Little Blue, it would only take a small maneuvering burn to enter its gravity well. We wouldn''t be anywhere near slow enough to enter orbit, and it isn''t massive enough to slow our velocity to safe levels, but¡­"


    He drew a line from our current path, to Little Blue where it caused the line to curve, and continue very close to another planet. The 5th one.


    "It could change our direction, and put us on a path to the largest planet in the system. We''ll call it Big Brown. Combined with a burn at periapsis, it would slow us down significantly."


    "What are you talking about?" Objected Aiyin. "Sure, it''d slow us down, but a gravity assist still wouldn''t be anywhere near enough to-"


    "When did I say it would just be a gravity assist?" Ginil replied.


    Just about everyone looked at him, puzzled.


    "No¡­ you don''t mean¡­"


    "We''d aerobrake."


    "Out of the question!" I shouted. "The engines are fragile enough as it is! What do you think passing them through a planet''s atmosphere will do to them!?"


    "We''ll only skim the atmosphere. Big Brown is huge, easily the largest planet here. Even just along the upper edges of its atmosphere, We''d be there long enough for it to take a significant amount of our speed without putting too much strain on the ship. Combined with an engine burn, I believe it would slow us down enough to make a safe coast to our destination."


    I hated this idea. These things are fragile! But¡­ if this was the only way¡­


    "Ginil¡­," I shakily spoke. "You know, that if the remaining engines break, even just one of them, that everyone on this ship is doomed."


    "I know."


    "Do you¡­ do you really think this is the only way?"


    "Unless you want to push the engines past what they can handle, and risk another breakdown, then yes. This is the only way."


    I swallowed.


    "Okay."


    "It''s settled then," announced Riys. "First order of business is removing Reactor 2 and powering Reactor 1 back online so we have power. Then we need to scavenge any useful materials we can from the cargo before we jettison it."


    "We could take the canvas used for the inflatable habs to cover the exposed sections of reactor and engines!" Shouted Ujinke.


    "There''s one more thing too," Aiyin added. "During our structural EVA examination, we found that the long range antenna had been heavily damaged, and repair is unlikely. However, we believe we could remove the surface habitats antenna array and use that; it''s still stowed away in the cargo vehicles. We could install it to the ship''s hull since we won''t be needing the habs anymore."


    "Good ideas, both of you. From there we will determine the best way to handle our maneuvering burns. Get ready to suit up, you''ll be pre-breathing this time, you''re going to be out there for a while."


    /////


    The bright light of the cutting torch disappeared as I closed the valve shut for the final time, clipping the tool to my backpack.


    "Starboard truss connections are fully severed," I said over the radio.


    "Copy. B team?"


    "Thermal blankets are installed on Reactor 1. All connections to and from Reactor 2 have been sealed or rerouted, and Surface Hab Antenna has been installed to the zenith exterior."


    "C team?"


    "Separator motors are installed on Reactor 2''s housing. We are ready for R2 and cargo jettison."


    "All teams ingress now."


    Interstellar space had a certain unnerving quality to it. In a star system, the light of the sun would dominate the surroundings with its unfiltered rays. But here, the destination star was still small, and barely provided any illumination, most of which was blocked by the ship itself. The result was total darkness, and an endless expanse of stars. One of them was our home sun, too small, too weak, and too far to even be visible. Perhaps it was poetic; we were leaving behind our birthplace, forever, to embrace a new home, and never look back. I shook the melancholy from my mind, and made my way to the airlock, my helmet lights keeping the path illuminated.


    About half the current shift of crew had been outside, ensuring a quick and successful operation, and it took us several hours to get back inside and take off our suits. With the hatches sealed, I slipped out of the rear entry. We had been outside for so long that I had felt sores from a poorly fitted part of the suit, and I would need a shower.


    Once we were all inside, me and the rest of the team leaders entered the ship''s command center. The software team readied themselves and began. "Jettisoning R2 now,¡± one said.


    A series of switches were flipped, and a light thud could be heard as the separator motors ignited.  "Separation confirmed. No debris. Powering on R1 now."


    There was a delay, but the slow hum of the reactor filled the vessel, and finally the bright white lights of the ship returned as primary power returned.


    Celebration permeated the whole ship, shouts of joy as the operation had worked. Our ship had power again.


    /////


    The centrifuge was still powered down, leaving us without gravity. It was decided that it would be safer for the ship to have as few moving parts as possible until we entered orbit, the commander didn''t want to risk any further problems. I understood that, but it didn''t make trying to clean oneself in zero-gravity any less annoying. I had gotten accustomed to gravity, be it through the engine or by the centrifuge, and a sponge bath is simply not the same as a proper shower.


    As I scrubbed my scales of oils and lubricant, my mind began to wander again. Even with the successful removal of our ship¡¯s dead weight, we were a severely crippled ship coasting through space in an alien star system. By now the cargo had been removed as well, and our ship was 30% lighter, and all we could do was hope that Ginin''s aerobrake maneuver wouldn''t get us all killed.


    I could not help but feel a pang of guilt. I helped design those engines¡­ I was the primary technician for my crew group; I should have foreseen this, or at least paid closer attention to their performance. If there was any sign, any at all, that could have warned to this¡­


    The small mirror in the bunk reflected my viasage at me, and for a moment, I saw just a child. A girl who loved space and went in too deep, desperate to prove herself, not just¡­ Teyin''s Girl. Those yellow and white scales, full of ambition, but also¡­


    Fear. Fear of messing up, of losing the trust of those I cared about, the people relying on me pulling my weight out here.


    What matters is how we move forward. There wasn¡¯t anything you could have done¡­


    I looked out the window, and saw the blue gas giant, Little Blue. We''d soon be entering its gravity well. There was no turning back now.

 Chapter 4

    There would be two ships. IHV-101 and IHV-102, the twin Interstellar Habitability Vehicles, Legacy and Admiralty. The planned ten was not going to be funded; it was agreed that 126 passengers was enough to ensure a genetically diverse and stable population, with a second vehicle existing only to increase the odds of success. Past that, no further funding was provided.


    The ships carried everything the crew would need to establish a self-sustaining colony. Each ship came equipped with a pair of cargo landers; based upon atmospheric entry carriers that were used to bring material mined from asteroids to the surface. Each lander was roughly 30 by 20 by 15 meters, and completely packed solid with supplies and infrastructure. Once emptied of their contents, the metal shell would be used as an airlock and foundation for a surface habitat, with canvas inflating atop it to quadruple the usable internal space. It would be here that the crew would stay in while the biology team prepared an all-purpose vaccine to equip their immune systems with the ability to withstand the alien planet¡¯s microbial ecosystem.


    The landing vehicle for the crew would be a modified transport shuttle. A hybrid air-breathing rocket engine running off hydrolox, to ensure it could be refueled from local water, if the need arose. Two would be carried, covered in a protective film, to shield it from cosmic radiation and micrometeoroids during the journey. Also included on the ship was a set of six satellites, which were to be deployed in orbit around the destination planet, providing constant surface mapping, weather observation, and communication with the overhead ship, should it be needed.


    The hardest part was not the construction of the ships¨C for the most part, they reused as many common designs as possible, and most of the mass material was reallocated from existing projects. The true hurdle of this project was the crew. The simple reality was we needed 504 people willing to leave their lives behind to travel to the unknown; 126 on each of the two ships, plus a backup for each one should one get sick and be unable to make the trip.The entirety of the trained astronaut corps in our space center was 217, and undoubtedly much less than that would be willing to abandon their lives, and their families, for this mission. We would have to find people outside the program, who were willing to make the trip, who were also mentally stable, and train them on space travel. That would truly be our greatest challenge.


    Of the astronauts within the center, 68 volunteered, admittedly more than was expected. Since they held much greater value than volunteers outside of the vocation, it was decided that none of the career astronauts would be backup; all of them would be prime crew. If one had to be replaced, then an outsider would take their place. Every career astronaut would serve a more important role than the rest, often one of leadership; head engineers, head biologists, EVA specialists, et cetera. The rest¨C regular maintenance crew, payload specialists, food fabricators, where possible, would be civilians.


    For many of us, the reality that we would be leaving Dayden forever was not lost on us. We would never see the people on this planet again. We all made our peace with it, in different ways. For many of us though, it was a matter of guilt, and fear. After discovering what we did, it was an easier decision.


    /////


    ¡°It¡¯s completely down? You¡¯re sure?¡± I asked Hybeto. We were sitting in the galley again, as we often did to pass the time during our off periods.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what they¡¯re telling me. We aren¡¯t sure why it isn¡¯t working, but the antenna was never designed to be replaced like that. Nothing is getting in or out¡­ I wish I could go out and look at it myself, but they only let the careers go out on EVA,¡± he told me, his usually chipper disposition taking the sideline for a more serious, concerned tone.


    ¡°That means¡­¡±


    ¡°That we can¡¯t call Admiralty, yeah.¡±


    ¡°The ship is an exact copy, on the same flight plan. They¡¯re not even a year behind us, they¡¯ll be at risk just like us if we can¡¯t contact them,¡± I said, the gravity of the situation fully coalescing in my mind.


    ¡°I know¡­¡± he said, rubbing his temples. ¡°They¡¯re completely in the dark, and who knows what they¡¯re thinking since we went radio silent¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to keep trying. Engineering team has had me on to help come up with ideas, but right now we really just¡­ we don¡¯t know what to do.¡±


    ¡°Think there¡¯s some other way to send a signal?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We considered using engine flashes to send some sort of code, but engine team vetoed that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I responded. ¡°As it is we really can¡¯t afford to be using the engines unless we need to.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what they told us. Can¡¯t risk rapid on and off like that¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you guys will think of something. They¡¯ve got me working double making sure the remaining reactor stays stable, and training others on how to maintain it if I¡¯m not available,¡± I told him. I was fairly exhausted myself, and our celebration being cut short with a catastrophe that could possibly take our lives did not help morale. ¡°Sometimes, I really wish we could have gotten more career astronauts on board. Some of the others are¡­ well, you know. No offense.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°None taken¡­¡± he sighed. ¡°I didn¡¯t really think I¡¯d be on a ship like this when I was a kid, thought it was a waste of time.¡±


    I chuckled, ¡°Oh no, not one of those!¡± He chuckled back, ¡°yeah, well, you know, I worked in water purification, and my dad was working close to the surface, with the infrastructure reconstruction efforts¡­¡± he trailed off.


    ¡°And?¡± I asked.


    ¡°And¡­ I don¡¯t really want to talk about it. Maybe another time.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ well, alright. I won¡¯t pry. Just didn¡¯t take you as anti-expansionist. You seemed pretty excited for the destination.¡±


    ¡°No, no, its nothing like that. It¡¯s just¡­¡± he paused.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± I assured him.


    ¡°That aerobrake is coming up soon,¡± he changed topics. ¡°Any last words if we don¡¯t make it?¡±


    I snickered. Great sense of humor as always. ¡°We¡¯ll make it. The structure is sound, and besides, I¡¯ll take burning up in the atmosphere over drifting through space with no hope of rescue any day. We either make it, or we die quickly. Doesn¡¯t seem like such a terrible deal to me.¡±


    ¡°You always had a funny outlook on things, you know that?¡± Hybeto said, and paused. ¡°Well, see you if I see you. I¡¯m going to get some time alone, I¡¯m just¡­ stressed.¡±


    ¡°Nah, I get it. See you later.¡±


    With that, he left.


    Hybeto has always been tricky to read. He likes to tell jokes and play games, but I often cannot tell if he is genuinely just having fun, or just trying to mask himself. He joined the volunteer selection very late, just filling in a position for habitat systems engineer, and didn¡¯t talk much about the circumstances that lead him here, only telling stories from his upbringing if it meant a funny story or addition to a lively conversation. I enjoyed his company though, there was just something about him that meshed well with my own stresses, which made me start to worry more when he wasn¡¯t his usual cheery self.


    It¡¯ll all be better once we get there safely. It¡¯s just the stress. His job involves keeping us alive, so it makes sense he wouldn¡¯t want to joke around at a time like this, I remind myself.


    /////


    A tight cord kept my body supported and in place as I once again found myself in the claustrophobic confines of the reactor maintenance tunnel. Carefully flipping the safety override switch, the ship¡¯s remaining three engines fired, pulling my body back towards the end of the tunnel; leaving me to feel as though I was dangling upside down by a rope. My body tensed, and I took a deep breath. I could not see what was happening outside¨C I was deep in the center of the ship, in a chamber that was surrounded by dense machinery and plumbing, most of which was too complex to service. The chamber was as close to the reactor as possible that was deemed safe, and even then, if something were to go wrong again, if a part of the reactor were to blow, I¡¯d likely be the first to perish. All the more reason to make sure nothing went wrong. I studied the chamber pressure of each engine and their supporting hardware, monitoring and reporting back what was displayed.


    ¡°All engines are stable at the moment. They¡¯re experiencing more heat than is expected for them, but they should be fine for now. Continue burning,¡± I said through the radio. The gravity got harsher as the ship began to graze the planet¡¯s atmosphere, as though the deceleration of the ship had suddenly tripled. Regardless of safety, this aerobrake maneuver was very clearly working, I only wished I could have seen out the window.


    I needed to constantly juggle between primary and secondary reactor coolant loops, reducing stress load on the fuel plumbing as much as possible. This went on for almost three hours; held upside down and carefully monitoring switches and displays. There was no room for error.


    At last, the engines slowed down and ceased. Another hour of monitoring the reactor¡¯s stability later, and I was finally called out of the tunnel. Being weightless again was a tremendous mercy after what had, without doubt, the single most stressful activity of my life, but I was just glad that it was over. Taking off my carabiner and harness, I exited the work area and looked toward a window; receding into the distance was Big Brown.


    /////


    It was finally happening, finally, our journey was coming to an end. We could see it! The photographs our ancestors'' probe had sent back did not give its sight justice; the mix of blues, greens and whites glimmered so brilliantly in the alien starlight.


    I wanted to cry, the 16 year journey had all been worth it, we made it here alive. The engines roared to life one final time as we passed the planet''s day side, burning to circularize our trajectory into a stable, near-polar low orbit.


    This is really¡­ actually happening. I''m actually here. That''s¡­ that''s ocean. I''ve never even imagined so much water in my life. The land below is covered in green, alien flora. The oceans are beautiful, unpolluted, there are clean white clouds swirling above, untainted by radiation.


    It''s¡­ home.


    We''re home!


    I hurried outside as soon as the engine burn was complete. Everyone was in high spirits, and cheering and laughter had become infectious. We had really made it!


    Even Rhys was smiling. I don''t think I''d ever seen him smile.


    "Alright, alright, everyone. Take a few days to rest and get your bearings. We''ll wake up the sleeping groups soon, and we can all celebrate before we head down."


    I ran into Hybeto, he was in higher spirits, though still not as excited as the others.


    "Has¡­ any progress been made on communicating with Admiralty?"


    He hung his head down. "No¡­ and I don''t think we''ll ever be able to get it working. We''re completely isolated. But, the other engineers are telling me it''s not hopeless. There''s a good chance that they would have performed their own investigation when they lost contact with us. They may have caught it before it became too late. And even if they didn''t¡­ we managed to find a way, so I''m sure they could too."


    "Right¡­ okay, okay¡­ but hopefully it doesn''t come to that, it would be nice if we could have SOME cargo to use."


    "Agreed. We''re going to leave a message behind on the ship when we vacate, so that their crew knows where to find us when they arrive."


    That was a good idea. My stress somewhat relieved, I returned to the bunks, letting my mind relax, and stared out into the windows, as many others were. We had just passed one of the poles, and were entering the planet''s night side.


    This is¡­ such a gorgeous planet.


    Wait¡­


    No that can''t be.


    Are those¡­


    ¡­


    Are those city lights?

 Chapter 5

    Even after we had received the signals from Criah''s probe, we continued to monitor any incoming data from the other probes that had ventured to further stars. While Criah-3 had already been chosen as the destination for our crewed interstellar mission, it would be foolish to throw away the only data from inside these other star systems.


    Certainly, the news of a living, habitable planet in less than 10 light years was the focus of everyone''s excitement, but if you turned your eyes to the dead planets, a curious pattern emerged.


    Each probe would enter a star system, and enter whichever planet had the highest chances of being habitable¨C thick atmosphere, habitable zone, water content, among other variables. Some probes failed, thrusters dying en-route or burning up on entry over a botched trajectory. Plenty of these planets had nothing of note, just an inert atmosphere with a dead landscape; a barren rock with nothing of note. But for some planets, there was something odd. Something that was clearly¡­ wrong, and they all had the same¡­ wrongness, to them.


    It certainly caused some discussion when the photos and measurements came in. Over the many years that spanned the IHV program¡¯s development, new data from a landed probe would come in. More than half of them had the same attribute. Gray fog and dust, sometimes what could be interpreted as artificial buildings could be seen, but the stationary and short-lived nature of the probes meant that further exploration was impossible. Ash stuck to everything, coating the planets¡¯ surfaces and everything on them, in a perpetual rain of flakes as wind carried it in storms.


    There was a lingering chemical. Something the spectrometers couldn''t recognize¡­ our administrator obsessed over them for days on end. There were small hints of organic material; carbon, slivers of what could be protein chains, which floated endlessly like dust in the wind of gray, cloudy worlds.


    They all looked like that, they all had that dust, those ashes.


    /////


    Everyone was quiet. Looking around, everyone else saw it too. People started to murmur.


    "Are those¡­ those lights can''t be artificial, can they?"


    "That bright? There''s no way they''re natural."


    "But that would mean¡­"


    "Maybe they''re other Serri? The pre-war astronauts could have-"


    "Are you serious right now? Something of that magnitude would be impossible to do without some record of it being left behind¡­ besides¡­ look, they''re everywhere. They''ve been living here for a long time¡­"


    "They''re definitely cities. Look how they form spokes and concentrate around coasts¡­ people live here."


    "How did the probe never see this?"


    "It fell in the ocean, remember? We never got a close look at the land¡­ or the planet at night."


    We aren''t the first to this planet¡­ how could that be? Were they like us? Were they as advanced as us? Judging by the extent of its cities they were at the very least post-industrial. Did they have a concept of spaceflight? Would they be peaceful?


    ...where are we supposed to land now?


    The surveying team wasted no time training all the ship''s sensors on the planet below.


    "Everyone remain calm," Rhys commanded. "Nothing is known for certain yet, we will be making observations and determining what action will be taken. I will be convening with our lead engineers, in the meantime, we will be postponing the wake-up of groups one and three until we have decided on a course of action."


    Rhys always maintained a steadfast demeanor, but here, I could sense just a hint of trepidation. The concept that we weren''t alone¡­ it was simultaneously exciting, and deeply uncomfortable. He told us to rest¡­ but sleep was the last thing on any of our minds. Those who weren''t staring out the windows were chattering among themselves, trying to make sense of everything.


    Who were they?The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Did they know we''re here?


    /////


    The next two days were abound with confusion, panic, deliberation, and arguments. Everyone was looking for some explanation, some course of action to take. No one was prepared for this.


    I studied the old photographs with renewed vigor. The cruise stage took a photo every few minutes, with the entry probe increasing that rate to every few seconds as it descended. The photos, regrettably, lacked a great resolution¨C data had to be kept small, and then further compressed, to effectively make the journey back. The area the probe descended was dominated by ocean, though large landmasses were still visible. No trace of civilization was visible¡­ but of course it was. We were viewing the planet in direct daylight, mostly at the ocean, with a resolution fewer than 500 pixels across. There was no real reason to believe the planet was uninhabited; it obviously had fauna, as birds could be seen flying during its descent. The only reason we were taken by surprise¡­ was because we simply never considered it. We had completely failed to account for an additional intelligence, and expected to claim the planet as our own.


    Undoubtedly much of the crew were doing the same thing as I, looking at the photographs for any clues they could find. I groaned and steadied myself, covering my face in my hands. The commander must have a plan in place for something like this, surely, right? With any luck, the aliens here wouldn¡¯t be hostile, but if they were¡­ there wasn¡¯t anywhere we could go.


    My train of thought was interrupted by the emergency P.A.


    "ALL HANDS, AT ATTENTION"


    This must be important.


    "This is Commander Rhys. All crew, stay awake and alert. An artificial object has been detected on a trajectory to our position. Remain calm and prepare for further instructions."


    Wait what!?


    I quickly looked out the window, but I could not see anything but the planet below and the cosmos surrounding it.


    I exited the bunks and into the main hall, where I saw all of the crew huddled around a window. They were murmuring to each other.


    "That''s an alien spacecraft!"


    "Are people on board?"


    "Look, it has wings! It must!"


    I tried to crane my neck to see through the glass. It was still far from us, but it''s shape and color could just barely be registered. It was some kind of spaceplane, it appeared to be much smaller than our shuttles, but at this distance it was hard to tell. Puffs of white exhaust occasionally became visible leaving parts of the craft as it oriented itself and slowly moved closer to us.


    "Does it have windows? I can''t tell!"


    "It''s getting closer! Is that writing on it?"


    ¡°Look at that insignia! I think it''s alien lettering!¡±


    They were right, the side of the craft had what appeared to be a round, red and blue insignia, accompanied by black text near the front. A name perhaps? I was equal parts fascinated and terrified. These aliens were a completely unknown variable, and their approach to our craft only gave me more concern.


    "That thing is definitely being piloted, I see a hatch!"


    The craft halted its momentum roughly twenty meters from us, and just¡­ stayed there. Were they observing us? They must be¡­


    There looked to be windows, but I couldn¡¯t see inside. If I could, we might have been able to see what they looked like. The ship¡¯s presence made me wonder why they were able to so quickly send a craft here. Assuming their technology was no better than ours, it takes several weeks of planning ahead before a spacecraft launches. Mission planners need to know the exact orbital inclination to achieve, train the proper astronauts, include the needed equipment, among a myriad of other variables that shaped a mission. This ship was here within two days. Were they somehow¡­ expecting us? Did they see us traveling through their star system, and now that we¡¯re in orbit around their planet, they¡¯ve already prepared for it?


    /////


    A team was sent out on EVA, hovering around the airlock. It was decided that the best course of action to take would be to attempt some kind of communication, or at the very least gain some information about the mysterious craft.


    The team stayed in physical contact with our ship, carrying bright lights on their suits, to draw attention to themselves. It was impossible to know what these aliens'' intentions were, but if they were hostile, there was little we could do. Our ship was the culmination of rebuilt post-war technology, but it was still not but a humble exploratory vessel, with no armaments or defensive measures to speak of. The best thing we could do was hope that they were peaceful, and attempt to make clear our peaceful intentions as well.


    "Movement!" One astronaut shouted. On the camera feed, we could see a suited entity exit from a hatch. The suit was white, but it was difficult to make out specific features from the screen. A second followed after it, carrying what appeared to be a long tether.


    "They''re¡­ carrying something. It looks like an umbilical? I don''t think it''s connected to their suits though¡­ they''re looking straight at us now."


    I shuddered. The prospect of a race other than ours¡­ it was unprecedented. Who knows what their beliefs or culture could be like, if they wanted to exterminate us, is there anything we could do? What if they boarded our vessel and found the location of Dayden, to conquer for themselves-


    I steadied myself. That''s just paranoia. The vessel they''re emerging from is quite small compared to our shuttles, they can''t be that advanced, surely.


    The one with the tether was floating closer now, one end still connected to their spacecraft, while tiny thrusters visibly pushed it. As it got closer, the details became more visible. They didn''t have a tail¡­ instead it was as if they had two more arms at the bottom of their body. Were these a bipedal species? With a lower gravitational field, it wasn''t impossible¡­ how bizarre to see¡­


    The first suited alien reached the hull of our ship, appearing to deliberately target a section of the hull some distance from our astronauts, about a tail''s length.


    "They''re¡­ they''re here. I can''t see their faces. Their visors are opaque. They lack any tail, and appear to be a bipedal species. They''re smaller than I expected¡­ estimate two meters, roughly."


    It hooked its end of the tether onto one of the exterior grab-rails. It turned back and motioned a signal to its partner, who began to climb the length of the tether. They were connecting their ship to ours.


    I turned to Riys, who was closely studying the images on screen.


    "What do we do now¡­ are we supposed to just¡­ let them in?"


    "We wait and see what they do," he replied simply, not moving his gaze from the screen.


    Now both of them were right next to the airlock. They just¡­ stayed there. Were they talking to each other? Examining us?


    Then, one made a move.


    One of them extended an arm toward the EVA team, with a gloved hand open.


    /////