//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - A New World -(R1) // Story: Protocol D // by Topaz Moon //------------------------------// The oranges and reds of sunrise still illuminated the sky as the first rays of Celestia’s sun shone upon the small, northern farming town of Hoofbreak Ridge. The citizens of the peaceful and laid-back frontier town started their day bright and early as usual. However, unlike their usual strolling down the town’s two perpendicular main streets, several ponies were standing near the fountain in the town square around a hunk of blackened, charred metal lying in a small depression. Discussing what it might be from, as well as the short, unplanned, yet booming thunderstorm that occurred overnight, none of the citizens recognized the flag painted on it, or any of the other markings. The local sheriff asked around if any knew who the object belonged to, but determined it was probably just some scrap that fell off some pony's wagon overnight. He photographed the debris so he could include it in a lost-and-found report he would file later. The ponies then dispersed, returning to their daily routines and jobs around town. Some headed off towards the surrounding farms and the local lumber mill nestled amongst the trees of the nearby forest. In the direction of one of the outlying farms several miles away, a small, thin trail of smoke rose above the far edge of the forest, but nopony noticed it. The Sheriff was getting ready to haul the piece of metal away when a well-known minotaur merchant approached. The locals were familiar with Beef Wellington, or BW, as he liked to be called. The large, ruddy brown merchant-blacksmith passed through regularly, selling his metal wares, buying metal, and doing small blacksmithing jobs. Beef had scars all across his torso, but the sheriff was not sure if they were from a past lifestyle, or defense of his wares. Nobody ever bothered to ask. Then again, he also carried two short-handled, double-bladed axes on his back at most times… "Morning, Sheriff," Beef said with his loud, gravelly voice, towering over the sheriff from his eight-foot height. "You interested in selling this piece of metal?" The Sheriff scratched his chin before he replied, "Mornin', BW. I figured it was the metal you were after. Well, I don't rightly know what ta do with it. Nopony has reported it missing. Nopony knows whose it might be, or what it's from. I'll have ta send a report in on it later today. I can't rightly give it ta you yet. But, if no one comes to claim it by tomorrow, I can sell it ta you then. Be nice ta add some bits to the town coffers." Beef smiled as he rubbed his hands together. "Sounds like a fine plan. I don't plan on heading out until tomorrow or the day after anyways," he said with a broad smile. "One of these days you need ta tell me the story of how you got that forge enchanted. And the tale of how, and where, you got that cart that hauls it and all your other possessions around. I mean it only feels like yer pullin' a half-loaded cart full of vegetables, no matter how much stuff you pile on it," the Sheriff exclaimed. Beef let out a hearty bellow, sunlight reflecting off the silver, mirror-like endcaps on his gray, well-polished horns. "It's not really that great of a tale. Helped out one of those pony alchemists years ago. Even with the help I gave her, it still cost me everything I owned to get those enchants. She was a fledgling alchemist back then. Bet she can do some really nice enchants now. Come to think of it, I still owe that pony some, but she's never tried to come collect," he answered with another bellow, a grin plastered across his face. "Huh. Enchanters are a rare thing nowadays— training is too tedious for most. Too many ponies worry about a failed enchant possibly wrecking the item being enchanted, so it's just not worth it ta most. Most stuff is cheap enough ta replace, anyways. Though, one with the skill ta do large enough objects as your cart and forge would be highly sought after… Farmers up here would pay good money for services like that. Do you remember her name? Or where she is?" the Sheriff questioned. "Yes, and maybe. I won't give the name, though." Beef watched the sheriff frown and kick the dirt before he continued, "Sorry, Sheriff, but she doesn’t like the notoriety. I think she lives in Ponyville now, and might even have a shop there. Enough of the past, though— how about I pick this metal up and take it back to your office for you? We can haggle on a price on the way," he cheerfully said, brushing his hands off on his dark brown legs before easily picking up the metal object. The sheriff nodded, then started trotting back to his office with Beef’s large, well-muscled form following, the metal perched upon his shoulder. Some older ponies casually hanging around town could hear them laughing as they talked and haggled on the price, but paid them no mind. ------------------------------ Cassie rolled over and stretched. She tried to bring her hand up to her face so she could rub the sleep from her eyes, but instead was greeted by a thwack sound. She opened her eyes to see her hand resting on the glass of her helmet. She let out a small laugh at the sight. Oh yeah, forgot. I crash-landed on an unknown planet last night. She sat up and looked over to Kozlov. "Hey, Kozlov," she said, giving his helmet a nudge with her foot. Getting no response, she tried again. However, this time she kicked his helmet harder, and loudly called, "Petty Officer William Kozlov! You are late for duty!" "Huh... what... where am I?” Kozlov stammered, still not fully awake. “Holy shit, my head hurts. Brake, how much did we have to drink last night? Who did we fight? I feel like my side lost a boxing match with a kangaroo." Cassie smiled and gave a small chuckle. "Whoa, Kozlov, take it easy. I’m glad to see you’re still alive, though. Think you can get up?" she asked. A grimace formed on Kozlov's face as he tried to remember the events of last night. Grunting with effort, he was finally able to stand up, but was slightly hunched over, holding his side. "Looks like I can, LT," he answered, looking at her with a pained smile. Cassie tried to avoid looking where the red-splotched bandages were; the wound had continued to bleed while the bio-gel took time to set. She explained to Kozlov some of what happened before she found him last night, then began talking about their current situation. Since he had not asphyxiated in his sleep, the air appeared to be breathable. However, it was unknown if there were any allergens, pathogens, or other potentially harmful contents floating in the air. Kozlov reminded Cassie that there should be a hand scanner onboard, capable of that scan, in one of the compartments or a locker. They would also need to do a radiation scan to see if there was any harmful radiation outside the ship before they fully opened the door. Cassie decided it was time to get her leg back. With Kozlov’s help, it only took a couple minutes to safely move the fallen section of the stasis chamber. Not surprising, really, she thought. Even with him hunched over, Kozlov’s 6'4" frame towered over her. She sat down on the floor and looked at the bio-gel all over her leg stump and EV suit. Looking around, Cassie found a small piece of metal to replace the thumb screws she lost the night before, enabling her to hold her leg to the connection socket. It wasn’t perfect; the leg wiggled a little more than she liked, and running was out of the question, unless absolutely necessary. Well, I might as well get this over with. The cargo bay had all the extra breathing tanks and filters, so I’d have to do this soon anyways. Cassie reached up to her helmet’s locking collar and undid the lock, breaking the air seal. She unhooked the two hoses off the back of it and dropped the helmet unceremoniously to the floor, then lifted the filter and air tank unit over her head, depositing it next to the helmet. As she started unzipping the suit, Kozlov shouted in surprise, "Ma'am! Are you out of your mind?" Ignoring the pain in his side, he rushed forward and picked up the discarded EV suit parts. Cassie pushed him away and gave him a stern look. "Kozlov, stop this at once. I know the regulations. I also know that in about 24 hours, the air tanks will run out, followed by the filters a few days later. Not that it matters— do you see any more tanks or filters around this mess? With the ship not sealed, how were we going to eat anyways?" she asked agitatedly, hands on her hips. Kozlov just leaned against the bulkhead and hung his head. "No, Ma'am. I didn't think of that," he answered softly. Several minutes later, they had both discarded their torn suits and donned their respective uniform coveralls. After some frustration, and choice words, at not being able to get all the bio-gel off her leg, Kozlov finally waved the removal solution from the med-kit in front of her face. After some mutterings and a facepalm, she grabbed the solution from him and removed the bio-gel, then threw the slimy, balled-up glob at Kozlov, but missed. Kozlov laughed, “You throw like a girl.” Cassie glared at him, then looked around for something else suitable to throw at him, but found nothing. Cassie split up different tasks between them. Kozlov would find something to eat and drink, while she would try to locate one of the hand scanners. Kozlov's job was fairly easy; it only took him about ten minutes to find a few rations and water for them from one of the lockers. Cassie's job, however, took much longer. Roughly a half-hour later, she finally found a scanner that wasn’t damaged. Before they got set to eat a late breakfast, Cassie took the scanner and started the radiation scan. She propped the scanner up on the hatch lip that would have gone to the cargo bay, but now led to the world they crashed on. She went back to sit across from Kozlov. "Well, Kozlov, we should know if we are completely doomed by the time we finish eating. The radiation scan will be done by then. We’ll need to do the atmospheric scan after that, though. Then again, neither of us has keeled over blue in the face yet," she said with a slight laugh. "By the way, how are you holding up?" Kozlov placed his food ration down and leaned back with a loud sigh. "I've been better. Not looking forward to that..." he said with a grim frown, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to the wreckage at the front of the cabin. Cassie's eyes reflected his thoughts, and after the brief pause he continued, a half-hearted smile upon his face, "...otherwise, my side is still killing me, but it seems to have worked. I’m a little weak ‘cause of it, though." They finished eating in relative silence. Cassie had Kozlov go see if he could get any of the computers online to see what scans the ship had done before the crash, while she went to check on the hand scanner. There was an unknown radiation signature, but it appeared to be non-harmful. Satisfied it was safe, she wiggled her arm, and the scanner, through the small opening in the emergency bulkhead to start an atmospheric scan. The results surprised her— they showed an atmosphere very similar to Earth, but with a slightly higher concentration of oxygen. Pollutants, at least in this area, were far, far below levels found on Earth. What intrigued her the most was the fact that no dangerous microbes or allergens seemed to be present. In fact, most of the allergens and pollens it did pick up seemed eerily similar to the ones back on Earth. "Kozlov, you got any of the computers up and running yet?" Cassie yelled across the cabin. Kozlov’s voice was muffled from being under one of the consoles. "Just about, Ma'am. I only need to bypass this last component," Kozlov called back. The snapping sound of electricity arcing, along with a yelp, came from under the console. “Damned cramped spaces,” he muttered. Cassie picked her way to the front of the cabin. Just as she sat in the only pilot seat left, Kozlov climbed out from under the console. Wiping his hands together, he gave the console a swift kick, and it started booting up. "There we go, Ma'am. Not quite sure how much of the computer will be working, though," Kozlov said. Cassie nodded as she started accessing the sensor logs. Sure enough, most of the ship was still offline. The sensors themselves only seemed to be able to read the temperature, currently indicating a nice 76°F. After reviewing the logs, they knew a little more about the planet. “Okay, looks like this planet’s got one sun, one moon, and an asteroid belt… but it seems to be the only planet in this solar system. The readings are saying it’s a little larger than Venus, with about 5-6% less gravity than Earth. Damn, most of the pictures taken by the ship while approaching the planet are good, but quite a few are corrupted past viewability,” Cassie explained. Images began flashing on the screen in front of them. “It looks like there’s a vast continent on one side—most of it’s green—with only a few areas that seem to be desert. Look’s like there’s another continent to the east… might possibly be two or more… and there appears to be a large ocean to the west. I don’t see any photos of the other side of the planet— I’m assuming those are the corrupted ones,” Cassie said. Kozlov let out a low whistle. "Seems we hit the jackpot with this planet," he softly said. "Yeah, no kidding. Too bad we have no idea where we are in relation to Earth," she said with a slight frown. "Well, we have some work to do. We need to check the supplies, get that door open, and clean this mess up." With the emergency bulkhead stuck, they started searching for a way to open it. When Kozlov eyed one of the stasis chambers that broke free in the crash, inspiration struck. He wedged the edge of the chamber into the crack in the door, then helped Cassie climb on top of it. Using a spot in the ceiling where a panel had fallen for support, she gently started to bounce, as Kozlov pushed down on the same end, using all of his weight as leverage. When the door finally broke free, Cassie hung from the ceiling a few inches above the floor. Fresh air blasted them fully as the smell of smoke and burnt circuits cleared out much faster than before. Cassie was the first to step through the hatch; it was kind of tricky getting out. The ship had plowed through the soft dirt, causing a small drop-off out of the hatch. "Be careful exiting… the ship," she said, her voice trailing off as she watched Kozlov climb out of the ship. He climbed out faster than one would expect with his wound, carrying something under his right arm. "Hey, LT, do ya think there’s intelligent life on this planet?" he asked with a childlike smile. "Other than me? Highly doubtful," Cassie responded. "Great!" Kozlov bounded off a few yards, practically bouncing, and opened the pack he was carrying. He then proceeded to slam a flagpole into the ground that had a somewhat singed flag hanging on it. "I CLAIM THIS LAND IN THE NAME OF THE SOL REPUBLIC!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. His jubilance died off rapidly as he grabbed his side, falling to a knee. Cassie initially laughed at his antics, then ran to his side, putting her arm around his back. "Are you ok?" she worriedly asked. "Yeah, just moved a little too fast," he said, regaining his composure. "I just couldn’t help myself. I brought that flag just so I could do that like the old explorers of Earth," he laughed. Cassie slapped him in the back of the head lightly. "You moron." Looking around, they realized they were in some type of gorge or canyon. A small stream flowed nearby; what looked like pine trees could be seen sparsely up and down its banks, along with brambles, shrubs, and pockets of grass. Looking north to the ridge line, they spotted what appeared to be a forest surrounding them from the north to the western side. The eastern side seemed to shift into more of a grassland type of area, with not as many trees along the canyon’s edge. At least, that's what they assumed from what they could see. They turned to inspect the outer hull of the ship. They already saw that it had torn up the dirt for a good sixty feet as it careened across ground. Unfortunately, it had slammed into a weak rock wall. The ship was covered in rocks, ranging from pebbles to large boulders. Only a small portion of the top near the back was visible from above, and the back itself was only visible from the ground. A large chunk of rock hung slightly over it like an awning, propped up on the left by a huge boulder. Cassie had Kozlov get back into the ship to find one of the fold-out shovels. Because of his wound, Cassie had him start checking to see what was still salvageable from the lockers while she fixed the drop-off from the hatch. Thankfully, the ship had settled during the night and was mostly level now. About an hour later, Cassie had made a nice, flat area right under the hatch with a shallow, sloping hill to the ground about two feet below. Despite the ideal positioning of the sun directly overhead, the ship’s solar panels were covered with rocks, so with no way to repower the ship at the moment, they had to conserve its power. Not enough light entered for them to do a good review of the supplies, so they both started moving the stuff Kozlov had collected to the ground outside. The fire had done a lot of damage. Kozlov's and Wellis's lockers were completely toasted, with nothing salvageable. His flag only survived because it had been in the compartment under his pilot seat. The commander's locker was mostly untouched. Some of the clothing was a little crispy, and parts of the emergency supplies were damaged, but not all of them. Somehow, Cassie's locker, other than being violently jostled around as it broke free from the wall in the crash, still had almost everything. All said and done, they had one and a half weeks’ worth of food and water to share. Combined from the lockers and other storage compartments in the cabin, they had most of the gear, originally provided for camping away from the ship when doing overnight surveys, still available. Maggie’s and Ashley’s uniform coveralls, which were stored in a side compartment when they changed into their EV suits, as well as some of Ashley's clothes, were still useable. A small generator was also available, but the solar panels required to power and charge its internal batteries were missing. Rummaging through her own locker, Cassie retrieved her extra leg and checked it for damage. Confirming it had remained unscathed, she then dug back into her locker for her prized rock pick, 10x triplet loupe hand lens, a sketch pad, colored pencils, a music player, and a few other odds and ends. Satisfied her toys were intact, she reached in and grabbed her uniforms, casual clothes, and a set of workout clothes to be set aside for the time being. Kozlov tapped Cassie on the shoulder. “Here, Ma’am.” Cassie turned to see him holding Ashley’s energy pistol. “Thanks,” she said, taking the weapon from him. Cassie opened the lock box in the top of her locker and laid the pistol next to her own. She was glad the handy little devices were available. “Whelp, I’m done with the stuff over here,” Kozlov said, leaning back against a rock. “Didn’t even take an hour. So, what’s next?” "Well, I hope some of your advanced survival training and all that hunting you used to do comes in handy, Kozlov, ‘cause we’re going to need to figure out something else for food very soon," Cassie said with a flat expression. "Well, there’s a stream nearby. Let’s just hope some edible fish have developed. The plant life should have some sort of nuts or berries, but we’ll have to find them and test them. I mean, there has to be something on this planet we’re able to eat. We can worry about that later, though, LT. I have a suggestion of what we should do first." He paused, waiting for a response. "Sure, go ahead," Cassie replied. "We need to clean out the ship. We can’t just let our friends… stay in that pile of debris. I'll get started clearing the way. I suggest you start digging— not sure if my side would appreciate me doing that," he finished, frowning. "Yeah, I suppose you’re right. Alright, let's get this over with," Cassie answered, looking at the ground. ------------------------------ Standing near the rock face, Kozlov stared down at the mound in front of him, a panel with Maggie’s name and rank etched into it rising from the top. He wiped a tear from his cheek, then looked over at Cassie standing beside him, her head bowed in silence. Her red, puffy eyes reflected a similar panel with Ashley’s name and rank rising up from a second mound of dirt before them. The surrounding rocks served well as grave markers. As they turned back to their crash site, taking in the view of their new home in the late afternoon sun, Cassie said, “Guess we oughtta make this place livable.” “Yeah, you’re right,” Kozlov responded. “Probably be best to finish clearing out the mess inside before anything else.” Cassie nodded and picked up a shovel as they walked towards the ship. “You get in there and start putting any panels that you can back in place. Just pile any that are too damaged in the corner or something. I’ll work on making us a trash pit.” It took them several trips to the trash pit to clear the miscellaneous junk still in the cabin, but they eventually finished the task. Together, they then removed the stasis chamber from above Cassie’s and placed it outside. Kozlov’s was too badly burned to be useful, so they dumped it into the trash pit. On the way back to the ship, they retrieved Cassie’s locker. After somewhat haphazardly reattaching the locker to the wall near the end of the bed, Cassie flopped down into a seat. It had been a semi-productive day, but a tiring one. Physically and emotionally drained, they had a small, quick meal for dinner, and decided to call it a night. While getting ready for bed, they discussed what they would do the next few days. They decided that once a base had been established here at the ship, they would start searching for the other two ships in hopes that others survived as well. ------------------------------ Perched way up in the sky upon a cloud above the gorge, Gale Wind sat admiring her gleaming, black talons. She had been watching the two strange bipeds most of the afternoon, all the while preening her tan, white-speckled feathers, her rump camouflaging with her perch. Sure, she was supposed to be gathering information for the Empire, but she had never seen a diamond dog before. From what little she knew about them, the two down below seemed to fit the description, so she had decided to observe them for a while. To Gale Wind, the two seemed to have recently made an underground home, and looked to be furnishing or remodeling it. She wondered if they were sick, though; one seemed to hold its side a lot, and both appeared to have lost the fur on their arms and faces. They had also been moping around after burying two others of their kind. Just because Gale was a griffon spy did not mean she was heartless. When they appeared to have gone to bed, she flew to the nearby forest and snatched up a rabbit. After killing it with the miniature scythes protruding from her claws, she quietly flew to where the creatures had planted a flag, and laid it down. When Gale Wind looked up, her bright yellow eyes widened in surprise. Instead of a cave entrance, she saw a metal wall with a blanket covering a hole in it. Gale silently crept closer to the entrance, listening for any sign of movement on the other side. Satisfied, she slowly stuck her head in, letting her eyes adjust to the dimly lit cave. What Gale saw stumped her. This was no cave; she had no idea what it was, other than a metal room. She saw the beds where the diamond dogs were sleeping, a couple chairs, and strange glass panels with stuff displayed on them, giving off a light glow. Gale quickly backed up. She was beginning to doubt these were diamond dogs; no way did they have… stuff like this. If they were diamond dogs, they probably stole it from the ponies. "What the hell did I just see?" she muttered. A new thought occurred to her: maybe these creatures were working with the ponies on some sort of project. It would have been a good way to hide experiments or innovations from most spies. Gale quickly flew back up to the cloud and pulled out her maps. She marked the location, then started writing a report. When she finished, she put all the papers away, destroyed the cloud, and immediately set off for the Griffon Embassy in Canterlot. ------------------------------ The following morning came without incident. Cassie noticed that Kozlov appeared noticeably paler, but she said nothing. Adding to the list of similarities between Earth and this planet, they were surprised to find what was clearly a dead rabbit next to their flag. After a quick breakfast, they decided to make a proper campsite with a barrier wall. Now that they knew there was local wildlife, they wanted to be able to keep it out. By late morning, Cassie and Kozlov had built a fire pit. They set up the two seats that had broken from the floor of the ship to use them as chairs, and the non-burned stasis chamber served well as a table. Under an outcropping of rock on the cliff face they had a nice stack of firewood, compliments of some old fallen trees surrounding the site, and the kill setting of Cassie’s energy pistol in beam mode. They had also collected an abundance of branches of varying sizes for tinder. To finish off the campsite, they collected several large rocks, some old fallen logs from around the area, and numerous damaged parts of the ship to form a simple, L-shaped perimeter. Outside the three-foot high wall, they dug a one-foot deep trench to keep water from building up next to it and flowing into the campsite. When they were finally done, Cassie and Kozlov stood back to admire their handiwork. “Grade A construction work there, LT,” Kozlov laughed. “Yeah, so good that we should start our own business,” Cassie replied sarcastically. “Let’s get cleaned up.” She returned to the ship to get changed into the workout shorts and sports bra that were in her locker. “Hey Kozlov…” she said, stepping back outside, “…it’s your turn to get changed. Remember to try and not get your wound too wet. Maybe wrap it in plastic or something if you can find any.” Kozlov watched Cassie walk towards the stream with a little too much leering before he said, “Hey, LT… you’ve got a nice ass.” “Kozlov, what the hell!” “What? You do! Looks nice, just like Maggie’s did. You know, if you weren’t an officer, I would’ve asked you out when we were getting ready for the mission,” Kozlov said with a wink and a grin. Cassie blushed slightly, waving off his antics. “How many painkillers did you take?” Cassie asked half-heartedly, continuing to the stream with fake angry stomping. Kozlov just laughed and watched for a moment more as her lithe form entered the water, remembering the days when he would watch her and Maggie at the pool back in college. With a sigh, he wrenched his eyes away and entered the ship to get changed himself. Cassie stood in knee-deep water, glad Kozlov was unable to see her blushing from the compliment. She looked over her toned body, happy with how she looked. Since the accident that derailed a large part of her life, it had been a little harder to keep in the shape she wanted. Laying her bag containing her soaps and towel on the bank, she continued wading into the wide, semi-deep, calm part of the stream. Cassie dove under the water, elated to be swimming, one of her true passions. Despite being unable to swim as well as she used to, she was still like a fish in water. After several minutes of swimming around, she finally decided to grab the soaps and wash off completely. She was just about finished drying off when Kozlov walked up. “Your form is as good as it always was, LT,” Kozlov said, winking with a sly grin. “Kozlov!” she shrieked, jumping at the surprise. “What? Your swimming is just as good as it was before you lost your leg.” Blushing, Cassie turned to the side, brushing an errant strand of hair out of her face. “Oh, th-thanks,” she replied. Kozlov laughed hard, clutching his side. “You thought I was talking about your body, weren’t you?” Cassie's face reddened even further, but she didn’t respond. Instead, she just walked over to a large, flat rock on the water’s edge to sit in the sun, allowing the rays to dry her off the rest of the way. This also allowed her to keep an eye on Kozlov so he wouldn’t drown from doubling over or anything. Kozlov, for his part, stopped teasing and cleaned himself. A while later, they sat in the campsite around the fire in the waning sunlight, eating the rabbit they had discovered earlier. They pondered how it got there, but all they could come up with was that some small predator had killed it, and most likely was surprised by something in the campsite, dropping it next to the flag. With all the basics of their little site finished, they finally had time to really look at the planet’s similarities to Earth that they had noticed all day. Not only was the air breathable, but they were amazed to find that the plants and animals were quite similar to Earth’s—not only visually, but biologically—as confirmed by their hand scanner. The rest of the evening was devoted to planning the next steps for their survival. Despite the similarities their new home may have had to their home planet, they were still unfamiliar with their surroundings. Discussion gave way to drowsiness, and they eventually retired to the ship. ------------------------------ The following day, Kozlov barely had the energy to get out of bed. His face was gaunt and his eyes sunken; he was barely recognizable. Cassie inspected his wound, and much to their dismay, the bio-gel did not work. He still suffered from some internal bleeding, which caused a large purple splotch under his skin. They used the dissolving solution in an attempt to drain some of the blood that accumulated inside under the wound before they reapplied the gel, emptying the tube. At least the wound wasn’t infected, but only one tube remained now. Kozlov mainly sat around as Cassie went to check the traps he had made the previous day while they were setting up the camp. The traps had only been partly successful. Of the five on land, two were tripped but empty, and one contained what looked remarkably like a squirrel. In the stream he had set two up; one held a turtle that Cassie released, and the other had three fish. She went back to the camp with the squirrel still in the makeshift cage— the fish she dumped into a bucket that they had made by modifying the covering to one of the burned-out consoles. “The mighty hunter returns,” Kozlov chuckled, fist-pumping the air from his seat around the fire pit. Cassie rolled her eyes. “Ha Ha," she mock laughed. "Here, make yourself useful and kill these so we can cook ‘em.” She set the trap on the table and the bucket on the ground, then went to get some more firewood from the pile. After an early lunch, Kozlov set to work on the ship’s systems, starting with the emergency distress beacon, while Cassie crawled under the piloting console, popped the cover off, and started to diagnose the computer. Both he and Cassie had taken a few engineering extension courses—they had been mandatory for the entire crew. The courses had mostly focused on the primary systems of their ship, as well as some of the devices they would use on the planet they were headed to. “What?” she asked, feeling a kick on her foot. “I’m gonna need to get in there. See what non-critical components I can use to fix this,” Kozlov replied. “One sec.” Cassie wiggled out from under the console. “Here you go.” She handed him a cracked and burnt circuit board. “This board is fried. Maybe you can find a way to make some part of it useable. There’s a lot more damage down in there than we thought, it seems.” Kozlov leaned on the pilot’s chair and looked over the circuit board. “I might be able to get some use from this. Anyways, I know you are pretty good with this engineering stuff too, but I need to use the computer to fix this beacon. And there’s not much else we can fix with the few spares we’ve got, so why don’t you get some fresh air? Maybe even take a look around: no need to be cramped up in here with me right now.” Taking his suggestion, Cassie went to explore more of their new home, and started cataloging some of the rocks and minerals to get her mind off of recent events. Though the mission was ruined, and most likely help wouldn’t arrive for many years, she decided she would still do her duty and create a record of what she saw. As a volcanologist, surveying the planet’s volcanic activity and areas prone to earthquakes was her primary duty on this mission. Other geological recordings, such as mineral abundances, rock types, and amounts in the areas they surveyed were also part of her tasks, but with very little of her equipment, she would be hard-pressed to do many of her primary duties. Cassie grabbed her prized rock pick that had been given to her by her grandfather when she started college, as well as an electronic pad to do the recordings, then set off down the stream. She returned late in the afternoon, bouncing into the campsite with a smile. “Hey, Kozlov,” Cassie cheerily said. “You win the Solar Lottery or something?” Kozlov asked with an arched eyebrow. “Or could it be you came across a strawberry stand?” he chuckled. Cassie smiled at the thought of finding a strawberry stand; she so loved the delicious red fruit. She tossed a small bag to Kozlov, who fumbled with the unexpected object before grasping it fully. “I wish. Pfft, what I wouldn’t do for a few strawberries right now…” “That desperate, huh?” Kozlov snickered, wagging his eyebrows at her. Cassie chose to ignore the comment. “Just open the bag,” she said, practically bouncing from foot to foot. “Hold your horses,” Kozlov said, opening the bag, not seeing the scowl that flashed on Cassie’s face. “Whoa! Where did you find these?” Kozlov exclaimed, pouring out several small, cut and polished gems into his hand. “I found them on the edges of the stream. Believe it or not, they are already like that. They seem to be in abundance, at least in this area. I saw many more small fragments. I wonder how big an area this comprises? Much more research needs to be done into how they come out of the ground that way,” she said, excitement still in her voice. “I’ll say. Looks like you got your work cut out for you, LT,” he replied, still rolling the gems in his hands. Cassie’s smile dropped slightly and she sighed. “That’s an understatement. Without my equipment, even doing mineral and rock studies will take years. Also, you know, since it’s just us, you can call me Cassie or Campbell.” Kozlov scratched his head, then moved his hand to his chin, rubbing it back and forth with his eyes closed for several seconds before he opened one with a grin. “So I guess Campy is out?” he questioned, seeing the fire burning in Cassie’s eyes. Chuckling, he said, “Okay, okay, you can call me Kozlov then, LT.” “Umm, everyone’s called you by your last name since I met you in my sophomore year of college,” she said, her brows pinched in slight confusion. Snickering, Kozlov responded, “I know, I was just messing with you. I knew of you years before I even met you, being a fan of competitive swimming and all that. And, even after all this time, calling you Cassie now is just weird. You’re Lieutenant now.” His expression changed, his chuckling stopped, and a true smile of happiness cracked his face. “Sure, we’ve been friends for years; hell, that’s how I got this assignment. You know that everyone on the ship was required to not only have worked well with at least two others, but be friends with at least one person onboard. I qualified because of Maggie, who was recommended by you, but… I obtained the assignment because you were already appointed and are also my friend.” Cassie’s jaw slackened a little, and her eyes widened slightly. She had known Maggie was assigned solely due to her recommendation. Due to the nature and length of the original mission, the Sol Space Command decided that they couldn’t just make a crew and hope for the best, but had to have members that already had some established bonds. She had always thought that it was Maggie, and one of the other crew members, that solidified Kozlov’s assignment to the crew. Sadness filled Cassie's eyes, and her voice shook as she asked, “Y-y-you don’t b-blame me for being stranded here, or what happened to… Maggie, do you?” A tear slid down her cheek at the memory of her best friend. Kozlov stood up slowly, teeth clenched, a pained grimace etched into his face. He walked over to Cassie and pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arms behind her back in a soft hug as he answered, “No, LT. I don’t blame you, and never think that Maggie would, either. Never think any of this is your fault. It's true that we both got this assignment because of you, but… always remember that every single member of the mission had to be absolutely sure it was something they wanted to do. Remember, three months before the mission launched, we were asked twice that month if we were sure we wanted to do this, then once again for each month after that. If Maggie was here, she would say exactly how I feel. Thanks to you, we got to experience a historic event in human history, and we achieved something that humanity has been searching for for a very long time. We found a planet that is habitable, even if we don’t know where we are.” Kozlov was now running his fingers through Cassie’s shoulder blade-length hair. Cassie reached around Kozlov’s back, returning the hug and sniffling a few times. She rubbed her head back and forth, wiping the tears that had wet her face onto his shirt. All she could say was, “Thank you.” Kozlov put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back some. “So, ready to activate the emergency distress beacon?” he asked, grinning. “Wha... What? Why didn’t you say that right away?! Of course I want to!” Cassie smiled, playfully smacking him on the arm. Kozlov sat back down, his body slightly shaking, a few drops of sweat forming upon his forehead. Cassie practically flew into the ship to grab the device. A few minutes later, she dragged the large, rectangular object outside. Cassie set it in an open area of the campsite, near the side of the ship with a clear view of the sky. She popped out the leg stabilizers, unlatched the top cover exposing the solar panels that would keep it powered, and extended the antenna array. On the side, she opened a panel revealing a small screen. Cassie entered a small message, closed the panel, and activated the beacon. Not wanting to be annoyed by the white light that would flash every minute, she flipped the optional cover up over it. Dinner came early at Kozlov’s request; he even used the last of his lemonade mix for them. As they ate, he gave Cassie a status report on the ship’s systems. “The computers are still just as messed up as before, but I was able to get some of the sensors working. The temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pressure gauges are working fine, but the pollen count, UV, and proximity sensors are only partly functional. The UV sensor would work better if the little sensor on the top of the ship could be located and cleared off. The proximity sensor would likely only work for about 200 yards, instead of the ten miles it’s supposed to. The long-range sensors and communications array are completely destroyed. The computer batteries should be good for about ten more years, but only one solar panel on the side of the ship is currently useable for powering the ship itself. That being said, the sensors won’t be usable at all times, as the cabin section only has limited working batteries to store the power from the solar panel. To top it off, only a few of the lights inside are still functioning,” Kozlov explained. On a positive note, he was able to make a makeshift door for the ship. He had taken the hinge from one of the burned lockers, then used one of the energy pistols to sort of weld two panels from the interior of the ship together, and then to the hinge. He had done the same to attach the hinge to the interior bulkhead, including a few braces so that a piece of metal could be used to bar it shut while they were inside the ship. The best thing Kozlov told Cassie was that the ship’s locator signal was active, and they had two working ship locators. This would allow them to explore their surroundings, and not worry about losing the ship’s location. Unfortunately, the pocket-sized locators did not give distance or ship number until they were within one mile— only the direction up to roughly twenty miles away. They hoped that maybe, if they took one with them when exploring, it might pick up any of the other ships’ signals, provided any of them survived the crash enough to send it out. With the sun still above the horizon, Kozlov headed into the ship to sleep. Despite his reassurances, Cassie was worried about him; his face had become slightly sunken, and she could tell he was hiding pain when he moved. She gathered up the dishes they used and headed to the stream to wash them. She filled the two pots with water before she headed back. When Cassie returned to the camp, she set up the parts Kozlov had made to catch the steam from boiling water above the fire pit. Once the fire was going, Cassie sat back until the water began bubbling. After the water had been boiling for fifteen minutes, she removed the pots and set them on a stone to cool. Eventually, she took the pots she had set on the stone, plus the container that caught the water from the steam after it condensed, and emptied them into storage containers. Cassie grabbed her glass of lemonade from the table and sat at the fire, sipping her drink with a calm expression. While watching the red hues of the sunset, and waiting for the moon to rise, she lamented how the canyon walls hid the actual viewing of the two orbs ascending and descending over the horizons. She loved the night on this planet; a large, bright moon was framed in a sky of deep purple-blue, with dots of starlight filling it. She wanted to stay out a few more hours, but a sudden drowsiness overcame her, so she got up and headed off to bed. ------------------------------ A small vibration in his pocket woke Kozlov up. He was extremely exhausted, but knew he had to go through with his plan. He gritted his teeth, and let out of grunt of pain as he pushed himself up onto his feet. Once he was situated, Kozlov walked over to where Cassie was sleeping in her bed. “Cassandra, are you awake?” he asked. Lightly poking her shoulder, Kozlov asked again, “Lieutenant Campbell, are you awake? Kozlov gazed down at his friend and smiled, satisfied that the sleeping pill he put into her drink while she was washing the dishes worked. He combed his fingers through her soft hair, letting the strands slip through his fingers to fall gently onto the bed. His lips parted as the pinkish-red muscle glided slowly over his lips, causing them to glisten slightly in the glow from the computer consoles. He shifted on his feet. Leaning down, Kozlov kissed Cassie on the cheek, then moved his lips close to her ear and whispered, "I'm sorry." Kozlov stood up and turned slightly towards the makeshift door for several moments. He turned back to Cassie's vulnerable form and started unzipping his EV suit. He reached one hand inside while using his free arm to steady himself against the bed. Kozlov hunched over slightly, his breath became ragged, and his face scrunched. After several moments, he let out a sigh, his breathing returning to normal. As he straightened his back, a pleased smile graced his face. Pulling his hand out of the suit, Kozlov held a small ring in his hand. The partially melted, gold ring still had the diamond center-stone, but only one of the flanking emeralds. "Ah, I thought I’d lost you," he said. "Seems I just forgot what pocket you were in." Kozlov laid the ring on Cassie's bed next to her pillow. He then zipped his EV suit up and headed for the hatch. On his way out of the ship, he picked up a folding shovel and one of the lanterns. ------------------------------ Cassie let out a low moan as she stretched in her bed, feeling more rested than she had since she entered stasis after the disaster. Not wanting to get up, she grabbed her pillow and snuggled into it, pulling the sheets to her ears at the same time. A few minutes later, she snapped her arms out, knocking the pillow to the floor and flinging the sheets back against the wall next to her. She clicked the button on the wall next to her bed to turn the lights on, those that were left in her… lodging at least. Not seeing Kozlov, she figured he was already up and outside sitting in his chair. Maybe he was even getting breakfast ready, if he was feeling better. After making her bed presentable again, Cassie put on Ashley’s coveralls. The coveralls no longer fit within the uniform guidelines: the legs had been chopped off at about the knee, and the arms a couple inches above the elbow, effectively turning them into a tee-shirt and shorts style of coveralls. Cassie squinted, raising a hand to shield her eyes from the sun’s rays as she stepped from the ship. Her smile faded when she saw Kozlov sitting in his seat, wearing his EV suit. Cassie walked over to him, calling his name as she neared. “Morning, Kozlov.” He gave no response, so she called again, placing her hand on his shoulder. When he still did not respond, Cassie’s heart started beating harder; her breath became shorter and her brows pinched in worry. She moved to stand in front of him— his eyes were closed, and a content smile graced his face. Shakily, Cassie raised her hand to Kozlov’s neck, only to check what she already knew. His skin slightly sticky with dew, she grimaced as she felt for where his jugular vein should be. Just to make sure, she tried several times. The results were the same each time: no pulse. Cassie was crushed, and she was unsure what to do. Slumping onto the ground, she blankly stared forward, her vision becoming blurry and unfocused, her brain unthinking. Cassie eventually roused from her stupor by the cry of a random bird echoing through the canyon. A breeze flowed through the camp, chilling her cheeks. Reaching up, she wiped away the wetness that had accumulated, then dried her eyes of the tears she didn’t know she had shed. With her vision cleared, Cassie noticed Kozlov held a notepad in his slightly dirty hand, a pen on the ground next to him. She also saw dirt on his knees, some of it smeared on his forehead. She took the notepad from his hand; she was about to open it, but stopped, placing it on the table. Whatever was written in that notepad, she wanted to make sure she was ready to read it. For now, she had other… work to do. Sullenly, Cassie trudged over to the other graves to begin her task. To her surprise, a grave for Kozlov was already mostly done, right next to Maggie’s. One of the two lanterns lay broken nearby. “Well, I guess that explains the dirt on him. Great, one of the lanterns broke, too,” Cassie said aloud with a sigh. It only took her about an hour to finish digging the grave. Then, for the third time in recent days, she had the grisly task of taking a friend and burying them in the ground. Moving Kozlov was not easy; he was just over one foot taller than her, and due to his musculature, not particularly light. As gently as possible, Cassie moved him over to, and into the grave. When she had finished placing stones around the new grave like the others, tears were readily flowing down her cheeks as her bottom lip quivered. Shuffling back to the ship, Cassie paused to get the notepad off the table, the shovel having slipped from her hand. She didn’t even glance down at it as she pushed her way past the blanket covering the hatch. Inside, she placed the notepad in Kozlov’s locker, then closed the makeshift door over the blanket and barred it shut. Not even bothering to undress, Cassie climbed into her bed. There she stayed for the rest of the day, curled in a tight ball, shakes wracking her body as she sobbed at the loss of another friend, until sleep finally took her. It was raining the next day, and Cassie did not have the desire to even get out of bed. Her appetite had been lost, but she still took inventory of her food. She had four each of the breakfast and dinner rations, and nutrient bars. She would have to stretch them out as long as she could, supplemented with whatever edible stuff she could find around. Cassie knew her survival skills would not allow her to last long, and most nearby berries and nuts had already been eaten. As her eyes drifted to the ship locator, a weak smile creased her face. She decided she would follow the stream north in hopes that the locator would pick up a surviving ship, or the extremely remote possibility that she might run across some sort of intelligent life on the planet. Cassie spent the rest of the day packing one of the backpacks. She put in her cloths, the food, a couple pictures, and many other things she would need to start her journey. Satisfied she was ready for the next day, Cassie went to bed. Fortunately, the end of the canyon had a path that was easily scalable, almost like a hiking trail. Cassie wasn’t sure how she would have climbed it if it had been similar to the near-vertical walls of the rest of the canyon. The forest before her was dark, and had a foreboding, wild feeling to it. Staying close to the river, she stepped forward. Sunlight penetrated the thick, dark canopy, causing pools of light to shine down on the forest floor. Cassie stepped out of the darkness and into one of the pools. She ran a hand over her forehead before wiping the sweat and dirt onto her pant leg. She then proceeded to fix her ponytail. Cassie had a watchful vigilance as her eyes scanned the forest ahead, looking for any dangers or threats. The forest was alive with noises, but none of them near her location. Cassie gingerly headed deeper into the thick trees, never letting the stream out of her peripheral vision. ------------------------------ Traipsing through the woods for the better part of the past week had been better than Cassie could have hoped for. So far, she’d only had one really bad incident. Yesterday, while trying to set up a trap in the river to catch a fish, a giant, snake-like reptile happened upon her. Before Cassie had run off, she noticed it had purple scales and orange hair, somehow in a pompadour style, eyebrows, and a large mustache. She lost the fish trap thanks to that creature, and stayed farther from the shore’s edge for a few days following. The run, along with all the other not-so-easy trekking, had taken its toll on her artificial leg, though. The metal she was using as a pin had stretched and bent a few times, making it weaker and more prone to bending now. She was worried it would break soon. As she continued her journey, Cassie tripped on a root, causing her to stumble forward. Trying to keep her footing, she slipped on some leaves and fell to the ground, scraping her good knee across a fallen branch. She pounded a fist on the ground, crying out in frustration. The past week since the incident at the river had worn on her. Small, infrequent, and unfulfilling meals had been her staple as of late. The rain pouring from the sky caused Cassie’s clothes to stick to her form like they were painted on. The canopy here was less dense than that of other places in the forest so far, and the leaves did little to stop the cold torrent falling from the sky. After a while, she finally got up and decided that was it for the day, and looked for the driest place she could find to try and make some kind of shelter, not wanting to bother with her small tent. A few days after the downpour, Cassie was surprised at how fast the forest had dried out, and grateful that it did not hold the humidity like a tropical rainforest would. She sat down to rest, and eat one of the few remaining food rations, leaving her with just one breakfast, dinner, and protein ration. That was enough for one full day's worth of meals, but she had only been eating one of the versions a day, while trying to supplement with berries and nuts. The berries and nuts she had found were never in large quantities. She had spent a day trying to catch some fish, but her trap was not as good as the one Kozlov had made. Other food gathering attempts had also ended up being a waste of time, but they did allow her sore muscles to relax. Cassie surmised that in the almost two weeks of going through the forest, she had not actually gone very far. The river she tried to stay near was not a completely straight line; it meandered around a bit. Sometimes she had to go around natural barriers, or chop up vines blocking the way. Other delays in moving forward were because of her search for, and the subsequent picking of, berries and nuts. However, it was mostly that she was just going slowly, trying to conserve energy. That, and with her leg becoming looser and looser, walking on the rough, uneven terrain was becoming more difficult for her. Other than the river serpent, no other animals seemed to bother her. She did hear wolves howling at night a few times, though, and prayed they did not approach. Too tired to go any further, Cassie decided her current location made for a nice place to make camp for the night. Before going to bed, Cassie checked the wound on her forearm that she had gotten when she stepped on a loose stick and its other end came whipping up, hitting her in the arm with a sharp spur. The cut probably needed stitches, but she had lost her tube of bio-gel days ago when she tumbled down a small embankment that had collapsed. She wrapped the wound with a new portion of a shirt she had torn into pieces specifically for bandage wrappings. Cassie checked on a few of her other minor cuts and bruises before finally calling it a night. The following morning passed like all the others. It had been almost three weeks since Cassie arrived on the planet. Her cheeks were sunken, and her eyes haughty, only partly focused. Across the river, and through some trees, she thought she saw a tower. The river here was shallow and very calm, allowing her to wade across it with ease. Cassie noticed that the trees began to thin out here somewhat, and barely registered that some looked like apple trees. Ignoring what she thought she saw, Cassie continued to stagger towards the tower like a zombie. Breaking through the tree line, she looked up at her goal. It was not a tower; it was a large, tall pile of rocks. In her frustration, Cassie started running towards the pile with reckless abandon. "It's not fair!" she screamed as she kicked a small rock. Cassie advanced on the tower of stones, tears and anger clouding her vision. She never saw the rock that tripped her. One moment she was running towards the pile, screaming at it; the next she was flat on her chest, eating dirt. Cassie was determined to knock the pile over for mocking her, making her think she had seen a tower, and giving her false hope. She scrambled to her feet, ignoring the nausea and dizziness, and staggered towards the source of her frustrations. In that final outburst, Cassie used up all her energy. She had no more to give. Hunger, pain, and sadness all welled up inside of her. The nausea and dizziness caught up with her, and she collapsed to the ground. Cassie's rational part of her mind screamed for her to get up, but she let the exhaustion take her and lead her to unconsciousness.