Adrift Among The Stars — Part Five

The End of Choices

“How long have you known this?” El’ban asked.

Ka’rail shrugged, and answered, “A few days. The Captain wanted to keep the information private while we waited for the ship to get closer to make sure it was really there. He didn’t want to project any false hope.”

“How big is it?” she asked.

“It’s a strip of ice-free land on the planet’s surface. Circling the equator it’s a region about a hundred miles wide which is, for the most part, ice-free. It is a mixture of dry land and aquatic environments, and where the land has mountains, these are covered with ice. But, this does look to be great news. The region might be a colder environment than we are accustomed to, but it will be habitable.”

“When are we going to land?”

This was the question Ka’rail was avoiding. “Soon, the Captain wants to be careful to make the correct choice for their landing, but every day we eat from the cargo hold is one less day of food we’ll have after landing.” He swallowed. “The shuttle will land tomorrow. The starship will follow as soon as possible. Maybe one or two days.”

“And, why is it you are going on the shuttle? Isn’t this dangerous?”

Ka’rail ignored the second question. “Somebody has to do it. The Captain chose me.” He didn’t explain that he was expendable. As a Watcher, he no longer had a purpose on the starship. Even the work examining the planet had been completed. “Dy’low will be the pilot and Po’cal will go to set up the landing markers for the starship.” Po’cal was an engineering assistant.

“And, you won’t be coming back?”

“No, the shuttle was not designed for planet landings. It doesn’t have landing gear. Thus, it will be a controlled crash landing. Additionally, it doesn’t have the thrust, or the fuel, to takeoff again.” He kissed her. “But, I’ll see you soon enough. The starship will quickly follow us down.” Even if they failed to establish a landing site for the starship, the Captain had no choice but to attempt a landing.

Ignoring the uncertainty, they made love for perhaps the last time.

In the morning, several crew members gathered at the shuttle bay.

“Is something wrong with you?” Dy’low gave Ka’rail a light shove. “Let’s get going.”

Ka’rail turned his attention to the hatch leading to the shuttle. This was definitely not at trip he wanted to make. It was a one-way trip. Not that this fact mattered. His entire life was now a one-way trip. Ka’rail was not happy to have been chosen for the first landing. He didn’t want to be separated from El’ban and his child. There were too many things which could go wrong, and Ka’rail could not clear his mind of the possibility he would never see El’ban again.

He said nothing to her; they had already expressed their goodbyes. But, El’ban was with the others seeing them off. Looking at her, he could see a slight bulge in her middle. He could see the evidence of his child. While no one had said anything about it, he could also see this evidence in Og’cun body. He suspected Dy’low was the father of her child. In many respects, he wished El’ban had never told him.

Po’cal nudged him. “We’ve only a few minutes.”

Ka’rail followed Dy’low into the hatch. Inside the shuttle, they were weightless; the starship’s artificial gravity field did not extend into the shuttle. Ka’rail had not been weightless for several months. He drew a breath and swallowed to settle his innards, and then he buckled himself into the seat behind the pilot. Po’cal sat beside him.

The starship, of course, had never been intended to land on a planet either. It’s landing would also be a controlled crash; however, there was no other way to get the people down. Ka’rail and the other two men were blazing the trail with the intention of marking a landing zone for the starship. The Engineer had selected a snowfield between two mountains near the ice-free zone. The Captain had wanted to land the ship in the ice-free zone where they could use the hull as a shelter while they built a community. But, the Engineer said the ship would break apart on the solid ground, killing most everyone. The snow was necessary to cushion the landing. This meant they would all have to walk miles down the mountain to the ice-free zone. They would have to leave the shelter of the ship behind.

Dy’low disengaged the docking collar, and the shuttle drifted away from the starship. Ka’rail looked out the window at the ugly, twisted structure of the hyperspace generators. He recalled how beautiful the starship had once been. The shuttle’s Brain fired the rocket thrusters to slow the small ship and begin its decent to the planet’s surface.

Po’cal tapped him and Dy’low on the shoulders. “There is something the Captain didn’t want anyone to know.” Ka’rail and Dy’low turned their attention to Po’cal. “There is another reason this specific location was chosen for our landing. Our surveys have located a large metallic object near the snowfield. We’ve no idea how long ago the planet froze, and the ice exterminated all life, but we know there were once intelligent beings living here. The artificial satellites prove that. Additionally, we found this metal object. It’s a solid configuration of iron coated with tungsten. There can be no doubt it was created by skilled craftsmen. Since its structure appears to have been designed to withstand the harsh environment, the Engineer thinks it is some sort of shrine left behind by whoever once lived here. We are to examine it.”

This new prospect was exciting, and it did distract Ka’rail’s mind during the semi-crash landing. Dy’low had successful slowed the speed of the shuttle; thus, it skidded only a hundred yards along the snowfield.

“Everyone all right?” Dy’low asked.

“Yes,” Ka’rail and Po’cal announced.

The three unstrapped their safety harnesses. Po’cal opened the hatch and the icy breeze filled the cabin. They had not brought spacesuits and had made no attempt to test the air. The air had been studied from orbit and declared safe. It didn’t matter if there was a hidden toxicity, they had no choice.

Po’cal was the first outside the ship. Dy’low nudged Ka’rail to follow. He had not been on the surface of a planet for several years. The surge of agoraphobia filled his subconscious. The shock of the cold wind stung his face. The landscape was solid white with a deep blue sky free of clouds. Ka’rail felt lost as he had nothing to focus his attention.

“Gee willikers,” Po’cal exclaimed, “it’s cold out here.”

The three pulled on the coveralls which had been in the starship’s hold for the miners and wrapped their feet with strips of cloth. They were wearing the slippers used aboard ship, but these provided no protection from the icy cold snow. They bound the cloth with tape.

“This better not take long,” Ka’rail said. “We’ll freeze to death in a few hours.” He was overwhelmed with anxiety as he considered how El’ban and his child could possibly survive without him. The worst thought which crossed his mind was the possibility they would die in the crash. He could not imagine living with the knowledge he was unable to protect his child.

The snowfield was a mile wide and several miles long. The three men marked the boundaries of a flat region of soft snow for the landing. They used electronic beacons and pots which oozed black smoke when burned. The task completed, they returned to the relative warmth of the shuttle.

“Where is this metal artifact?” Dy’low asked.

Ka’rail had intentionally not mentioned their second task. He was too cold to go exploring.

Po’cal answered. “It’s three miles down the mountain to the ice-free zone. It should be much warmer there. The ocean is twenty miles further. That’s where we expect to find aquatic food. However, the artifact is five miles the other directions. So, it’s eight miles from here.”

Ka’rail said, “Even the three miles to the ice-free zone is too far. We’ll freeze.”

Po’cal grunted. “Doesn’t matter. Everyone will have to make the trip or die trying. It will benefit them if we can experience it first and show them the easiest way down the mountain.”

“We may not make it back,” Ka’rail said. “Shouldn’t someone stay behind to activate the beacons?”

“Rasa-frasa-rasa-frasa, grow a spine,” Po’cal rebuked. “Everything is set to activate automatically.”

“Come on,” Dy’low said.

Ka’rail wondered if Dy’low knew he was a father. Ka’rail was not a coward and he was not afraid for himself. Bringing a new life into this desperate world had been a mistake, but the deed was done. Now, Ka’rail needed to survive to ensure his child would live. Exploring was an unnecessary risk.

The three men ate as much as possible. They would not carry anything with them, and they expected to return before dark.

Ka’rail thought the trek across the snow was endless. The only thing keeping him from turning into a block of ice was the struggle to keep moving. However, it did end. At the edge of the plateau, they began a decent while weaving a path through large boulders. Po’cal had been correct; it took them three tries to find a safe way off the mountain. The air warmed rapidly as they dropped down to the valley below. Still shivering, they rested in the warmth radiating from the planet’s star.

The lower they went, the easier the walking became. Eventually, they were walking through gentle rolling hills covered with grass. The sky was bright blue with puff clouds.

“This is not so bad,” Dy’low said. “I bet we could grow real food here.” He kicked the ground, exposing the roots of a clump of grass. “In the hold, we’ve a variety of seeds for the miner’s hydroponics growing chambers. I bet they’ll germinate just fine here.”

As they approached the location of the artifact, they climbed a small mountain. The ground transitioned to a bleak, rocky landscape. A thin layer of snow covered most of the land, and the brisk wind piled deep snow drifts around the irregularities in the area. They had no trouble discerning the foundations of the man-made buildings.

“I wonder what these were for,” Po’cal said, of the structures.

The focus of their attention was drawn to a large black obelisk in the center of a flat plane on a hilltop. The object was an unmistakable beacon for visitors. Po’cal set a laser measuring tool on a rock and scanned the artifact.

“It’s a solid piece of titanium,” Po’cal said. “It has a square base, twenty-five feet on a side, and stands two hundred and fifty feet high. There’s a door in one side.”

Panning a video recorder, Ka’rail approached the black monolith. On three sides were a collection of drawings and writing. He recorded everything, although he couldn’t read it.

“My money says they were human. The letters looks very similar to our alphabet,” Ka’rail said. “Any idea how to open the door?”

“No,” Po’cal responded, after extensive examination. “But, it’s clear that these drawings depict a procedure for constructing a key. The door requires the application of specific keys to simultaneously push and pull on the door’s different surfaces. The locking mechanism was intended to be opened by an intelligent being while making it resistant to the forces of nature.”

“Can we make a key?” Dy’low asked.

“I don’t have the tools here, but if we get back to the shuttle in time, I’ll send the pictures up to the ship. The Engineer will be able to make one. There won’t be much time, and he’ll have to do it before they crash-land the ship.”

“Why?” Ka’rail asked.

“The machining tools may not work after the landing.” Po’cal picked up his equipment. “Maybe the Brain can decipher the writing too. Let’s head back to the shuttle on the double time.”

At midday the following day, they stood at a safe distance and watched the huge starship glide through the sky. The ugly, mangled exterior gave it the appearance of a wounded bird. However, the Pilot performed an excellent job using the air resistance to slow the ship as he followed the signal from the electronic beacon to the planet surface. While the ship was still several miles away, Po’cal prodded the electronic controls and the smudge pots ignited. The rows of black smoke gave the Pilot a visual target.

The starship splashed into the snow, ending its final flight. It bounce once, twice, and then a third time. The crack in the hull opened wide, and Ka’rail guessed the ship would have broken into pieces if it had bounced a fourth time.

Plumes of snow flew into the air as the snowfield absorbed the force of the impact. The damaged hyperspace engines were ripped away from the hull as the hulk skidded across the landing zone. Steam poured from several locations as waste heat from the power generator was expended into the snow.

Ka’rail rushed forward, wondering if any of the passengers had been injured. He hoped El’ban and his child were safe.

THE END of Part Five

Part Six, The Secret of Life is Revealed

***

Copyright ©2023 by S. M. Revolinski All Rights Reserved

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