Summary

The crew of a space exploration vessel, including Captain Lowe, Engineer Happy Joe Dertzey, 2nd Taylor Cannedy, and the maintenance bot Z2E, land on Palistade-9, a habitable planet orbiting a White Dwarf Star, to find it rich in gemstones but also home to territorial and aggressive alpha predators.

Abstract

The narrative describes the exploration of Palistade-9, a planet with Earth-like gravity and an accommodating atmosphere, by a team led by Captain Lowe. The crew encounters a power fluctuation issue on their spacecraft, which is promptly addressed by the grumpy yet aptly named Engineer Happy Joe Dertzey and the intelligent maintenance bot Z2E. Upon landing, they discover a planet teeming with gemstones but are soon surrounded by hostile quadrupedal creatures. Despite the initial allure of the planet's resources, the team's subsequent observations and attempts at communication reveal that the creatures, identified as alpha predators, are highly territorial and show no signs of sentient behavior. The crew retreats to their ship, and Captain Lowe documents their findings, warning future explorers of the dangers of Palistade-9.

Opinions

The author, T. Mark Mangum, expresses a fascination with science fiction and fantasy worlds, indicating a passion for these genres through his writing.
The character Happy Joe Dertzey is portrayed with a sense of irony, as his nickname "Happy" contrasts with his grumpy demeanor.
The value of Z2E, the maintenance bot, is highlighted by its quick response to repair the power relay and its constant vigilance through sensor monitoring, suggesting the importance of advanced technology in space exploration.
The discovery of gemstones on Palistade-9 initially excites the crew, particularly Happy Joe, hinting at the allure of potential riches in space exploration.
The aggressive behavior of the planet's alpha predators leads to a stark reassessment of the planet's value, emphasizing the potential risks and dangers of exploring new worlds.
Captain Lowe's decision to retreat and document the encounter underscores a commitment to safety and the responsible dissemination of knowledge within the space exploration community.

Palistade-9

Planetary Explorers

“Happy, there is a fluctuation in the power runners on the port side; what is going on,” I asked my Engineer.

Knowing who Happy was and where he was, the ship channeled my inquiry through the Communications Platform to Happy Joe Dertzey in engineering.

Why did we call him happy? No clue; he is actually a grumpy old, ornery cuss.

Taylor Cannedy, my 2nd, had introduced him as Happy, she called him happy, so we called him happy.

“Well, shit, fire captain, the relay in section P3 is throwing an alert.”

“Z2E, (Pronounced Zee) we need emergency diagnostics and repairs in section P3’s power relays,” I spoke again.

“Almost their captain, I had to retrieve tools from the maintenance bay.”

Z2E was a little rollie, flex maintenance bot that was worth its weight in gold. Z2E’s previous owner had added intelligence protocols, so Z2E would constantly plug into the sensor arrays and observe unless otherwise needed.

The little bot moved quickly to the relays and completed the necessary repairs. Then went back to monitoring the universe through the sensors.

Moments later, we dropped out of Dark Space near Palistade-9.

“Palistade-9 is a habitable planet with an accommodating atmosphere, the gravity is one-tenth of a percentile less than that of the earth; It should not be noticeable. We are the first to gain an investigative permit to this planet that is orbiting a White Dwarf Star in the constellation of Palistade.”

Z2E continued to ramble on with more information we had already reviewed.

“Captain Lowe.” Taylor said, I gave her the look, “Ted,” she quickly corrected, the ship has found a suitable landing zone; I’ve instructed it to proceed.”

“Thank you, Taylor. You and Happy take the first walk; I will go over the sensor array details with Z2E. We should be down in an hour or two.”

“Let’s do this shindig, Ms. Taylor. I sure hope it ain’t a pucker party. I need a drink and a shower. If I smell like I feel, y’all may be passed out soon,” Happy said.

They entered the containment lock, it cycled, opened, and just like that, Happy Joe Dertzey and Taylor Cannedy became planetary explorers! It was odd to me how we just did that now. This was planet number five for us, in as many years since Darkspace navigation had been worked out.

I began to review the sensor data with Z2E. Palistade-9 appeared to be a classical life-supporting world with diverse ecosystems and species. There was, however, no sign of advanced sentient life.

The door to the containment lock cycled and opened, Z2E and I walked down the ramp to the field camp near the ship. Happy was seated at the table looking at a pile of Gemstones, Taylor was scanning the tree line with binoculars.

“Captain, look, this is downright amazing; they’re all over out there,” He told me, waving his arms around. “Fields and fields of them. As far as the eye can see.” I looked, but all I could see were trees.

“What the hell,” I picked one up; it was about the size of a golf ball. “When you say fields, what do you mean.”

“So through those fracking trees, boss, there is a clearing. They are just strewn about the field, so many it is hard to walk. It's as if they all just dropped from the sky.

Happy, actually seemed happy.

The colorful pile on the table appeared to be uncut gems, diamonds, rubies, and sapphires, of many different sizes. Some dirty, some covered in mud, or partially encrusted in a rock casing.

“Sir, the sensors indicate movement all around,” Taylor said.

Then we heard It, a horn.

“Z2E?”

“Captain, the sensors are detecting a large number of quadrupedal life forms moving towards us. They appear to be carrying crude tools, possibly weapons,” Z2E said. “I am not sure how this happened, but they are all around us, we are surrounded.”

“Everyone, to the ship,” I yelled.

When we were all Safely back aboard, I started my report on the web, so all would know what to expect from a visit to Palistade-9.

“Palistade-9 has nothing to offer but wide-open wilderness spaces, an extremely active climate, and an Alpha predator, numerous and tribal. The alpha predator is vicious, aggressive, and less than intelligent or sentient. They are extremely territorial and can be expected to attack in force without hesitation. Our surveys found no location where a variant of the Alpha species did not wander. Several months of observation and multiple attempts at communication leave us with the impression that they either do not care to communicate due to an instinctual territorial trait or are incapable mentally of communicating.”

“Hey, boss man, when are we heading back to Palistade-9? Daddy needs a new pair of shoes, you know,” Happy said over the comms.

I am T.Mark Mangum. From an early age, I was hooked and addicted to the imagined, unfathomable worlds of Star Wars, Star Trek, Conan, the Lord of the Rings, and many others. I love writing fiction tales. I love writing in multiple genres. However, my favorites are Sci-fi and Fantasy fiction. I am a father of six; we have two cats and two dogs. Tabletop gaming is a passion.