A Long Time After Tomorrow E-Book

Jasmin Stohlmann

• Herausgeber: tredition
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: A Long Time After Tomorrow
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 700

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Sol knew how to survive among the stars. Then his spaceship gets shot down and he finds himself in the woods of a foreign planet with nothing but a pounding headache, his rather unimpressed navigator and the cold threatening to kill him. He soon finds out that figuring out how to survive on the foreign ground was more important. He would've been fine but finds himself hunted by whoever had shot him down. Only once a small group of people seems to change their mind about him can he try to get himself to safety again but what is he going to do once he recognizes who shot him down and that the real threat isn't the wilderness of the woods he crashed in? That his group of presumed allies is more than he thought they were? That his only chance might be to accept the support of the people who got him into the situation in the first place?

Leseprobe

A LONG TIME AFTER TOMORROW

J.L. Stohlmann

© 2023 Jasmin Stohlmann

Corvi's Corner

ISBN Softcover: 978-3-347-98562-9

ISBN Hardcover: 978-3-347-98563-6

ISBN E-Book: 978-3-347-98564-3

Print and distribution: tredition GmbH, Heinz-Beusen-Stieg

5, 22926 Ahrensburg, Germany

This work, including all parts, is protected under copyright law. Publication and distribution under contract, available under: tredition GmbH, Abteilung "Impressumservice", Heinz-Beusen-Stieg 5, 22926 Ahrensburg, Deutschland.

With special Thanks to:

Joyce Josefine Mertins and Levi Steger,

For accompanying the process;

My brother and my friend Maureen,

For modeling for the cover;

And my cat for always laying down on my keyboard in important moments to tell me:

‘It’s time for a break.’.

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

A New Sun in the Sky

Frost

What Makes Us Human

A Matter of Trust

Work First

Foreign Faces

Breakout 101

A Very Cold, Warm House

Normal Sunday

Or.I.O.N’S Heart

That's Not Good

Dark Blue

Tiny Stars

Xentroia

The Core

There You Are.

Architects

What Have You Become!

The Beginning of the End

Peace on a Timer

Royal Plans

A New Beginning

A Long Time After Tomorrow

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

A New Sun in the Sky

A New Beginning

A Long Time After Tomorrow

Cover

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A new sun in the sky

Face-planting into new adventures and unknown places was the thing explorers and adventurers alike did best and most. Sol was one of those curious explorers, all be it not entirely voluntarily, who often did stumble into situations that were uncomfortable or challenging. He lived for it. Quite literally so.

Face-planting into the main control console of his spaceship before getting tossed across the entire bridge into a wall however, not so much.

At least he was pretty sure it hadn't been in his job description.

That in itself didn't change the fact that he was laying on the floor, blinking and trying his best to get back to his feet.

“Captain!”

Alarms blaring around him almost drowned out the name.

The young man groaned in response to the concerningly robotic sounding voice.

“Orion system status report!”

He forced out before rolling over and holding his head while he got to his knees. The dark metal under his feet rushing by as he got back up.

“Critical system failure in engine one and three. The left side of the ship has suffered large amounts of damage from an unknown object. The object has embedded itself in fuel tank four and is currently showing no signs of doing further damage.”

“Oh because that's not bad enough for you?”

Sol cursed, stumbling across the room and towards that same console he had gotten slammed into only a few moments before. More alarms went off, only getting worse as his hands slid across the display trying desperately to figure out how bad the damage was.

“Sir I have a more pressing issue.”

“You what!”

Sol ripped his head up and stared out the large window at the front of the ship. It would've been pretty. Stars littering the background, a sun, large and bright even through the tinted front of his ship. Peaceful even had the image not been spinning wildly and descending towards a rather concerning interstellar object.

“Please don't tell me w-”

“Due to the failure of engines one and three, engines two and four are sending us straight into the gravitational pull of the planet closest to us.”

Sol cursed again hitting the control console with his fist before yelling towards the screen.

“Well turn them off, Orion!”

“I'm sorry captain but I have lost contact with the ship.”

“What do you mean you lost contact with the ship!”

Sol scrambled to run backwards towards the sliding door that closed off the bridge from the rest of the ship.

“You are the fucking ship! How can you lose contact to yourself!”

He forced the doors open and stared through them, smoke coming from the hallway and seeping into the bridge.

“Captain, I must advise you to-”

Or.I.O.N’s voice broke off into static when another impact against the ship once again made Sol fall to the ground, the doors to the hallway snapping shut again locking him in on the bridge.

“Orion?!”

He yelled, looking out the bridge window again. Burning. The glass looked like it was burning…

Red flickering across the glass that separated him from the outside. From the planet he too could now clearly see outside.

“Orion transfer the database to the backup unit and brief me on our current location in the galaxy I'm moving to the emergency pods!”

Sol hoped Or.I.O.N could hear him. If not he had a much bigger problem than the fact he was crashing his ship... It wasn't his fault! His ship’s systems should've informed him off the approaching object! Whatever it was… had been...

He rushed to the side of the bridge slipping through a small back door into a cockpit. The young man closed his eyes and shook his head a little before shutting the door and activating the escape pod, begging Or.I.O.N had made it before hitting a button he really hated. Almost as much as the pounding headache he felt approaching.

“Please be alive once we're down there.”

The next time Sol cracked open his eyes again he saw sunlight. Surprisingly cold as it shone down onto him, broken only by foliage above him, foliage that moved softly in the wind. Cold wind.

He knew sunlight. And wind.

Sol’s eyes snapped open completely before he quickly shut them again at the bright sun blasting straight into his face now. The young explorer cried out quietly when he moved, deciding rather quickly that staying still was probably a better idea as he inhaled sharply.

Pain burned in his abdomen, stinging, tearing as his shirt stuck to his skin. He would've looked down had his eyes not caught a glimpse of something else. His escape pod?

That was when it registered. Out of reflex Sol instantly held his breath, eyes wide as he searched what he could in his field of vision.

His ship… where was his ship…

“Orion…”

His voice was surprisingly weak when he did manage to force noises from his lips, glancing to the escape pod again. Where was he? The backup unit. It had to be here somewhere-

“I must advise you not to move, captain.”

A sphere, built from a dimly glowing core, two rings spinning around it at alternating speeds floated up above the light brown-haired teen, hovering down towards his face, the low blue hue much more pleasant than the now blocked out sunlight.

“The atmosphere is breathable.”

Sol gasped in relieve and tried to catch the breath he had been holding a quiet whine slipping from his throat.

“Medical status.”

“Well considering the situation, you are not in life threatening condition-”

“Not helping.”

Sol’s eyes slowly did move away from the floating sphere towards his numb growing midsection.

“I have detected a foreign object in your abdomen. It does not appear to have ruptured any major organs or arteries.”

“Yeah… yeah I think I detected that too, thanks.”

He breathed out as he stared at what seemed to be a splinter of wood embedded right under the right side of his ribcage.

“Despite that I will, and must, advise you to-”

Sol cried out quietly, muffling the sound with his left hand while the other tore out that foreign fauna and discarded it to the side.

“Not remove it.”

The sphere seemed annoyed. Technically unusual for the metal ball but it was Sol’s own fault for tinkering with it, making it more of a companion than a navigator.

“Where are we.”

Sol pressed his hand tightly onto the now bleeding injury. It really did not seem to be terribly deep. Didn't make it hurt less but Or.I.O.N was probably right about the not life threatening. At least for now, his eyes noticing the splintered residue left behind.

“While you were passed out, I took the liberty to search through the database and I must admit that I am not sure.”

Sol sighed quietly before biting his tongue and pushing himself up with a silenced scream.

“Captain you should not-”

Sol swatted at the hovering ball off bullshit, slowly stumbling past his navigator.

Or.I.O.N hesitated a moment before following behind the slow moving boy.

“Perhaps we should return to the ship. It is not too far from here and, according to the database, we are on a planet categorized as K-5668.”

“I thought you weren’t sure?”

“Not entirely.”

Sol narrowed his eyes and glared back at the sphere that had just told him exactly where they were.

“My apologies, Sir but look around. We seem to be in a forest. I have found multiple signs of life in the little time we have been here. K-5668 is, at least to our knowledge, considered a dead planet. That is why I can not tell you with complete certainty where we are despite the coordinates being the right ones.”

Sol grunted quietly as he reached over at the escape pod he had seemingly been ejected from, slowly sinking down next to it with shallow hard breaths.

There should be a panel here.

“Your heart rate seems elevated.”

“Shit I don't think I would've noticed without your input, idiot...”

He gasped, curling in on himself a little before placing his head against the cold metal of the pod.

“Captain, I do not mean to interrupt but if this really is K-5668 the sun seems to be setting. According to the current planetary orbit around its star we are in the coldest season and with all due respect your body is not adapted to such drops in temperature.”

Sol swallowed and took a few more moments to breathe. He just needed a second to open up the panel and-

Of course Or.I.O.N was right. He was always right but he wasn't even sure if he'd make it to his ship. That being said all his gear was in or maybe now around the ship. Including his medical supplies, food, water and maybe he could even figure out how bad the damage was.

“Orion send a distress signal.”

“I already have, captain. It should be picked up shortly but from my calculations it would take at least half of K-5668’s moon cycles for the next ship to arrive.”

“Whose ship.”

“Your brother’s.”

Sol couldn't help the breath leaving his lips, shoulders relaxing a little as he gave himself a second to let his eyes fall shut and mutter a quiet thank you before forcing himself to his feet again. The pod was wrecked and in all honesty he didn’t have time to mess with it more.

“Where did we crash?”

“Through the trees on what seems to be a larger open area. Good for repairs and the eventual arrival of your brother.”

Slowly Sol followed Or.I.O.N through the woods, hand never leaving his side although by now the bleeding seemed to have slowed enough so it didn't seep through his fingers anymore. It would be alright. And if he got lucky there was even a bed waiting for him. Otherwise he'd sleep on the bridge or just inside where the cold that he was slowly starting to register didn't hit quite as hard. It should be warmer on the ship, right?

“Could you identify the object we were hit by? Was it an asteroid?”

What else could it have been.

“I have not yet been able to thoroughly examine the ship my highest priority is your safety, captain.”

“We have been traveling together for years now and that is easily the nicest thing you have ever said to me.”

Yes maybe Sol was simply trying to lighten his own mood a little. His face had shifted, head turned slightly away from the setting sun, tension having returned to his shoulders as his feet dragged across frost, branches and hard dirt.

That small fact unfortunately didn't change much when the pair did finally break through the line of trees and Sol got a chance to stare at his ship. What used to be his ship. Now, in all honesty, it did still look like his ship but the engines that had been hit were gone. Entirely. Vaporized. On top of that the glass to the bridge was completely shattered, the ship’s nose embedded in the ground underneath them but apparently not before sliding a good few feet across the large open area, leaving behind a crater of smoking dirt, grass and broken trees. All things he had seen before on his travels but really never this close up. His ship hadn't either. A breeze made Sol pull his shoulders up further, goosebumps crawling across his skin, a low shiver dragging across his entire body.

“I mean…”

The hand that wasn't pressing onto the cut rubbed his arm, trying to warm up a little

“It's still there?”

“With all due respect, captain-”

Sol gritted his teeth a little, narrowing his eyes at the navigator next to him.

“Shut it. If I had wanted lessons on observational skills I would've stayed in school. Ship looks fine. Fantastic. Let's go.”

“Don't. Say it.”

Sol breathed out slowly as his head sank down onto the control panel up in the bridge. Icy wind was blowing in through the broken glass making him shiver. The blanket he had stolen from his bedroom, which, much to his delight and relieve, had stayed mostly untouched by the crash, wasn't doing too terribly much to keep out the cold. It was better but not good, air still biting even through his clothes, his nose having gone numb, fingers moving slow and clumsily.

Despite that his wound had been taken care of by his truly and if he was being honest, despite the immense pain he had been in it hadn't been terribly deep and a quick fix with the help of a few bandages and some skin glue he had had stashed in his room. It was empty now, the way to his storage room blocked by a collapsed corridor.

“Do not say what? I told you so?”

“Great you said it…”

A small huff came from the young explorer, eyes rolling and head shaking as he let his shoulders sink a little before he shoved himself back up to his feet and began pacing the bridge. Or what used to be his bridge. Ruined. That's what it was.

It had looked a whole lot better from the outside but his engines were completely fucked and most of his control panels had suffered substantial damage. The communication relay was almost completely ruined and he'd need more power and more time to get it running so there was no way of contacting anyone anymore, at least he could thank Or.I.O.N for sending the distress signal early enough, and on top of all that they had yet to find what had caused the system failure in the first place since it was in one of the fuel tanks and he had no way of really getting in there at the moment. At least not without completely emptying the tank and he didn't have any backup fuel. Sure the engine didn't require large amounts… could fly decades with one tank but if he had to empty it? It would be contaminated. On top of that if he wasn’t careful it might just blow up in his face. Could do more damage than good and he wasn't willing to risk it. The observational unit inside the tank was offline with Or.I.O.N in his backup unit and no way to return him to the ship’s main computer.

To put it simply.

They were fucked until his brother arrived to make a stupid comment and pick him up. Kitchen was still mostly intact even though the water storage had leaked but he could take care of that in the morning. One problem at a time. First problem was heat. It was cold, getting colder and with the ship’s systems offline there was really no way for him to create heat artificially unless he either got into storage or began disassembling the electronics and that too could end rather deadly. He was weighing the benefits against the losses though and if he was being honest dying warm and cozy was seeming terribly appealing right now. Not that Or.I.O.N would let him be that reckless.

“Captain perhaps you should rest. You seem to have a concussion and that cut, although not deadly, has caused distress to your body. Rest is extremely important in situations that put great stress on the body.”

Sol stopped his pacing and sighed quietly, glancing over at the floating nuisance before biting the inside of his cheek and eventually nodding.

“I know. I know, alright?”

He tugged the blanket closer and made his way towards the bent door, squeezing through the opening and making his way into his bedroom. That's really all it was. A room with a bed, a small desk and a display up on the ceiling. Small lights embedded in the walls, forming a wave like pattern, would've lit the place up quite nicely had it not been ruined by the crash. A bit like his home… the room his mother had made for both him and his brother when they had been kids still.

Sol glanced to his hands, patterns emerging in the darkness that hadn't been visible before. A light bioluminescent shimmer coming from the tips of his fingers. They didn't replace those lights in any way but now Or.I.O.N took over their function, the light blue glow emitted from the navigator’s main component making the room seem a little warmer, gently drowning it in calm as silence followed and made Sol close his eyes a second to take a deep breath. Alive. They were alive.

That didn't get rid of the burnt smell though.

Slowly he sank down onto his mattress and curled up in the far corner against the still slightly warm metal of the wall.

“Orion... start a new list...”

“What should I save it under.”

“Things to sort out...”

“Yes, Sir.”

Or.I.O.N floated closer over towards the bed and came to rest on the small desk next to it, the glow dying down as the two rings stopped spinning and the voice simply became background noise.

“Put fixing the water storage at the top and getting my hands onto a heat source somewhere too. We have to try and get at least some systems back online tomorrow maybe I can reroute a few connections and figure out what actually hit us.”

“What about the ship’s motherboard.”

Sol opened his eyes again and glanced to the backup unit on his desk.

“What… feeling uncomfortable?”

“I am a data unit I cannot feel uncomfortable. Although as you are aware this backup unit can not be run endlessly it is not meant for emergencies like these, captain.”

Sol shook his head a little and took a deep breath in.

“I'm not fixing that... not yet... I'll find a way t-”

A yawn interrupted his words as his eyes fell shut again.

“I'll find a way to keep you running don't worry, Ori.”

“Captain…?”

Sol’s breath had evened out now, his tensed body finally relaxing on the soft mattress, head sinking down the metal wall onto it as slowly he passed out.

“Captain?…”

Frost

Colonel Richard Dickson got shit done. That was his job and he acted accordingly.

The man scratched against the metal ring around his pinky finger with his nail absentmindedly.

He also didn't exactly care what other people considered him to be like as long as his daughter and the Governor were happy. In which order that was depended on his mood although it admittedly almost always ended up being his only child. Today, Friday, he was making his Governor happy though. Maybe it was more damage control actually considering his higher up was already angry. That was for the single reason that their outer space security systems had picked up a large foreign object coming towards earth at rapid speeds. It could've flown just past but they had to make sure, right? Had to destroy what had been thought to be an asteroid. So that's what their security had done. Shot at it to break it into dust. Telescopes had been the first to realize that what they had shot at had not been an asteroid. What it had been? No one knew. It looked strange. Military in origin so the Governor’s first thought had been that it had to have been another settlement testing out new military grade weapons. He had still been happy then. Glad they had shot that

‘fucker’, those were his exact words towards colonel Dickson, down. And then he got angry. Got angry when his diplomatic higher ups, that being the man’s wife of all people, pulled him off of the case and declared it scientific in origin.

That's where Dickson was called in. It was a little bit of a legal gray area to send the acting colonel to essentially spy and intervene in a scientific expedition but it was a safety concern. That's how the Governor planned on justifying his actions. Until then he would book it as military protection for the scientists sent out to retrieve whatever had crashed onto their territory.

Here he was now. Infected with the Governor’s anger on his way to the laboratories. Feet stomping along the hallways, echoing against the walls as he simply stepped past a group of people, nodding briefly in greeting before gritting his teeth again.

The fact that one of the lead scientists was colonel Dickson’s Ex-wife hadn’t exactly helped his mood when he had opened the doors to the science sector of their military facilities, his key-card beeping as it was held to a panel next to the door before it slid open.

“Doctor Dickson!”

He yelled into the large laboratory, a crooked smirk on his lips, people in white lab coats rushing around, seemingly excited about the upcoming trip but moving out of the way when Richard smashed through their bubble and let his boots crack across the flooring.

Little did they know none of them were coming along.

Instantly people shifted aside, eyes lowered and whispers accompanying his journey across the room until some of the people around chose to step out and leave him to it.

“So that's what you call me now?”

Doctor Dickson, objectively, was a very beautiful woman. Soft yet defined facial structure. Her curly hair pulled back in that everlasting ponytail and she did know how to flatter that darker skin of hers. Socially? She was incapable. A bad mother. A worse wife. Ex wife! Ex wife... proven by the fact her eyes never lifted to him, body barely turning his direction, hand still lifted with a paper in it to which her eyes seemed glued.

“What else should I call you.”

Finally brown eyes turned to him, cutting and sharp, a spark in them while her lips stayed pressed together.

The two stared at each other, the woman’s eyes darkening significantly as her teeth gritted against each other the second she spotted the colonel across a table with vials and weird little... glass things, labeled with shit Richard truly didn't care about so he shoved it aside, placing his hands on the table and leaning across it.

“Hey! Be fucking careful with that!”

Now her body did turn, paper from her hand floating to the desk as she reached out to steady the vials and then lean onto the table herself.

“Listen, Doctor.”

The colonel let his eyes sink to the woman’s dirty lab coat, then the coffee mug right next to her, cold and undoubtedly stale brown brew in it.

“I know you've never been good at that but do your best. I have orders to accompany you-”

“No. No this is my mission! I was assigned to it and the Governor?… Your holy Governor? He has no say in that!”

She grabbed the coffee and turned away again, crossing her arms over and returning her eyes to the paper next to her.

“I was ordered to protect that pretty face of yours so don't go and ruin it or I might just decide against it!”

“Oh you wouldn't.”

The smile on Julia’s face angered Richard but his eyes remained calm. Stupid glossy lipstick…

“You're too busy following orders like a good puppy, Dickson.”

“Ah real original, Julia. Even though you're right. Smart is probably the only thing you're good at. I have my orders and I intend to follow them. There will be a patrol with you. I'll be leading it so get your shit packed and shut your mouth. You look better when you're not talking.”

Richard saluted mockingly before turning around and making his way through the now a lot less noisy laboratory. The only thing he did clearly hear was a long, sharp, frustrated exhale from the scientist he had insulted. The mother of his child. Not that he cared much about that small fact she lived with him anyways… at least most of the week...

The door slid close behind him again with a quiet hiss before he left the laboratory behind himself and began packing his own stuff to prepare for the expedition.

Maybe she was angry!

Maybe the fact that Colonel Richard Dickson could just walk into her lab and tell her what to do pissed her off so much she had been tempted to throw a test tube with E.Coli bacteria at his face.

Julia kicked a small rock across the gravel path they were taking to exit the military compound. She carried a suitcase with different devices locked tightly inside, among those a microscope and a few test tubes as well as gloves and just... all the stuff she would need to keep anything interesting from the dirty hands of the brutes accompanying her and her assistant. Luke. More of a friend than a assistant at this point. He had spent a lot of time with her daughter when her and Richard had gone through their divorce years prior, always finding a way to cheer the young girl up but when it came to how big the military control on their scientific projects really was he seemed clueless. Or ignorant.

That being said he was pretty good at what he did and she gladly took him along.

Slowly she slipped past the gates of the compound, rolling her chestnut eyes at the barking laughter off the colonel while he stepped past the guards, exchanged some stupid and really irrelevant jokes.

Julia ignored them the best she could as she instead slipped into the passenger seat of the truck parked just outside. Luke slipped in behind the wheel and mumbled a quiet apology. A unnecessary one yes but she appreciated the gesture and nodded a little before the noise of the engine made any real conversation impossible. She turned on the radio as they pulled onto the fields next to the main road and began their journey, the seats bopping up and down with every stone the smacked into as they drove to the edge of the settlement, eventually moving out past the walls, the stupid military van with Dickson and his good little soldiers inside always close behind.

She glanced to Luke once, parting her lips a moment before letting out a slow breath and turning away again without actually saying anything. The radio filled what could have been silence anyways.

Their first info had been an asteroid.

That given though Julia wasn't stupid and the fact that the military felt the need to accompany them? It didn't add up. Not in the slightest and she would've loved to hear Luke's opinion on it. What he thought it would be. Asteroids usually shattered when they hit the planet’s surface... the fact that they were being sent on a classified mission alone was shady enough but they would know once they got there. It wasn't terribly far either so that worked in their favor. Half an hour, 45 minutes maybe and according to their observations a short walk through a wooded area until they got there. For all she cared it could've hit just a little closer to the compound. Maybe graze the ceiling off building 5 B... aggressively. Smack a certain man’s head off on accident but no the asteroid had to decide to be a buzz-kill and land just in reach but not close enough...

Julia sighed quietly, resting her arm against the window and staring at the bare earth outside. Grass covered, monotonous in color.

Despite working with all the tiny things and details living in and around the outside world she much preferred the sterile white of her lab. Liked the way it looked... the scent of disinfectant burning her nose...

Really the only other place she loved was her apartment when her daughter was home. The only nice memories outside of that lab were with her. Sitting in front of the TV on a Saturday night with a bowl of Popcorn, watching their favorite stupid show and giggling wildly even if it always ended quickly. That had been a few years ago now. It had gotten complicated. Rena wasn't that little girl she had watched TV with. Or the laughing teen that played boardgames on the weekdays she was over at her flat. Julia smiled a little when a memory of Rena outside her balcony, face turned up until her neck hurt, surfaced. Captivated by the shimmer across the night. Her daughter had found her own interests. Had grown up to be a good and quite beautiful young woman. Although she did find the political views of the twenty-year-old quite confusing. Good thing her father didn't know how much she hated the military or he might just stop considering her his little princess.

“Julia!”

The scientist flinched, head snapping up from the window as she stared over at Luke with wide eyes.

“What!?”

She asked, voice high pitched and loud, eyes frantically searching Luke’s face at the loud voice before calming her rapid heartbeat again at Luke’s quiet chuckling. The car had stopped, cold air hitting her face as she watched Luke slide off of the seat and land on his feet on the frozen ground beneath them.

“Did you fall asleep? Jesus, Jul... maybe don't pull another allnighter today, yeah? Come one we're here. Just a little further. Got to cross the woods actually but we always have some idiots to use as steppingstones don't we?”

With another laugh the black-haired man slammed the truck door shut leaving Julia to blink away the sleep and yawn widely before sighing and opening the car door for herself.

“I think I just need more coffee…”

She muttered, voice quiet when her own car door closed. A chuckle escaped her lips when she watched her assistant, shaking her head with a smile when she smacked his shoulder a little, him taking up enough attention she was actually able to just ignore the chatter of the military death squad following along close behind them. They just wouldn’t stop talking. Ever.

“More coffee isn't going to safe you forever.”

Luke murmured mockingly as he slipped past the scoffing woman.

“Hey. Take this.”

She held out the suitcase to Luke who begrudgingly took it and began his journey through the forest.

Julia smiled a little and tugged her jacket closer around herself at the breeze, her breath forming a cloud in front of her face. The trees weren't giving any cover anymore with the leaves all gone so it was surprisingly cold now as they walked across the frozen ground. Soon that changed though, dark green pine needles replacing the naked branches, the ground beneath them softer and the scent of sap making her scrunch up her nose. It hadn't been quite this cold yesterday. It could snow tonight. Maybe she could go ice skating with Rena once today’s work was done. Well depending on what they found that might not be for a week or two… it would be getting colder though so she still had some time. If Rena even agreed to it...

“Luke... hey! Luke look...”

Julia grabbed her assistant’s arm and nodded towards a cut in the forest. Trees torn form the earth, uprooted or broken off in a straight path towards the edge of the forest. She couldn't quite see where the asteroid had landed yet but it had definitely-

“Yeah… I mean makes sense if it came down here?”

Luke shrugged a little before glancing towards where the asteroid seemed to have broken through the tree line.

“How big is it though... Look at this.”

Julia frowned, staring at the giant path of broken wood, the trees on the opposite side almost blurry in the morning haze.

“You'd think we would've noticed some seismic activity with an asteroid this large?”

“What exactly are we fucking waiting for.”

Colonel Dickson’s voice was like nails... on a chalk board... slowly dragging down right next to her ear. Or a metal spoon scratching the inside of a pot.

“We are observing if you can't be patient enough for us to finish our work perhaps you should go warm yourself in the car, Richard.”

She glared back at him before nudging Luke forwards with a sigh. They exchanged a glance that said enough about how they felt. A glance that was the last thing they shared before finally breaking through that tree line and finding something entirely else to stare at. They froze just past those trees. Not from the cold, eyes wide as Julia forgot about the frost entirely, lips parting slightly, another cloud, larger this time, forming in front of her face as she simply stood there, arms falling to her sides. It took her eyes a while to take in the entirety of what was laying on that clearing further away. Towards the end of it, large, black.

“Holy fucking shit.”

Julia wholeheartedly agreed with Luke’s statement, her own voice finally returning.

“What in all worlds is that…”

Julia was pretty sure she had never, ever witnessed her ex-husband this quiet. They had even gone as far as to exchange a confused and long glance, not arguing for the first time today. Even the other military men had stopped their chattering. Men she didn't care for. Didn't even know their names.

Quickly her eyes returned to the object though, part of it at least, damage across the back of it.

“What on earth. Didn't they say this was an Asteroid?!”

Luke was the first to break the silence and actually make steps towards the large ship.

“Richard did you know-…”

“No. No I knew it was military in origin but when the case got assigned to your science unit that's all the information I got.”

The colonel mumbled quietly to answer Julia’s question before he pulled out his gun and walked after Luke. The other military men followed doing the same and holding the guns down to the ground for now. Richard’s steps were quiet, crunching only slightly across the frost as they began closing the distance, bodies lowered ever so slightly.

“But where is it from then!… Another settlement? Why would they have a space station in outer orbit! That's where you shot it from… yes?”

“Yes.”

Quickly the scientist hurried after the rest of the group and past them, making her way around the large ship.

“It isn't like anything I've ever seen from one of the settlements. It looks so strange.”

It seemed to be metal, yes. At least from what Julia could tell since she was more of the biology type but it had a hue to it. It shifted oddly in the cold winter sun as she walked past it.

“No it isn't. At least nothing we have seen before but it may just be a new invention. You go and take some samples. I have to report this to the Governor. I'll be right back- You guys?”

Richard looked over at his military troupe while pulling out a phone from his pocket.

“Stay here and watch them.”

His face was stern, brows furrowed as he placed the phone next to his ear and swallowed a little, eyes flickering towards the shattered mess in front of them again.

His men agreed, one of them adjusting the gun as they went along with Luke who followed the order without hesitation.

“Luke?”

Julia hurried to walk next to him, grabbing his shoulder and slowing him down a little.

“What material is it?”

Luke chewed on his lip a little before sighing and shrugging.

Slowly he shook his head and walked close enough to take a good look at the outer shell of the ship.

“I'm not sure.”

With a sigh he placed the suitcase on the floor and opened it, taking out a pair of gloves and handing them to Julia.

“But if I can speak openly,”

He glanced back at the military men once before looking up at Julia again, his own gloves on his hands when he got back to his feet. One hand slid along the ship before he tugged it back again and crossed his arms, brows furrowing.

“Luke? Hey don't touch it you d-”

“It feels like a metal. I have just never seen metal look like this. It seems to be multi-chromatic yet it doesn't seem to be a coating.”

Luke placed his hand against the ship again, pushing against it ever so slightly before humming.

“It's cold.”

“Well shit what a revelation. Have you gone mad! You can't just go around touching things-”

Julia had sucked in another breath, hand reaching to take Luke’s away from the ship when her assistant grinned and knocked against the shell but the second he did her eyes widened. She ripped her hand back and cursed.

Both Luke and Julia stumbled back and flinched when a pulsating wave burst out from where Luke’s hand had knocked. He had immediately ripped it back to himself as well, staring at the evidence of that impulse, a weak glow slowly spreading across the whole ship before dying down again.

“Holy shit.”

Luke clutched his hand to his chest and continued staring as his eyes slowly grew wide.

“I take it back it is not metal. At least not any kind I have ever seen.”

“Okay try and get some samples. I'll go around and see if there’s more to this… and don't touch it again!”

Julia spoke, voice wavering a little as she finally managed to pull her eyes from the now still darkness again.

With a small scowl she looked back at their seemingly distracted bodyguards before making her way around the ship without them. With a trained movement she slipped on her own gloves and ducked under something that stood out from the pulsating framework of the ship, turning a corner until she was out of view and, unless she yelled, probably also out of hearing distance of the others. Slowly curiosity began winning over the initial shock and confusion as she spotted what looked to be a large front where the nose of the ship had dug deeply into the soil. It looked like glass, yes but she wasn't risking it and touching it with her hands. The large hole in it did give her quite the good view inside though.

For a moment she debated asking Richard for a flashlight but not only was he probably busy sucking up to his Governor but also too far away for her to bother… and it wasn't pitch black inside, right?… inside where she shouldn't be going alone…

Her boots crunched on the broken glass when she ducked past the hole and moved into the ship. It opened up into a room… large and incredibly cold after coming from outside, her shivering starting up all over again, hands curling around her arms and rubbing up and down over the fabric of her jacket.

Slowly Julia moved through the dark room, broken cables hanging out from the ceiling in a few places but in her eyes? Other than that? It looked to be in relatively good shape. After a while her eyes blinked, the darkness lifting slightly the longer she stayed in it.

The first time she realized just how bad of an idea it had been to go in here alone was when she looked over at a desk in the middle of that room. Something on it glistened in the little light that did come in through the glass front. Red. A scent of burned tickled her nose, metallic joining after a while before she cleared her throat against the scratch in it and scanned over the rest of the room, eyes darting around the shrapnel scattered around, a box to the far back.

She should've turned around then. What if this really was from another settlement and they were planning a attack or something but where were those people. Where was who had been in this ship! They hadn't, thank goodness, seen any corpses outside but there hadn't been any blood either. At least not on first glance but in here? There was a lot. First on that display in the center of the room, then on the floor in front of it, droplets, some smeared, forming a path that led further into the darkness. The silence was suffocating now, the only breath she heard her own as the heart thumping in her head sounded almost like footsteps.

Slowly her eyes followed the trail towards the back of the room but it seemed to eventually stop.

Her eyes once again traveled back to the opening she had gotten in through. Maybe she should get Luke but if she got him the others would want to follow along… Richard would be there, make fun of her fear, right?

With a quiet curse she took in a long breath and braced herself, muscles tensing, fists balling a second before she pulled her phone from her pocket and turned on the worst flashlight in the universe, also the reason she would've preferred Richard’s.

The weak glow did manage to prove to her though that it looked like blood. Not as much as she had thought as first since it was smeared a lot but…

The scientist bit her lip and fidgeted with the hand that wasn't desperately holding on to her phone before finally walking along the path, hugging her jacket closer and looking through an opening in the far back. A doorway of sorts. Behind it, it truly was pitch black so even if it wasn't great, she was glad for the beam of light coming from her phone. What she didn't need the flashlight for though was the sounds coming from the ship. It had been silent when she had gotten in. Almost like the walls swallowed every noise just like the light but it wasn't anymore. Quiet whirring sounded through the hallway she was in, a bit like the sound that impulse had made when Luke had touched the ship but that hadn't been too concerning to her. Shit she hadn't even noticed it until she had stopped in her tracks, holding her breath and listening. Cold air flowing past her lips as she drew it in and widened her eyes further, desperately trying to see better.

There had been a voice. Loud. And clear. Were they still in here? The people who must've been in this ship? She hadn't understood a word… maybe from a distant settlement? It sounded somewhat exotic and she had never been good with languages but then it sounded again. Someone hissing before a different voice replied. Two. At least two then…

Her mouth moved before her brain could fight through the cold and stop her.

“Hello?!”

What makes us Human

So close. Sol had been so close to fixing at least the lights. One connection had been missing when some stupid short in the construction caused a impulse to go through his whole ship. It had to have been that stupid cable he had only barely bridged so it touched the others so it must've slipped and connected two cables. There really was no other explanation for the sudden energy surge that had, for a quick second, booted up the lights and the heating before dying down again.

Angry cursing had woken up his navigator only a few seconds later. A very angered navigator, at least to the extend an AI programmed to keep you alive could get angry.

“Oh shut up you flying trashcan I am trying! And I already did take care of the freezing situation! Look at me!”

Or.I.O.N. scanned the boy in front of him on the ground.

“Captain if you think putting on two layers of clothing and hiding underneath a blanket made for space travels, not freezing conditions, is going to fix your cold problem I am sorry to disappoint you. The temperatures have been steadily dropping further overnight and they do not seem to be getting any warmer any time soon so if you do not find a solution, you will freeze to death before you starve.”

Sol swallowed and slowly lowered the cables in his hands before tossing them aside, losing them in the dark of the room after they left the blue shine of his hands and fingertips.

“I know. I'm trying it's not exactly easy to rewire a spaceship with fingers you can't move and without a outlet that can power a fucking welding tool. Do you think this is fun for me? Look at my hands. They're freezing. They aren't normally this color either!”

Slowly and with a frustrated scoff Sol stuffed said fingers back under his blanket and got up to his feet.

“What are the temperatures outside?”

“The ship’s sensors are not functional we would have to leave the ship for me to tell you.”

Sol closed his eyes a moment and simply bathed in the dull glimmer of the glowing spots under his eyes before dropping the blanket onto his bed again and looking around.

“Fine your Uselessness. We're going outside. No use turning solid in here so what is there to l-”

Sol’s voice was gone in an instant, eyes snapped to the door of his room when they both stopped making noises entirely. There only remained steady quiet breathing and the whirring of Or.I.O.N’s body.

A noise, a voice maybe or some screeching, stinging in his ears as the hairs at the back of his neck stood up.

“Ori...”

The young explorer breathed almost silently, begging for the door to his room to stay shut as far as it was. He could see some of the hallway from here. Not much and it was pretty dark but he could make out the opposite side of it. Other than that there was nothing.

Sol flinched, stumbling back a little with wide eyes before glancing to his navigator. It had sounded again. That noise like something was howling now. Screeching out.

“What lifeforms are in the archives.”

He whispered as quietly as he could before perking his ears. Steps. Breathing, very distinct and loud breathing more like panting, the steps getting faster.

Slowly Sol’s hand traveled up his side and pressed onto the bandaged-up hole in his abdomen.

Had that thing followed the scent of his blood? Maybe it was hungry. Maybe-

“There is not much in the archives and I do not mean to concern you but some large predators are mentioned, shall I check to see, captain?”

“What? You want to leave me here?!”

“Only to check. You are my number one priority, Sir.”

“No! No y-”

There was a beam of light moving through the corridor in front of them. Towards them. Sol looked around a bit frantically for a weapon. This ship wasn't made for combat. None of it. He didn't carry any weapons other than Or.I.O.N and all Or.I.O.N had was a stun gun or a laser he certainly couldn’t fire without some major power adjustments and if he used that he wouldn't have enough energy left to keep going for the rest of the time it would take for his brother to arrive.

Sol did settle on reaching for that soldering iron from before though, clutching it in his hands. Didn't do much but he might just be able to stab something with it before making a run for it.

That sound came from the hallway again. Longer now, louder and definitely closer. Perhaps he could try circling that thing on his ship. Could try prying open the bathroom door and force himself through the door towards the hallway but who guaranteed that it wouldn't anticipate that.

It wasn't unusual for him to come along foreign and spectacular lifeforms but they usually weren't on his ship while he was injured and freezing to death.

With wide eyes he swallowed and glanced over to Or.I.O.N before nodding towards the bathroom door. It might not budge one bit but he had to at least try before he got eaten by something.

As silently as he could he rushed towards it and began tugging, pulling on it, begging for it to move.

The door scratched against the floor a little, metal on metal probably ruining at least the aesthetic of his ship but that was about it. His side hurt now felt sticky too with all the movement and after a few seconds Sol had to stop to take a few deep breaths against his nausea, his stomach turning and making him squeeze his eyes shut. The wound hadn't looked bad on the day before but if he was being honest getting injured on a foreign planet with micro-biomes he couldn't even begin to imagine and not having a great way to clean out the wound probably wasn't exactly amazing for his immune system. His thoughts were wiped away when, in one swift motion and with another loud screeching noise that light flashed through the door, a body following, blinding him as he ripped his hands up and pressed against the door with a scream of his own. That only seemed to agitate the glowing creature though since it continued to screech, louder this time almost similar to his own scream before both of them grew quieter, hard panting in the room as Sol desperately tried to get his eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness, blinking profusely, feet slamming against the floor, heavily, shooting pain up his side with every impact before finally managing to make out the doorway and, without even giving that thing a second look, dipping for it.

He yelled once for Or.I.O.N before slipping through the door, his navigator close behind as he almost fell once in the corridor but managed to catch himself and continue. It didn't take long for that thing to catch on though and continue it's screaming as it began chasing after him, light bobbing up and down with every step it made.

“What is that thing!?”

Sol screamed towards Or.I.O.N while he finally managed to make his way onto the bridge. It was so close, it’s steps getting louder, hunting him towards that way too bright light outside his ship. That thing behind him seemed to slip too though as it stumbled over a pile of tools on the ground before continuing its chase after Sol. Its screams seemed to grow louder, fierce and sharp. Frustrated before Sol’s heart jumped, feet screeching to a stop before he shot past his console towards the opening regardless of the loud noises outside.

More screams. More screeching. There was more and the others were outside. Pack animals. He had come across a pack of seemingly hostile and fast animals.