Ship's Interface Ch. 001

When Will returned to the cockpit, he was not expecting to see a dense asteroid field out of the front viewport replacing the murky nebula. "What the hell is this!", he exclaimed as quickly stowed the covered coffee cups in holders, jumped into the co-pilot's seat and strapped in.

"I don't know. One minute we're blind in the nebula, then in a blink it clears, and now we're in this shit." Will could see the intense concentration on June's face as she struggled to navigate through the chaos of the rock field.

"Can we turn around?" Will asked.

"We're too long to make a quick turn and everything is tumbling, blocking us from backing out. Sensors are back up enough to see this field clearly, however." June leans left in her seat as she steers the ship hard in the same direction. "Doesn't look too thick; we can punch through and look for a better way out from the inside."

"We'd better suit up." Will said as he unbuckled his harness and stood, steadying himself by placing a hand on the ceiling of the cockpit as June danced the ship left and right, shaking everything in the ship. Opening one of the lockers just behind the cockpit, Will pulled out his pressure suit, quickly put it on and sealed the helmet onto the metal ring around the neck of the suit.

Slipping back into the copilot's seat he called to June, "Your turn. Switch control on three, two, one, switch!" June set the copilot's controls to active,and Will took control. June got up quickly and donned her suit. As soon as the helmet seal clicked, locking it in place, she dropped back into the pilot's seat, and resumed control.

June expertly piloted the ship as she danced it through the asteroid field with amazing precision and grace for an old freighter, but there were a lot of asteroids to dodge, and a ton of smaller gravel sized debris between the larger rocks that she couldn't avoid. The gravel was unavoidable, sounding like hail as it struck, pelting the front view port so hard Will was afraid that it might crack. The rest of the ship wasn't faring any better, and when the internal systems monitor lit up, Will called out the alarms, " We've lost starboard maneuvering thrusters two, five, and nine, and port thrusters three and four!"

"Yup, I feel it", June confirmed, struggling harder to keep from smashing the ship to bits. Just then, a loud bang and screeching of twisting metal shrieked through the ship. "Hull breach on upper aft section!" Will called out, as the cockpit and living quarters were explosively decompressed, their covered coffee cups blowing off the lids spraying coffee everywhere.

June yelled, "there goes another thruster!" as the fight to control the damaged freighter started to look like a losing battle, then silence descended over the ship as they cleared the asteroid belt.

"Thrusters down to thirty percent", Will began calling out the damage report, "engine two still online, but we're losing fuel fast. I'll go see what I can do about it." he said unbuckling and leaping out of his seat racing to the engine compartment.

Once at the maintenance access hatch for the engine compartment, Will had to force the reluctant hatch because of damage to the opening mechanism. Squeezing through, he checked all the main and auxiliary equipment for their last engine and could find no major damage to the systems inside the ship.

"Looks like the engine took external damage. That must be where the fuel leak is. We're going to need to shut down the engine, so I can go out and inspect it.", he told June over his helmet communicator.

"If we shut it down now, we might not be able to re-light it." June replied. Now free of the nebula's interference, the scanners showed June that they were in a small star system, completely shrouded by the nebula and asteroid field. A red giant star dominated the system center, with one small planet in an elliptical orbit conveniently placing it relatively close to their position.

"Will, you better get up here." June called.

Upon his return to the cockpit, June sat studying the scanner readings. "That planet's orbit is bringing it close to our trajectory. I think we need to put down there." Her finger pointing at the planet on the holographic display. "I don't think we have any other choice."

Will studied the holograph for a moment. "We won't be able to climb the gravity well once we're down." He said solemnly. June nodded her head in agreement, knowing that meant they would be marooned. Will continued, "Ok, let's course correct, burn hard so we don't just waste the fuel by letting it all leak out. Once we make planet fall, we can come up with a plan from there."

Taking a moment to catch their breaths after the harrowing passage through the asteroid field, June adjusted their trajectory, then ramped the remaining engine to full thrust, putting them on an intercept course for the lone planet.

They burned hard towards the planet, for about an hour then June set the engine to minimum thrust, to avoid a possible failed restart, and rotated the ship for a slowing burn. Once the nose of the old freighter was pointed away from the planet, June fired the engines full bore again.

Another hour passed in silence as the pair refused to contemplate what being marooned on an isolated, uncharted planet actually meant. "Shutting down the engine," June called out, "in three, two, one, cut off." June flipped a series of switches and entered some data into the navigational computer. Shutdown complete, she relaxed into her chair slightly, and breathed out a sigh.

"Textbook orbital insertion", Will praised June's navigational skills. "Well done. Now the tough part, decent and entry."

June beamed at the compliment. "We're plenty stable enough for a few orbits. I'll start scanners searching the planet for a suitable landing spot. We can review the data then decide where we want to put down."

"Sounds like a plan", Will agreed. "Why don't you go rest in the bunk and try to catch a nap? We're going to need you sharp to put us down in one piece. I'll keep the watch and wake you if necessary." Exhausted, June agreed and went back to the bunk to try to get some sleep, though she knew it would be uncomfortable in her pressure suit.

Will took the controls, and as June unbuckled her crash restraints and stood, Will placed a gloved hand on the arm of her suit. Their eyes met, exchanging an unspoken message of caring and endearment, before she shuffled off to get some rest.

As June disappeared into the bunk room, Will idly watched the planet spin beneath them, and occasionally glanced at the surface map the scanners were building. Whiling away the time, he thought about the years June and him had spent together; working, laughing, suffering. He then thought about what lay ahead, and the picture looked grim.

Being marooned on an uncharted planet during Earth's diaspora century of the first waves of explorers and settlers heading into the unknowns of space were a common trope of romance novels these days, but the harsh realities of what those early explorers went through was brutal: no artificial gravity, death dealing cosmic radiation and the unforgiving vacuum of deep space.

Landing on a new planet, you might or might not have a breathable atmosphere, wild temperature variations, or hostile native wildlife. Some were no more than barren rocks that force settlers to burrow into them like worms, just for a small measure of safety and comfort.

But in spite of all this, people came. In the billions, they came and built worlds and lives worth living out amongst the stars.

Will knew that their situation would be much different. No one knew where they were. Due to the nebula, no one would hear their distress calls. No one would be following behind them to help them if they run into trouble. They would be utterly alone.

He stopped for a moment, and pictured a primitive, but idyllic life with June on the planet below them. Once they made it to the surface, they could build a simple home, farm some basic plants for sustenance, and maybe raise a family. He would teach the children everything he knew and about survival on the planet; it would be the only life they would know. A simple life. A peaceful life. There could be worse ways to spend the rest of your life, Will decided, with a small smile on his face.

Will made the announcement that they had completed five orbits. Without much delay, June returned to the cockpit and took her seat, indicating she had only been able to sleep lightly, if at all.

"Let's see our options", she said, pulling up the new surface map on the display. The planet's terrain rolled across the holograph, showing a mostly rough mountainous landscape of tall sharp peaks and narrow, perilous looking ravines.

"That's it, right there", June announced, stopping the scroll of the display. "a wide flat valley, probably. Twenty klicks by a hundred, our best chance at a good landing. How many thrusters are still functioning?"

"We're at thirty percent for maneuvering thrusters, the retros seem to be in working order. The main engine is shut down, with two percent of the fuel load remaining, which will help, only if we can get it lit again. The emergency inertial inhibitors took a beating, but indicators are all green." Will's expression of exasperation spoke volumes of his frustration at the damage the ship had taken. "The ole' girl doesn't have much left, but she'll get us down."

Thinking for a moment, June spoke, "Alright then, we'll try to restart the engine first, for an entry burn, then enable the inertial inhibitors once we've lost a bit of altitude. If the engine doesn't light, then we'll need to rely solely on the inhibitors to reduce orbital velocity, which will tax them quite a bit making it iffy that they'll hold up all the way through atmo. Between the remaining maneuvering and retro thrusters, even if we can't re-light the engine, we should be able to guide her in, nice and easy."

They sat in silence while they mentally evaluated the plan. Will spoke first. "It's a solid plan. When do we need to initiate the deorbit burn to hit the target?"

June read their current velocity and position from the holo-display and made a quick calculation. "We need to de-orbit burn in sixty three minutes if we want to hit it this orbit. Is everything ready?"

"As ready as can be.", replied Will with a smirk, hoping to lighten the mood. "I'll go do one last check to make sure everything that can be secured, has been secured."

"And I'll run a simulation of our descent to make sure we haven't missed anything."

They both went about their last minute tasks and finished with ten minutes to spare. Regrouping in the cockpit, They took their seats, and strapped in tight.

"Ok let's run it down.", said June initiating their audible checklist. "Engine." "Offline and ready, fuel at one point eight percent."

"Thrusters." "Warm and on standby." "Inertial inhibitors." "Indications green, on standby" "Co-pilot?" June looked over to Will, trying not to look apprehensive. "A- Okay. Pilot?" Will returned the query. "Five by Five." June felt butterflies stir in her stomach, but pushed them down. "Ok, hang on to your butt, here we go!"

June deftly spun the ship with the maneuvering thrusters, facing backwards on their trajectory. "Burn in three, two, one, go." June ended the countdown with a button press to restart the remaining engine. An ignition failure warning light came on. "Go." She called again and hit the button for the second time, as she held her breath. They felt the kick of the engine firing, pushing them back in their seats and relief crossed both their faces, as the ship began to slow its orbital velocity.

"Speed decreasing; altitude 75,000 meters and falling." Will called out. "Ten seconds remaining for burn." June called. "Five, four,..."June didn't make it to three as the engine exploded, violently shaking the freighter, vaporizing the small amount of fuel they had left.

The explosion was off axis, throwing the ship into a wild spiral as they fell out of orbit. June began to rapidly jerk the control stick around attempting to cancel their spin before fully entering the atmosphere. "Come on, come on!" June yelled at the controls as she tried to pull the ship out of the wild spin.

"Engaging inertial inhibitors.", Will reacting to their uncontrolled descent.

"No, not yet!" June yelled, continuing to wrestle the ship out of the spin. "We'll never correct with them on. Give me 10 seconds!" Will stopped with his hand hovering over the inhibitor controls, watching June closely.

She jerked and jived the control stick, and the uncontrolled gyrations slowed to a leisurely spin. With a few more soft corrections with the controls, she righted the ship and they returned to the glide path. "Inhibitors!" June commanded.

Will punched the inertial inhibitor control as the nose of the ship began to glow with the fiery plasma of reentry. A rumbling shudder ran through the superstructure of the ship as the inhibitors started to bleed off the speed they were building.

"Ten thousand meters." Will called out. "Firing retros." June saw the target valley coming into view as they passed through the thick cloud cover. "Five thousand. Four thousand. We're coming in hot!" Will shouted. "Two thousand. Fifteen hundred. Thousand!" The light brown ground of the valley floor rushed up to meet them. "Five hundred!" Will continued to count. "Brace, Brace, Brace!", June began to chant.

The 'Saturn's Heart' slammed into the valley floor with a sickening crunch and squeal of twisting metal. The ship plowed a deep, long furrow into the ground spraying dirt and debris in its wake. Rocks and stones hammered the forward viewport, cracking it in multiple spots. After 20 long seconds of chaos, the ship ground to a stop. Silence hung over them for a moment. Neither of them took a breath for a full five seconds, waiting for the next unexpected catastrophe, but none came so they took a deep breath and smiled at one another.

"Woo! Hell of a ride!" Will whooped. "You good?", he asked, turning to June.

"Yeah, all good.", she replied, as she started going through shutdown procedures, flipping various switches in the predetermined pattern. "Now that we're down, we need a full systems check, inventory of our stores, and an environmental survey."

"Agreed. Survey first though, we need to see if the atmosphere is okay so we can save the suit's resources, then we'll see what's left of the ship."

June completed the shutdown sequence, then Will said, "Come on, let's go outside and see what we can see."

On their way to the airlock, Will stopped briefly to retrieve the portable scanning kit from one of the storage lockers at the rear of the cockpit. "The primary airlock got buried so we'll need to use the upper port."

The ship had settled slightly to one side, making the walk to mid-ship awkward. The artificial gravity deck plating must have failed, allowing them to feel the slight pitch of the floor. Reaching the mid-ship access ladder, Will said, "I'll go up first, in case the doors are jammed."

Climbing the ladder to the top, Will operated the manual release and slid the airlock doors to one side, opening the way to the top of the ship. "No issues." He called down and clambered out onto the hull.

Will turned and once she reached the top, helped June climb out and onto her feet. While Will opened the case for the portable scanner and began taking readings, June surveyed their surroundings.

The thick cloud cover shrouded the entire valley in a hazy gloom, tinted red from the light of the star at the center of this system. The valley floor was barren and dusty with small boulders scattered throughout. The valley itself was surrounded by mountains that transitioned slowly from a smooth incline that met the valley floor unbroken to unclimbable faces stretching up to the mountain peaks.

In some spots there was evidence of landslides where the shear faces gave way and tumbled down to the valley below. A rather inhospitable looking place. Something caught June's eye on the top edge of a rock slide deposit a few kilometers down the valley. She thought she saw something momentarily gleaming in the distance, but was distracted when Will announced his findings.

"The air is breathable, with no signs of toxicity, though the oxygen content is a little low. We should be okay to remove our helmets. Still, let me go first, as a precaution." June nodded.

Will held his breath and released the lock on the collar of his helmet then twisted it off. Holding it in front of him, he forced himself to take a normal breath. After a few moments, he looked at June and said, "All good." She removed her helmet and smelled the air. It was dry and dusty, with a slight metallic hint, but clean enough not to cause discomfort.

They shutdown the power on their suits life support systems, then climbed down off the top of the hull. Dirt had been plowed up on either side of the ship making a nice ramp for an easy climb down.

They walked to the aft section of the ship, and got the first glimpse of how bad the engine explosion had been. Before they got close, Will checked for any residual radioactivity from the engine explosion with the portable scanner, but there was none. Circling around to the rear, it was evident that when the last engine exploded, it took most of the engine compartment and cargo bay with it.

"Holy Hell! Boy did we get lucky." June exclaimed.

"Wasn't luck; you did a hell of a job getting us down with that mess",Will said, jerking his thumb at the burnt and twisted remains of the ship's aft section. "Come on, let's check the rest of the exterior."

They continued walking around the downed craft, closely inspecting the hull as they went. Almost every centimeter of the hull was scorched, battered and buckled, but there were no large tears or fissures in the structure that would allow entry, making securing the ship easier.

Completing the external inspection, they climbed back up to the top hatch to reenter the ship and do a thorough internal systems inspection to see what they had to work with.

Just before they descended back into the ship, a glint on the far side of the valley caught June's eye again.

"There", June pointed, "do you see that in the distance?"

"What am I looking for?" Will asked, fishing a pair of multi-spectral binoculars out of his kit.

"There's something reflective out there." She replied.

Bringing the binoculars up to his eyes, he scanned the far side of the valley. Swinging the field of view along the opposite wall of the valley, Will found the glinting object in the distance June had spotted. Adjusting the focus, details emerged.

"There seemed to be a structure jutting out of that rock slide, about three quarters of the way up the valley wall." Will said, relaying what he saw. Though he couldn't make out all the details, it appeared rounded, and looked to be about ten to fifteen meters tall. While the surrounding dirt and rocks were various shades of dark brown, the object looked to be flat white.

"Yeah, there's something definitely out there, about nine or ten clicks out. Once we have ourselves sorted here, it's definitely worth checking out." Will, put away the binoculars. "Let's get back inside and finish our inspections, then we'll know exactly where we stand and can come up with a solid plan of action."

The reddish sun was setting through the thick clouds and dusk was settling over the valley. Will suddenly felt exposed and slightly on edge. A tickle in the back of his mind, that same part of a human's brain that was hardwired to look out for tigers in the tall grass in humanity's ancient past, was saying that there was danger. Checking their surroundings again, Will didn't see anything, but the feeling didn't go away. As soon as June climbed down the ladder of the airlock, Will followed, taking one last suspicious look around before sealing the hatch behind him.