The Crash

The Crash

What is the most momentous day ever recorded? Many have different opinions. Some say it was when we first discovered hover technology. Others say it was when we were able to make replacement organs in great quantities. I believe that the most momentous day ever recorded was July 8, 2136. That was the day that The Aurora launched. It was the first manned spaceship able to travel intergalactically. I am biased however because I’m the captain of it, Captain Rhodey

    The Aurora was sent out to find planets that could be colonized by humans. Earth had become near uninhabitable with temperatures ranging anywhere from 45 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Many have forgotten about The Aurora after 27 years of practically no communication. 

You see, The Aurora isn’t in good shape after flying for nearly 27 years and having little to no repair. It is nigh on impossible to direct its course because of the damage that the engines have sustained over time.

Enough stalling, let’s get into the story.

“Rhodes, engine number 6 is starting to overheat,” shouted Graydea, my co-pilot.

“Then cut it off of the power network,” I shouted back, focussed on maneuvering through a vast asteroid field.

“But we need the power to stay aloft,” he complained.

“Then divert power to the thermal shield and adjust it around the engine’s core” I barked.

“Make an emergency landing. Now!” Gray ordered. 

“Where?” I asked.

“Full down,” he replied while staring at his tablet with horror. 

I was disconcerted by Gray being so forceful but I obeyed nevertheless. 

Everything that wasn’t secured to the floor started rising as if the cockpit was an oven and the items were drifting smoke. A weird sense of calm enveloped me and all of my worries and thoughts melted away. That feeling promptly diminished after I looked out of the cockpit window at the engines and I saw that they emitted giant arcs of fire and oil. The Aurora was officially a failed mission. The realization hurt so much I wanted to curl into a ball and cry until the end of time. I refused to give up though, I stared at the incoming planet and thought I’ll always be Captain Rhodey as long as I have a crew.

“Impact in T-minus five.” The Aurora’s AI system announced. “T-minus four, T-minus three, T-minus two, T-minus one” 

My life flashed before my eyes. I saw the first fish I caught, then the time I beat up Matthew. I saw the day my dad had died just before I graduated from my Space Cadet training. There was the day that The Aurora launched and then moments on The Aurora picked seemingly at random.

I then saw Skraelr, god of gods, and he whispered, “open your eyes young one, you are not to die yet.” His words were so soul-stirring that my eyes shot straight open

I saw the wreckage of The Aurora all around me, it was broken into seemingly infinite pieces. I noticed that some pieces were on fire, some were dented terribly, some were cut into ribbons, and others were seemingly intact. I didn’t notice any of my crew in the wreckage which deeply disturbed me. 

I looked beyond the wreckage and saw a vibrant, colorful world full with rows and rows of shops and stands with strange looking creatures flocking around them. All of the creatures were gawking at the wreckage with obvious distaste. I tried to get up but the worst pain I’d ever experienced shot through me and I fainted instantaneously.

When I next opened my eyes I saw Angelina, The Aurora’s doctor, frantically running from one damaged crewmember to another. I watched the sight for a few minutes entranced by the strange tools and elixirs Angelina was using.

I then shouted as loud as I could, “Angel, I’m under the cockpit window.”

“Rhodes! I’m coming right over,” Angelina exclaimed with clear excitement. She rapidly finished bandaging someone’s arm and then ran over to me.

Angelina worriedly asked me, “Where are you hurt?”

“Everywhere, but there’s a sharp pain in my ribs and legs and my head is throbbing horribly,” I weakly replied. She started taking out her abnormal but I stopped her and asked, “How many are alive and who are they?” 

She gingerly responded, “Don’t worry yourself about that now, I’ll tell you once you’re feeling better.”

“I’m the captain! You will do as I say,” I snapped.

“You won’t like it,” she cautioned

My heart sunk, “That bad, huh?”

    She closed her eyes and sullenly said, “We lost one crewmember in the crash, Graydea.”

    I couldn’t believe it. I'd known Gray all my life and now he was gone. 

    I raised my head until I was staring at the sky and I shouted, “Skraelr, how could you be so cruel?”

    Everyone from The Aurora looked at me with horror. They expected me to be struck with lightning for dishonoring Skraelr. Everyone waited expectantly but nothing happened. I then felt a strange sensation run through me that made me want to scratch my skin off. I doubled over scratching myself like a feral dog and everyone in The Aurora’s crew started doing the same. The sensation ended as quickly as it began and my pain was replaced with an image of Skraelr shaking his head at me.

    The image vanished and I stood up.

    Angelina asked, horrified by the event, “What was that?”

    I responded calmly, “Skraelr has blessed us.” I smiled as surer than ever that I was right. The smile quickly faded when I remembered Gray’s fate. 

I shouted to all of the crewmembers of The Aurora, “Everyone, we have been blessed by Skraelr today and we shall take it with grace. We shall explore this strange planet and we will rebuild The Aurora. Follow me for a better future”

    They all started cheering and gathered around me, as serious as soldiers, waiting for orders. I looked around for any stragglers and again saw the strange creatures with their markets.

    “Which of you are able to translate multiple alien languages,” I asked.

“I, Jeod, can because I’m The Aurora’s translator,” responded Jeod.

Pointing at the creatures, I announced, “Jeod, follow me, everyone else, speak with the locals and return here once you find useful information”

Me and Jeod set off towards a light-colored wooden stand that had a yellow and white striped awning. There were 3 short humanoid creatures that had mesmerizing patterns on their thick fur. When we reached the stand we saw that the store was selling intricately carved short swords. The stall owner looked like one of the furry creatures but its fur had no patterns and was just thin and gray.

Jeod asked one of the customers, “Can you understand me?” The creature turned around and we saw that it had holes where its eyes, mouth, and nose should be.

It flatly responded, “Of course I can.”

Jeod was stunned, “What are you?”

“Who I am is the right question,” it replied

“I-I yes who?” jeod stuttured 

“Better, I am a male guard from the planet Beoltigh and I am in need of a new weapon.” He replied emotionlessly.

    I noticed Jeod’s distress and asked the creature, “Why have you come here for it though?”

    “This is Mertogul, an intergalactic marketplace where you can trade for goods” He stated like it was obvious.

    “Ah, thank you,” I replied happy to be gone.

    We walked out of earshot of any creatures and I exclaimed, “Jeod we aren’t dying!”

    He replied, “I guess we aren’t.”

    I continued, “We can colonize this planet!”

    Realization crossed Jeod’s face, “The mission! It isn’t a failure after all!” 

    We ran back to what was left of The Aurora where we waited for everyone else to return. It seemed like forever had passed when the final group had returned to The Aurora.

    I scrambled to the top of a large piece of scrap and announced, “We can settle this planet and finally complete our mission!”

    Murmuring broke out among the crewmembers and some of the creatures looked at me.

    Above all of the murmuring Angelina shouted, “How would we do that?”

    Everyone went silent and all eyes returned to me.

    I was embarrassed and said, “I-I didn’t think that far.”

    Jeod must have seen my disconcertment and announced, “We have found out that this is a trading planet so we can trade for any needed parts. We need to repair the radio we had onboard The Aurora so we can contact Earth and alert them of our location. Half of you can search for the intercom and trade-worthy valuables. The other half can trade for the parts needed.” Everyone got to work without question.

    I walked to Jeod and asked him, “How did you  know what to do and how did you make them follow your commands?”

    Jeod simply answered, “I don’t know.” he shrugged and walked towards the group of crew members that were waiting to trade.

    I headed towards the group that was scavenging through the wreck and helped them. It was an arduous task and after going through just a small section I was sweating like crazy and was forced to rest. I layed down and before I knew it, I was asleep.

    When I woke up I saw that most of the wreckage was cleared out and organized into neat piles. Everyone was asleep and I realized they must have worked through the night. I felt weak for abandoning the task so quickly. 

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and continued sorting the rubble. I lost track of time and when I sat down it was because I had sorted everything from The Aurora and had found the intercom. I inspected the intercom and noticed that the antenna was snapped and it had some dents but it was otherwise in good condition.

I woke everyone up by announcing, “I have found the intercom!” When everyone was fully awake I continued, “Anyone who wasn't searching for the intercom, find your partner from yesterday and try to find a replacement antenna for the intercom.” I held up the intercom to show them what to look for and they took off.

I was tired from clearing out the rest of the wreckage so I sat down for a while.

 Once I felt able to comfortably move I got up and looked through the different stockpiles of rubble remembering all of the amazing and horrible experiences I had on The Aurora. I recalled that Gray was the one to tell me to go full down and how he was staring at his tablet.

I went over to the electronic stockpile curious to find out what had scared Gray so much. When I reached the stockpile I stupidly swept my arm through it. The glass cut my arm up but I didn’t care because I was holding his tablet. I wrenched it out of the stockpile and was glad to find it undamaged.

I went to the recent footage and saw what had scared Gray. There were a lot of heat signatures near the ship. I understood why Gray had told me to go down. There was another ship near us, it must have been a trading ship.

Gray died because of a merchant ship. The realization was so shocking I stumbled backwards and dropped the tablet. My face hardened and I thought, I have to complete this mission for you, Gray.

I went back to where I was sitting and stared at the sky. 

I only moved when Jeod announced, “We have the antenna!” I went over to him and wordlessly took the antenna. I replaced the old one with it and contacted Earth. It didn’t take long for someone to pick up

A female voice exclaimed, “Captain Rhodey! Have you found a planet to colonize?”

I flatly replied, “Yes I will send you our coordinates. It has an intergalactic marketplace and has an asteroid belt near it.”

The voice replied, “It may take us a while for us to reach your location but your find is much appreciated.”

It took around three years for the first human spaceships to reach us and there’s been a steady trickle of them since then. We have traded with the shopkeepers for space to colonize for a while and we now have three times the space we had on Earth. There have been no disputes with the aliens… yet. Humans have actually started to co-mingle with them. The human population on Mertogul is currently fourteen billion but there is a fleet of spaceships carrying two billion humans on its way. Gray, I hope that you find this satisfactory and that you may finally rest in peace.