The Stars Will Protect Us

I have confided in the stars since my youth. I've spent nights gazing across the open sky; wondering if there was anything out there. As I grew older I had to take responsibility for my people. My time with the stars was cut so that I could be the leader my people needed me to be. Now I'm looking out at my stars one last time. They are dimmer not than they have ever been; hidden behind the flames that are racing along the streets. I watch as my people run for cover and take to the skies in their own spaceships only to be shot down by the enemy. We have no idea who has attacked us. They came out of nowhere with wrath and fire. We've always been alone in the universe and while we hoped to one day make contact with others this was not the way we expected it to happen.

I held my breath as the floor rumbled beneath me with the start of the engine. The enemy had yet to notice our ship, but the power would be sure to capture their attention. My body lurched with the force of take off and I closed my eyes against the nausea that filled me. I looked away from the window - from my people - and prayed to the stars that they could escape and find a new home. I stood as the orange hues faded into the blue that came from warp speed and traveled out to the bridge to find reassurance with my people.

As I walked I thought about the life we had just left behind and the way that it had happened in the blink of an eye. I had to find a place for us to settle down that was safe. We should have been more prepared for an attack and that was on me as their leader and I had failed my people and I only that others ships had escaped and survived the attack.

My thoughts fizzled out as I stepped onto the bridge and came face to face with the anguished members of the crew. My eyes met the captains and I slowly made my way over to him. I placed my hand on his shoulder and pushed reassurance and comfort towards his mind and felt comfort creeping into my own mind as well. I took a deep breath and nodded to him as I stepped back from him and looked once more over the crew. We will make it I projected, hoping they would believe in me to save them.

I heard the explosion before I felt it. The boom shook the core and the fire could be seen from the window before we were all thrown to the ground as our ship was shoved out of the path of the warp speed. Our engines went down in the blast and we had no control over the ship's movements. The speed and the explosion left the ship floating in the vastness of space. There was a planet in our view, but we had no way to safely enter the stratosphere.

It loomed bright amongst the darkness of space. It's expanse of astonishing blue and massive landforms that could be seen from this far out added to its beauty. White wisps scattered across the surface of the planet; swirling and stretching as if hiding the wonder beneath. The ship seemed to be as awestruck as my people and I were as it floated aimlessly closer. We were being pulled into the planet's orbit and there was no way to stop it.

Our ship's velocity increased as the pull got stronger between the planet and us. I sat at one of the chairs on the bridge and held on tight as fire began to tear off pieces of the ship and consume the rest in a haze of smoke. Lights flashed above us as our ship screamed for help that we could not provide. Our fate was no longer ours and I sent out waves of calm to my people as we careened closer to the ground.

The impact was hard and fast. We were thrown as the ship burst into shards of its original glory. Fire danced on the ground around the pieces before overtaking them. The orange haze mixed with the rust-colored liquid coating my people's faces and clothes. As I stood to survey the crash the area was lit up by beams of light. Low rumbling carried on the wind with shouts that I could not understand. I turned toward the light to see large vehicles approaching.

When the vehicles stopped men jumped out and spread across the ground with long objects held in their hands - some of them raised towards us. One man stepped out in front of the rest and noises came out of his mouth, but he did not speak our language. He radiated anger and hatred and it was deep-seated in his bones. I lowered myself to my knees and raised my arms towards the man. I tried to project that we meant no harm; that we were here by accident, but I couldn't communicate with the man. He couldn't receive my thoughts or send his own back and I knew that he would not understand that we came in peace so I lowered my head and sent out a message to my people that it would be okay.

The man shouted once before the rest of the men rushed towards us. I stayed quiet and still as one grabbed my arms and yanked them roughly behind my back. I could feel cool metal biting into my skin as he pulled me to my feet. I looked back to see the same treatment given to the rest of my people before I was pushed into a line that was being loaded into the back of one of the vehicles.

As I stood waiting for my turn I tilted my head to the sky. The stars were bright as they winked down at me, and yet they were not nearly as bright as the stars that protected my home. I wondered if the rest of my people might one day find us and bring us home. Until then I pray that these new stars will protect us.