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Authors: Stephen Allan
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rifle and a knife, sliding it in her boot. The three walked to the airlock between the dining hall and Celeste’s quarters. Crystil opened the door to the platform, and they stepped inside the small circular room. Celeste could feel everything the other two felt. Cyrus felt anxious like he wanted to sprint around Anatolus. Crystil seemed nervous, her breathing lighter than normal.
The whirl of the airlock descending came, and Celeste took a deep breath.
“You should see your face,” Cyrus said with a pat on her shoulder. “You look like you’re about to go to the bottom of the ocean!”
“What if we can’t breathe?” Celeste hissed.
“Well, given we aren’t gasping for air, I’d say we are fine,” Cyrus said with a smirk Celeste disappointingly knew she could not wipe off his face.
Crystil stepped out first, the soft crunching under her feet providing a sweet nostalgic sound. When Crystil turned to the Orthrans, she had positioned herself in front of the sun, making their commander almost glow with white light. Her features were barely visible, but they could all see her bright smile, as beautiful as Celeste had ever seen.
Celeste took a deep breath and loved the purity of the air. No matter how much Cortanus said the air composition of Omega One matched Monda, Celeste could tell its artificiality . But this was real.
She took in the view with a full spin. Behind her, the forest rose with tall, thick trees, branches jutting out from every level. Small pines shot out at the end of the branches, but only at higher levels—pines below served as feeding grounds for nearby creatures.
Suddenly, a noise from the trees startled her. She saw an aviant-like creature, with an elongated body, almost six feet in length, flying out of the trees. Its feet had two claws each, and the wings had magnificent bright blue feathers. It screeched, but the cry was more natural and warmer than the horrors she’d heard the night before.
She shifted her focus from the trees to what lay beyond—the incredible mountain, so high she could not see the actual peak. It vanished and blended in with the rest of the clouds. Beneath it, several other peaks rose, creating the appearance of a massive fortress, with an ivory tower in the middle of it all. She wondered what it would take to scale such a thing, if it was even possible. Did anything live at the top? Could that aviant fly to the top if it wanted to?
Does that monster go up there?
Celeste squatted and ran her hand through the grass. It had the mildly damp feeling only a natural environment could produce. No VR. No ship. Just the planet.
“Not too bad,” Cyrus said, enchanted by the world. “Not bad. Pops really did do us right.”
Much to Cyrus’ and Celeste’s surprise, Crystil suddenly started laughing, almost hysterically.
“You guys! We can actually do this. We can do this. I had my doubts. And as a commander, I still will. But as your, uh, friends, I have to say, I feel a lot better now than I did five days ago.”
“You and me both,” Cyrus said with a smile.
But for Celeste, even with all of the joy she felt, the unease did not vanish. The monster of last night had not just disappeared because of their daytime presence. She kept waiting for it to appear and hunt them down or wreck Omega One .
A croak came from the forest, and Celeste jumped, her hand on her rifle. She felt terrified when she saw what looked like a giant green arachnia, but the creature quickly scampered off.
“Cyrus!” she said. “If one of those so much as comes five feet within me…”
“Relax, sis, we had to have something here that terrified you.”
The look Celeste gave reminded Cyrus quickly of the previous night. He apologized quietly, but it did little to calm his younger sister.
“OK, guys, mission,” Crystil said, clapping her hands together twice. “We have to get our basic needs met before we can even begin to think about anything else. Food, water, shelter. We have
The whirl of the airlock descending came, and Celeste took a deep breath.
“You should see your face,” Cyrus said with a pat on her shoulder. “You look like you’re about to go to the bottom of the ocean!”
“What if we can’t breathe?” Celeste hissed.
“Well, given we aren’t gasping for air, I’d say we are fine,” Cyrus said with a smirk Celeste disappointingly knew she could not wipe off his face.
Crystil stepped out first, the soft crunching under her feet providing a sweet nostalgic sound. When Crystil turned to the Orthrans, she had positioned herself in front of the sun, making their commander almost glow with white light. Her features were barely visible, but they could all see her bright smile, as beautiful as Celeste had ever seen.
Celeste took a deep breath and loved the purity of the air. No matter how much Cortanus said the air composition of Omega One matched Monda, Celeste could tell its artificiality . But this was real.
She took in the view with a full spin. Behind her, the forest rose with tall, thick trees, branches jutting out from every level. Small pines shot out at the end of the branches, but only at higher levels—pines below served as feeding grounds for nearby creatures.
Suddenly, a noise from the trees startled her. She saw an aviant-like creature, with an elongated body, almost six feet in length, flying out of the trees. Its feet had two claws each, and the wings had magnificent bright blue feathers. It screeched, but the cry was more natural and warmer than the horrors she’d heard the night before.
She shifted her focus from the trees to what lay beyond—the incredible mountain, so high she could not see the actual peak. It vanished and blended in with the rest of the clouds. Beneath it, several other peaks rose, creating the appearance of a massive fortress, with an ivory tower in the middle of it all. She wondered what it would take to scale such a thing, if it was even possible. Did anything live at the top? Could that aviant fly to the top if it wanted to?
Does that monster go up there?
Celeste squatted and ran her hand through the grass. It had the mildly damp feeling only a natural environment could produce. No VR. No ship. Just the planet.
“Not too bad,” Cyrus said, enchanted by the world. “Not bad. Pops really did do us right.”
Much to Cyrus’ and Celeste’s surprise, Crystil suddenly started laughing, almost hysterically.
“You guys! We can actually do this. We can do this. I had my doubts. And as a commander, I still will. But as your, uh, friends, I have to say, I feel a lot better now than I did five days ago.”
“You and me both,” Cyrus said with a smile.
But for Celeste, even with all of the joy she felt, the unease did not vanish. The monster of last night had not just disappeared because of their daytime presence. She kept waiting for it to appear and hunt them down or wreck Omega One .
A croak came from the forest, and Celeste jumped, her hand on her rifle. She felt terrified when she saw what looked like a giant green arachnia, but the creature quickly scampered off.
“Cyrus!” she said. “If one of those so much as comes five feet within me…”
“Relax, sis, we had to have something here that terrified you.”
The look Celeste gave reminded Cyrus quickly of the previous night. He apologized quietly, but it did little to calm his younger sister.
“OK, guys, mission,” Crystil said, clapping her hands together twice. “We have to get our basic needs met before we can even begin to think about anything else. Food, water, shelter. We have
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