Read Online The Dead Planet by Jedediah E. Dahl - Free Book Online
Authors: Jedediah E. Dahl
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“Sir, we’ve arrived,” I told Captain Mævin.
“Excellent! Anything from our bases?”
I scanned our normal frequencies looking for any com chatter. “No sir, the planet’s silent.”
“Hm… Command was hoping that their silence was due to the distance between Terra and Kælty.”
I knew what Command’s hope was, they did brief me before the mission after all. “Uh…Yes sir.”
The Captain shifted in his pilot seat as we entered orbit around the third planet of the Sol system. Most species in the galaxy referred to this planet as Terra, but the native species called it Earth.
“Lækas, what are the environmental conditions of the planet?”
“It appears to have an oxygen atmosphere, but the planet’s surface has been reduced to desert.” I gazed at the planet. “When Terran Observer One last sent their report two years ago, the planet was lush and the indigenous population, the Terrans, was still growing at an increasing rate.”
“And now it’s all desert and silent?”
“Yeap.”
“Does Terran Observer One have sufficient power so we can create a transportal to it?”
“Yes sir.”
“Then let’s go.”
We both got up from our stations and headed towards the transportal. As I was punching in the coordinates for Observer One, Gækob came over to us, “I recommend that we wear environmental suits.”
“Why?” I asked.
“If something happened below, it may not be safe.” Gækob responded.
“I checked the environmental readings myself. The planet has an oxygen atmosphere and there appears to be nothing hazardous in it.”
“Captain, I recommend caution in this situation. The planet has been silent for two years, after all.”
“I agree, Gækob.” The Captain turned and looked at me. “Let’s suit up, then transportal down.”
I went ahead and connected our portal with Terran Observer One’s portal, but didn’t open it yet. It took me a moment to get my helmet on perfectly so that all four of my eyes could see out. I never understood why I had so much trouble with these helmets and their faceplates, but I did. After getting in our suits, we opened the portal and stepped from our ship to the observation station.
The station was quiet, dusty, and powered down. Only the transportal system was active, which was my doing.
“Damn, it looks like no one has cleaned this up in years.” Gækob’s voice range in through my ear piece.
“Lækas, bring the scanners up. Gækob, secure the room.”
“Aye,” Gækob, the resilient soldier, snapped. I didn’t much care for the protocol, at least not in regards to xenologists who turn captain. I made no verbal or somatic response to Mævin, and headed straight for the controls. These controls had clearly not been used in an extended time. Some of them stuck while others wouldn’t respond. Powering up the sensors normally takes me a few seconds, but with the conditions of these controls, it took me nearly two minutes.
“I’m going to attempt a scan of the area and see what I can find.”
“I also wouldn’t mind some lights, Lækas.”
Another stupid request from the Captain. Hell, we don’t even need the lights, the faceplates plates provide us with night vision and low-light vision. Perhaps he noted my lack of respect early and was ordering me around to try and remind me of his authority. Regardless the reason, I must obey. I pulled up the basic systems and activated the lights. This process didn’t take as long as the sensors, but it was an unneeded waste of time.
“Ah, don’t you see, that’s much better!”
Bloody xenologists…
I ignored my Captain to the best of my abilities and focused on finding the crew.
“Lækas, what did the indigenous species call this place?”
Seriously? More annoying questions from my Captain? He’s the damned xenologist here, shouldn’t he be the one to know the answer to his own dumb question? I vaguely recalled
“Excellent! Anything from our bases?”
I scanned our normal frequencies looking for any com chatter. “No sir, the planet’s silent.”
“Hm… Command was hoping that their silence was due to the distance between Terra and Kælty.”
I knew what Command’s hope was, they did brief me before the mission after all. “Uh…Yes sir.”
The Captain shifted in his pilot seat as we entered orbit around the third planet of the Sol system. Most species in the galaxy referred to this planet as Terra, but the native species called it Earth.
“Lækas, what are the environmental conditions of the planet?”
“It appears to have an oxygen atmosphere, but the planet’s surface has been reduced to desert.” I gazed at the planet. “When Terran Observer One last sent their report two years ago, the planet was lush and the indigenous population, the Terrans, was still growing at an increasing rate.”
“And now it’s all desert and silent?”
“Yeap.”
“Does Terran Observer One have sufficient power so we can create a transportal to it?”
“Yes sir.”
“Then let’s go.”
We both got up from our stations and headed towards the transportal. As I was punching in the coordinates for Observer One, Gækob came over to us, “I recommend that we wear environmental suits.”
“Why?” I asked.
“If something happened below, it may not be safe.” Gækob responded.
“I checked the environmental readings myself. The planet has an oxygen atmosphere and there appears to be nothing hazardous in it.”
“Captain, I recommend caution in this situation. The planet has been silent for two years, after all.”
“I agree, Gækob.” The Captain turned and looked at me. “Let’s suit up, then transportal down.”
I went ahead and connected our portal with Terran Observer One’s portal, but didn’t open it yet. It took me a moment to get my helmet on perfectly so that all four of my eyes could see out. I never understood why I had so much trouble with these helmets and their faceplates, but I did. After getting in our suits, we opened the portal and stepped from our ship to the observation station.
The station was quiet, dusty, and powered down. Only the transportal system was active, which was my doing.
“Damn, it looks like no one has cleaned this up in years.” Gækob’s voice range in through my ear piece.
“Lækas, bring the scanners up. Gækob, secure the room.”
“Aye,” Gækob, the resilient soldier, snapped. I didn’t much care for the protocol, at least not in regards to xenologists who turn captain. I made no verbal or somatic response to Mævin, and headed straight for the controls. These controls had clearly not been used in an extended time. Some of them stuck while others wouldn’t respond. Powering up the sensors normally takes me a few seconds, but with the conditions of these controls, it took me nearly two minutes.
“I’m going to attempt a scan of the area and see what I can find.”
“I also wouldn’t mind some lights, Lækas.”
Another stupid request from the Captain. Hell, we don’t even need the lights, the faceplates plates provide us with night vision and low-light vision. Perhaps he noted my lack of respect early and was ordering me around to try and remind me of his authority. Regardless the reason, I must obey. I pulled up the basic systems and activated the lights. This process didn’t take as long as the sensors, but it was an unneeded waste of time.
“Ah, don’t you see, that’s much better!”
Bloody xenologists…
I ignored my Captain to the best of my abilities and focused on finding the crew.
“Lækas, what did the indigenous species call this place?”
Seriously? More annoying questions from my Captain? He’s the damned xenologist here, shouldn’t he be the one to know the answer to his own dumb question? I vaguely recalled
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