Be careful what you wish for...
Allandra set her dials for landing. “This is the one
Leonardo! I can feel it! Just like the readings indicated!”
“Humph!” her partner retorted, but with a smile in his voice. “ITS says that
every mission. We've never find anything but plants – not even an
animal. And I had my heart set on a pet, space monkey... Why don't
you give it up, babe?”
She laughed throatily. “Now you know I can't do that.” Besides
this time they're right.
The young astronaut couldn't see Leonardo. But she knew he was there,
traveling parallel to her descent. They'd been in space for a week and
both were ready for some R&R, even it was on the surface of an unexplored
planet. Moving through the crusty, mist-filled atmosphere, Allandra reduced
her speed: coasting the tiny ship in.
Her heart sank.
From a distance the dust that surrounded the atmosphere had given off a
shimmering, mauve glow – hence the name: Red Stone. But up close, it was an
ugly, crater-filled rock covered in red dust.
Intergalactic Space Travel's (IST) readings had been wrong.
The astronaut spotted a plateau between two boulder, a small valley, and
headed for it. She easily maneuvered the ship into a smooth landing.
She was operating a probe: a craft roughly the same size as the small, private
planes so popular during the 21thcentury. Yet probes had the weapons capacity
and power of the much larger phoenix crafts. Allandra scanned the surface. With
the naked eye, it appeared to be mid-day.
Or whatever passes for mid-day on this desolate rock.
She pressed the blue button on her console, activating a test of the
atmosphere.
“No readings of intelligent life species, no readings of other animal
species,” a mechanized voice intoned. “Oxygen levels too low to sustain
human life. Analysis indicates acceptable levels of toxicity.”
That means it's safe for us to get out.
She activated her ship log, and began speaking. “This is Lieutenant
Allandra Rex, commander of Probe 12. It is 2600 hours Earth Time, Day
seven of the Probe mission. Lieutenant Leonardo Cash and I have
landed on Planet Red Stone. There is no sign of life.”
But we could still find something – oh, I hope so!
“Preliminary analysis of the planet indicates that there's not enough
oxygen to sustain human life...” Keep it simple and straightforward.
She'd learned this the first year in the space academy.
* * *
She clicked on her helmet communicator. “How you doing
over there?”
“Copathestic baby,” Leonardo's bass voice responded.
“What about you?”
“Just making the rounds.” She pushed another button on her suit and
Coltrane began to softly play.
Allandra was a curvaceous, yet petite young woman with cafe au lait skin
gray eyes, and shoulder-length, black hair. Many of ITS astronauts
thought her beautiful. Leonardo was no exception. But she had no
interest in romance, unless it was casual.
She' d had her heart broken her first year at ITS Academy by Professor
Sidney Barnes, her mentor. Sidney was a slender, lithe man, ten years
her senior, with piercing blue eyes. He'd easily seduced the
wide-eyed young cadet, who hung on his every word. Even now Allandra
could remember his touch [censored].
Professor Barnes was exquisite in bed and brilliant. He was also married
with four children – something he managed to keep from her until he'd
had her over and over, in every imaginable position.
Just the thought of him still hurts.
After Professor Barnes Allandra kept her eyes on the stars and the planets
beyond them. They would would give her what she yearned for.
And they would never leave her.
Allandra was born in 2065: 50 years after Planet Earth's decline. The same
year IST began building the probes: lightweight spacecrafts that
could humans could live in for years, if needs be; and that moved
fast enough to break the sound barrier – traveling millions of
miles within weeks.
In 2065, global warning had accelerated. The final stage in Earth's
destruction had begun. Temperatures of 150 degrees scorched the
planet. Tidal waves, monsoons and cyclones tore it apart.
Those who could afford it moved underground. Food became the
world's most valued resource. The rest were herded under domes.
Scientists scurried to genetically reproduce fruits and vegetables –
with horrible side effects.
Money still ruled the world. But money was becoming worthless. That's when
the government saw the writing on the wall and created IST... and the probes:
spacecrafts designed for one purpose, to seek out planets capable of
sustaining human life.
Copyright 2011 Valjeanne Jeffers all rights reserved
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