Stranded by D.A. Sanford - HTML preview

Mutiny

Out here there is no day, just constant night. I spend my time looking at the stars. My star gazing started when my crew decided that my presence is no longer needed. I wanted to continue to search for habitable planets. There is a huge reward for the discovery. The crew however heard of a planet of goblins. I heard of it too but I also heard that they were not helpless. They will make you give up your ship or they will destroy it with you on it. You will not even get into their planet system.

The survival radio is always on and it is long range, so, I heard them challenge the goblin ships. heard the silence and then the general broad cast by the goblin fleet warning that the ship was destroyed with all aboard. Don’t enter their space without an invitation. Meanwhile, I am smiling. Fate is a bitch. No such thing as an easy job.

The scanner alarm went off. There is a planet in the vicinity that has habitable conditions. I now need to make a decision. I have enough energy to travel for a lot longer but alone in this small living area of the pod is driving me nuts. If I decide to go to it, I will need to expend most of the energy to get there.

The reading says it is habitable but there is not enough information beyond that. I would need to get a lot closer to get more information. That means I need to commit now or finish the journey to insanity. I give the command to take me to the planet.

Escape pods are meant to support life for an extended period of time to allow your distress beacon to be picked up. They are for efficiency not exactly for comfort. Food is rations , replicator selection is limited. Your water is, well, your recycled urine. Cleaned, filtered but you don’t concentrate on what it was, it’s water. The last thing is that this pod is only capable of landing. You will live through the landing but if it is a hostile environment, you are screwed. No planetary liftoff system.

By the way, no light speed. I really only have this planet. I have programed it to stop at the point where I can get the best reading at the furthest point. What happened was, while I was asleep, the pod’s AI malfunctioned. I woke to find myself in the final descent.

It determined that the best point was on the ground. I’m fucked.

I was headed towards an open field but I could tell that the ground skidding would take me into the wooded area so I figured that there was a great chance that I will die on impact with a tree. The pod skidded the full width of the field and came to a halt in the woods. The gods must be looking out for me, we just stopped before hitting a very big tree.

My readings showed that this was a good environment. Breathable air, vegetation indicates that it is a moderate temperature, Life forms are the normal mix of carnivores and herbivores. I have the standard pod light bullet survival pistol and a knife. The pistol has a built in solar generator to make the light bullets but it needs to recharge after the one hundred rounds have been fired.

I make the decision to get out. Decision, what decision. Stay in here or walk on the land.

I opened the hatch and took a deep breath and held it. I’m not dead, yet. The smell is slightly floral. I hear noises. The wind rustling the leaves. What I will call insects and birds but no noise of anything mechanical.

Going back into the pod, I run a scan for any sentient life in the general area. It shows that there is none within our definition. I need to run samples of the water, if I can find some, and also some of the vegetation to see which I can eat and which will kill me.

Not knowing this world’s time table, I decide that it is best to only explore my immediate surroundings. I want to be in the pod during the night. My immediate concern will be a long term shelter. This pod is meant to be gutted and the main components used in whatever shelter you find. My ideal shelter would be some sort of cave that has two ways to get out. My entrance will be the hatch assembly. The pod’s skin can be used to block the second, shall we say, emergency exit.

I was able to find a stream and quite a few plants that looked like they could be what I am used to eating at other planetary stops. Running them, I find that I was correct. The water is safe for me to drink and most of the plants were safe. The analyses came back with a warning that the planet’s biologics may have a temporary digestive set back.

They will not kill me but my system will need to adjust.

Knowing that I only have a few changes of clothes, the temperature is warm, I drink the water and eat the plants in my boxers. The readout warning was correct. My digestive system did not like some of what I ate. I did not vomit but I was thankful for only having the boxers on. It only took a few days for me to adjust.

The day to night ratio here is basically the same, fifty fifty day to night. Using the pod time, it is around a twenty six hour cycle. That first night, I slept, for the most part, in the pod. The occasional need to empty my system was the only interruption to my sleep.

The pod’s sanitary systems still are functioning.

After my guts settled down, I decided to walk a few hours out then explore a circle around my pod for a place to set up my first base. Starting with the woods, I walked out.

The beacon was being transmitted and can be picked up by my hand held receiver. I shouldn’t get lost.

On the second day of exploring, I did find a suitable cavern and decide that this is going to be my base. When I first approached, I fired a light bullet into it from a safe distance to see if it was occupied. Nothing came out. It had a small opening but when I looked into it, much to my delight, it opened up to a very large cavern.

Doing a sounding of the walls, the back side was only a few feet of rock thick. I’ll place a charge there so I could blow my way out if needed. I’m living here. Time to start to break down the pod.

Much to my delight, the tool kit did have a motorized saw. Almost all the pod can be disassembled with the tools in the kit. I guess that some one had to figure that there would be a need for fire wood. Over the next weeks, I had taken apart the pod and most is inside the cavern. There is enough sun to power the panels. Those were set up outside but I am able to bring them in at night.

Knowing that I may be here for a long time, I start using some of the trees and build myself a cabin inside the cavern. No sense living on the rock floor. I had built things as a young man on my home planet. The last thing I built was a lake cabin with my father.

That was just before I got the bug to travel.

My father owned his ship. He had said that he was done traveling. He wanted to enjoy life with my mother. He was going to sell the ship. When we finished the cabin, both of my parents died. It seems that he had not expected an animal to get stuck in the gas heater flue. They both died from carbon monoxide poisoning. I now owned that ship.

That was the one that the escape pod is from.

I think that the crew, out of respect for my father, put me in the pod, rather than just throwing me out an airlock. It was only my second run with that crew.

Carrying the logs by myself limited the size of them. Well, it was inside so I made the floor about a foot off the rock floor. There is no sign of this flooding so a foot should be fine. I’ll make walls if I need them. For now, its warm in here and outside so having the hatch open allows the mild smoke from the fire to escape. I do have fire wood built up and some of the duct works from the pod to vent the smoke out if it gets too cold.

My base is now set up. I have not used the replicator. Why when I have game and fresh vegetables. I have been saving seeds to make myself a garden. Again, I don’t know the seasons. So far, this place is a paradise. I really could live out my life here. I’d be content. Except!

I now have gotten used to where my base is so I now am exploring at greater distances.

I have not seen even one item that could suggest that there is anyone here that is not just an animal.

Now that I have explored my area, I get antsy. I need to keep busy so I work on my cabin. I make room after room. I will need to store food if there is a winter. I’ll make a workshop in another room. I let my imagination run wild. What else can I do. It seems that there is no mail delivery out here.

I have finished breaking down the remainder of the pod and have the metal to make some larger things that the replicator can’t make. I may be able to make some sort of ground transport. Just need to pace myself and think about leaving the safety of my base.

Right now, all I see is exploration consisting of a few hours out and then turn back to be safe at night. I have found a few small sets of bones that looks like the legs were broken

and then the meat was eaten. Some sort of small animal. The weird thing is that it’s rear legs look like it could have walked upright.

My days are actually fun. I do not have anyone bothering me to be somewhere at a certain time. No crew to listen to their gripes. All the time I could want. I want some one to talk with.

It may be paradise but with no one to share, it dulls the experience.

Just when I am at my low, I hear what sounds like something is out of breath and is in pain. I go over to where the sound is coming from. There in the tall grass, lying down hiding is a very large mouse.

Its leg has a large gash that looks very recent and very raw. It is cowering, afraid of me.

Why wouldn’t it be. Size wise I am three times larger.

I then hear something I did not expect.

“Please don’t kill me.”