Friday, February 15, 2008

Roger

Diagnostic System Check:

Visual Data Input - 68.33% - [compensate for low light level? y/n]
Aural Data Input - 100%
Tactile Data Input - 84.81% - [sensoral input compromised in left arm]
Memory Retrieval - 14.48% [CRITICAL LEVEL]
Mission Overview - ERROR [base status]
Command Center Communication - Inoperable... No Signal Detected ...

Something was wrong. The journey had been a success - I could detect that I was in fact on Earth - however, this was not how the arrival should have been. The vessel's emergency lights were not operating. The life support system was not operating. Which meant that Ator was...not operating. I called out.
"Ator?"
No response. I listened to the silence of the vessel for a moment. It was evident that no living thing was aboard the ship. Only my own machinery was producing noise within the range that I could pick up. Had Ator left the vessel? How long had I been down? What had caused the darkness...?

Speaking of the surrounding darkness, my system diagnostic overlay was still requiring a response on whether to compensate for the low light level. I confirmed, and instantaneously my optical nodes switched to infra-red.

I swiveled my head to take in my environment.

It was evident that the vessel had crash landed. This explained quite a bit. My injuries and memory loss, the darkness, Ator...

Ator's lifeless body lay nearby. A piece of the vessel had penetrated her skull. Four of her eyes starred vacantly. The other four were no longer visible.

I took stock of my own injuries - my left arm was not responding to the rest of my body. Looking over, I saw that it was currently pinned beneath part of the vessel. It appeared to be part of the hyperdrive, in fact. I sent the command to the arm to move, but it failed. I leaned over and pushed the hyperdrive with my right arm. It budged slightly.
I scanned my files on hyperdrives and calculated that the weight of the machinery here on Earth would be approximately 997.9012 kilograms, give or take a few with the damage it had acquired in the crash. I was strong, but I could not get enough leverage to move such a heavy weight.

I do not eat, so if I could not free myself from under the hyperdrive, I did not have to fear starving to death. I considered shutting down until rescue arrived - the other four ships should have... The other four ships? Where were they? Had they had similar trouble in landing safely? Had the Earthlings countered our fleet before we could surprise them? I simply did not have enough memory of how I had gotten in this situation to assess what had taken place, nor what exactly to do next. Most alarming was the lack of communication with command center. Perhaps no rescue was coming. Could it be that the war was over... and we had lost?

I began to pound the hyperdrive with my free hand. Repeatedly punching the drive was ...therapeutic, in a way. The rhythmic pounding filled the vessel, and reminded me vaguely of my creation in the Tynokian factory...

Soon, the vessel's hyperdrive was damaged enough that I could free my arm. I did a quick diagnostic check on it, and determined that it would heal in a few Earth-week's time. Although it would be optimal to replace it completely once my mission was accomplished.
Of course, with the hyperdrive destroyed, the pilot dead, and the home base not being in communication...I was stranded. On Earth.

I proceeded to head toward the exit of the vessel. Looking out the window, all I could see was darkness. Upon closer inspection, the vessel was enveloped in dirt. Ator and I were underground.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, this is very good. Very, very good. It stands alone nicely, but I hope there is more. I want more.

Amy said...

Yay!

Miranda said...

He writes!!! Yipee! I agree, more, please.