Duty, Honour, Love

Mark gazed intently at the bridge crew the air was fraught with tension. After their second orbit of the planet any hoped for rescue had evaporated like a desert rain. Mark came to the grim conclusion that this was an early colony planet incapable of space flight. That had been his thought until the first orbit. Scans were confusing the data clearly displaying several large settlements more than he would have thought for a first colony. With the comms down he was unable to contact anybody on the ground and he didn’t know if the colonists had seen them. He glanced across to the bridge crew all waiting for his command.

“Helm take us in,” he ordered looking at the middle-aged man at the helm control.

Zac Cunningham had got them out of danger before when the alien ship attacked them. His quick reflexes kept them alive.

“Aye sir,” Zac replied. “On final approach.”

“Sharon have you plotted our course?”

The woman at the Nav console nodded in his direction normally chatty she was unusually silent.

Mark waved his hand to a man standing by one of the two doors out of the bridge. Everyone called him PO if he had an original name no one could remember it. The bridge was a rectangle with helm and navigation consoles on the front wall flanking the main screen viewer. Behind them on the walls opposite each other were the weapons consoles, engineering and comms. In the centre was a tactical display at the moment blank. Either side of the tactical display were two exits. PO stood at one of the door poised like a panther ready to strike. At the back overseeing the crew was the captain’s seat with it’s built in console and a second seat for the first officer.

“PO inform the crew that we are on final approach and brace for turbulence.”

PO saluted his hand crashing to his chest then he was gone.

Mark turning his attention to Jane seated in the first officer’s seat next to him.

“Number One take up the engineering console.” Normally Danielle’s task but she was the only engineer left and she would be in the engine room monitoring the ship’s drives. Which was why when the aliens had tried to disable the ship’s hyperdrive she was the only survivor. She had been on the bridge but her engineering team had bore the brunt of the attack.

“Helm ready,” Zac called out his fingers paused to initialise the drives.

“Engage,” Mark said quoting from the same vid show that he named his first officer after.

“Drives powering up,” Zac stated.

It had taken them five frustrating days to reach the planet, whatever planet it was they were still in the dark about that. Five days with even less sleep and no respite from his nightmares. He guessed that it was the same for the rest of the crew. All he wanted to do when they landed was have a shower he longed for a fresh clean feeling. He felt a tremor run through the ship as it touched atmosphere. The trembling became worse he could see Zac fighting to keep the ship on course. One mistake here and the ship would bounce back into space before it completed its last and fatal fall.

“Helm?” he called out softly.

“Atmospheric turbulence we’ll clear it in a minute,” Zac told him sounding tense.

“Zac alter your flight angle we’re shearing off course,” Sharon told him sounding a lot calmer than Zac did.

“Correcting,” was Zac’s snarky reply.

The trembling increased and the ship jerked and bucked.

“Helm?” Mark asked nervously.

As the words were spoken the ship’s wild antics ceased.

“We’re through!” Zac gasped in relief.

“Helm continue descent.”

“Aye sir correcting course, Nav keep an eye on our trajectory.”

“Go suck an egg,” Sharon replied the relief in her voice clear.

The ship tilted forward as internal gravity fought with planetary. Mark found himself gripping the arms of his seat. A quick glance to the engineering console he noticed Jane doing the same her face a white mask. The ship dipped further as the angle of descent steepened. Mark felt himself slide forward just as he thought the was going to pitch forward the ship levelled out.

“Helm,”

“Levelled out at a thousand metres,” Zac replied sounding tense. “Beginning final approach.”

“Very good helm,” Mark said prising his fingers from the arms of his seat. Jane seated at the engineering console had her eyes closed and was breathing hard.

“Ok Number One?”

Jane opened her eyes a wane smile touched her lips. “And this is why I hate roller-coasters.”

PO suddenly appeared his face as flushed as Jane’s was. “Message from the Chief there’s a hull breach in section three. She’s welding closed as we speak.”

“Very good PO, check on Doc and her patients and report back.”

“Aye sir.”

“Number One,” Mark said to Jane. “Monitor the engines.”

“Yes sir,” Jane said and leaned over the engineering console her hands trembling.

“Helm we have an ETA to landfall yet?”

“Still calculating I’ll need to reduce speed.”

“Do so.” Mark could see Zac struggling to keep the ship at the optimal angle but it was monumental task. The ship had never been designed to land or even breach atmosphere. He tapped a icon on his console and brought up and image on the main viewer. It showed the front of the ship, it was skimming along the surface of the sea or ocean Mark wasn’t sure of what it was. A dark smudge of the horizon told him the land was approaching fast too fast. “Shields to max, engines off!” he yelled the tension rising within. “Forward thrusters at full power!”

Jane obeyed her fingers flying across the console.

The ship bounced across the waves. Each bounce had him gritting his teeth it was going to be close. “Brace for impact!” He shouted as the ship lurched onto the beach pushing a wave of water and debris up the past the high water marks. A sudden jar as the ship came to a halt threw everyone from their seats in a jumble of bodies. The lights went of and there was silence. All that could be heard was the bleep of alarms. The lights flickered on and slowly everyone on the bridge crawled to their feet.

“Everyone ok.” Mark asked. A flurry of nods eased some of the tension he was feeling. “PO check on the crew.” Adding to Jane. “Number One check on the Doc?”

“Aye sir,” they both said and hurried out.

Mark spoke again, “Daisy I want a damage report.”

“Aye sir,” she said with a salute.

“Donaldson I want a full sensor sweep of the area.” Billy Donaldson was the oldest on his crew having served the captain of Orinoco before him. He was like a fixture.

Billy tapped on the sensor console his face bleak. “That’s a negative sir the console’s not functioning.”

Mark tapped an icon on his chair console an image should have appeared on the main viewer it remained blank. “Damn it we’re blind,” he muttered. The situation could not have been any worse all he could do was wait.