Calculations were always wrong. It had been a mercy mission. The last colony of humans to reach Earth from the darker side of the galaxy. It had taken 24 years for it to reach the Earth's atmosphere, taking onboard the usual flotsam and jetsam that clung to its bow as it broke through the protective shield and kept burning till it hit the land, throwing up soil and rocks creating a deep crater 100 feet wide and several feet deep. It wasn't meant to land for another 2000 years and at best on the least inhabited part of the world yet here they were, the future landing in their own ancestry past.
Jack got the message loud and clear as the scanners went ballistic at a little after 06:30 Wednesday 26th April 2011. It was only a matter of time before the whole world woke up to the news that something meteoric had fallen out of the sky, now people were waiting for the larger asteroid this piece must have been attached to. Astrologers were predicting end of days. Jack saw it only as another piece of space debris falling to earth.
As he raced towards the crash site in the sports car, last vehicle salvageable from the days before he left Earth, the crates in the back of the car, tools of the job, hazard suit and many other instruments to locate life forms of any degree he wondered if this was something from his own past. There had always been talk in the agency about the possibility of the Raygones, a race so remote that only a handful of people in the entire galaxy had ever heard of them. He'd been one of them. As far as races went they were dangerous, but only if you crossed them, for every other time, they'd remained peaceful to the last. But wars always changed people. Wars had a habit of tipping the scales.
He groaned as he saw the familiar camouflage uniforms up ahead of him sealing off the road. He rummaged for his ID and flashed it at the nearest soldier. He smiled sarcastically as he was waved through and parked beside the cordons. Already he could see the smoke rising from the crater and a uniformed bod was running towards him. He recognised him instantly as Brigadier Westford, nothing like Lethbridge, a typical arrogant oik who he detested as much as he detested UNiT. But they were the first line of defence and well if this pod was likely to be hostile it had a good pick of the camouflage to take out first, if nothing else, it bought him time.
Westford saluted, Jack quirked a brow and gave a two finger salute back as he lifted out the equipment he'd need from the back. Ideally he'd have the rest of the team with him. But as ever, the rest of the team were busy on other assignments and he'd wanted to check this out for himself.
"Has there been any activity since you arrived?" He called from the boot as he stepped into his bio-hazard suit. He hated the suit, barely able to breathe inside of it at the best of times but today the heat had rocketed to around the 90's and would likely intensify the closer he got to the crater.
"We've heard a lot of banging coming from inside the meteor, almost as if something is trying to get out."
"Keep your men well back." He sighed. Sometimes he wished he didn't care so much. He held out a case for the Brigadier to carry, Westford turned up his nose at the attache case and signalled for another soldier to come and help.
Steam rose from the crater, the pod hissed, the usual flotsam and jetsam that had arrived with it was now scattered about the deep gorge in the dirt. Jack looked down at it. He was certain there had been an egg farm around here somewhere, but aside from a scattering of white burnt feathers around the tip of the crater and an odd stench of burnt chicken as he pulled on his suit, he saw nothing but the huge hole. Ladders had already been dropped over the side. As much as it was wide, it wasn't that deep. It had slowed itself down as it landed, pushing the dirt up into a massive pile almost in the same way as a child skidding on a long carpet ontop of a polished floor.
Jack took readings with the scanner and fed them into the PDA he held in his left hand. He frowned. He looked up from the unit as he heard the hammering again from inside of the meteor. It sounded metallic and hollow. He glanced back up at the ladder, a quick run and he'd be at the top and taking cover the same as the other soldiers. The hammering stopped. He glanced down at his feet, the loose dirt was shaking. The ground was trembling. He glanced up slowly at the pod.
"Oh this can't be good."
Commander Corvidae had travelled the length and breadth of the galaxy, had taken in the wonderful sights that would behold any traveller, had collected data and samples and was on his way back to Centrus7B9 when the incident happened. It had taken everyone by surprise, calculations against the meteor hitting the side of the ship had been exact down to the last billisecond. They had been heading home to refuel. If they'd moved it would have cost them another three months of fuel that they didn't have. All they could do was brace themselves for impact. But the data was important, as the imminent danger crept towards them, Corvidae planned. By calculations the meteor was already off target and had been knocked by another asteroid on its descent to its next rendezvous. By Corvidae's calculations that meant it was hitting Earth sometime in the year 3579AD.
Corvidae hadn't seen Earth for over a century. He'd taken the mission to seek out new civilisations and to boldly go like all other budding explorers to find life and a safe haven for the human race before the end of days. Sol 3 was always on his mind. He'd heard stories of Earth, history was being made every day and people in power talked about space exploration as the way forward. But after all of his travels, Earth was not as beautiful as Centrus7B9. He'd been away from there a good few years now. He had a family, a home. Out here in this ship he had a crew and a mission, and data to return with. And then Crew Meerling informs them a meteor is heading their way and there's not enough fuel to make a sudden detour. He could have screamed.
The escape plan was simple. Someone would send the data back in the escape pod. That in itself was a four person shuttle pod. They had only one. It was always the way that the captain remained with the ship. He hated how it was always he who drew the short straw. But the data was important. Again by calculations with the data and supplies to be sent back to Centrus7B9 only one person could go in the shuttle. This left a lot of decisions for the crew. Who should go? Corvidae was the only man onboard who had obtained the data, had been out collecting the samples, had negotiated the treaties between warring factions of the Eye of the Crimson Cloud but it fell to a younger less experienced member of the crew to escape in the pod.
Crew Zenya was a young pilot who like his father had flown in several levels of combat over the war torn planets of Aljustixia and Pyracordixial (work in progress and thanks Joe)
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