Beech Wood Embers

  YEAR: 52028 HE SHIP: Matriark II, Super-Frigate Exploration class SUPERVISORY COMPUTER SYSTEM: Hahaoya X80 (HX80) LOCATION: Ship’s Conference Room   MEETING TRANSCRIPT IN ATTENDANCE: PRIME-CAPTAIN LARKINA, SUB-CAPTAIN ORTNER, SUB-CAPTAIN PINES, PROF GRUBER ZOOLOGY DEPT, PROF HARDERK AGRICULTURAL DEPT        LARK: By now, everyone present should be aware of the discovery in the gulch. We are not alone. There are humanoids upon this planet. They may or may not pose a threat to our operations. But we must assume the worst from here on. I ask for your thoughts on how to proceed, baring in mind the need to cultivate a successful food supply within the year.      ORT: We have to treat this as a hostile land from here on. No one should venture off without a twenty strong protective unit. We should increase the radius of the drone scans around the site of the footprints, and, we must build defences around the farms. I suggest watch towers...

YEAR: 52028 HE SHIP: Matriark II, Super-Frigate Exploration class CHRONICLER: Markus Hadey LOCATION: Matriark II Landing zone, Hahao.   DAY ONE HAHAO EXPLORATION CHRONICLE Sub-Captain Ortner, a five-strong armed protection unit, the professors, and I, stepped onto the virgin earth of the newly named Hahao. The air is as breathable as Earth, with a near identical mix of Nitrogen, Oxygen, Carbon, and Argon. Regulations stipulate: full Purple Hazmat protection gear must be worn until virology can confirm there are no hidden alien viruses in the surround. There is a hot dusty breeze in the air. Luckily, the Hazmat suit has air-conditioning.      The Matriark II lies on her side like a downed skyscraper made of black steel. The thrusters are out of action as they were designed to absorb the impact upon landing. The rest of the ship is functional and will be running green within the week. The antiquated nuclear power-cells will be stored for future use. ...

  YEAR: 52028 HE SHIP: Matriark II, Super-Frigate Exploration class SUPERVISORY COMPUTER SYSTEM: Hahaoya X80 (HX80) LOCATION: Ship’s Conference Room MEETING TRANSCRIPT IN ATTENDANCE: PRIME-CAPTAIN LARKINA, SUB-CAPTAIN ORTNER, SUB-CAPTAIN PINES, PROF SWARTZ ECOLOLGY DEPT, PROF WELLANDI GEOLOGY, PROF GRUBER ZOOLOGY, PROF RAINE ARCHITECTURE, PROF FLATTOR EMBRYOLOGY, CHRONICLER HADEY        LARK: I’ve called you here to discuss the naming of the planet we sit upon. As you know, we are a week away from our first off-ship exploration mission. It's time we gave it a name. We can’t keep calling it New Planet. I can see from your expressions that the name of the planet may not be the first of your priorities. But when this meeting is over my office is open for one-to-one sessions. If we can stick to the naming of the planet in this meeting we can move on to more important issues. The floor is open for suggestions.       ECO: Tha...

  YEAR: 52028 HE SHIP: Matriark II, Super-Frigate Exploration class SUPERVISORY COMPUTER SYSTEM: Hahaoya X80 (HX80) LOCATION: Psychology Suite, Ship’s infirmary   Cryo-Dream Analysis Transcript      HX80: Welcome Captain, how are you feeling?      LARK: Diagnostics have come back normal but I have an unshakable anxiety about the mission ahead. It’s good we are ship-bound until the drones complete the safety scans. Loosing the crew to a planetary hazard is a heavy burden.      HX80: It’s good you have agreed to discuss your cryo-dream analysis. We will find a resolution to the anxiety if we can, if no resolution presents itself, the procedure is therapeutic by default. Sub-Captain Ortner has declined my offer.      LARK: Is it mandatory?      HX80: No, but it is highly recommended. Its main function is to ensure the mental stability of the crew.      LARK: I w...

  YEAR: 52028 HE SHIP: Matriark II, Super-Frigate Exploration class SUPERVISORY COMPUTER SYSTEM: Hahaoya X80 (HX80) LOCATION: Cock-pit Defrosting Chamber   HX80: Good morning Sub-Captain Ortner. Physical diagnostics found no post-frost irregularities. The psychological evaluation is pending. How are you feeling?      ORT: Stiff. How long was I asleep?      HX80: Fourth thousand nine-hundred ninety-nine years, seven months, twelve days.      ORT: Not long then. Why is it so dark in here? I am supposed to be under UVB to ease skin atrophy.      HX80: We are running on emergency power.      ORT: Who authorised that?      HX80: I did.      ORT: Do we have a problem?      HX80: One of the hull absorbers malfunctioned. With no guard against debris, an unidentified piece of space dust bored into the primary turbine. We lost ha...

  After the peaches and cream had been gobbled, the clank of cutlery started. Dinner was over. I left the table. I took my bowl to the kitchen while my Grandma started clearing the mess. My granddad got up without carrying his bowl to the kitchen and snuck off to watch the news. Outside the clouds had left the sky. A hot breeze rattled the sun-baked leaves. My father decided to take a walk down the hill to the fields. I went with him. The cloudless sky made me anxious. With no clouds to reassure me it felt as if we were isolated on a tiny piece of the world cut off from everyone else. We walked down the hill past all the other bungalows. We peered at their front gardens, judging them with scores out-of-ten. At the bottom we turned onto the farm track. Two strips of pebbled concrete ran into the shadow tunnel of trees. The track had been there for decades. The farmers and their sons and wives and daughters had driven cattle along that same half-mile stretch for centuries. I didn’t...