The Beginning of a New Race: Prologue
Story by Sparky137 on SoFurry
This is my first work, and I really would love to do more writing for this site. Sorry for the shortness, but first things first, I have to know if anyone out there wants to see more of this.
The Beginning of a New Race:
Prologue
A ship burst through the blazing white clouds and immediately turned on its landing thrusters. The landing gear hadn’t been used since the ship had been made, so it was a small miracle that the giant engines swiveled down into the correct place without getting stuck somewhere on the ship’s abused metal hull. The sunlight glinted off the pockmarked titanium that covered the ship as it slowly proceeded to make a landing on an unknown landscape, one that had only been seen through a very high powered telescope before.
The pilot wrestled with the old controls as he tried to make a smooth landing among the heavily wooded landscape, cursing through the entire process. He had not been taught how to land; he had only read how to do it almost every night before he went to sleep.
The ship had gone through six pilots, and each pilot was taught on the fly, no pun intended. Everyone on board was actually not the same people that had been on it to begin with, but ancestors of the original crew. The ship had lifted off from Earth five-hundred and seventy-six years ago, sent to find a new place among the stars for humanity. Earth had been dying, and the only hope for humanity to survive was to send this ship out.
The ship only had four areas on it, being that the ship it was based off of was for casual space travel, not anything extraordinary. The areas were made to last, not to look good, which really means that even though the ship had been humanities last effort to preserve itself, not a lot of money could be found to fund the project.
There was the pilot’s station, where the vessel was flown from. This room was quite small, only made for two people to be in it at a time, but being that there was only one pilot, it was not as bad as it looked. The room had a wide front window, bullet proof and all. The control panel sat at the front of the room with thousands of blinking lights and dull switches, but it also had screens so that the pilot could look over the ship from time to time. The seats were small, and they didn’t have armrests, which outraged every pilot that had to use them.
Right after the pilot’s station there was the passenger compartment, complete with one-hundred seats, with only seven of them empty. They were the exact same seats as the ones in the pilot’s station, again leaving a foul taste in every passenger’s mouth. There were a few windows scattered throughout the room, bullet proof again. Besides the seats and windows there was nothing else in the room besides a few emergency supplies, such as first aid and a defibrillator.
Situated on the outsides of the seating compartment on the left and right sides were the bedrooms, all with the same amount of space in each room. There was a single king sized bed in each one, along with a wooden dresser right beside them. In the room was also a very tiny bathroom that only contained a toilet and sink. The showers were all in one big public bathroom, being that there was no room for a shower in each room.
On the very end of the ship there was a large storage area, holding a small garden that had run out of water and plants a long time ago. There were also large boxes of food and a few cattle, believe it or not. The human race had also decided that there was no way they were going to let their domestic companions die too, so they had brought along a few different breeds of dogs and cats that had been cryogenically frozen in pods and would be taken out from them when they arrived. They even brought along a few foxes because the first pilot would not go unless there were foxes aboard.
Everyone aboard held their breath as the ground came nearer, the pilot still struggling to control the ship. He had found the spot he wanted to land, but now he just had to get there. It was a simple thought in his head, but a very complex process in the real world. His altitude was dropping fast, and they did not have much fuel left, so there was not going to be enough thrust to slow it down all the way. He peeled his left hand of the controls and yelled into the intercom, “Prepare for a hard landing!”
All the passengers latched onto their seats and buckled up as tight as they could, glancing at one another in the last few moments before impact. They had been around each other for their entire lives. The passengers had grown so close to each other that they considered themselves one big family.
This one moment on the trip had been waiting for five-hundred and seventy-six years to happen. This trip had passed the responsibility of preserving the human race down for generations, each new group ready to do whatever they had to do to ensure that Earth would not be the final resting place for all of humanity. In this one moment it could be all for naught, if the pilot could not make the landing. All the people that had devoted their entire lives to this cause would be forgotten. Humanity would be forgotten.
All this started to rack up in the pilot’s head, making him sweat so profusely that he had to wonder how the controls had not shorted out by now. He was now skimming the trees, singeing the tops of them as he blew by. The ship was going thirty miles per hour, and the thrusters were in the backwards position. There was too much weight for the engines to stop. The pilot then saw something and without thinking changed course. Instead of landing on the ground, he was going to land in a lake, and a rather large one at that.
In the passenger room, kids had started to cry, adding to the panic of the situation. A few people started to wonder over to the windows, wanting to know what was going on. Some people simply feinted in their seats, not being able to withstand the mental toll that this trip had taken from them. Others were trying to help by quieting the kids or calming down older people that just could not handle the situation they were in.
The ships ancient computer started to finally realize the situation it was in, and started up an alarm throughout the ship.
“Impact imminent. All passengers are to sit down in their designated seats and strap on the buckles.”
The pilot winced as more commotion erupted from the passenger room as the kids that had begun to quiet down started screaming once again. The pilot strapped himself in with his right hand and pulled back as hard as he could on the controls with his left. The ship’s computer kicked back in again.
“Prepare for impact in 10.”
The pilot put everything he had into the engines in a last ditch effort to fix the landing.
“9”
Everyone in the passenger room started to say their goodbyes to each other, not knowing if they’ll ever see anyone again.
“8”
The pilot started to yell, putting all his strength into pulling the ship into correct landing formation.
“7”
The passenger room started to get quiet as they heard the pilot screaming, and some wondered if they should try to help in some way. The idea quickly died out as they realized they physically could not get out of their seats due to the amount of G’s that were currently holding them down.
“6”
Kids hugged their mothers and fathers, knowing that the situation probably wasn’t going to end well.
“5”
The ship began to rattle and jerk violently as it came close to the ground, shaking all the passengers into terror at the situation unfolding before them that they could not influence in any way. The ground was now only 40 feet away.
“4”
The pilot, who was still screaming, felt as if he was making some progress with the controls. He readied himself and gave another heave, almost fainting as a deafening crack resounded throughout the ship.
“3”
Immediately more screaming and crying came from the passenger’s room, even a few adults had joined in with the children, not being able to control their emotions any longer.
“2”
The pilot looked down at his hands, now holding the broken yoke of the ship. He had no control over the ship anymore.
“1”
The pilot dropped the yoke, and began to think about all the people on his ship. He loved them all, yet he had failed to keep them safe.
The computer said one single word without any emotion or caring for the people aboard the ship.
“Impact”