Future Fur-A Hero Rises

Chapter 5 Voyage of the Damned (Unrevised)

     We left Aden one month ago, and now I sat at a lightly decorated table of black marble; the strategic observation lounge was my chosen place to hold meetings with my command staff. The oval table had room for eight chairs, but only seven chairs were needed. There was a seat for every sections chief and their second in command, and Zane had chosen to sit in the chair reserved for security chief so the chair for the second in command had been removed. Collin sat directly across from Zane and beside Rehana who was the chief engineers assistant. Jack Xalther was a short tabby with a temper to match, but the young man was without a doubt the best chief engineer in the fleet. Ves Nerfel was seated at the end of the table across from Dr. Erin Guis the ships dragon medical officer. On earth the time had just reached nine a.m., and everyone was reviewing Argos's camp layout plans for the first two nights on the planet we were now calling Dexet four; "Argos has finalized the camp arrangements, the first camp will only have twenty four people in it. Dr. Eron from our current information are there any medical concerns on your end".

     Dr. Eron's voice was soft but stern, "there is a possibility of crew members having an allergic reaction to any number of things down there, so I recommend at least one person from my medical staff go down to administer the proper treatment upon necessity; other than that I have no concerns".

     I looked directly at Zane and spoke again, "any concerns commander, I am aware that this planet is not habited by anyone capable of using the wheel but there is a planet of life down there and who knows what we will find".

     Zane's voice was light and honest, "From what we know a pulse pistol with power in between the power output percentage of ten to two percent will stun or scare of anything we encounter".

     I began to wrap up the meeting after this point because all of my questions had been answered, "anyone else need to add anything before we each see to the final preparations". I waited almost another minute before speaking again, "This meeting is over, I will have Argos transmit the list of crew men that are going in five minutes".

                                                                                                    ***

     The shuttle bay on the Explorer was rampant with motion until just minutes before the first shuttle left. The crew shuttle Kestal was perfect for what we were doing today, I could feel the Kestal slip through the atmosphere of Dexet; somehow I felt free, and I could no push the feeling aside. I sat by the hatch that would be used to leave the shuttle, across from me sat Collin. Normally he would be working at this time of day, but today he was reading the book "Dark before dawn"; continuing to look in that directions saw Zane close his eyes and lean against Collin's shoulder, almost a minute later Collin moved his arm and pulled Zane closer. The shuttle started lurching every few seconds, "This is pilot Kandor Kev, we are experiencing slight turbulence everything is fine, I estimate our landing in ten minutes please excuse the bumpy ride". Kandor was a young Sergal who specialized in small craft piloting, and his kind nature defined him well.

     The shuttle landed almost exactly ten minutes latter, everyone started to grab the bags they had brought with them. I could feel the moisture in the atmosphere as the airlock started to open, somewhere along our journey I forgot why I wanted to travel through space; even the warmth from the planets star made me wish I could stay, I welcomed the next two days as if I had lived on a starship my entire life. "Let's get the camp set up then", I said so only Zane, Rehana, and Collin could hear me.