Landing

Miranda Whithers

                As the wails of the sirens drowned out all other sounds and the flash of the warning lights painted everything in sight in a red hue, Miranda scurried her way to the Flight Deck.  She made it there just in the nick of time to hear the Captain shout, “Emergency landing!  NOW!”  The Senior Pilot’s protest was cut short by the Captain’s exclamation, “I said NOW!”  Over the shipwide intercom, the automated female voice could be heard, “Attention: all crew members must find Emergency Seating immediately.  Attention: all crew members must find Emergency Seating immediately.” 

                With the feminine announcement on auto-loop, Miranda lurched her way across the shuddering Flight Deck to an extra Emergency Seat.  Hurriedly buckling the harness, she gripped the arm rests so hard her knuckles paled.  The entire ship began to shake more violently as it entered the atmosphere of the planet.  It hurtled straight for the surface of the planet.  “Level out.  LEVEL OUT!” the Captain screamed at the pilots.  A barrage of commands and responses came from the piloting crew and with a deafening groan, The Ouranoi reluctantly leveled out and finally began to slow its descent.  It seemed like it took forever, but finally, the ship landed with a relatively small crash.  The message over the intercom changed to, “Please remain in your Emergency Seats until your Captain gives you further instructions.  Please remain in your Emergency Seats until you Captain gives you further instructions.” 

                “Cut that damn thing off,” Captain Lange snarled at the Communications Specialist.  Finally there was silence, quickly followed by the wave of murmurs from the other 81 crew members.  “Shut the hell up,” Lange growled over the intercom.  “We’ve landed on Eephalim.  I know we were all headed here, anyway, but this is not the ideal situation.  We do not know if there are hostile life forms on this planet.  All we know is that the air is breathable, which is a damn good thing because, according to our Senior Maintenance Technician, our Oxygen Converter got severely damaged by the asteroids that hit us.  When we open the ship, you may feel slightly light-headed because of the change in exact make-up of the air.  If you think you may pass out, please see a medic.”

                Miranda hastily unbuckled her harness, anxious to be out of this seat.  She headed for the Loading Dock and when she arrived, most of the crew members had already gathered there.  As three of the Maintenance Technicians inspected and worked on the Dock door that had been dented in the asteroid hit, all 25 Soldiers were putting on their gear and readying their guns, just in case.  Finally, the Maintenance Technicians decided that the door could be opened without serious problems; groaning loudly, the massive metal door lowered.