Beauty and the Beaast

Etaan: New Planet

            Etaan strode onto the bridge, his knees still a little stiff. “Haarkin,” he barked, “what is the meaning of this? Are we under attack?”

            Instantly he regretted his harsh tone as the captain, whose back was too him, stood to his full seven foot height. Vast muscles rippled under the navy blue military jacket, a sure sign the superior officer was annoyed. “Lieutenant Etaan, nice of you to join us.”

            Swallowing down the tightness in his throat, he steeled himself for the tongue lashing that would follow.

            Sure enough, the captain turned around, looked down his broad nose, and said slowly and deliberately, “I would kindly request that when you are in uniform, you address me as captain. As long as our people are under my protection, you are no longer in charge. When we are finally settled on this new planet, then and only then will we talk further about this. Am I understood?”

            The captain had a way of making him feel small and he didn't like that. But what he said was true. “As you will, Captain.”

            Laarz cleared his throat behind him.

            “Yes, Ensign?” he asked to break the awkward tension.

            “Did I hear correctly? Captain, did you say 'this' planet?”

            Etaan's pointed ears perked up.

            The captain blinked his green eyes slowly and tightened his thin lips. “Yes. Apparently the automated pilot has pinged a viable planet.”

            Eyes narrowing, Etaan asked, “How viable?”

            “Within the ninety-seventh percentile.”

            His eyebrows shot up. “Really?” This was too good to be true.

            “Doctor Maatin is waiting to brief you in the war room.”

            The war room was a small room that barely fit the large rectangular table and seventeen chairs. Seventeen lights were set into the ceiling and seventeen symbols marked the walls above the chairs. Seventeen: the perfect number, according to his people. The number was predominant in everything they built, wrote, their religion, and Maathin even claimed that everyone had seventeen lobes in their brain. Although that last one he wasn't so convinced about.

            The graying scientist sat at the far end, his head bowed over the papers before him. His skinny arms poked out of an over-sized lab coat, his fingers bony and long. When he looked up, Etaan was struck by how much older he looked than the last time they had come out of cryo. His greenish-gray blood-shot eyes, crazy hair, and deeply lined face held a hint of madness. And when the man spoke, his voice sounded brittle and strained. “Ah, your highness- you've finally thawed out.”

            At least here was someone who remembered his position. Etaan made a mental note to reward him when they finally were established planet-side. “Doctor, you have something to report?”

            A spark seemed to light up his eyes. “Yes! Have you seen it yet?”

            “No.”

            “Then let me pull it up on the nano.” With a wave of his hand, the old man called up an image in the air- a blue and green planet.

            Etaan waved it toward him and it floated over to spin slowly in front of him. He studied it carefully, mentally calculating the land-mass to water ratio. “How much of this planet is water? And is it potable?”