Starhoppers

13 - One With the Sea

My face remained buried within my palms as Ezra paced anxiously around the room. Ralph laid Isaac's unmoving body down upon a nearby bench as the man in the suit peered out into the forest through the doorway, an angry wet shriek echoing from somewhere deep in the forest.

"What the fuck is going on?" Ezra spat. "What are those things?"

"Are we safe here?" Ralph asked the man.

"They've never come closer than they are now to this shack," he replied, gesturing towards a lit torch on a post outside as another creature shrieked. "They don't like the fire."

The man sighed, unlatching his helmet with his free hand as he waved the torch outside with the other. After a moment, he inserted the torch into a slot hanging on the outer wall of the rickety shack before stepping fully inside. "You folks better get comfortable. We won't be going anywhere for a while."

Ellie sat beside me, holding her face with her own hands as the man removed his helmet, revealing a skinny wrinkled face surrounded by a thick curly white beard. The hair on the man's head was just as white, his bright blue eyes calm as he stepped towards us. "My name is Robert Albright. It's nice to meet you all."

"This is unreal..." Ralph murmured.

"I never imagined I'd live to see the day," he whispered, peering behind of us. "And you folks almost didn't. You're lucky Calpurnia found me when she did."

"Calpurnia...?" I repeated, following the man's gaze as the alien approached. Albright extended his arms as the alien leaned forwards, pulling the man into a tight embrace.

"It's good to see you again, old friend," the man murmured quietly, glancing towards us suspiciously. "Who are you people? What are you doing here?"

"We..." I stammered, turning towards the others for support. "We're Starhoppers. We were hired to chart this system."

Albright nodded slowly, nearly stumbling as he stepped back to get a better look at us. "Right. So this isn't a rescue mission, then?"

I paused for a moment before speaking. "No, it wasn't... at least, not originally."

Albright nodded, glancing sadly up at the alien. "Well, perhaps that's for the best, then."

"What do you mean?" Ezra asked, frowning.

"Hey... our captain here is hurt real bad," Ralph cut in, stepping forwards. "I don't suppose you could help?"

"I'll see what I can do," Albright said, grunting as he dropped to his knees beside a rectangular stack of rocks by the door. He slid a makeshift covering of branches off from the top of it, reaching inside. "He seems to be in pretty bad shape."

"What's in the box?" I asked cautiously.

"My old service droid," Albright said, lifting a small metallic device from within the box. "He has many specialized proficiencies... medicine is one of them."

"I know the kinds," Ezra nodded, glancing over at me. "They were used a lot more often back in the day, when AI like Serena didn't exist commercially yet."

Albright gazed curiously at us as he pressed a button on the device, two small red lights blinking on its spherical body. The droid pushed itself quickly up onto its six legs, chittering quietly as it glanced up at Albright.

Ralph chuckled quietly. "Huh... I forgot how cute those things are."

"Bit here will take care of your captain," Albright sighed, brushing off his palms as he stared down at the droid. "He'll stabilize him and assess the damage before I take a proper look at him."