October 1, 3507
Dear Journal,
My name is Captain Zora Tiberius Abouchar. I am the pilot of the one-man exploratory vessel, Serenity A-16. I’ve crashed on what seems to be a largely uninhabited alien planet while journeying back to the space station Pyravis with my early conclusions regarding the terraforming and colonization of the star system Zeta-3. I am unsure as to what has caused my crash-landing, but most of my written observations of Zeta-3’s flora and fauna have been lost in the wreckage.
I have managed to salvage enough food rations for a few weeks, as well as a rudimentary shelter/survival pack containing tarps, a tent, water purification tablets, inter-planetary currencies, insulating blankets, oxygen supplies, basic first-aid kit, a set of knives, hatchet, fire-starters, and hygiene supplies.
Now, this planet isn’t shown anywhere on my galactic maps and charts, at least the ones I managed to save from the flames. I can only conclude that this is an undiscovered planet, which always perplexed me. How does a man miss an entire planet?
I blame incompetence. It’s entirely possible that if my predecessors and superiors were more proficient in their duties I wouldn’t have crash-landed here.
It’s getting dark, it seems the daylight here only lasts about ten hours instead of twelve. It’s harder to see, but I will write again tomorrow to describe my surroundings.
-Cpt. Z. T. Abouchar
October 2, 3507
I have survived the night, though it was quite cold, and only thanks to my survival kit, extensive training, and genius intelligence that I managed at all. However, I do so wish I had a razor; the men in my family were always known to grow a beard within a day, and I am no exception.
Regardless, I’m sure I’ll manage.
Now, looking around, I’ve noticed these strange tree-like plants that tower over me, appearing to have branches that supported numerous caps, like those on mushrooms. I can tell because looking up, I can see fleshy gills, and hanging from them, some kind of corkscrew-shaped yellow fruits. The trunks are lopsided and bulbous, layered over with weird, flashing green stripes. On the ground, there are more mushroom-esque plants with inverted cups and green, fleshy gills. The earth itself is made of pebbles, but they’re velvety and squishy to the touch, like moss, but softer.
Earlier this morning, I caught a creature eating one of those corkscrew fruits, probably the main primary consumer.
It was colored black with jagged, gray-green stripes and four eyes poking off the top of its head on long, slender stalks. It had four legs that appeared to be used for walking in the fashion of a lizard, but also possessed a pair of slender arms with strange hands, have two opposable thumbs and two fingers between them that it was using to split open the fruit. The face was short and round, ending in a large, curved beak similar to a parrot, one that made a terrible clacking sound as it ate. The last thing I noticed about the creature was the tail, which was long and appeared prehensile, tipped in a rounded, green, glowing bulb.
This same creature, has sought to make itself quite at home in my shelter, and is presently resting up on my shoulders, enforcing the theory that mankind hasn’t yet set foot on this planet.
This creature hasn’t taken an interest in the last of my water supplies, leading me to believe that water is somewhere on this planet, and that this little creature is familiar with it. I will try to find water, and hopefully return to write again at a later date.
October 12, 3507
Dear Journal,
I did find water, something that the the creature described was very excited about. I’ve decided to name this little thing Sylvia, after my dear departed cousin.
Well, not so dear, the poor child was ugly as sin, much like this alien, and died before her appearance improved.
Anyways, the little thing did help me find water, but I found it full of massive green eggs, similar to a frog’s. They’re about 76 centimeters in diameter and feel very much like jelly in a thick, slimy, squishy casing. I shall document their development in a separate journal. I am not sure they are eggs; it may be some kind of strange aquatic plant, but eggs seem more likely due to Sylvia’s reaction to them. She was afraid of them, and refused to go near the water.
Based on this, I can conclude two things.
One, Sylvia is a herbivore, as any predator or omnivore would be overjoyed at the easy meal of eggs.
Two, these eggs are those of the secondary consumer, one that I assume is quite large if I’m to make anything of the eggs’ size.
However, the rest of my observations on the eggs will go in a separate journal. I have gathered water and purified it, found it suitable, and even sweet to drink. I haven’t tasted real water like this in years because water is now manufactured and bottled in laboratories and factories, and it never tastes the same as real water.
Anyways, it’s getting late, and I should go to sleep. Goodnight, I will write again when I have something interesting to report.
-Cpt. Z. T. Abouchar
October 17, 3507
Dear Journal,
Today I went to get water, and I found that the eggs I found earlier were broken. I don’t know if they hatched, were eaten, or if they weren’t truly eggs at all. However, upon returning with the water, I found that my shelter and my supplies had been wrecked and pillaged.
Now I am sure that these were eggs and that they did hatch, heading for the nearest source of food. Without the shelter I am not sure I’ll be able to survive more than a few nights, as the nights here are bitterly cold.
Sylvia persuaded me to try one of the glow-tree fruits and I found it to taste like caramel and the color red. It sounds absurd, I know, but that’s the best way I can describe the corkscrew-shaped yellow fruit. So far I have felt no adverse effects from ingesting it, and if this continues to be the case in the morning, I’ll eat it again, then hunt down the creatures who stole my supplies and see if I might be able to get any back. After that I’ll make some preparations to keep out unwanted intruders.
On second thought, I’ll start those now. Better safe than sorry again.
-Cpt. Z.T. Abouchar
October 18, 3507
Dear Journal,
I don’t know if it’s truly the eighteenth, but if I was to gauge by my hunger and thirst, I can’t have been here for more than a day and a half, so if it’s not the eighteenth, I’m sure you’ll forgive me in light of my present circumstances.
I tracked down the creatures. They were amphibious six-finned creatures with shiny black skin and four eyes. They had clearly been rooting through my supplies as remnants of it still decorated their smooth hide. Each one had different green markings than the one next to it, though four ‘styles’ were quite clearly noticeable.
Some had stockings and blurry fin-stripes, the next had jagged slash-marks on the neck, chest and tail, then others had broad blazes down their backs with spots on their necks, and lastly, there were some with a mix of lengthwise streaks and staggered spots.
I found these creatures cowering at the feet of what I could only assume to be their parents. I believe that it is safe to assume that like frogs, they begin with aquatic origins, then slowly develop to a much larger adult.
The parents weren’t happy with my presence, and used their delicate ‘hands’ to toss me into some kind of pit where I now reside. I have broken one of my ankles and sprained the other. Movement is extremely painful and I have no doubt that exposure will claim me soon if they don’t return to punish me for pursuing their children. I will admit, even as a captain I was trained to accept death, pain, and tortures should I encounter a sophisticated civilization, but I’m still very, very afraid of my captors, and my fate. However, I also accept that I won’t be leaving this planet, not alive, and I can only hope that my journals will be of some use to the next pilot who crashes here.
I will write again tomorrow if I live that long, if not, I hope someone finds my journal before it succumbs to the elements. Just in case I never write here again, good-bye.
Sincerely,
Captain Zora T. Abouchar
