I forgot Earth [Explorer's Universe][Editing in Progress]

Chapter Fourteen: Dreamscape

Chapter Fourteen: Dreamscape

The sun was burning on my back, almost literally. They plains might be open, but that doesn't mean it's cooler. Instead of that, the grass was barren, and the sun shone down all the time. Although we just left the river a quarter ago, everyone was thirsty, and hungry as well. With no canteen or packed food, we'd soon be lost.

"You know... I think I see something there... right there near that hill..." Gregory said, as he observed the vehicle-shaped object reflecting the light of the sun. Connor grabbed his pocket binoculars and zoomed in ot it.

"Just what I thought... an escape pod... but it's not from the Fortune." He said, putting his binoculars down.

"Any chance we might find any supplies in there?" Gregory asked Connor. "Well... every escape pod is equipped with enough food and water for a month, but the food is nothing more then just protein bars... but we can take whatever we can, it might not be so tasty, but it helps us survive here."

The pod was only 5 minutes walking, but it seemed to be severely damaged. Most of the hull was scorched due the re-entry in the atmosphere, and there were a few burned-out gaps in the hull. Gregory used the stock of his gun as a crowbar, and tried to break the door open, but there was not movement in it. Just a few moments later, the door slammed open with a creaking sound, almost flooring Gregory.

"But...how... those doors are made of 14 mm thick plasti-steel, there can't be a way I opened it with..." Gregory curiously looked at Carina, which used a key to open the lock on the hull. "Well, Mr. Muscle, you can take a day off..." Carina joked. Although Gregory didn't seem to be very pleased, the didn't hesitate any longer and climbed into the craft. The light shone trough the windows, as the quite large pod was scorchered from the inside. The consoles were burned, as well most of the equipment on board. Still, some lights were flickering on and off, like it seemed it didn't crash too long ago.

"Well, we can forget what I said, the protein bars are quite well-done now. Anyone?" Connor said while holding a heavily burned box, containing some remains of what used to be protein bars. As I walked trough the vehicle, I noticed the ground being wet, and soon discovered that the whole reserve of water was either evaporated or leaked out of the tank, which looked like swiss cheese by now.

"We can forget about the water as well, it leaked out of the tank." I said while aiming at the tank.

"Ah, crap..." Carina cursed. "What are we gonna do now? I guess that dried grass isn't an option..."

Meanwhile, I saw Gregory pulling out som box out of the control panel, colored bright red. As he broke it open, he grabbed some kind of manual out of it.

"This used to be Escape Pod 06 of the TTCV Stellar Pioneer, a medium-sized transporting ship. Dauntless-class, it seems." Gregory read out.

"Poor guys... happened to be here at the wrong time, and got struck by the bombardment. I guess they didn't survive, as this pod seems to be empty. Carina sighted, jumping out of the craft. I followed her example, and not much later, I stood in a dreamy landscape instead of the dry plains.

"Intetlapaloaya Caranad Soheqyk. We were expecting you."