Cadet Paul Kon'o sat in the shuttle's co-pilot seat, staring out at the star field with a faint grin on his face. This was what he had joined the AstroCorps for. Brown haired with blue eyes, he was a third grade Cadet, wearing the dark blue fatigues and beret of the Navigators. Right now, they were flying a training mission through the upper atmosphere of Travon, an uninhabited planet on the edge of Territorial Space. After weeks stuck at the AC Academy, it was great to see space again.
'Don't get distracted, Cadet.' Lieutenant Dennoc admonished from behind him and Paul glanced over his shoulder, a chagrined expression on his face.
'Yes, sir.' He said, contritely, and Dennoc's expression softened.
'But, it is spectacular.' He said and Paul's smile returned.
'Yes, sir. It is.' Paul said, glancing left at Cadet Andrea Simha in the pilot's seat, her platinum blonde hair complementing the green uniform of the Engineering Corps. He hadn't seen her smile once since she took her post, her eyes never having left her instruments and her lips set into a thin frown of concentration. He was about to speak to her, when an alarm sounded from his console, harsh and urgent.
'Report.' Dennoc said, leaning forward.
'Malfunction in number two engine, sir.' Paul said, his hands flying over the controls.
'Shut it down.' Dennoc ordered. 'Transfer power to number one engine.'
'Negative, sir. Number 2 has failed. Main power is compromised.' He said, as he felt the shuttle start to drop.
'I can't maintain our altitude.' Andrea reported, wrestling with the controls. 'Estimated hard landing in 30 seconds.'
'Crash procedure!' Dennoc yelled, transferring the flight controls to his station. 'Cadet Kon'o, secure the rear section immediately.'
'Sir, I can't leave...'
'You have your orders, Cadet!' Dennoc said, his voice cracking like a whip.
'Yes, sir.' Paul said, he and Andrea scrambling into the rear compartment and sealing the hatch behind them.
'Crash procedure!' Paul yelled, flinging himself towards the nearest seat and strapping himself in, seconds before the shuttle crashed.
Paul came to lying on the floor of the rear compartment, wincing at the light that was being shined in his eyes.
'He's coming round.' A voice said, and the light shut off. Paul could make out a figure kneeling over him, dressing in the white uniform of a medical cadet. He tried to rise and pain pounded in his head, two hands pressing on his shoulders.
'I don't think you shouldn't move,' said the voice, which he recognised as Jamie Renndon.
'I don't think we have much choice.' He said. 'Help me up.'
Jamie hesitated for a second, before putting one arm under his shoulder and helping him to his feet, Paul closing his eyes until the world stopped spinning.
'Ah...I'm okay. Is everyone else alright?' He managed and Jamie nodded, gesturing to where Andrea was sitting next to Sarah Nonesva, who wore the purple of Zero-G Operations, both young women appearing unhurt.
'Alright. We need to get of here.' He said. 'Jamie, get together whatever medical supplies you can. Sarah, grab the survival kit. Andrea, let's see about getting this hatch open.'
Stepping away from Jamie, Paul steadied himself on the bulkhead, activating the door control. When nothing happened, he tried again, with the same result.
'We're trapped.' Jamie said. 'Now what do we do?'
'Stop panicking, for a start!' Andrea snapped, opening up her engineering kit. 'There's a lot of redundancies in these systems.' She busied herself for a minute, quickly plugging in a small power cell and the door opened with a faint whine.
'Come on.' Paul said, quickly leading the others outside, gravel crunching under his feet. They were standing in crater, at the end of a long gash that had been torn in the ground, testament to the shuttle's crash landing, with the remains of the shuttle at the end of it. While the main compartment had survived intact, the same could not be said of the cockpit, the canopy having been shattered by the impact. And, inside, they could see a figure slumped in the command seat.
Lieutenant Dennoc!
Paul sprinted towards the cockpit, with the rest following him, and he scrambled up onto the fuselage, looking into the lifeless eyes of the Lieutenant.
'Jamie.' He said, flatly, and the medic pulled himself up beside him, reaching out to feel for a pulse on his neck, shaking his head sadly. He closed Dennoc's eyes, with a detachment that suggested he'd done that before and pulled his ID off his uniform, wordlessly handing it to Paul. Paul stared at it mutely as Jamie slid back down to join the others, before clasping it in his hand and followed him.
'Lieutenant Dennoc's dead.' He said, walking away to sit down on a nearby rock, putting his head in his hands.
What are we going to do, now?
He looked up as Sarah walked past him and entered the cockpit section through the emergency hatch, returning with a second survival case and dumping it down on the floor at his feet, strapping the other one on her back.
'We need to get moving.' She said. 'There are some caves about a kilometre away that will give us some shelter.'
When Paul didn't move, she grabbed his collar and hauled him to his feet.
'We need to move.' She repeated. 'I don't know when night falls around here, but I don't want to be out here when it does. Now, put that pack on.'
'Why?' Paul snarled, twisting out of her grip. 'What does it matter?'
'It matters because we will need it. And you are the only one without anything to carry.' She said, gesturing to Jamie's medical case and Andrea's engineering kit.
'Fine.' Paul said, pulling the pack on and she turned away, heading towards the caves, with the others following her. With one last look back at the crash site, Paul slipped Dennoc's ID into his pocket and set off after them.
