Beyond The Stars

Chapter 1

[!]:. /action. SYSTEM. REBOOT

[!]:. /action. VISUAL. ERROR

[!]:. /action. AUDIO. ENABLED

[!]:. /action. TRANSLATOR. ENABLED

"So this is what went down eh? Drones were saying there were two heat signatures earlier, now there's only one."

"Ande maybe the wild claimed one."

"Why would they only take one? Why leave one?"

"Why ask me? I'm not the wild."

<Ruffling, metal clanking and grinding, and footsteps moving>

"Ande! Efan come here! They're still alive!"

"What? After that crash?"

"They're trapped. That might be the wild left them. There's this metal thing crushing their legs."

"Emme it's just a boy. Help me free him; I think the drones are coming back."

<Metal screeches, disorienting the audio>

"-ionu. Can you get them?"

"Eh, legs are a bloody mess though. Reparable but they won't work properly."

"Suppose the King should know about this."

"Eh, but first we ke-"

<Metal screeches>

"Let's go then. Don't want the drones catching up around a Mianal ahem."

<Footsteps retreating, one heavier and more uneven than the other>

<Snuffling, a howl, and then a crunch>

[!]:. /error. BACKUP. BATTERY. TERMINATED

[!]:. /action. SYSTEM. SHUTDOWN

"Is that all? You said this might help but all it does is confuse me. Two heat signatures? The wild claiming one? This makes no sense. Did anyone think that one of the heat signatures came from the engine itself? They heat up." Ma sighs, running a hand through her hair before placing it on my shoulder.

"I've told you before, technology like this isn't allowed. Have you thought that maybe it was one of your crewmembers ande? I've heard that your kind is very resilient." She hums, her English heavily accented to where the a's were soft and wide, the e's light, and r's basically nonexistent. This time I sigh, leaning more on the wooden cane Pa had fixed me after I had woken up three weeks prior in their spare room.

"Not when it comes to crashes like this. I mean look at the door," I huff, knocking my foot against the misshapen piece of scrap that had been the door when the ship worked. The door groaned and collapsed, causing ma to jump. "I won't get my hopes up Ma. I don't think I can handle it." My head finds a place to rest on the destroyed wall next to the now empty door frame, the cool of it helping dull the pulsing headache my leg was causing me. "It's been weeks with no sign of anyone else, and you don't have to tell me that maybe they went off their own way because I already know, and I don't believe it. If they were alive, I wouldn't have been left on your doorstep, which is something else I don't understand. Why leave me? Assuming these are the people who got me, why was I brought to you and left? Why didn't they take care of me? And they were talking about letting the king know, so why bring me to you and not whoever this king is?"

"Ande I'm not sure. Fate has a strange way of working eh?" I open my eyes to take her in again, my eyes staring at the stern, sad smile blessing her oval face that was perfectly framed with her short green hair. I stood up as straight as I could, noting once again the roughly seven inch difference between us. Her thick arms were crossed in front of her chest, the short, dirt covered nails of her left hand drumming again the upper part of her right arm. The ratty overalls she wore were loose and worn over a worn red tank top, the legs tucked into ankle high work boots. Her sun-toned skin glowed eerily in the setting sun, and once more in the three weeks that I've been staying with her I was shocked at how different we were. From a distance, maybe you wouldn't be able to tell any difference, but as soon as you got close enough to see the details, this alien and I were just that.