The Regulator

Chapter 1.5

The ride down wasn't easy. Even though the power of the Abilene's sub-light engines hadn't been effected by the collision that threw them from HD space, and it was reassuring to feel their force pushing her in to the back of her seat, it still seemed to take an eternity before Ierus' golden surface began to fill the flight deck's windows. Finally though, she was able to make out some of the finer detail of it's landscapes and oceans. They were approaching the planet in full daylight. The upper atmosphere was streaked with bright, feathery clouds but there was enough clear sky for Haas to make out the planet's oceans, and several large continents. The landmasses looked not dissimilar to those back home, the mountain ranges, gorges and lakes all had a comforting familiarity to them. The southern hemisphere appeared to be in the midst of a deep winter, with enough snow coverage on land that only the largest mountain peaks and fastest flowing rivers offered any kind of contrast to the dazzling whiteness, but the north was snow free, decorated with blooms of sparse vegetation that coloured the land in shades of green and orange. There was little indication from the air of the terrible disease that had ravaged the planet, and little sign of large scale habitation either, but from their approach altitude of four hundred kilometers perhaps there wouldn't be. It had been fifteen years since Haas had flown through Pavonian space. She'd been a rookie back then, and in the intervening years everything had changed. The native citizenry of Ierus had numbered fewer than two billion before the Pavonovirus, on a planet the size of Earth. How many were now left, it was impossible to know. The plague had devastated the native population and forced their Circinian rulers in to a hasty retreat.

Nevertheless, she instructed Louie to aim for the largest city they had records for, in the most temperate zone, where the air would be warm and she would be less likely to need her full environmental suit. The course correction added a few extra, agonising minutes to their descent. Haas tried not to think about it, to keep her heart rate down and her breathing steady, but by the time they hit the upper atmosphere she had already exhausted her own emergency air tank and had switched to the co-pilot's supply. It was dwindling rapidly

"First available spot you've got Louie." She yelled in to her face mask. The turbulence of entry was starting to cause the Abilene to buck and shake in new and terrifying ways. Hanging on to her seat with her one functioning hand, her body had become drenched with the sweat of exertion, and she could feel the bruises rising on her hips as she was thrown hard against the unpadded arm rests. Much more of this and she might not make it, even if the Abilene did.

"There is a suitable area about five hundred kilometers straight ahead, Commander." Louis responded. "But we're coming up on the terminator. That means it will be dark by the time we land."

"Well, we were never going to get it all our own way." Haas replied. "Let's just get us on the ground before this tank empties."

In fact the air tank did run dry before the Abilene's landing skids made contact with the ground. When exactly that occurred she couldn't be sure. She'd used her last lungful of air to order Louie to disengage the mag-shields and open all the bulkheads, including the one that had sealed off the flight deck. Their altitude was low enough by then that the air streaming in through their compromised hull would be breathable. The AI had protested that without the shields, the damage to the ship could cause catastrophic turbulence. The Abilene could be torn apart. In response Haas had sworn, pulled off her face mask, and passed out on the flight controls.

When she came round the Abilene was silent and still and wonderfully, miraculously intact. There was a cool breeze blowing on the back of her neck and the air carried the scent of rain, spring leaves and wet earth. She'd never been more glad of bad weather in her life.

"Louie?" She coughed, pushing herself upright. The pain in her wounded right shoulder made an unwelcome return and something warm and sticky was trickling down her cheek.