One Word Short

Salvage

“I am currently landing on Planet F-897, ready for the archeological salvaging mission. Should I go out immediately?” Callista said into the intercom, directing the solo ship onto a safe space to land off the wreckage which almost completely covered the planet. It buzzed and crackled in return, leaving her no hope that her crew on the main ship had even received the message, but from what she could see of the planet, it wasn’t immediately dangerous. F-897 was greener than she originally would think, a strange vine-like plant seemed to hold the surface of the planet tightly in its grasp, but only seemed to be growing near the parts of rubble from the society which once was there before. From her scanners, she detected the vines from miles and miles away, as far as the scanners could sense, that is.

The Captain had said that there was no sign of life on this planet.

She shook it off as the records not being updated in the recent millenia, as none even dared go near this planet in case they encountered what had killed the previous inhabitants. Seemed it would be worth it to take a sample of the plants, see if the scientists back home would be interested in studying it, she thought to herself as she picked an open clearing and slowly directed her ship towards it. Carefully… Carefully... She braced herself for any surprise attacks from… Whatever had killed the aliens before. It wouldn’t do to get killed five seconds in-

She landed with a bump. Nothing immediately jumped out to attack. ...Nothing happened a few seconds later, either. Nothing coming up on the scanners except for the vines laying limp over the wreckage a few metres away. She cleared her throat and spoke into the intercom again.

“I have landed on Planet F-897. Should I go out immediately?”

The buzz and crackles echoed around the ship. Still nothing came from it. A burst of annoyance shot through Callista. It was just the right time for the connection to be cut, wasn’t it? She definitely wasn’t going to just be waiting around for however many hours days just for someone to say she should go anyway. There was nothing for it, she’d just have to get on with the mission. Without another thought, she suited up, making sure her oxygen tank was full, and that she had plenty of supplies for the collection of samples, and opened the door to F-897.

She raised her hand to shield her eyes. It was bright, much more contrasting than she originally thought, and the star near to the planet burned hotter than the Mediterranean sun. She silently thanked the cooling abilities of her suit, but she still had to blink a few times before her eyes adjusted to the pure contrast of the black rubble against the bright green vines. Again, there was no sign of any big, dangerous animal, or some superior lifeform which could’ve eradicated the population of the planet. It was both suspicious and relieving.

Right, to work.

She wormed her way through the expanse of wreckage, looking for an ideal vine to sample. She was looking for a strong-looking one, one that seemed in prime condition, the greenest of green. Upon closer inspection, the vines seemed to have its seeds contained in hanging pods which branched off the original stem and hung adjacent to the stem, almost like thorns on a rose. It was a strange vine indeed, Callista mused as she continued her search for the best one.

One vine caught her eye, and she didn’t waste time going to take a closer look.

The vine in question was thicker and brighter than the others, and the pods were larger. It was definitely the most healthiest of the vines, and most fit for sampling. Callista reached out and grasped the vine, taking out a pair of tweezers ready to get a sample and-

A loud explosion rocked the planet, and she was thrown back onto the hard ground as the seeds from the plant sprayed everywhere. Her ears rang, her head spun and she could only acutely hear more explosions going on in the background. Like a chain reaction.

It was a chain reaction. This planet was… Oh no, oh no.

She forced herself to sit up, to stand up and stagger in the general direction of her ship, although the world spun around her, although her suit was damaged and the sun burned against her skin, although her sight was blurry and a mesh of black and green.... Faster, she’d have to go faster. Her ankles kept catching on vines disrupted by the explosions, and she forced herself to run, to try outrun the blasts and bangs that was slowly surrounding her.

A flying piece of debris flew against her side and she stumbled to the side a metre, but then she caught sight of her ship- red and yellow against the green and black, and for a moment she considered that she might be hallucinating, a moment of desperation manifesting into her sight, but then an explosion pushing sharply on her back launched her face first into it. She ran her fingers over it, confirming that it was solid, that it was really was what she thought it was, and swung around into the ship.

“I’m abandoning mission.” She said into the intercom, and didn’t even care when all that responded was buzzing.

Even with all the chaos outside, the ship rose as smoothly as always and shot into the atmosphere, leaving the deadly, exploding vines behind. She relaxed back into her seat and let out a shuddery sigh. She’d have to update the records once she returned to the mothership. Warn others against going there without proper precautions. Get a team there to investigate the vines… But for now, she drank in the giddy feeling of being alive.

When she finally emerged out of her ship, having safely reconnected with the mothership, she found her captain standing nearby, with a hand behind his back. As if he had been waiting for her. She saluted. “Captain, I have returned, and I would advise you send nobody else onto F-879 for a while.”

He eyed her thoughtfully. “Is that so?”

“Yes. Did you not see the explosions? It’s dangerous, there are vines which explode and-”

He waved his free hand dismissively and Callista shut up. “I did. I assumed you were dead.” His hand reached to his belt and he grabbed his radio, lifting it slowly to his lips. His eyes bore into her.

“The assassination attempt failed. She is still alive.”

The radio buzzed, and crackled, and then an unfamiliar, growling voice emerged from it. “Commence with Operation 7-21-14.”

Callista found herself staring at end of a gun pointing right at her chest. Her captain’s mouth upturned into a Cheshire smile as he spoke gleefully into the radio once more.

“Yes, Commander!”