Project New Eden

Chapter 3

Ren stood in the shuttle bay waiting for his team to arrive with the scientist they were escorting to the surface.

The shuttle bay was a massive open room with two huge blast doors separating the people inside from the vast emptiness of space. Four shuttles sat lined up with the doors, waiting to be used to transport colonists to the surface.

More shuttles hung suspended from the ceiling, for a total of sixteen. The shuttles reminded Ren of bullets in shape, bullets with a windshield.

A ding from the end of the bay stirred Ren out of his thoughts of bullet-shaped ships flying around, he looked over at the elevator to see the three he chose walking out followed by a woman he assumed was the scientist.

The woman marched ahead of his team angrily and heading right for Ren. As she stopped in front of him he could tell he was about to get in trouble for something.

"Let's make one thing clear Captain." She began, her tone serious. "I don't want your gun-toting thugs down there, but I have no choice apparently. So do us all a favor, unless your life is flashing before your eyes keep your guns away. We don't need you pissing off anything or anyone that might live down there, am I clear?" She locked eyes with Ren, not intimidated at all by his size.

"I guess we are, my job is to keep you safe however, and if I sense that there is any danger whatsoever to this mission you'll be glad we have our guns out." Ren wasn't backing down, he wasn't going to be told what his job was.

She stormed off towards the shuttle and hopped right in, turning to scowl at Ren.

"This should be a fun day sir!" Henry shouted out, followed by laughs from the team.

"Just get on the damn shuttle," Ren said, shaking his head and hopping on himself.

Everyone got on the shuttle and buckled themselves into the seats running the length of the ship, Ren was seated directly across from the scientist who sat with her arms crossed, giving Ren a dirty look.

"So what's your name miss?" Ren asked her, trying to ease the tension a little bit.

"Katrina."

"I'm Ren, good to meet you, just so you know, it wasn't my call to be going down with you, we are just here to keep you safe."

"Well just don't mess this up for us please." She gave him a sly smile as the shuttles PA system came on.

"Alright guys we are clear for takeoff, so if you two are done your love affair back there we will get this show started." The whole crew laughed, except for Ren and Katrina.

A low rumble shook the whole ship, followed by a loud whine as the engines fired up. Ren felt the sensation of being lifted up, then suddenly he felt like he was being pulled towards the back of the ship. The feeling went away after a few seconds, they were officially out of the Humanity and heading for the planet.

The ships PA system came on once more, "ETA fifteen minutes until entry, enjoy the ride guys."

"So Katrina, anything we should know from a scientists perspective?" Ren asked, wanting to know as much as possible about the mission.

"Well, we know the planet has a heavy atmosphere, it is almost three times bigger than earth. This means your going to have a bit of trouble walking around, you're going to feel like there is a weight pushing down on you the whole time, our muscles are not accustomed to that kind of gravity." Katrina reached up and tapped the helmet hanging above her, "Initial scans show that the air is breathable, put these on until we confirm it is safe though; any number of airborne illnesses could be present down there."

Oh great, my legs are already barely working. Ren thought to himself, not too happy to hear that.

Alaina spoke up from the back, her medical background giving her some insight into Katrina's comment. "So with the atmosphere being so much thicker, what will that mean for creatures we might encounter?"

Katrina smiled, "Well at least we have one smart one on board. It means any life we do find is going to be big, much bigger than anything that earth had. They will be stronger, faster, and deadly."

"Guess there is a good reason we are here then" Patrick piped up, having been quiet the whole time.

"It's a good reason to keep your guns away and not make anything mad, which is why I didn't want gun-toting jerks running around down there." Katrina retorted, making a valid point.

Katrina was the kind of woman that Ren liked, she was determined, smart, and spoke her mind. Ren also found her quite beautiful. Her blue eyes were accented with little bits of green, strawberry-blonde hair coming down to the middle of her back, and he didn't mind the attitude.

Katrina caught Ren staring at her and raised an eyebrow in a very 'can I help you' manner, he quickly looked away, embarrassed he had been caught. Thankfully the tension was broken by a shaking throughout the shuttle.

"Alright entering the atmosphere, hang on to your britches!" The pilot's voice came over the PA system as the shuttle shook more and more violently.

This was the first time any of them had been on a ship entering a planet, and it was a scary ordeal. The ship made groaning noises as it shook, occasional thunks echoing through the hull. The further down they got it seemed like the shaking became more and more violent, Ren was beginning to think the whole ship was going to fly apart.

Ren looked over into the cockpit, Bright flashes of orange and red rushed past the windshield. Instruments on the control panel flashed red, beeping beginning to erupt; The pilot was moving frantically, flipping switches and pressing buttons as fast as he could. Ren's heart raced even faster seeing this, a knot beginning to grow in his stomach.

As it seemed to reach its boiling point, Ren leaned his head back and closed his eyes, sure that this was it for them.