Beyond the End of the World, Lokians 1

Chapter 1

O'Hara sat in crew quarters, little more than rows of beds, tables, chairs, and lockers utilized by eighteen military occupants, which included O'Hara. There were also ten scientists aboard the Phoenix—a mixture of geologists, engineers, climatologists, and biologists—and additional ship hands contracted by the Navy. Of the soldiers, O'Hara found the ship's pilot, Sara Day, the more pleasant for conversation.

"Excited? This is our big break, Captain," Day said, beaming.

She was short and fair. Her light skin blended perfectly with her flowing, blonde hair, and glimmering, green eyes. O'Hara smiled back, looking her over; she was a young, pretty Lieutenant at twenty one years of age.

"Bursting at the seams, Day. I still find it hard to believe Admiral Lay put me in charge instead of Rear Admiral Shaw," the captain replied as he furrowed his brow.

He was rather tall, and of a darker complexion, older, twenty four, and though he lacked real world experience, his intelligence and determination shone through almond colored eyes.

"I heard he's assisting Lay with the next step," she remarked.

"Colonizing a planet...we're really doing something here."

"Yeah, I can't believe they think we're ready to do this," Day sighed.

"First thing's first, we need to determine the cause of those magnetic disturbances."

"Swain's working on it?"

"Yeah. Logically, it's some sort of magnetized metal deposit, but there's always the risk of radiation. There's just as much we don't know about Eon as we do know...."

A voice came over the Phoenix's intercom. The Automated Monitoring System, or AMS as it was commonly known, stated in a robotic voice that entry into Eon's atmosphere was taking place in two hours.

"Better hit the chair, Miss Day," O'Hara smiled.

They stood. She saluted, he returned it then she ran to the bridge. It was not uncommon for a ship to have such a young pilot. All colonial children were enrolled in military schools, receiving the best of education. Once they excelled in a certain area, they were trained specifically for that field. Day was no exception. She also had the added comfort of the AMS assisting with small calibrations. At the bridge, she sat in the helmsman's chair.

The Phoenix's bridge was a cold, steel structure. The only decoration in the room was the burgundy carpeted floor. From the suede chair, Day checked the screens mounted in the console before her. She looked at the large monitor displaying their surroundings.

A tri-sectional screen calibrated to three cameras revealed a 180 degree perspective of the ship's environment. A fourth camera revealed the vessel's six, but the bridge officers marveled at the beauty of the purple and green sphere on display. Day smiled to herself before brushing a few strands of blonde hair from her face as she double checked the landing coordinates. Everything was in order, so she took manual control.

Maneuvering the Phoenix under atmospheric pressure was simple, especially since a location had already been programmed into the AMS. It was set to land about three miles away from a dig site. Any closer and the ship ran the risk of damage by magnetic interference, the same interference Swain was studying. While the Phoenix had its own anti-magnetic field generator, O'Hara preferred playing it safe, ordering a three mile trip from the site.

He was anxious to set foot on the surface and lead the scientists to the dig. It wasn't simply O'Hara's first serious mission, it was the first time his feet were to grace genuine soil, and that was something he wanted to enjoy to its fullest. He and the others were suiting up in crew quarters as Lieutenant Commander Albert Swain walked by. He was their premier, tech expert.