"I knew it! They don't want us here. As if we really have a choice..." Major Chang sighed and sat on the ground, staring up at the message painted onto the capsule.
"I know we can't go home. We still don't know my true mission, and even if we did, there's no way to get the 'Blue Dragon' running again. Unless...no, without enough information, there's no way to know if it'll work." I'm beginning to formulate an idea.
"If what will work?" He sits up a bit straighter.
"What if we DID go with them?"
"What?? No! We have no idea what they would do to us!! We're nothing but a couple of misfits to them. I told you before, they're not exactly welcoming to outsiders. Look at this capsule! What more proof do you need??" Major Chang throws his hands in the air, his voice getting louder and more exasperated with each sentence.
I stare back at him blankly and wait for him to lose steam.
"Feel better?" I ask when he's finally calm and breathing normally.
"Yeah...a little." He rubs the back of his neck through the thick spacesuit. "But seriously, you must literally have a few screws loose, kid."
I shake my head.
"I know it could be risky, but if my plan works...everyone will get what they want."
"Wait, you have a plan? Already?"
"Sort of, but we'll need a few things first. Do you have any recordings of the natives' conversations that you listened in on?"
"Of course; my radio records everything it picks up. I have years of audio files stored onto my spaceship's computer."
"Good. Then the first thing we have to do is go back there and download those audio files to my system. Maybe you couldn't crack their language, but I think I can."
"THAT'S your plan? We talk to them??" He's getting anxious again, but that's understandable. He's uncertain, perhaps relying on his own experience.
"No," I grin at him. "That's only the beginning."
[[TO BE CONTINUED]]
YOU ARE READING
I Am XIAO: An Inktober Story
Science FictionFirst published on Instagram under the username @leilacreatesthings as a response to Jake Parker's "Inktober" art challenge during October 2019-January 2020. PREMISE: In the year 2520, on the space capsule "Blue Dragon", the sole passenger, a NASA...
