by Ethan Bibile
Quinn continued observing the destruction, questioning if he would be able to fix it. He certainly knew that he had skills in mechanics and engineering, but he didn’t know if he was good enough to fix this.
“Morgan,” Quinn said as he stood up. “You alright?”
No response followed his question.
“Morgan?” Quinn asked again, yet his question yielded the exact same results as before. Running a hand through his already messy hair, Quinn sighed, before pulling open the cockpit door (Which took a moment, as it had been jammed) and going down the staircase. He emerged into the lounge room, which was no longer a nicely furnished room. Chairs, couches, tables, bookcases, electronics, simply everything had been destroyed. Somethings lay in pieces, littering the carpet. Quinn looked around, biting his lip. So many memories from this singular room. And now, everything was destroyed.
Quinn made his way around to the back of the staircase, making his way through the rubble of the room. He carefully made his way to the corridor at the back, leaving the carpeted room behind for the metal halls.
The blue lights that usually lit the hallway had been turned off, most likely from the crash. This had no effect on Quinn, as he knew the hallways like the back of his hand. He descended the stairs, entering the engine room of the ship.
Quinn assessed the damage in the ship’s engine room, once again assessing the damaged Audion.
A few pipes had been smashed open, gas gushing out of them, yet Quinn wasn’t sure what kind. The centre engine panel that was home to all the main control units seemed to be mostly fine, apart from a few missing levers and some scratches. The main damage in the engine room though appeared to be to the Time Unit. The usual purple substance that had previously resided in the glass cylinder was gone. The entire cylinder had cracked open. All the wires and anything attached to it had been destroyed. The entire Time Unit was gone.
Quinn didn’t pay much attention to this but went over to the back wall where the settings for the ship’s A.I were. It was adorned with small bulbs, each indicating a different thing. Wires crossed from here to there. In the centre was an inserted chip which had Morgan stored onto it. Yet instead of being inserted right into the slot, the chip was dangling out.
Quinn pushed the chip back into place, and instantly several bulbs lit up. A low humming noise began, indicating that Morgan was up and running again.
“Morgan?” Quinn asked again, looking up at the roof.
“Hello, Quinn,” Came the metallic voice of Morgan. Quinn sighed in relief, but no smile crossed his face. “Thank you for putting me back into the right place. Are you alright? We seemed to have crashed.”
“I know,” Quinn replied. He went up the small set of stairs, exiting the engine room. “What damage has been done to the ship?” Quinn asked, walking back through the hallways.
“Damage has been inflicted to both thrusters, yet I think you’ll be able to fix them,” Morgan reported. “The fuel tank seems to be fine, as well as the oxygen generator and the artificial gravity. Our heat shield has been badly damaged, so we’ll need to fix that before we can take off. Power has been cut in some sections of the ship, as well as the cockpit being damaged. Yet the most damaged is the Time Unit, which has been completely destroyed.”
Quinn emerged back in the lounge, going around the circle unit and ascending the staircase. He entered the cockpit, looking at the damage and the lush greenery of the world beyond.
“Can we fix it?” Quinn asked. He already doubted it. He knew nothing about the Time Unit. Time travel was a very complicated process, and he knew that in no way would he be able to find the money to buy even the smallest parts for it.
“Unfortunately, not,” Morgan replied. Quinn sighed, leaning against the cockpit.
“Can you tell where we are?” Quinn asked.
“Yes, most of my systems are functioning. We seem to be on…” Morgan slowly went silent. Quinn raised an eyebrow, standing up straight.
“We’re still on Nespritia.”
“What?” Quinn asked. He looked out the window, staring at the lush greenery. He knew that on one side of Nespritia, there was lush greenery and dense jungles, but he had never seen them. Yes, he had seen plants and animals, but the flora and fauna around where he lived was nothing like this. “Are we seriously on Nespritia?”
“Yes,” Morgan said. “I just ran a test; my navigational skills are one hundred percent functional.”
Quinn sighed. He had crashed landed; his ship was damaged and he had no idea where he was. Then there was his family…
There was a long silence, in which Quinn stared down at the control panel of the ship. After some time, Morgan spoke again.
“Quinn,” Morgan said quietly. “What happened back home? What happened to your father? Your mother? Natalie?” Morgan asked, his voice full of concern.
Quinn chose to ignore his friend.
“Well, I’m going out onto the planet,” Quinn said, changing the topic somewhat desperately.
“What?” Morgan said.
“Run an atmospheric test for me, I need to go and put on some clothes.” Quinn looked down at his attire. He was still wearing the tan jacket, his pyjamas and the shoes he had slipped on at the last minute.
“We’re still on Nespritia though,” Morgan replied.
“Just in case,” Quinn replied. “We don’t know if any damage has been caused to you, and even if this is home, it’s a different part of the planet. Anything could be going on here.”
Quinn went down the staircase and entered the lounge room, before going down the hall and finding his bedroom. He entered the room, looking around in dismay. Once again, he found destruction. His bed sheets strewn around the room. His bookcase was on the floor, books everywhere, all of which were ripped to shreds. Technology lay about the room, shattered into pieces. The doors to his cupboard were open, clothes scattered around the room.
“Quinn, the atmosphere is breathable,” Morgan stated. “The air contains twenty-one-point seven percent oxygen, so you’ll be fine out there.”
Quinn dug through the clothes, finding a t-shirt, jeans, underwear and socks. Hurriedly, he put them on, needing to find out where they were, and if they really were still on Nespritia.
He re-entered the destroyed lounge room, now fully dressed in clothes that he reckoned would be suitable for the habitat outside. He opened the door at the front of the lounge, entering the cargo room.
“Morgan, once I leave, shut the cargo door behind me,” Quinn said, pressing a button on the wall. The cargo door began to descend, light streaming through the cracks around the edges.
The door continued to open, light streaming in until eventually the whole door had been opened. Quinn shielded his eyes from the sun, blinking rapidly. Slowly, his blurred vision began to clear, and by the time the door had fully opened his eyes had fully adjusted.
It was paradise.
Lush, green mountain ranges littered the landscape, an orchestra of wildlife coming out of it. Mixed in with this noise was the rush of a waterfall, yet Quinn could not see it. As he looked around, he realised that he was on an elevated platform, hovering above the ground. He looked around the landscape to see multiple elevated landforms, most shaped like an upside-down cone. None of them were very big, yet they all were full of lush vegetation. Some had waterfalls pouring from them, causing Quinn to determine that there was a waterfall descending his elevated platform.
Carefully, Quinn walked down the cargo door. The Audion had crashed on the very edge of the elevated landform, the very edge of the cargo door just hanging off the side of the plateau. Quinn jumped off the side of the cargo door, his feet meeting the soft grassy ground.
Quinn looked around, observing the plants and trees. He noticed clusters of flowers around the place. As he craned his neck, he spotted a crystal blue waterfall, the water plummeting down to the ground below, gravity obviously having an effect on the water but not on the isolated plateau.
Quinn began to s
lowly stroll towards the trees that the Audion had knocked down. As he continued walking towards the thicker and lusher vegetation, small areas of the grassy ground popped up. Quinn looked at them, intrigued. Slowly, from the slightly elevated patches of grass, a small, dark head popped out, as well as four small feet and a long, thin tail with a point on the very end. Quinn counted at least six of them, all of them slowly scuttling towards him. The creatures seemed harmless, although Quinn knew that many creatures made themselves seem harmless as a defensive mechanism.
Quinn continued walking towards the denser area of the trees. Most of the trees were very tall, yet there were a few odd shaped ones which were rather small, especially in comparison to the other trees.
He began to assess the damage the trees had done to the Audion, as well as the damage the Audion had done to the trees, which seemed to be obvious. The glass on the front windshield would need to be repaired, or it would be destroyed during take-off.
Quinn looked down due to an uncomfortable presence on his shoe. The grass-beetles were scampering along his shoes, surrounding his feet.
“Hey,” Quinn said. He lent down and brushed them off. “Stop that,” The bugs looked up at him, frozen for a few seconds before all six of them scampered off into the trees. They scuttled between the bushes, disappearing. Quinn gazed after them for a second, before curiosity got the better of him and he decided to follow the bugs. For all he knew they could lead him to civilization, where he could find people that could hopefully help him.
Quinn slowly walked into the thick growth of trees, with each step forward the growth got thicker and thicker. He continued until he reached the very heart of the circle of trees. He knew very well that if he made his way further forward, he would eventually make his way to the opposite edge of the plateau.
Entering a circle clearing Quinn found himself surrounded by strange, yet strikingly familiar plants. He turned around in circles, examining the circular ring. He looked up, finding that he was protected from the sun by the shade of the tree branches overhead. Quinn looked down at his feet, finding himself standing on green leaves and an entanglement of vines.
Suddenly, from beneath Quinn’s feet, the entanglement of vines sprung up, forming a net, trapping him within it. It hoisted him high into the air, not only capturing him but leaves as well, most of them falling to the ground from in between the crisscross pattern of the net. Long, thick vines connecting to the top of the net went off in various directions, all of them going into the trees. Each of them was held rigid, somehow all the vines being incredibly strong.
“Hello?” Quinn called out as he tried to reposition himself as he was really uncomfortable. Currently, his back was pressing against the bottom of the net, his legs sticking up in the air and his arms poking through the holes in the net. “I don’t mean any harm. I crash landed back there, and I just need some help to repair my ship.”
Slowly, from the depths of the trees, figures emerged. Quinn watched them with wide eyes as they came into his line of vision.
The creatures that appeared from the thick jungle were moderately sized, most likely coming up to Quinn’s waist when put into comparison. Nearly their entire body was covered in a cloak made completely of bright green leaves, some of the cloak trailing behind them. The only part of their body that wasn’t covered in leaves were their faces, yet their hoods cast a dark shadow over their faces, only their green eyes showing through the darkness.
Many of these little creatures came from all sides, staring up at the net and Quinn, wondering who this new person in their midst was. They seemed to tilt their heads slightly in wonder. Quinn simply watched them, not saying a word. The creatures began to turn to each other, talking in some language that Quinn could not understand a single word of. They huddled together, the words flowing in between them.
Then suddenly, the little creatures seemed to disperse from the huddled circle and began to scurry up the trees where the vines connected to the net, hoisting it up. The creatures bent their heads over the vines, and Quinn lost view of what they were doing. Yet within a second, the net fell to the jungle floor.
Despite being on the ground, Quinn was not free, still tangled in the vines.
“Thank you,” Quinn grunted, nodding in thanks at one of the little creatures as he tried to free himself from the entanglement of the vines.
Once again Quinn was hoisted in the air, yet this time nowhere near as high as before. The little creatures had each grabbed onto one of the vines that had been tied to a tree and began to drag Quinn back to the way he came from.
The growth of trees became less dense and more sunlight came into view, illuminating Quinn and the creatures too.
Once the creatures saw the Audion they all pointed in exclamation, talking among each other in their own language.
“Do you mind helping me out of these vines?” Quinn asked, still struggling. However, the creatures could not understand him and instead continued dragging the net towards the edge of the plateau.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Quinn asked, his mind suddenly going into panic, staring at the creatures that seemed to be delivering him to his death. He struggled more as he was dragged to the edge of the hovering plateau.
“No!” Quinn cried out, but it was no use at all. The little creatures tipped the net over the edge and Quinn tumbled over, breaking free of the vines as he fell due to gravity’s pull.
Quinn began free-falling towards the ground, terrified. He screamed out as the lush jungle below his got closer and closer by the second.
He looked down frantically for some sort of saving grace, and to his absolute joy, he saw a large body of water, created from the waterfall. Quinn tried to steady himself and aim for the water, zigzagging all over to place. He tried to steady his breaths, but it was no use. He closed his eyes as he was about to hit the water, knowing that there was a very high probability of the impact killing him.
Suddenly, he fell right into the body, the water surrounding him. Confusion filled his mind as he had not felt any impact upon hitting the water.
Quinn kicked his way up to the surface, gasping for air as he popped his head out of the water, kicking his legs to keep afloat. This water was strange. He felt his head, which was sticking out of the water, and realized it was completely dry. He ran a hand through his hair, which was dry too. He pulled both hands above the water, both of them dry as well.
Suddenly, what seemed like a little green ball splashed down into the water. And then another one, and another one. The creatures who had thrown Quinn off the edge had jumped too, all landing in the water. Quinn frantically tried to swim to the edge to avoid being hit by any of the weird little creatures as they fell from above.
As Quinn made it to land, most of the creatures had too. Somehow, despite their tiny bodies, they could swim at incredible speeds.
Quinn stood up, breathing faster than usual. He looked up at the plateau, which was miles above their heads. Quinn had no idea how on earth he was going to get up there, but he guessed there was a way. The weird little aliens wouldn’t have jumped down if there wasn’t.
Quinn looked around, noticing his surroundings. There was still more of the same lush, thick beautiful jungle, yet here it was interrupted by a village. A long wooden path led from the water’s edge into a village not far off, wooden railings and brackets on the sides. Quinn stared somewhat tentatively down the path, yet he found himself being nudged forward. He turned around to see the creatures attempting to push his forward towards what was most likely their little village.
“You want me to go there?” Quinn asked, pointing to the place. The creatures didn’t seem to understand his words, yet they managed to translate what they meant by their hands pointing towards the village. They nodded their heads in response. Quinn eyed the village with caution. After all, the creatures had seemed to come from there and they had just thrown him off a plateau miles above the ground. But their intentions didn’t seem to be harmful, and the only way he saw hi
mself getting back up to the Audion was with their help.
“Fine, fine, I’ll go to your village,” Quinn said and began walking down the wooden path that led into the village.
As Quinn walked along the pathway, the greenery became less dense, little wooden huts dotted around the place. Quinn looked around the village to see more of the little creatures, some inside their houses whilst other were watching Quinn from above in the trees. As he looked around he got his view of one of the creatures without their hood on.
The creatures had green, oval-shaped heads with two large eyes that were green too. Their mouth seemed to be a simple straight line which seemed to be able to make an impressive array of shapes. On their heads were two antennae, which Quinn had no idea what they could be for.
The creatures that had thrown Quinn off the plateau led him into the very heart of the village. It was a large wooden circle, huts surrounding the edges. In the middle was what appeared to be a decoration, an impressive arrangement of leaves and flowers that looked rather spectacular.
Quinn was led to the very centre of the circle and stood before the large decoration. The creatures all removed their hoods and bowed, lowering their heads. Quinn looked from the creatures to the decoration, raising an eyebrow, wondering what kind of society worshipped plants.
Quinn felt someone hit him on the leg and he turned to see one of the bowing aliens giving him some sort of the death stare.
“Alright,” Quinn said and he too hopped down onto his knees in respect, his eyes not leaving the decoration.
Suddenly the leafy ornament began to move, and it started to turn around. Quinn continued staring at it, inquisitive as to what it actually was.
It turned out to not be a decoration at all, yet rather another one of the creatures. He seemed older than the rest of them. Instead of wearing the leaf hood attire like the others he wore a half circle flower decoration behind him, which had leaves and vines that wrapped around his body. Upon his face was what looked to be brown paint, stretching from the tops of his head to his chin. This was the leader of the creatures.
