Kraya 1

“I’m afraid I have rather grave news,” Captain Fenn said as the crew filtered onto the command deck. Fists clenched by her sides, her blue-grey skin paler than normal. Twenty-three officers filed in and she had to find some way to tell them they were all going to die. Them, as well as the 300 civilians in her charge. Adrian, the only human on her crew, entered last, wearing his oxygen mask.

She had made him an officer because he was resourceful, a chemist on his previous crew, but more so because she had heard about the fabled tempers of humans. Adrian, however, seemed placid. Simple, even. Humans require more oxygen and water than the Isakki crew, however, and when resources were finite, seeing someone use twice as much as someone else made her stomach turn.

“There was a storm last night,” Fenn said, shakily. She hoped her visage belied the turmoil inside her. “A sandstorm of a magnitude we’ve never seen. It not only ripped off the entire South Wing, claiming the lives of forty crew members, but it destroyed all four of our Radial Cells.”

Her words were met with shocked silence. They all knew what that meant. They had whatever energy was stored in their Solar Batteries, but after that, they would be exposed to the unyielding maelstrom that made up their planet.

“How long do we have?” The question came from Jai, her medical officer.

“A week,” Fenn answered, grimly. “But it doesn't matter. The South Wing was entirely farm fields. We have food in storage but all of our mother crops were exposed. Everything is now heavily irradiated. Even if we had more cells, we’ll run out of food in two months.”

The farm was internal to protect from the harsh winds of their broken planet. Kraya, now locked in orbit between two suns, was a nightmare of eternal day. Lamps that produced light similar to the planet's old climate, along with careful maintenance by their farmers kept their small outpost going.

“Can we travel to the Tilekki outpost? We could see if they have supplies to spare,” said Ava, the Chief Chemist.

“Of course not,” Jaddar spat, derisively. He was the Chief Engineer. If anyone knew this outpost's limitations, it was him.

“The Tilekki outpost is a day’s march from here, '' Jaddar continued. “Our Exo-suits are only rated for two hours of continuous exposure. Even if someone brought multiple suits, they’d get radiation sickness well before they had time to change.”

“What is the present radiation level?” Adrian asked, mask pulled down. The human spoke their language well enough, despite not having the gill-like slit on each side of his neck necessary to phonate Isakki properly. Humans spoke, breathed, and ate out of the same orifice. So strange.

“200 Radon. Enough to kill in minutes,” answered Jaddar. His tone only got worse when addressing Adrian. Most of the crew got along well enough with the human, and Fenn herself only tolerated him, though she was never openly rude. Jaddar, however, was downright hostile. Fenn should have reprimanded him for his tone to his fellow officer, even if he was a human, but she was short of temper herself and it was a very stupid question.

If Adrian even picked up on Jaddar’s antagonistic tone, he showed no sign of it. He merely picked up a nearby telepad and began writing.

“Even under those circumstances, I would not approve such a mission,” Fenn said sternly. “I put out a distress beacon, but we haven’t been able to communicate with any other outposts in weeks. They’re likely as barren as we are, if they’re not dead already. I will not permit a suicide mission.”

“So we're just going to wait to die?” Ava asked shakily, tears forming in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Ava,” Fenn replied, her own voice wavering. “I don’t know what else to do.” There was only silence now. Cold, uninterrupted, deafening silence.

Adrian finally spoke. “I can do it.” The crew looked at him with skeptical curiosity.

“What do you mean, ‘you can do it’”? Captain Fenn asked incredulously. She found temper rising. In truth, she pitied Adrian. He was the sole survivor of an accident that claimed the life of his own crewman. All as part of an exploratory mission because his own planets’ resources had been exhausted. She did feel sorrow for him, to survive such an ordeal only to experience it here all over again, but getting the hopes of her crew up was not something she could tolerate.

“I mean I can do it. I had to recalculate some numbers because your Isakki units vary slightly from Earth’s, but I think I can do it. It’s sixty degrees celsius, which is extremely hot, but survivable short term. I could make it with enough water and oxygen. And I’ll need to be covered well, too. We’re taller than Isakki, so your Exo-suits won’t fit and will likely just make me overheat.” The crew gawked at Adrian as if he was half mad, Fenn included.

“As for the radiation . . . well that is another story. I will have to hurry, but humans are more resilient to solar radiation than your kind. It’s what we had on Earth. I’ll likely need immediate medical attention upon return, but . . . I think I can do it.”

Incredible. The man didn’t seem boastful or arrogant, he just spoke as if it were a matter of fact.

“Oh, please,” Jaddar hissed pugnaciously. He stood next to where Adrian was seated. “Spare us this inane drivel. We’ve all heard the stories of humans walking off non-fatal wounds or breathing in smoke and dust with no more than a nap afterwards. It’s all vacuous superstition and it does us no good. If you want to kill yourself, I won’t stop you, but don’t pretend you’re some god, Human."

“I do not think I’m above death,” Adrian said, standing up and taking a step closer to Jaddar. His eyes were no longer the despondent vacancy that had led Fenn to believe him a simpleton. They now held fury. And grief. “A botched mission killed my whole crew. I watched their shuttle catch fire. Heard their screams, helpless to save them. To save my wife."

He was trembling now. "I know exactly how fragile life can be.”

He claimed to be average among humans, but Adrian was nearly a head and a half taller than Jaddar and seemed a monolith next to the diminutive Isakki. He turned towards Fenn.

“Please, Captain.” His tone shifted back to conversational, this time with a sense of pleading. “I’ve seen how you look at me. How you all look at me. I need more oxygen than you all do. I need more food, more water. My skills as a crew member are merely average. You all put on a nice face, but deep down, you all think I'm a leech.” The rest of the officers looked down. He was right. Fenn herself had the thought more often than not.

“Despite that, you let me stay. You could have left me to die in the desert, but you didn’t. Despite needing resources that are painfully finite, you took me in and gave me a home. Please, Captain. Let me do this.”

“I . . .” Fenn hesitated. Was she about to do this? “I’ll allow it, Adrian. How do you plan to do this?”

____________________________________________________

Within the hour, Captain Fenn was overseeing Adrian loading up his pack at the exit platform. The day had just begun, after a fashion, so he thought it best to get started. He was wearing a modified body suit that the Isakki wore underneath their Exo-Suits for added insulation. These were easy to modify to his extra height and build and would decrease exposed skin. He also had a hood to keep the suns off of his neck and head.

“Captain,” he said, pulling something from around his neck. “Can you hold onto this for me?” She felt the heart-shaped locket fall into her hand. She looked up to meet his eyes. “It was a gift from my wife before she . . .” his voice was shaky. “It’s precious to me, but it will get too hot to carry.” She nodded.

“I will,” She said, placing it in her inner coat pocket. Her voice held firm, but she was coming to regret thinking of him as dull. He had been on her crew for just over a year, that was too short a time to finish mourning the loss of his wife and crew. He nodded in thanks.

Adrian then slung on his pack. It contained four large water packs and two oxygen modules. A heavy burden for anyone, but he seemed to handle it without much trouble. He replaced his cowl and pulled on his gloves, pocketing the map that a crewman just handed him. With that, they exited the platform and prepared to open the Bay doors. Fenn watched from the viewing platform as the doors opened and Adrian stepped into the fierce sun and wind. She didn’t expect him to be successful, but she couldn’t help but hope he would be. Their lives all depended on it.

“May Savva guide you, Human,” she prayed under her breath. “May she save us all.”

____________________________________________________

Captain Fenn approached the platform at a brisk jog. After thirty-six of the longest hours she’d ever experienced, Adrian had returned. She couldn’t believe it, he was a full twelve hours earlier than anticipated. She was sent an alert when crew members saw extra dust being kicked up from the viewing platform. They originally thought it was another storm, but after a few moments, a maintenance rover appeared pulling a caravan. She arrived at the platform shortly after Adrian and the contents he drove had been sprayed down.

“Sixteen radial cells,” Aiva reported to Fenn. “Sixteen. And over 200 kilo of grain and seeds.” The young quartermaster couldn’t hide the excitement in her voice.“Savva above,” Fenn answered, unable to believe what she was hearing. “That's more than we lost. What are the Rad levels?” Fenn awaited the bad news. There was always bad news.

“Nothing. Not an iota of radiation,” she answered. She seemed dumbfounded herself. “The human packed everything meticulously. He must have taken a dozen chem showers to manage it all.” Before Fenn could turn around, she heard Adrian approach.

“I did it, Captain. I di-” He collapsed.

“Call medical! Get a bay down here immediately!” Fenn yelled orders out as she knelt down to check his pulse. It was faint, but present. His eyes were red at the corners and badly swollen, the skin of his neck was badly inflamed. She checked what exposed skin she could. He had severe chemical burns on his entire body.

“Over here!” she yelled as she flagged down the medical crew. She helped hoist Adrian onto the bay and followed them as they pushed it to the hospital wing.

____________________________________________________

“How long does he have?” Fenn asked Jai outside of Adrian’ quarters in the hospital. He had been on a ventilator for two days.

“No idea,” Jai answered. “I have only a basic understanding of human physiology, but It’s unbelievable he’s lasted this long.” Fenn furrowed her brow.

“He knew,” Fenn said softly, fingering the heart-shaped locket in her pocket. “I checked the telepad. He knew he wouldn’t survive and he volunteered anyway. He’s given us decades, Jai.”

“I was wrong about him,” Jai replied. Fenn put her hand on the officer’s shoulder.

“We all were.”