Sand Dig

Wade steered the buggy across the top of the hill. Sand as far as the eye could see greeted him. He was used to the sight and hardly took notice of it anymore. He and the others had been stationed here for the past months, collecting data and digging for precious metals and other resources earth could use in their expansion across the universe.
"Ship to Shuttle." a metallic voice sounded.
"Go ahead, Kaya." Wade said.
"It looks like some bad weather is coming, you might want to head back."
Wade acknowledged and returned. He'd have to make the trip again tomorrow but their captain, Joul, had made it crystal clear that they would not be risking any of the crew or equipment. Spare parts would be almost impossible to acquire and losing a crew member could spell doom for the others. Although Wade had to admit that his only use was in driving the buggy and collecting samples. Sing did all the maintenance and checked the ship. Kaya oversaw the radio and contacted earth and Joul was of course the boss. One of them could probably take over his job if they really wanted to.
Wade grinned, not one of them could rival his driving skills though. He felt a bit better about the situation with that thought and hurried back. He'd been part of different set-ups during his practical education. He wasn't exactly disappointed that the captain wanted to keep them all alive. It was probably for the best.
After Wade had docked with the spaceship and the hatch had lifted to give him entry, he was greeted by Sing.
"Any trouble?" the female mechanic asked.
"You know she runs like a dream. I didn't hit anything either."
Sing just nodded and went to work. During the journey it had become clear that Wade took everything literal. She must have hurt his feelings by asking a very standard question. She'd probably damaged his pride or diminshed his manhood. Sing couldn't imagine why someone would feel those were important but she'd learned to just ignore and go on. So she crawled in and did the checks she always did.
Sing much preferred to work with moving parts but the magnetic drive did have it's beauty. And it didn't get clogged by the oodles of sand this planet had to offer. She'd all but given up hope that they'd ever find something useful but they'd have a good 3 months more to look before they could go to their next destination. Five years and then they'd get a break and could hope to receive the reward for finding something.
As she crawled back out of the shuttle, with a few extra greasestains added to her uniform, alarms sounded and a greenish light tinged the halls. Unlike the standard red alert lights, these had been custom-built by Sing herself. They warned much earlier than the standard alarm but they were just as intimidating. Sing scrambled to ge tback to the bridge, hoping to be able to sort out what had caused the alarms to go off.
As the mechanic arrived at the bridge, so had the others. Kaya was already trying to get a read on things but that would be hard. Joul immediately turned to Sing and asked:
"Is this a minor warning?"
"Can't say that yet, sir. Let me check."
Kaya took a step back so Sing could reach the console. After a few minutes her report was grim:
"The storm has hit us hard. The terrain is getting unstable and with the winds we cannot fly to safety. Some of the debris has already clogged a few of our sensors too."
"Any way out?"
"We could try to take the shuttles and drive away though I would advise against that. The sand could just swallow us whole."
Joul turned to Kaya, his expression as neutral as usual as he instructed her to alert earth.
"Mayday, mayday." Kaya called, explaining the situation.
Of course the reply that came back was far from a promise for help. They were too far gone and of too little importance to warrant a rescue squad to come and bail them out. They would have to hope the storm faded and that they could make repairs themselves. But as the storm raged on, it became clear that their situation was only deteriorating.
The spaceship started to tilt dangerously to one side. Footage from outside sensors showed a sandpit that seemed to drag everything down and they were teetering at the egde. Joul gripped his chai and focused, letting his mind work and hoping it would come up with a solution. Closing his eyes only made his stomach lunge as it only made more obvious how close they were to falling.
Finally the captain looked back at his mechanic and said:
"Out with it."
"With what sir?"
"I know you've adjusted this ship beyond what was allowed. I turned a blind eye to it, hoping you knew what you were doing."
Sing swallowed, "There is the emergency wormhole function."
"Does it do what it says?"
"Mostly. It hasn't been tested."
Sing had hoped she would never get the chance to test it. Maybe they could wait a little while longer still...
"Do it." Joul commanded.
The four of them strapped in and Sing pressed the commands that would fling them away from the planet. They might just break the blasted thing but that was the least of their worries.
Kaya figured that nobody needed to know what they were attempting. She would send out a message after they'd succesfully escaped. Chances might only be slim but it was all they had. Remaining where they were would only result in disaster anyway. Maybe getting pulled to bits by the warp would be the lesser of two evils. Being burried alive didn't seem all that appealing to someone who'd spent most of her life in space. She'd take lingering with the stars any day.
She said a quick prayer to anyone that was listening and closed her eyes when Sing pushed the button that would run her command. The sensations of being drawn into a wormhole were as usual, though maybe they felt a little bit stronger. Although that could just be due to her panic.
When Kaya opened her eyes, the ship was still intact. Everything was quiet.
"Did we make it?" she asked.
"I guess we did." Sing said, drying her sweaty palms on her shirt.
"Get a reading on where we are and send out a message." Joul instructed, "Wade, go inspect the cargo bay and the shuttle ports. I'll take the living quarters, Sing, you'll probably want to check the engine."
"Yes sir!" they called and everyone sat to their task.
Only, when Kaya tried to open the navigation, the readings were so peculiar that she had to assume something had broken in the transit. One by one the others returned, with no obvious damage to report. None of Sing's warning bells had chimed, the lights had returned to normal. Everything seemed okay.
"I think the nav-system is broken." Kaya announced, "I can't get a read on where we are."
Sing checked her findings and though nothing appeared to be broken, the readings weren't making sense.
"Let's check the view." Sing said and opened the holographic displays.
A most peculiar sight appeared before their eyes. Wherever they were, it wasn't in regular space. There were stars but some actually moved. Planets whooshed by while others hun perfectly still. Dark mists seemed to sometimes obscure their screens.
"We'll have to land." Joul decided, "Can we get readings on any of those planets that are staying put?"
Sing and Kaya set to work and finally found one that seemed to have breathable atmosphere. Joul set out a course and Wade helped as they maneuvred manually down to the planet they'd picked. It had an abundant water supply but they wanted to land somewhere in the open, and not crash their ship in the sea. They finally settled on a smaller continent with a large beach and initiated the landing.
When they opened the hatch they were greeted by a few curious people.
"I don't think we've ever had anyone appear here by spaceship." a man said.
"True, I didn't think they could get here." a woman replied.
"Where might we be?" Joul asked, wondering if maybe they'd be able to get back to earth.
"Lantessama Isle. One of the nicest places in the Nexus!"

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STORY_._._[JOUL]_._[KAYA]_._[SING]_._[WADE]

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Lantessama Isle
All background images made by Trix.