Chapter 1: The Unexpected Journey

The second planet in the Eridani system had gone dark and we had come to find out why. Orbiting the planet wasn’t telling us much, except that it was inhabited and appeared as if the population had dispersed. Its cities were nowhere to be found. Rather, medieval towns dotted the landscape, with water wheels and even castles. None of the buildings looked remotely modern and we could not explain this change.

The first exploration team was dropping to the surface to investigate. Their progress was being broadcast throughout the ship. Most of the crew probably found this interesting, as it broke the monotony of navy life. But for me and my team, it was simply frustrating.

Over the loudspeakers came, “The Dimitri has successfully broken the planet’s atmosphere and is heading to the landing site.”

“Acknowledged.”

We were the backup expedition. If we were needed, the situation was dire. But we were never needed. It had only happened once in the history of the navy where a backup team was used and that was due to catastrophic technical failure. Most of us sat around checking our datacomps or rechecking equipment for no particular reason. Routine, mundane tasks. We listened with envy.

The loudspeaker continued, “Captain, they’re gaining speed. Far too much to land safely.”

“Contact them, ascertain why.”

All of us on the team, all eight of us, stood up, rock still, listening.

The intercom broadcast, “They’ve lost power.”

“What’s that?” the captain’s voice.

“Lost power. Alpha Team has gone dark.”

“That’s not possible.”

A new lady’s voice, “Confirmed. Total power loss.”

“Can you raise them on any communications?”

“Attempting.”

The lady’s voice again, “The ship is beginning to accelerate and has developed a spiral.”

A man said, “Tight beam is ineffective. No response on any frequency.”

“How long,” the captain’s voice again, “until they hit the surface?”

“They’ve begun to burn up in the atmosphere.”

“Cease ship-wide coms.”

We were paying attention now. We were up next.

***

The two pilots sat up front, the rest of us in two rows of three seats each. I was in the back, middle chair, reaching for the safety webbing. The chairs themselves, made of stretchy, strong fiber, were suspended rather than fixed, to maximize our protection against sudden gee forces. It was a bit like strapping oneself into a cocoon.

Like all of us, Fred was dressed in a full impact suit, face enclosed behind a shatterproof mask. He leaned over me, looking at Marci, “We’re fucked.” Our security detail, one of two people in charge of keeping the team safe, Fred was a large and imposing man. He sat up straight, patting me on the shoulder, “You worried, River?”

“You’re not filling me with positivity,” I said.

Despite the mask, the smile came through in Marci’s voice, “Our first mission! I’m kinda looking forward to it.”

I finished strapping the security webbing around my body and lay back into the semi-firm strands of the chair. I looked from Fred to Marci. “Yeah, our first mission. I’m, uh, very excited.” Then I held onto the armrests as tightly as I could.

Fred tilted his head. “If Alpha team didn’t make it, we’re not going to.”

“Alright, cut the bullshit.” Takao, our team leader. One row in front of us, middle seat. Probably not happy. I wondered if he thought we were going to crash, too. “Everyone strapped in? Dropping in ten.”

The computer counted back from ten. We had reason to think we’d survive where Alpha did not. The engineers had printed out a new ship, one with wings. Unlike the first dropship, the digital systems now had analogue back-ups in case of power failure. If everything failed, and that was extremely unlikely, we’d glide to the surface.

The jets fired, throwing us away from the ship and toward the planet. It felt like we were rapidly falling.

Dylan, the co-pilot, asked the pilot, “You fly a glider before?”

At the left front, Bentley looked in his direction, “Simulated or real?”

“Real.”

“No.”

“Simulated?”

“No.”

“Damn.”

“Hey, if I can’t do it, the back-up computer can.”

“Total power failure,” I said, leaning forward. “We wouldn’t have a back-up computer.”

Both of their mirrored facemasks turned toward us in the back, and Bentley said, “I know. It was a joke.”

“Yeah.” I backed into the chair and sunk a little lower. “I’m dumb.”

Marci patted my arm, “Not so dumb.”

“Maybe just on the verge then.”

“Yeah River,” her helmet nodded, “you’re very pre-dumb.”

“You?” Bentley said to the copilot, “You fly a glider before?”

Dylan answered, “Nope. Ancient history. I mean, there was this game once. An MMO where I flew a glider.”

“Alright, you’re on glider duty.”

“Shit. Thanks.”

“Entering the upper atmosphere,” rang out the navicom. It had a pleasant woman’s voice. The ship jolted, then began to shake.

“Extending wings.”

“How far from the surface?”

“We are reaching the height at which Alpha lost power.”

An alarm suddenly rang out, the computer voice kicked in: “Nanotechnology alert. Nanotechnology alert.”

“Jesus!” screamed Takao. “Boosters! Get us out of here!”

“Hold on, we’re gonna take some hard gees.” Dylan hit the button. Nothing happened. He hit it again and again and again. “Boosters failed.”

Internal lights shut off. The sound of wind rushing by like a storm. Without power, the ship could no longer send out nullifying soundwaves. The wind tore past the ship, as if we were fighting a hurricane. Our only hope was if the pilots could manually land us safely.

At the edge of hearing, muffled shouting. Of course! Our coms were down inside our helmets, too. I struggled to get mine off.

The captain yelled from ahead, “It’s too strong! Help me level us off.”

“This much?”

“Harder, pull harder!”

“The wings must not have fully extended!”

“No, they did. We’re leveling off. Hold on!”

Everything vanished to perfect darkness and total silence.

***

A woman’s voice, slightly British accent. “Welcome to Saoghal, iteration five point one.”

“Saoghal?”

“Yes.” She went on, “Please select a character race.”

Waving my hand in front of my face did nothing. It was like I didn’t have eyes. Or hands. “What? What do you mean?”

“You have entered Saoghal and must now select a character class and race. You have two minutes to decide before your vessel is destroyed.”

“Class? Race?”

“Affirmative.”

“Uh, upper? I’d like to be upper class, please.”

“Incorrect definition of class.”

“Can you give me some examples?”

“Sorcerer, wizard, bard, warrior, artificer, barbarian, healer, and so on.”

“Can you choose for me?”

“I cannot.”

“Right. Uhm, I’m a xenoanthropologist with, uh, a minor focus on biology. What class best fits me?”

“Explorer. It is an offshoot of the class ranger.”

“Ranger? Like, a park ranger?”

“Incorrect definition of ranger. You have one minute remaining before death.”

“Explorer then!”

“What will your race be?”

“Hu-human?”

“And your sex?”

“What?”

“What sex will your character be? You may choose hermaphrodite, neuter, female or male.”

“The same as me! Male!”

“Thank you for entering Saoghal. You are a level one explorer. Human, male. Remember, this is an open world and there is no tutorial, no advice, no hints, no guidebook, and no help whatsoever. Best of luck, adventurer!”