June 3rd, 2026
As consciousness returned to me, I felt like no time had passed at all. The green liquid and IVs were gone as the temperature rose to comfortable levels. The door to the chamber opened, allowing me to see Scarlett walking out of the bathroom while putting on her shirt. She looked at me and asked, “Had a good nap?” A smirk came to her face. “And did you really go a year before showering? That’s gross!”
“Shut up, Scarlett!” I jokingly shouted back as I walked to the closet and retrieved my clothes. Once I was dressed, I turned to look at her as she put on her duster and cowboy hat. She pointed finger guns at me as she smirked.
Before we could get too comfortable, alarms blared as the ship rocked. It was easy to maintain balance at first, but it quickly built up in intensity, sending us to the floor. “Attention all passengers! This is a critical warning! Critical reactor damage has occurred! But rest assured, each of the ten wings of this ship can detach, sending different groups to the ground! Hope we’re able to reunite soon! This is Admiral Payne, signing out!”
As soon as he finished, the wing we were in started shooting towards the ground. Before we were slammed into the ceiling, two robotic claws shot out from the walls and held the two of us in their grasp. The alarms continued to blare as a red strobe light filled my vision. My breathing hastened as my heartrate skyrocketed. I could feel a cold sweat drop travel down my head as I shivered. All of my life before me was now in danger as a botched landing could end it.
My thoughts went to my family. Dread gripped me as I realized that I doomed them to die with me. If I didn’t ask them to join me, they could still live. Now their blood was in my hand. I returned home only to make things worse in the end.
My brooding was cut short when a sharp jolt struck me. I felt my spine get a shock, but it soon left. I closed my eyes, but then the arm deposited me on the ground. After a few seconds of anticipating my death, I realized that the wing was no longer descending. I opened my eyes back up to notice Scarlett pinching herself.
“We’re alive?” I asked as I picked myself up. After dusting myself off, I noticed the smoke leaking in from the ceiling. “Guess it’s time for us to go.”
“What gave you the hint? The smoke or the ever-present smell of burning metal?” Scarlett sarcastically replied as she walked over to the door and opened it manually. I looked out the door to see several passengers running out of the ship in a semi-orderly fashion. It seemed that everyone knew we needed to get off of this deathtrap.
Once Scarlett and I exited the ship, I was greeted by a cool breeze coming in. I looked around until I found the source. We were close to a natural harbor on one side with a river next to us. In short, the perfect location to found a city. Looking around me, I could see that there were more people than I could count. It was more than enough to get the foundations started. In fact, I was worried that there were too many people at the moment. Once the settlement was up and running, it would be easier to accommodate more people. However, knowing the situation, it was clear only the original ship and natural growth would be possible.
Plans ran through my head as I realized that we now had to start from scratch. Which was made difficult by the fact that there were probably a million mouths to feed along with the animals we brought along. Clean water would also be an issue, but it was one that we needed dedicated crews to solve. But another issue gnawed at me.
With the amount of distance between each wing, it left several opportunities for charismatic figures to spread their ideologies to their followers. While some would be democratic, there was also a chance several were some kind of authoritarian. Especially if it was one of the military personnel. I didn’t want it to happen, but there was a high probability of bloodshed on this new world.
Before I could think further, a woman dressed in a white naval uniform walked out of the ship holding a tablet in her hand. She scrolled through it before pulling out a megaphone and announcing, “Attention all colonists! We’ve run into an unexpected problem! The compartmentalized design of our ships may have saved us from certain death, but it also spread us out across a large distance! The good news for us is that our wing landed on a temperate continent along with each compartment! The bad news is that there were ten compartments in this wing! So only a hundred thousand of us are in this spot! While each group was prepared for this possibility, we still need to reconnect with them before a crisis hits one!”
A large black bird flew overhead. Several more of those dark feathered birds flew overhead as they circled the ship. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that they dark blue feathers that looked black due to their distance from us. But they were just birds. We had to worry about the people of this expedition first. We needed to build a stable settlement before we could worry about mapping out this planet!
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The woman with the megaphone paused to look at the birds before continuing, “Out here, we cannot rely on the government’s aid! In short, it’s time we establish a provisional government until things are stable enough to allow for elections! Any objections?”
Scarlett shot her hand up, but she wasn’t called on. Instead, a middle-aged man of Chinese heritage shouted, “We need democracy! Tyranny in the name of security is unacceptable! My grandfather fled Maoist China and he tells me the horrors of autocracy! Mao Zedong was able to push through horrific plans in the name of ideology because there was no one to oppose him! In a democratic system. Now, I’m not saying it’s perfect! The average voter is stupid, me included! However, I’d rather take the ‘wisdom of the masses’ than the ‘wisdom’ of the military or ideologues!”
The woman in the naval uniform smiled and announced, “You, sir, are absolutely correct! And that’s why I wasn’t going to take charge! Instead, we’ll have a temporary council consisting of the politicians of Old America! They’ll hold their terms until our first election season is over!” She paused for a bit before asking, “Does anyone else want to make a speech? We have enough time for some people to do it while the experts set up the shelters!”
I ran up to the woman, Scarlett following behind me. Fortunately for me, she noticed me and smiled. She handed me the megaphone and whispered, “Let’s see how you do, spaceman.” I nodded back before walking onto the temporary platform that was set up behind her.
After clearing my throat, I held up the megaphone and started my speech. “Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve been given the opportunity to live through an event much like our forefathers. Like them, we rode on a ship called Mayflower to a new land, seemingly untouched. However, unlike them, we won’t have to fight the native inhabitants or repeat the crimes they committed. One may say that landed on a promised land. A beautiful world to start anew.
“A city upon a hill cannot be hid! All will look upon it for an example! We cannot soil this beacon by falling into autocracy or losing our morals! Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are the three pillars that shall uphold our society! That and that all men are created equally! Black or white, male or female, rich or poor, baseline or mutant! And now that we have landed on this planet, we must expand to fill it and be a beacon of humanity!” I shouted before ending, “We are humans! We will be free! We will survive!”
The crowd cheered and chanted, “We will survive!” I took the bow before placing the megaphone down and holding Scarlett’s hand. We walked off the platform as another citizen walked onto it.
Several people stared at my wife, but it was something I would have to deal with. It seemed that the years didn’t lessen the novelty of her to most people. I, on the other hand, didn’t see the big deal anymore. She was beautiful to me and just as human as the rest of us. It has made me ponder for a while about our future together. If it was possible for us to start a family, it could potentially mean more mutants among the populace, which meant people needed to get used to the idea. However, we could also just be unable to have children, or they could look like me instead of her. There was always that to consider.
Scarlett and I watched as several robots rolled out of the ship carrying segments of barbed wire fencing. While not a massive deterrent, it would make any ground-based assault a bit more difficult. However, its most important purpose was to keep wildlife out of the base camp, which was by far the most pressing concern. Predators on this planet wouldn’t know to fear humans since we were intruders in their space.
The woman in the naval uniform reappeared from the ship and stood in front of us. She was a bit on the shorter side with dark skin and hair. She extended two hands out, allowing Scarlett and I to shake them at the same time. “I’m glad to have the two of you with us. I’m Captain Desiree,” she introduced before letting go of our hands and standing in silence for a bit. She looked back at the ship before asking, “Would the two of you like to start an expedition to chart out our new territory? We’ll need some time before we can send satellites to map the land. Besides, I’ve heard from your talks with the psycho general that you’ve survived life on a primitive planet.”
“Survived is stretching it,” I replied as I looked at Scarlett. “If I’m to tell you the truth, the only reason I made it was because of Scarlett.”
My foxy wife looked at me and placed a hand on my shoulder. She nuzzled me before looking at the captain and explaining, “It was hardly under natural circumstances, though. Several mindless experiments were unleashed on us by a malevolent AI that almost led to our deaths. In fact, if this planet is anything like Earth, I believe we can make it. Not that I would reject the opportunity to be with a squad, though. We cannot tell what dangers lie before us.”
“It seems that the two of you had quite the adventure,” Captain Desiree said with a smirk before looking between the two of us. She finally turned her attention to me and asked, “Do you have a strange taste in women? Because if so, perhaps you should stay back in case there are any aliens on this planet. Don’t want you running off with one of them!”
Scarlett’s fur bristled as she growled, “Don’t mock him, ma’am! The two of us are closer than most couples and love each other the way we are!” She took some deep breaths, making her fur settle down. “Besides, I’ve noticed quite a few of the colonists here look at me with obvious attraction. There were only two aliens that Quentin ever felt attracted to. The first one was another species within the Homo genus, so it barely counts while the second was some kind of mind-altering space vampire, so that one doesn’t count along with the fact she appeared human at the time.”
“Point taken,” Captain Desiree replied before pointing back at the ship. “Anyways, for the first week, everyone is going to sleep in the bedrooms we created just in case. We repaired the damages in the ship and it’s now safe to reenter. We have enough food and water to last us until we have production in order. Rest assured, this settlement will start buzzing with life once you return.”
We decided to head in for the night, letting the worries of the day pass.