In the middle of nowhere, far away from most civilized areas, Robin and Patience sat on a big blanket at the bottom of a huge crater.
The rocky ground was littered with big and small stones and rose circular until it reached the top of the hole, blending neatly into the surrounding gravel. The two travelers arranged many different delicacies, from vegetables to fruits and bread. There was even some real meat that Patience got from a special store. Behind them stood the sleek, black spaceship that brought them here.
Defying its origin as a custom ship made from spare parts of others, it radiated a weird sense of power, freedom and simplicity. It didn’t look cheap or fragile by any means.
The Melody II was a creation Robin could be proud of. Not many would be able to craft something of this level.
“I don’t know what my expectations for this trip were, but I definitely didn’t see this coming.” Patience said, motioning with her arm over the strange scene surrounding them, “I’ve never left Seka before and what you can learn online is nothing compared to the real deal! This is awesome, I feel… free? Do you know what I mean?”
“I do, yup!” Robin confirmed while picking up a round, green fruit and took a bite.
"To be honest, neither did I know what to expect. Melody II is a dream I have chased for many years now. It’s my ticket for freedom and my promise to one day be able to travel the stars. There must be more out there, than just…this.” He motioned at the plain rocky earth. “Don’t misunderstand, I’m with you: this is great and so, sooo different from all we could ever experience in the confines of the city. But for me, it is just a first step.”
He took a deep, satisfied breath. The air here was completely different from the refined and cleaned air of Seka.
“You said, you’ve done some research online. Then you should know that there are planets out there that are literally green. Big forests with trees and natural oceans with endless amounts of water. Real animals living in these different biotopes. I want to see that, I want to experience that. If the historians are correct, then in the early days of mankind, we were living on exactly such a planet. Our ancestors called Earth The Blue Planet, I cannot even begin to fathom how they must have felt.” He poured out his feelings.
“Well, in the end, they excavated Earth like we, and every other race out there, are doing it with all resource–rich planets. How else could one sustain all the growth the sentient races are chasing?” Patience cooled him down a bit. The truth often was unpleasant.
“I was at the Wuranger exhibition. Not my style of technology, but they are a successful example of a coexistence with natural wonders. I firmly believe that there are still blue and green planets out in the universe…and I swear to the heavens, one day I’ll see them myself!”
Robin made an oath, more to him than to anyone else, but it was a strong, honest representation of his feelings.
***
Finishing their lunch, the duo wandered around in the remains of the mountain for some time before they returned to the ship and packed up. Robin flew Melody II back towards Seka and reached the outskirts just before dawn. They checked in with Flight Control again but didn’t request a new corridor. They just wanted to go to the nearest inn and not fly around anymore.
While Robin was piloting the ship, Patience used her Interface to find them a place to stay for the night.
“They need an S-sized landing pad at least, most only have XS ones, please remember that!” He reminded her, while closing in on the first buildings.
“Yeah, I got it… I already got it the first and second time you’ve told me, thanks!” Patience replied annoyed, before she finally got a hit.
“Ah there is one, 100cr per room and 50cr for the ship, breakfast and refueling not included. Will that do?”
“The pricing is fine for me, send them a notification that we are on the way and submit Melody's ID. We need them to register and approve our landing.”
Half an hour later, Robin and Patience found themselves in a wide open dining hall of The Weary Traveler. They’ve got the only landing spot on the roof and checked in without any problems. Robin did request a refueling he had to pay, but no further maintenance. While inns often were well visited because of the really long distances one could travel within Seka, they seldom received a guest who arrived with their own ship.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Patience shuffled through the big room and talked to the many strangers eating here. She was probably looking for travelers with juicy stories to share.
Robin smiled as he watched her hopping from one table to the next one, a childish excitement on her face. After finishing his meal, he closed his eyes and checked the ancient map again. Tomorrow, he wanted to visit at least one of the two markers to see what they could find. The first one was a 2-hour trip away from here and from there, it would take them another hour of flight. Should be doable in one day.
Confirming his travel plans, he closed the Interface and walked over to Patience, who apparently had finally found someone who would share his stories in exchange for a beer.
“I’ll hit the bed, we will meet up here tomorrow at 09:00, ok?” He interrupted the tale for a moment.
“Fine, good night!” She waved him off, clearly more interested in the story that was told.
Robin nodded the old man a goodbye and went to his room.
***
Patience was on time the next morning, Robin at least derived that from her mood, when he himself came down 20 minutes late.
“Sorry, it seems like my body really needed some time off…” He tried a weak excuse.
“Just hurry up and get your food. I want to get out of here as soon as possible!” She hurried him.
Robin complied and went to a richly decorated counter with food.
“You didn’t start a brawl yesterday, did you?” He cautiously asked, picking some fruits and a bit of the steaming hot bread.
“What? Why would you ask that out of nowhere?” Patience looked at him, contemplating, “Hey, do I look like a brute to you?”She hit his head with her knuckles, “I just wanna go outside, because I wanna explore more of the surrounding land before the weekend is over." She explained with gleaming eyes.
"You cannot imagine what kind of stories the travelers have to tell. There is so much to discover out there!”
“Well, while I don’t want to question their credibility, I’m pretty sure that most of their incredible encounters happened in books and movies.”
“...”
"Ouch…” He rubbed his sore head that just got another hit, “I’m on it, ok? Just give me a moment!”
After Robin wolfed down his breakfast, they went over to the service station and checked out.
Robin did a short inquiry of his finances, to be sure there weren’t any extras deducted.
[*** INFO ***] Reference: Ship Admission Office: Registration Melody II Value: - 400 cr New Balance: 13.991 cr [*** INFO ***]
[*** INFO ***] Reference: The Weary Traveler: 1 Room, 1 Ship, Refueling, Food Value: - 250 cr New Balance: 13.741 cr [*** INFO ***]
Confirming everything was in order, he closed his Interface and together they walked up the stairs to the roof. They stored the baggage, climbed into the ship and were on the way to their first target of today in no time.
An hour before noon, they neared the coordinates Robin had calculated for the first marker.
“Patience, I don’t know what exactly we are looking for. I only found some vague hints about this location, without much additional information. As I don’t know how old the data is, I can’t promise that there is anything left at all. So just keep your eyes open for anything standing out. I’ll roll the ship a bit, so we have a better view of the ground below.” He explained as much as he could.
Before he could even begin to look around himself, Patience's excited shout came from behind.
“You mean something like an old ruin? Then that place over there would be our address!” she threw a glance at the displays in front of her and added “Uhm, 210°, 850m?”
The ship flew over a plain, empty area between the otherwise endless greenhouses again. With the directions she gave, he immediately found what grabbed her attention. There was a road coming from the direction of Seka and led directly to an old structure. It was nothing more than ruins and rubble, but it stood out like a sore thumb in this empty vicinity.
Robin piloted the Melody near the structure and examined its surroundings. After he was sure that there weren’t any activities, he landed the ship nearby and turned off the engines. He was boiling with excitement. This really looked like one of the alien relic sites and if this was the case, then maybe one of the many markers in his map could guide him to a still undiscovered facility…new technologies and lost history were waiting for him to be explored!
“Patience, maybe I have to correct myself - let’s begin to write our own story!”