Starborn: Origin of the Stars

The Melody landed a few dozen meters away from the Hubble and before Robin even powered down the ship, Timothy came running over and entered local comm range.

“You are back! It’s about time, the storm is subsiding! What took you so long?” His agitated voice rang loudly.

“Hey Timothy! Yeah, we didn’t get killed in the enemy’s trap, thanks for your concern.” Robin grumbled and shut down the final systems.

“Obviously. You wouldn’t have gone there if the risk had been too high, right?”

“...you are massively overestimating our ability to assess any risk we are facing in our situation right now.” Landom groaned, “Please go and get Sevastian. We could use his assistance.”

They saw Timothy turning around mid run before he hurried back to the Hubble.

“Does he really believe that us walking into a presumed trap was a move with reasonable risks?” Landom asked skeptically.

“I think it’s more likely that he talked himself into it so he wouldn’t have to worry about something he couldn’t change anyway.” Robin said and climbed out of the Melody, “I hope the rest is doing fine. Everyone’s nerves must be hanging on a thread. While we might have put ourselves in a potentially dangerous situation over there, the others could only sit here and wait for our return. At least we could distract our minds from the constant fear of being stuck here on this godforsaken planet for the rest of our lives."

“You may be right. While we had put ourselves at risk, we at least were able to act and do something. You should go first and check on the others, I’ll make sure Patience is getting secured when Sevastian arrives.”

“Thanks, bring her into the Hubble. I’ll have Timothy prepare the laboratory.” Robin said and hurried to the big ship. Now that he had thought about the situation of the others, concern began to rise within him.

After entering, Robin noticed that the hangar looked different from before. Where Ang’Tue had been meditating earlier a little scaffold was built, propping up the black BWT drone. Different tools and parts cluttered the floor. Robin even spotted parts that should have belonged to energy weapons once.

On the other side of the hangar someone had established a supply station. Dozens of water bottles, packaged food and snacks lay on the table, all neatly sorted. Alena, standing next to the table, was holding a tablet in her hand and scribbled notes.

As he could see no one else, Robin approached Alena while taking off his helmet.

“Good to see you back in one piece.” She greeted him, her face cold and unreadable as ever, “How did it go? Did you bring everyone back?”

“I did.” Robin said and nodded, “The good news is, there wasn’t a trap. The bad news-”

“No trap no ship?” She guessed.

“More or less, yeah. At least nothing that would be of any help in our immediate situation. Also, Patience began to act strange. We had to suppress her to get her back here. I hope Timothy can find something.”

“Strange? Like what?” Alena asked with a raised eyebrow.

“She became more and more paranoid, to an unreasonable degree.” Robin vaguely explained.

“Paranoid? Maybe she was just overwhelmed with the situation.” She shrugged, “What do you mean by “suppress”? I can hardly see you two restraining her against her will.”

“Well, she tried to kill Landom. I had to knock her out with a tranquilizer.”

“Oh…” Alena said and for a short moment, Robin saw a crack in her stern face, “Uhm, sorry.”

“Yeah, I have an idea what may have caused it. Let’s hope Timothy can fix her.” Robin said and pointed at the supplies on the table to change the topic, “What are you doing?”

Alena looked at him for a moment longer before she went along and dropped the matter for now.

“We collected all the rations. I’m trying to make a plan on food distribution.”

“How much time do we have?” Robin asked.

“I’m not done yet, but at least a week. If you get the power back online, we would gain access to the food generator again, which in turn will buy us much more time.”

“Sounds good. Let’s hope this will become one of our more pressing concerns.”

“You would like our food to be a topic of concern? Is that your new strategy to get us killed?” Alena asked with squinted eyes.

“No, but if we need to worry about food, it would mean we have at least managed to overcome the impending attack.” Robin said with a tired smile and ignored her pointed remark, “You have 15 minutes to finish here, then we will have a meeting to discuss our next steps. Where are Ang’Tue and Happy?”

“They both returned to their rooms after Timothy declared the Hubble as stable. The old man was meditating most of the time and Niu behaved strangely. Sevastian ultimately sent her away to rest.”

“Strange? Like what?” Robin asked worriedly.

“I don’t know.” Alena said and put on a thoughtful expression, “Happy wasn’t… happy anymore?”

“I’ll go and check on her. Landom and Sevastian shall meet with us here in 15 minutes. Timothy can stay with Patience. Landom is explaining everything we know to him right now, so his priority shall be getting her back to normal.” Robin ordered and wanted to quickly leave the hangar. However, with a lightning-fast movement, Alena grabbed his wrist and held it so tightly that it hurt.

“You nearly killed us today.” She hissed and glared at him.

“I know…” Robin muttered softly but didn’t try to evade her gaze.

“I’m well aware that you are new to all this and making mistakes is part of the learning journey. However, you’ve started to make mistakes at such a scale, that any misstep will not only cost your life but that of your crew, too - mine and that of my brother included.” Alena said slowly, “Till now I never said anything since you balance out good and bad decisions, always done with best intentions. Today however, you’ve willingly put us all at risk for some potential scientific gains. I’ll not remain sitting still if that happens again!”

Robin slowly nodded, “I understand. I know that you all are suffering from my bad decisions. I’m trying my best… It’s not easy, you know?”

“I do! That is why I didn’t apply for a job as captain. I don’t even think I could do better than you. But I don’t have to! You are in charge so you have to be the one to make the right decisions. And those decisions should prioritize the wellbeing of you and your crew over everything else.” Alena said, her voice finally calming down a bit.

“I promise to do better…” Robin said earnestly, not blaming her for her outburst. He didn’t think she was wrong, either.

They looked at each other for a moment longer before Alena nodded and let go of his wrist.

Robin only shortly stopped to have a chat with Ang’Tue. After he was sure that the Eltaran was still himself and had not yet lost the fight with his inner demon, he walked to Niu’s door and knocked.

“May I come in?” He asked.

Immediately the door slit open and Happy rushed out.

“Robin!” She shouted and bolted directly into his chest, giving him a tight hug.

“Hey Midget.” He softly said and patted her back, “We are back. You don’t have to worry, okay?”

Niu didn’t answer but kept her arms slung around him. Robin noticed slight tremors running through her body and heard her sniffle. Once more he patted her back, not knowing how to react. For some time they stood in silence, one having an emotional breakdown, the other a social overload.

Only when the door tried to close with them still standing in its way did Robin move. He carefully pushed Niu inside, guided her to the bed to lay down and sat on the edge. When she looked up, he saw her red, puffy eyes still glittering with hidden tears.

“Everything went well. There wasn’t a trap but an old ship sending an SOS. We only took a quick look and immediately returned. We were really careful, if we had spotted any enemy activity or something else amiss, we would have turned on our heels and run without taking so much as a second glance.” Robin tried to play down the danger they had put themselves in.

“I couldn’t believe what the others told me after I woke up and noticed that you three had left. Going into a trap willingly! Just what were you thinking?” Niu sobbed and began to pound her fists weakly on his chest.

“I…-” Robin began but she interrupted him.

“I nearly killed us all and then you just go to the enemy to give him a chance to finish the job?” She wimmered and stopped hitting him, then tears rolled down her reddened cheeks again, “I… I’m… I’m so sorry!”

Robin didn’t answer at first but he finally understood what this was all about. He hadn’t thought about it before, but Niu must be under quite some stress right now and both he and Patience had left her here on her own.

He gave her a moment to calm down. Hesitantly, Robin moved his hand to pat her head but pulled it back at the last moment.

“It wasn’t your fault.” He finally said.

“We crashed, the ship is a wreck and everyone is stranded on a planet that blocks any means we have to call for help.”

“Yes.” Robin solemnly nodded.

“I am the one who piloted the ship!”

“Yes.” He nodded once more.

“It was my job to get us away from them safely!”

Once again, Robin nodded.

“Yes,” he said, “and you did exactly that. If we had any other pilot, we would now be nothing more than rubble, smeared on the surface of Terulos.”

Robin handed Niu a tissue from the nightstand and only continued after she collected herself a bit.

“If you want to put blame on someone, then it should be me. It was I, the captain of this ship, who decided to leave the planet but stay in a close orbit even though we knew that enemies may be nearby. I took unnecessary risks and endangered everyone on this ship.”

When he saw that Happy was about to object, he shook his head and raised a hand.

“It doesn’t matter at the moment. I will reflect on the decisions I made today, but now is not the time.

You did a great job, Niu. You saved all of us and bought us time to come up with a better plan. So let us use that time and prepare for what is about to come. I need you for that, okay? Please help me fix this mess…”

Niu looked at him, her eyes still red but she had recovered somewhat. Robin felt uncomfortable under her burning gaze from such a close distance. It was then that he realized that he still sat on her bed and immediately jumped up. He gave an awkward cough and straightened his perfectly straight armored suit, before he walked to the door.

“We have a strategy meeting in a few minutes in the hangar. I would be happy if you joined us.” He said and pressed the button to open the door.

Just before the door closed, Happy called after him.

“Robin!”

“Yeah?” He turned around and saw her sitting up.

“Thank you…”

“No, thank you!” He gave her a warm smile and left.

***

A short while later, Robin was sitting in the hangar together with Landom, Alena, Sevastian and Happy. The latter still had red eyes but looked a lot better overall. On a small table stood a speaker with a direct comm channel to the laboratory.

“Before we start discussing our next steps, I want a complete status report. Sevastian, please.”

“Sure, thanks.” The bulky man said and stood up, “First of all, the ship: we managed to activate some small power sources. It’s not much but just enough for internal communication and some lights. Before the Melody left, Timothy managed to make some quick scans but got nothing because of the storm raging outside. Despite its lost landing gear, the Hubble rests stable for now and can be used as shelter. Restarting the generator is our first priority, shields will come back afterwards. The third step would be another take-off. Without the storm and some straining of the remaining thrusters Niu is confident to get us off this planet. We do have food for nine days without the generator.

Second, the crew: Everyone is assembled back in the Hubble. Ang’Tue is out of action for the time being but assured us that he has his mutation under control. He is no imminent threat to us, if we believe his claim. Timothy, how is Patience?”

The speaker crackled and Timothy’s voice could be heard.

“She is in an induced coma. Symptoms were extreme paranoia and a high propensity for violence… higher than normal. Landom explained that she was injured by an unknown creature and may be poisoned. Supporting that theory is a Stalker the team met at their target location which showed comparable behavior. I’m no physician and lacking proper equipment, however I run some tests right now that should at least reveal whether we are dealing with a poison or not. Don’t expect any solution from me within the next hours however.”

“Thanks, Timothy.” Sevastian said and continued his report, “Coming to the third topic: the enemy hunting us. We didn’t get any new information on the enemy itself and still have no idea who it is, why they are hunting us or what ship and equipment they have. The storm is shielding us for now but it has begun to subside and will be completely gone in about three hours. Our timeframe in which we are confident that the enemy will not be able to attack is two hours at most. Timothy has refitted the drone and installed two energy weapons so we can use it as a defender. From the crew only Landom, Alena, Robin and Happy are able to fight. We have three energy weapons and more than enough ammunition left but won’t be able to use the Hubble’s turrets. In addition we still have the Storm XXC with three shots in the clip left. If the Melody II is armed, I don’t know.”

Sevastian finished and sat back down.

“Thank you, good job.” Robin praised and stood up, “To answer your question: the Melody unfortunately isn’t armed.”

He sorted his thoughts for a moment and then began to explain what they had found at the location of the SOS marker. When he was done, everyone was completely nonplussed. Finding a Keeper ship out here in the middle of nowhere was the last they expected.

“I know it’s a great find. Believe me, I would love to be there right now and examine it from top to bottom. However, whatever its state may be, we won’t be able to make use of it with the little time we have left.”

“Instead,” Robin said and sat back down, “let’s concentrate on forming a plan to survive the upcoming attack!”

With that, the two most nerve wracking hours of Robin’s life began to tick down until finally a huge green ship broke through the last layer of clouds.