The X'eylakh Chronicles Seguir história

Simto

Interstellar Federation territory

December, 2950

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The planet of Simto was on fire all across the globe. Federation Directorate sent ships to the planet on a humanitarian mission to rescue survivors.

Shuttles lined up to evacuate those survivors, taking them to ships that would take them to Simto for resettlement.

Cities all over the planet were filled with Federation Directorate shuttles ready to help with the evacuations.

Kate (Kaytey) ran to the waiting shuttle after being pointed in that direction and told by the official to board it.

She was carrying two cloth totes, her purse, and a backpack.

She hurried along, not wanting to lose a spot on the shuttle.

As she approached the shuttle, the officer by the door was about to close it.

“Please sir, please let me on! Please! They told me I should come here to this shuttle. Please sir.

“Please let me on your shuttle, Sir! I promise I'll be no trouble at all.”, she begged.

“I'm sorry. We're basically full-up. I don't know if we even have room for you.

“Come on in. I can't see not letting you on. We'll find a place for you.”, the officer said, smiling broadly as he motioned for her to enter the shuttle.

“Thank you, Sir! Thank you so very much!”, Kaytey replied, smiling gratefully.

As she boarded the craft, the other passengers looked at them, apparently not happy to see a young woman. They were all older adults. Young people like Kaytey were on other shuttles.

“Let's see. There...in the back row. There's a seat on the end for you.”, the officer told her, smiling broadly.

Kaytey thanked him then went to the back row and sat down.

“Alright everybody. We'll be passing out bottled water and sandwiches shortly. Sit back, enjoy the trip and view. Bathrooms are in the back. We'll be at the ship in an hour.”, he said.

Eventually the shuttle arrived at the ship, docked then dropped off the passengers. The ship would be taking them to Jorash and safety.

“Alright everybody, we've got bags with various items in them. Each bag is marked either men or women.

”Please take a bag that's marked appropriately for you. There are sandwiches in each bag, along with items geared for either men or women.“, one of the crewmembers told the evacuees.

“If you need any help, please let us know. Each person gets a bag.“, the officer said as he and another officer passed out bags to everyone.

Kaytey looked in her bag. It was filled with toiletries plus two sandwiches, cookies, two bottles of water, houseslippers, perfume and makeup.

Within 30 minutes, they were on final approach to the ship.

As the evacuees disembarked, they were escorted to one of the ship's conference rooms, where they would spend the next five days as they traveled to their new home planet. The ship made sure everybody had snacks, water, tea and fruit punch.

Across from the conference room were ladies' and men's bathrooms. Each had shower facilities.

After enjoying a nice relaxing lunch in the dining hall and learning to navigate the vending replicators, the evacuees returned to the conference room to relax.

After dinner they were given a short tour of the ship, then brought back to the conference room.

Abit later the evacuees took showers. Kaytey waited her turn, deciding to go last.

When it was her turn, she took a quick shower, making sure to wash her hair.

Towards bedtime Kaytey had to use the bathroom. Her hair was finally dry and she brushed it.

She then sat back in her seat and got ready for bed. Within 15 minutes, Kaytey was asleep, sitting up perfectly straight in her seat.

She slept in that position all night.

Five days and 2 star portals later, the travelers were orbiting their final destination, Jorash...or so they thought.

"This is Jorash, your new home planet!", the pilot said as the passengers cheered.

"This doesn't look like Jorash at all. It didn't look like this in the brochures!", Liv said to herself as she boarded the shuttle.

She then sat down. It was finally time to leave space and start the descent into the planet's atmosphere.

As the craft flew closer to the area they were traveling to, the pilot didn't decrease their speed.

Below them they saw what looked like cities and towns plus some lakes, but mostly a volcanic world.

”This doesn't look like Jorash at all. It didn't look like this in the brochures we saw on the ship!", Kaytey said to herself once again.

"We're about 10 minutes out.", the pilot said. Suddenly the shuttle started shaking.

”WE'RE GOING DOWN! HOLD ON!“, the pilot shouted.

The shuttle lost altitude fast. Once on the ground, it bounced several times, flipping several times as well, then skidded 1/2 mile through woods before crashing into several ancient trees.

Everything went black as Kaytey slipped into unconsciousness.

When Kaytey woke up, she was in pain. She was injured, suffering a twisted ankle and wrist, plus bumps, cuts, and bruises. Her ankle was sprained so severely it was possibly broken.

Looking around, Liv checked on the others. Everyone, including the pilot, were all dead. Her eyes filled with tears.

She was on a strange planet, and she had no idea where she was or where to go for help.

She tried standing up but couldn't.

Kaytey collected what food, snacks, drinks and flashlights she could find from the deceased passengers' and pilot's belongings, then took refuge under a nearby tree.

Some of her belongings had been destroyed in the crash.

It was extremely hot out. This appeared to be a volcanic planet, just as she'd thought when she first saw it.

Kaytey stayed by the tree. She put a blanket on the ground to sit and lay on.

She slept sitting up against the tree since she couldn't walk due to her injured ankle, but would occasionally need to turn over onto her side and lay down.

It was too hot to sleep covered up, even at night.

It was far too dangerous to stay in the shuttle out of the elements due to live wires hanging down inside.

The day after the crash she stripped down to her underpants to try and keep cool.

Four days after the crash all the water, sandwiches, and cookies were long gone.

A few nights before, it had rained. It was a welcome respite from her ordeal.

She crawled off the blanket and let the rain fall on her to try to cool off.

She found a to-go cup in her purse and filled it with rain water and drank it.

She had several cups. It seemed to help her abit, especially the heat cramps

Kaytey was still extremely hungry and very hot despite of the water, and in alot of pain.

With the heat getting worse, she knew this would be her last night of life. She knew she wouldn't survive the night due to the heat.

She was sunburned, dehydrated, and now suffering from hallucinations due to heat stroke.

Kaytey was growing even weaker by the minute.

She knew she wouldn't survive inside the shuttle due to the live wires.

Kaytey also knew the only thing crawling inside would do would be to hasten her death.

Despite all that, she refused to just crawl in there and let the wires kill her. She refused to kill herself just to end her suffering. Kaytey also knew her death would be painful if she did that.

She preferred to pass as peacefully and painlessly as possible.

She prayed the Lord's Prayer, made her peace with God, and prepared herself for the inevitable.