Sister Resister by Kelli Jae Baeli

Author:Kelli Jae Baeli [Baeli, Kelli Jae]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lesbian Literati Press
Published: 2017-08-27T16:00:00+00:00

10

Back on the Bridge, I dropped into the co-pilot’s chair, happy to be the second in command. “So let’s get to it. How do we land?”

“I am afraid it is not that simple. I must still discern how the beacon works, and surmise our landing situation.”

It never occurred to me that Shrtz wouldn’t know how to get us down to terra firma safely. She’d figured out the hyperspace foldy-who-whats-it. And the fuel mystery solved by Uranus. “How long will that take?”

“I have no way of knowing. Perhaps hours, perhaps days. Maybe longer.”

“I’m not sure we can survive that long. The food is gone.” I had misjudged even the paste.

She sighed resolutely. “I am searching for an autopilot algorithm, keyed to the beacon signal.”

Longingly, I stared at that beautiful blue and green globe. So close, yet so far away. I knew the blue was water, and hoped the green meant lots of plant life. There was precious little of either on Pangea. Maybe Earth had vegetation so abundant that it made the planet look half green. If so, there would be plenty of breathable air. We could be safe there. If I could have sprouted wings, I would have flown down there myself, if I wouldn’t have burned up on entering the atmosphere.

My thoughts went to the glitch in the plan. “By the way, Shrtz. What are we going to do with the guard?”

She sighed. “Perhaps we should let him go.”

“So he can steal the ship, and go get reinforcements?”

“Well then, maybe we can prevent that aspect. Allow him to make his own way on the planet.”

“So that he can stalk us and kill us in our sleep?”

“It is a conundrum....” One tentacle scratched her bald head, probably because it itched, and not because she was outgunned by a puzzle. More likely, she just wanted to give me something to figure out on my own.

“Maybe we should just space him.”

She gave me her direct attention. “That would make you no better than he.”

“Well then, what are we going to do?”

“I will give it some thought, as I hope you will. Then we will discuss it further.” She went back to the console, and tapped around, looking for more beacon information.

“I was already thinking about it. There’s a shuttle in the starboard bay...”

She lifted the hairless ridges over her eyes. “And?”

“And we could put him in it, now, and he could pilot it to the surface, and fend for himself. Then when you get the beacon fluffage going, we’d probably be on a completely different spot on the planet. He’d never find us. That’s a lot of real estate down there.”

A tentacle poked up in the air. “But could he not use the shuttle to fly around and search for us?”

“He could, but sooner or later, he’d run out of fuel and be on foot.”

She nodded contemplatively. “That might be a solution.”

“Here’s another thought. If he doesn’t know we’re landing as well, he won’t be looking for us. We can tell him we’re going home.

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