"After Roswell", A.H. Roberts [the best motivational books txt] 📗

internal heat source, this planet needs the energy of the star to sustain life. We are getting near the planet when pressure and heat start to build around the ship. But the shields seem to be holding up.
"Keep the ship steady Pilot one, begin landing procedures and take it in". I give the command with the rapid beating of my hearts as we get closer to the planet's atmosphere. Pilot two begins to worry. "Commander I've got all kinds of movement in the throttles." Pilot two is inexperience and this his first mission so far from the homeworld. I gain control of the crew's focus and try to land safely to the surface. "Engage thrusters Pilot two and minimize speed. We need to reduce as much damage as possible". Even with lights blinking in the interior of the ship. I ignore the warnings and proceed on with the mission. Soon a alert light emerges in front of my screen, indicating a hull breach. "Commander with have a hull breach in cabin three, but were holding steady". Pilot one pumps the valve-closed lever to seal the cabin. Soon are shields and gears get stripped from are exterior, heating me and my crew on the inside. "Switch to emergency procedures! Were getting ready for a crash landing!" I turn to the officer behind me to coordinate a safe landing spot. "Navigator find us a soft target to decrease damage to the ship". He seems at peril. Since there isn't much he can do. So he rapidly tries to find a suitable location. This ship must remain intact for any chance back home. Getting stranded five-hundred trillion miles away is not a option for me.
As we enter through the atmosphere the heat outside becomes relevant inside, as the control console explodes, burning the pilots. Safety shields engage to protect the navigator and myself. "Emergency protocol, take the helm Navigator. Get us on the ground in one piece!" He takes control of the ship and hits the stablizers to straighten out for a rough landing, instead of head first approach. The ship begins to balance as we are currently at thirty-thousand feet above the surface. I hit a button on my command screen. Soon fire and smoke vacuum from the ship clearing the glass portal infront of me. While looking out the glass I realize we are going too fast. "BRACE FOR IMPACT!" The navigator lifts the nose of the ship up and carves through the desert surface, speeding along with great momentum. The safety shields inside shut off. We're going so fast that pieces of the ship tear off and debris inside starts spraying at the navigator. Some pierce his chest throwing him off his seat and we finally come to a rest. Smoke and sparkage is visible from the ceiling. I fully open my eyes. Not knowing if I'm hurt or who is still alive. Near my shoulder I flip a switch. A relay shuts off the mangled wires, and the venting systems clear the rest of the smoke. I exit from my command chair, with no sense of direction. But I hear a active monitor alert. Lights and hazard sounds are going off in the ship. Which means some power is still intact. I hit the "reboot systems check" to get a damage report. Everything is down, only basic instruments are working. Transponder, life support, and critical power are non-operational. I open the hatch which is warm to the touch. I back my hands away. I tear a small piece from my jumpsuit, to grab hole of the hatch. Throwing the hatch to the side. I stare out into a blank and dark desert background, viewing nothing for miles. Its cold, almost lifeless around me. I feel scared, but rises a feeling of positive energy inside me. A relief that I made it. Caught in the slight amazement I get back to my duties as commander. Entering back inside I locate the pilots and navigator to perform medical. One by one I pull the crew out, lying them near the ship, with no time to spare. I hurry inside to get the emergency crate. Once outside I get right to work. Examination of the pilots shows they are severely burnt and have no signs of life. Walking toward the navigator their is slight movement. By close observation he appears injured and breathing shallow. I give him some H30 and meds to deal with the pain. He is so hurt to stand that any further movement could increse injury. So I'm going to "coma shock" him to perform surgical procedures. "I'm putting you in a coma to perform surgery." He shakes his head allowing permission and his eyes close for the procedure that will procure.
With the navigator in coma. Small fragments are pulled from his body, except for one fairly big piece that has embedded in his lung. Its risking, because pulling it out could kill him. I put plasma on the fragment to hold it in place and inject more meds to erase any pain. My first priority is to move the bodies for "detonation protocol" and gather any useful supplies. I need to retrieve the battery cells. These cells generate all the power for the ship. It also can become useful for our rescue. But I can't stand around this location. Must eliminate any evidence of our existence. I take the secure plate off which houses the explosive for detonation. I punch in the codes and turn the dial for the timer. On the screen I see the CPU has denied me access. The procedure is not available. Detonation explosive is not working because of the impact to our ship. I start looking for a location to conceal the equipment and navigator, in case something shows up. Taking a good look at the hunk of metal that remains of the ship, I understand how I'm a ignoramus commander for letting this happen. Never in my three-hundred years as a explorer have I lost a crew member to a decision that most would have aborted. Not all hope is lost. Certain equipment still works and the navigator is alive. In the distance I see a rocky formation that could be used as temporary base-camp for our rescue. If their is any chance for one? I hurry with crates in hand and salvage the comm systems to transmit a SOS. Usually were not the only ship traveling around this part of the galaxy. Matter of fact this is how we came across this world in the first place, from other civilizations who never bother to explore. With little intel themselves they didn't see the potential for resources. Main goal for my people is to explore, colonize, and form alliances with new species. Harvesting and depleting planets isn't in our plans. I was picked for the mission because of my experience but now I'm in a position of desperation. I stop for a moment and take off my face shield. A breath of bad taste flows through my body. Pressing a button on my wristband indicator I scan the surrounding environment. Oxygen levels are normal but show signs of other chemicals. Way different then want I'm use to. It seems that major industrialization has been establish here. I can smell it in the air with unnatural toxins lingering in the atmosphere. Could explain the heat signatures? I've landed in a dry environment to decrease detection from intelligent lifeforms. Who would live out here, nothing flourishings, how could you survive? I pull my LVS, "Long Vision Sights", from one of the crates and scan the desert. Moving several clicks to the right is when I finally focus in on something. I spot a structure or dwelling of some kind. I could be wrong about this location, their is definitely something here. With the ocular device still in my hand, I take a more excessive look. Farther to the right I spot another structure, which lies about a few clicks from the site. Must move quickly not knowing want resides in the dwellings. As I'm walking back to the crash site I start to feel sick and blood starts to trickle from my nasal passage. Might be from the toxic air? I inject some meds into my arm to counteract the air quality and take a rest.
After several minutes I begin to come back around and pick myself up, heading toward whats left of the ship. Kneeling next to the navigator, I notice he is alive. I try to wake the him in hopes he has improve from his injuries. He still is DMS "deep medical sleep" and start to drag his body back from the site for easy transport. Need to act quickly and clear the site. Before I can make attempt to move the navigator, sounds are heard from behind the ship. I peer from the side and witness four-wheeled machines rolling toward the ship. With hastely speed I run behind a boulder, but not far from the view of the wreckage. Locking onto the machines with my "protonic blaster" they come to a stop. Hatches open up from both sides all at once and these lifeforms emerge. With careful examination these lifeforms look armed. I'm positive those are weapons. But the bright lights from the machines are beaming infront my face. It has blocked my description of the lifeforms. No intel of what I'm dealing with? Oddly enough they seem to be different heights and mass, but look relatively same lifeform. Looks like scanners being flashed ontop of the scatter debris. Command module is carefully scanned as well. Bright flashes are popping from every direction. In the middle of the wreckage two higher commands are discussing something of importance. I'm unable to make out the language and my "echoe ear piece" is just picking up static. I take it out and continue to watch as they circle the ship. Hopefully they don't discover the navigator and harm him in some kind of way. He won't give up much intel for the sake of our species. Usually great deal goes into protecting are ship and its "high priority personal" which includes navigator and me. After some time the machines and lifeforms roll away. Right now I can't help the navigator or risk mission for the possiblity of their return. I go back to the base-camp were my supplies are located and get away from the crash site. At this time their is no evidence of myself being relation to the crash. I will proceed with mission and beam a signal out to get rescued.
Food rations are slim as I open the crates. But we can go years without eating any nurnisment, so I'm not worry at this time. Water on the other hand is vital. Earlier scans suggested possible H20, which isn't to different from are H30. We have the immune system to eat alien foods but this world's water supply must be within safe readings for are consumption. But for time being I have enough to last until then. Thats the good thing right now going for me. Time is plentiful. I could afford to sit and wait being effective during severe isolation for long periods. Not the first time it has happen. I was trapped on a nearby uncharted location within our own system for four pera secs, thats four years to you. Being a explorer puts you at extreme risks, thats why most of us don't form families. We end up forming a social connection within our crew to minimize stress for long duration. Only problem with my situation now is that this planet is located far from the central galaxy. Actually the only habitable one out here. Comm systems must be fixed so I can perform other task during my wait. Mission assumes no matter the problem were facing. Unfortuatly, checking the systems reveals little strength in tranmitting a signal