Marooned

Liza shook her head and looked around.

Where the hell am I? She thought. This island didn’t look at all familiar, at least not compared to any of the satellite images she and her crew had looked at before their departure.

She looked at her wrist comm. Nothing. No sign of her ship or her crew. Odd, she thought. There’s no way that we should have lost all communication.

Liza stood up, dusted the sand off her clothes, and then tried to get her bearings. As she surveyed the land around her, she noticed a flash of light in the distance. She started walking toward it.

As she neared the source of the light, she felt her stomach tighten. Was that her ship? She noticed a stripe of paint with the letters “NIX” on it. Yep… that’s her. That’s the PHOENIX. But how?

She sat down next to the piece of her ship as the tears started to stream down her cheeks. How did this happen? Why couldn’t she remember anything after takeoff, and how did the Phoenix’s systems not wake her when there was an emergency to the extent that her ship was blown to bits. Most importantly, where was her crew?!

She let the rest of the tears come. There was no point in trying to hold them back; letting them out now would ensure that she could clear her mind and then try to figure out what had happened. As the tears began to subside, she looked around again.

Liza saw more wreckage ahead. She also saw something floating out in the… ocean?... not too far away. It was impossible to see what it was, and for now, she didn’t have a raft or any other means of getting out to it. She decided to walk to the next bunch of wreckage she could see on the beach. Hopefully, there was some water or food, if not, she’d have to start looking for some soon.

There was a lot more of the ship in this spot but it looked like everything had been sorted into piles. Great! Some of the crew made it too. She started looking through the piles, and in doing so, she noticed something odd. Why are there so many rations here? There are so many first aid kits lying around too - untouched.

She looked around nervously. If her crew had sorted through what was left of the ship, they’d never have left behind food or first aid. Where was everyone… or who did this? She found a duffel in one of the piles and searched its contents. Jackson’s gear… he’d never leave this stuff behind. She pulled Jackson’s things out of the bag, and put them on one of the piles, keeping only Jackson’s beloved bush knife. Sorry, buddy. I know you’d understand.

She stuffed the duffel with as many rations and first aid kits as possible. And then she saw them: four glorious canteens of water. Thank the stars, Liza thought as she squeezed those into the duffel too somehow.

With her load in tow, she headed toward the tree line. Might be best to see about shelter, just in case, she thought. Inside the tree line, she saw there was plenty of brush and fallen trees to create a lean-to. She got to work gathering the things she needed from the area, then built the shelter. She tucked the items scavenged from the ship wreckage into the back of her shelter, then walked back to the beach.

It was difficult to tell what time of day it was. She laughed to herself. I wonder if humans are the only beings in the universe who actually care about time. Liza was hesitant about exploring too much without knowing when it would get dark, thinking that it would be better to be in her shelter when it did. That at least would provide some protection from animals that might be interested in having her for a late-night snack.

Back at the wreckage, she grabbed some rope that was strewn across the beach. Suddenly a shiver went down her spine. I don’t remember seeing this before. Where did this come from? As she straightened, she felt eyes on her. As she turned to see who it was, she saw immediately that it was definitely not her crew.

Liza woke in a room that was unfamiliar. Again??? She thought. The room didn’t look all that dissimilar to her cabin on the Phoenix. She sat up, noticing that her bruises and scrapes from before were all gone. How - she looked to the door as it hissed open. Standing in the opening was a figure. Not human, but not all that frightening somehow.

The figure entered the room.

“My name is Yerqriks,” it said. “I mean you no harm. We found you, and some others who look similar to you on the beach.”

“How can I understand you?” Liza asked Yerqriks.

“Through communication with some of your friends, we have been able to quickly understand your language. Despite its quirks, it’s certainly not the most complex we’ve encountered in this galaxy.”

Quirks? Galaxy? Where… where am I? Liza thought as Yerqriks continued.

“I can see your confusion. I admit, there is a lot of information you are trying to take in right now. Would it help if you were first reunited with your friends?”

“Yes!” Liza shouted as she jumped up, startling Yerqriks. “Sorry… I just… I honestly wasn’t expecting to see anyone alive.”

Yerqriks nodded. “I understand. Please, follow me. Once you have had an opportunity to reconnect with your companions, we can all talk more about the situation.”

Yerqriks led Liza out of the room she had woken up in, and down a long, rather homey-looking hallway. You’d almost think we were still on Earth, Liza thought. I’m so glad the crew survived. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since I didn’t find any real indication otherwise back at the wreckage from the ship.

They came to a door that slid open as they approached. As soon as the crew saw Liza and Yerqriks, they jumped up and ran to meet them.

Jackson grabbed her and hugged her. “I’m so glad you’re alive”, he said. “Yerqriks and their people have been super accommodating to us, and promised they would try to find you. Thank goodness they did.”

“And not a moment too soon”, said Yerqriks. “Nightfall will be here shortly, and you don’t want to be outside our structure when it does.” They paused, thinking. “Not structure. Our fortress.”

Liza wanted to ask questions, but for the moment, reconnecting with her crew - and eating - was a priority. Yerqriks enlisted Yirkrors, another of their species, to help get Liza and her crew some food. Once they finished eating and talking, Liza asked Yerqriks why they seemed so concerned about nightfall.

“The creatures at night are powerful and gigantic”, Yerqriks explained as Yirkrors nodded in agreement. “For as long as we have inhabited this planet, we have not been able to find a way to fend them off save for the fortress we built from the metals we found here. You see, we crashed here too, many years ago. When we did, we were fortunate to go unnoticed for many days. We found caves and metals within from which we built external doors and entryways to keep the creatures out. We now call those same caves home.”

Explains why this place is so cozy, Liza thought before saying: “Have you tried to create a new ship to go home?”

“Even if we could build a new ship, there’s no way that we could go home”, replied Yirkrors. “We left our planet because it was almost inhabitable. Too much had been taken from the planet without thought of protection.”

Liza and her crew exchanged knowing glances. “Yeah… that’s why we left too”, said Jackson. “We destroyed Earth and were taking a shuttle of colonists to find a new home.”

Everyone was silent for a minute. Suddenly a realization hit Liza. Her stomach sunk.

“So… we’re stuck here”, she said.

Yerqriks nodded. “At least for now. We are willing to share what we have with you. Maybe with our combined knowledge, we can figure out a way to leave.”

Liza didn’t see any other options. Yerqriks and their people were kind and seemed to have been here long enough to be able to help her and her crew create some sort of life here. They weren’t headed to any specific planet when they left Earth, and this one was livable. Maybe in time, they could thrive here, too.