2 Chapter Two: Jennifer Richardson

I sat up slowly, due to the pounding in my head, finally opening my eyes in the deafening silence. What I saw was the most terrifying I had ever seen, the ship was destroyed. The bridge was gone, completely destroyed, the guidance wings were both missing, completely gone. At least the rear of the vessel was still intact. Without the captain's quick thinking and maneuvers, we'd have all been dead on impact. I knew I had to find the captain, and everyone else too.

Somehow, I had managed to stay half-conscious throughout the crash landing, strapped into the crash seats, in the bunk area. A malfunction had triggered the release shortly before the ship stopped moving, throwing us all through the front of the ship like ragdolls. I groaned as I checked for any major injuries. I had what looked like a fractured wrist and a gash on my shin. 'Not too shabby.' I thought, standing up and limping towards the captain and Henderson. I bent down to check Henderson' pulse, feeling a steady heartbeat. I lingered for a moment, gazing at his handsome face before I moved on to the captain.

After a few moments of no pulse and the feeling of cold, stiff flesh against my fingers, I realized the captain was dead. I backed away from the body in horror, nearly tripping over a fallen part of the ship behind me. Captain Tanson had aged nearly 70 years since I had seen him last, I shouldn't have been so surprised to find him dead, but it was my first experience with a body, and even my military training didn't prepare me for this.

I quickly turned, leaving to search for the others, hoping that the rest of the crew had fared better than Captain Tanson. I first located Freeman and the lieutenant, both with steady heartbeats and rising and normal respiration. I gently nudged Lieutenant Lorries, trying to rouse him, as he was now in command of the crew. He would know best what our first plan of action should be.

He stirred after a moment of nudging, groaning in pain and slowly opening his eyes. He peered up at me through narrowed lids, his cold, blue eyes staring at me with distaste.

"Where's the captain?" He grunted out in a harsh tone, disregarding the hand I held out as he hauled himself roughly to his feet. He winced, shifting his weight to his left foot, looking at me as he waited for my response.

I glanced down at my boot-clad feet for a second before looking up and responding.

"Captain Tanson appears to have died upon impact, sir."

Surprised, his eyebrows raised as his scar nearly disappeared into his greasy, coal colored hair.

"Are you sure, private?" I nodded in affirmation as he took in the destruction and chaos that made up our surroundings. "And the rest of the crew? Are they alive?" He questioned.

"I've only found Henderson, Freeman and yourself. Neither of the two of them have awoken yet, and there seems to be only minor injuries between them" I reported calmly.

He grunted in acknowledgment before giving me my orders.

"Fetch the medical supplies and gather any food you can find. We'll also need our suits and oxygen filters, though it seems the atmosphere is breathable. I'll find and wake the others. Move. And find me a gun while you're at it, we don't know what's out there." He ordered before turning and roughly shaking the shoulder of the Soldier who had ended up next to him, Sergeant Freeman.

Running my good hand through my knotted brown hair, I set off towards the intact rear of the ship, my leg already adjusted enough to the pain I no longer limped. Only a dozen yards away, the maw of the construct hid me from the alien sun. The inside of the ship was pitch black, aside from the occasional shower of sparks from shorting wires.

I slipped around to the ground behind the dead behemoth, curious as to the nature of the world around us. I paused when I saw it all, shocked silent by the glorious view. To the polar North, where the rear of the ship was facing, was an expanse of gentle green grass and wildflowers marred by the several mile long, fifty foot deep impact crater, and further past it was a sparkling blue ocean. Every other direction was filled with luscious green trees. I sat for a moment, taking in the beauty of the surrounding area, glad to know such beauty can exist on a world other than Earth.

I shook my head, remembering my orders and hustled back around to the mouth of the wreckage before grabbing a conveniently located flashlight and climbing in, finding what was left of the storage area, which was fortunately intact, though a mess. I looked through everything, grabbing splints and bandages first as well as a few painkillers, as medical supplies were of the most use for now. I shoved it all in a large backpack before heading back to Lorries with the supplies.