Time to Go Outside.
"A!"
"A!'.... "Come on A, we got shit to do!"
The screens blanked out for a second, but the same message came back. "Don't call me a bitch."
I have heard of AI and Droids being temperamental on occasion, but this is survival stuff here Nancy! I need my AI to come to the table. I decided to head on below to suit up for an EVA.
"Well... I'm going below to suit up for an EVA." I said to... No one apparently.
Actually, and luckily most of the cargo and hatch were intact. The breach was sealed by SprMar. It was a poly-filament that spreads over a large hole and seals instantly to ultra cold space or extreme heat like a really hot planet next to a star. Aside from everything tossed all over the place I was able to create a path to the EVA Module and get into my suit.
A was still having her meltdown but she was obviously aware of what I was doing because the O2 tank to the suit pressurized automatically without me having to manually operate it. She is a woman scorned. I decide to leave well enough alone.
I took a second before I hit the red button.
You know, the button. The button that closes you off into the EVA dock and opens the outside. Do I say something? Is A going to decompress me and I implode on an alien planet?
..... I can think of better ways to go...
I palmed the airlock open.
There are frikken birds here.. WTF!?
The air is definitely highly saturated with pure O2. Gravity is 16 psi just a tad over Earth at 14 psi. I do feel a few pounds heavy. Gotta lay off the desserts while stranded here. Not sure if I want to take in that pure O2. I could get giddy in the head and end up saying 'fuck-it!' to my rescue.
I clicked off the Enviro-wrist computer.
Well. A was right. Definitely a M Class Planet. Only better. My steps are a little heavier but that's a good thing. Surer footed. I can just see myself on a lighter gravity tripping up, cracking my visor on a rock and A having her conniption fit leaving me out there to suffocate.
I made my way aft of the ship. The whole rocket and engine cowling was sheared off. Nope, not lifting off anytime today folks!
I turned to scout the debris trail and could see the entire assembly hung up on a cliff where it decided to stay.
It was then I came to an epiphany. This place is forested! Birds are everywhere! It is also kind of moist. I clicked on the wrist-comp again.
40% humidity. I looked up. Clouds... Sky is... What is that?.. Like Sangria wine. I spun around to see where the... Where is the...?
Where the fuck is the sun to this planet? The whole place seems to be in some sort of firmament. Like an opaque atmosphere. I wondered if it is just where I landed or if the whole planet is like this?
Well, no time for that now. I continued my look at the ship. She is wrecked. Landing gear sheared and snapped off. A huge gouge in the forward hull just under the bridge. Thats where the avionics were..
Were...
The circuits were all strung out and tethered by the various connections into the dirt.
"It's amazing I survived this crash." I said to myself.
"It is against my programming to allow harm to come a human."
I looked at my wrist-comp. It was off.
"I am right behind you."
I turn and there she was. Or, her droid form.
"A... You ok?"
"Diagnostics are complete." She said. " I was able to get into my robotic form but as you can see..."
She was right. Her left shoulder and arm were missing.
"We will find your arm." I said. She just blinked and looked over the ship.
" It is a fair bet we were seen upon re-entry Sir. If we can repair the Stealth program, it will buy us some time."
"Go for it A. Tell me what you need."
" The main computer is damaged and can only partially cloak the ship. The flight recorder is located in the engine bay and can be used to boost the signal to hide the ship completely."
" Yeah, but..." I pointed to the ridge. "The engines are up there."
A stood up firm. I could see she was calculating. What, I had no idea. In a flash she leaped back and ran up the ridge. Moments later she was dancing back down the rocks with a large box in her good working arm.
"Great!.. Lets get that..." She blew right past me.
"Let me do my work Sir." And back into the EVA Module she went.
I just stood there. Watching birds.
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