Dawnhammer

Chapter 30 - Gemini

"The Genesis Drive."

Silas pushed his lower lip under his upper, took a moment to consider the name, and nodded solemnly.  "Yeah.  That's much better."

-

Their journey ended swiftly in a fanfare of silence.  Dawn refused to look at Terris, again.  He didn't care.  She had seen it.  Whether she knew what his eyes conveyed was another story.  He felt something new inside him, an unending ache of happiness and hunger, twined together with the silver string of possibility.

"Dawnhammer, please receive coordinates for a landing site on the planet's surface.  We would very much like to meet you, soon."

Terris looked at Haden.  The AI remained silent, but nodded his assent.  A green marker solidified on the planet within the holosphere.  With a grin, the young man began the descent into the atmosphere.

He was rated to pilot within an atmosphere.  His salvage license required simulator time and a grueling test that introduced the countless variables which might cause a vessel to keen.  He always wondered whether that test was an accurate portrayal of atmospheric flight.  It was.

Turbulence buffeted the ship almost instantly.  Dawn and Marcus took their seats with the rest of the crew.  Restraining arms formed from the deck material and locked them into place.  Only Terris had any degree of motion and he handled the ship like an old hand.  His responses to the changing wind currents were as fast as thought and the Hammer smoothed out quickly.  He shot a quick glance behind them to see a series of vapor trails leading back into space, a result of the superheated wingtips, stabilizer edges, and ejecta from the starfire engines.

The green reticle guided them to a beautiful emerald glade in the midst of dense forest.  As the massive ship sank through the canopy of trees, Haden began go identify the species.  Conifers.  Pines of various type.  He registered cones and seeds in the underbrush, traced the tracks of different animals across the terrain.

The AI was only aware of the soft touchdown due to the sensors in the three point landing gear.  He nodded to Terris and began cycling down the engines, lest they set the forest ablaze.

As one, he released the restraining harness and the crew stood, staring at the magnificence surrounding them.  Golden sun light filtered through the boughs of the massive trees. Long blades of green grass swayed in a lazy wind.  Birds flitted from tree to tree, their brilliant colors arcing rainbows of life through the clearing.

To the rear of the holomatrix, two of the five white ships glided into position behind Dawnhammer.

As soon as they touched down, both canopies slid to the rear of their vessels and human forms emerged, their movements quick and excited. 

"They are not armed." Haden stated.  Terris could see that for himself.  There was barely enough clothing between the two of them to conceal a salad fork.  Their skin was deeply tanned, their forms lithe and agile.  Long, slender legs showed a lifetime of physical activity.

Strips of fabric covered the upper and lower torso, the material rustling with their movements and the light wind.  To Terris, relief, he caught glimpses of pristine white undergarments that eliminated the possibility of visual awkwardness.

Though similar in their basic build, fine, delicate details in one marked her as female, Contrasting sharply with the broad, rugged visage of the male.  Both had straigh raven black hair that extended to the waist, bound by the same cloth as their meager wardrobe.  The two were excellent physical specimen of humanity, bodies reflecting perfect form, musculature, tone and nearly nonexistent body fat.

"Damn."  Silas stated with finality.  "Haven't had to suck in my gut for a long time."

Through peripheral vision, Terris saw the man's posture change.  Silas was slim, already, but the bodies of the couple outside the ship gave a sense of inferiority to them all.  Terris' posture straightened as well.  Silas slapped him on the back.