From The Stars

Chapter 1: Arrival

Her armor was still on, though her helmet had been set aside on a small table beside what must serve as a bed for this species. It was similar to her own, longer than it was wide and relatively soft, though there was a strange feeling of metal poking into her back. Every movement released a strained creaking sound that could potentially alert the alien of her wakefulness. A thin sheet had been draped over her and a glass of what appeared to be water was resting next to the helmet.

She had been right; the day cycle on this desert planet was hot, bright, and inhospitable. A small tattered curtain held back the majority of the bright light from the planet's star. Forcing herself to move from the bed, she took a tentative step towards the window, feeling the floor creak under her weight, and pushed the curtain aside. The resulting onslaught of light was blinding, her eyes slamming shut in protest. After several painful dobashes she slowly forced them to open and looked out at the desolate terrain. Her pod was nowhere to be seen but a strange looking vehicle was parked outside, directly in-front of a smaller dwelling. It was red with white accents and appeared to be well taken care of. Perhaps she could commandeer it as a method of transport to assist her in her investigation of the mystery energy source.

She scanned the area outside her window and noted a single piece of vegetation in the form of a large tree. It was a tree unlike any she had ever seen before, as alien as the planet she was on, and it had a small rubber tire tied to a rope and hanging from one of the larger branches. For a moment she wondered what purpose it could serve but decided it was not a priority. Her priority was figuring out if this alien species was hostile or not, and how to get back to her team.

A sudden crashing sound came from beyond the door to her room followed by a slew of angry words in a language she had never heard. She tapped her wrist gauntlet praying the universal translator would turn on, she couldn't imagine how difficult this would be if she was unable to understand the natives. Another loud crash followed by another slew of angry words and oh, they were curses! She sighed and used her gauntlet to test the toxicity of the beverage left for her. It was water, clean crisp water that she guzzled down as if having never had a drop in her life. A different loud crashing sound echoed through the dwelling, this one sounded like something heavy having slapped against a wooden structure; perhaps the door? Looking back out the window she caught a glimpse of the alien as it made its way over to the red and white vehicle, activated the engine, then hopped on and sped off in one fluid motion. Just like that, it was gone and she was alone.

She let out a sigh of relief and finally made her way out of the room. The entire dwelling seemed to be made of wood, it gave an oddly warm glow to the interior and though it was nothing she was familiar with, it was strangely soothing. The hall outside her door was narrow and lead to 3 other doors before descending down a steep staircase. Slipping into reconnaissance mode, she pushed open each of the doors to take stock of the other rooms on this level. Two were bedrooms, one substantially larger than the other, and the third room was a washing facility. The flooring in this room was tiled and there was a large white basin off to the side with a much smaller basin embedded in a table-like structure against the wall. Both seemed to have taps that, when activated by turning, sprayed water into them. There was also a rather strange contraption in the corner behind the door and for the life of her she could not figure out what it was for. Beside it was a roll of soft paper and a stack of magazines. The cover of the magazine had a much more feminine figure sprawled across it, leading her to draw the conclusion that her rescuer / captor must be male given their physical differences.

A loud ringing sound startled her. It echoed from the lower level and repeated in set intervals until terminating with a loud beeping sound. The voice of a gruff man filled the dwelling; her suit's translator making the alien words decipherable.