The planet of Bernya floated in the darkness, glowing smack in the middle of the ship's viewing screen. Captain Norbert turned to his ensign.
"Any signal?"
"Nothing intelligent," said the Neran, her seven-foot tall body covered in soft blue skin. "I'm getting several life forms, but no structures, no radio waves, nothing."
The captain grunted. "Well, I guess we won't know for sure until we get down there. Preston, Lyles, with me! We launch in ten incs."
The three men were quiet on their way down to the ship's launching bay. Norbert wondered at the youth of the other two men, how their lives were in his hands in the hellish vacuum that was space. Their mission was simple -- travel to Bernya, survey it for life forms and resources, then report back to Home Planet for a potential colony.
Home Planet wasn't anyone's home, not originally anyway. The 5 billion residents were all imports from all corners of the galaxy. The reason it was Home was that it was the central headquarters of the Universal Space Exploration Federation. USEF had one directive -- spread, discover, colonize. Any natives were absorbed or destroyed, depending on how they decided to take to their new planetary roommates.
Any time a new inhabitable planet was discovered, a team was sent to find out what they could about the planet, map a general lay of the land and find out what they could about any intelligent inhabitants. Through many years of space exploration and travel, USEF had found that the chance of indigenous inhabitants was unlikely. It seemed that while an infinite universe bred a seemingly infinite amount of habitable planets, intelligence was somewhat of a commodity. What people they generally found were usually tribal, almost savage and more than willing to submit to these strange magicians who had descended from the sky. Norbert himself had been made a god once by a small arachnoid race before he was able to explain what was happening.
The lift slowed to a stop and with a whoosh, the door opened onto the launch bay. Preston and Lyles sat down in the pilot and navigator seats, while Norbert strapped in behind, awaiting the launch. No matter how many times it happened, how many planets he explored, the feeling was always the same -- excitement, curiosity, anticipation and, in a small recess of his mind he carefully avoided, fear.
"Any signal?"
"Nothing intelligent," said the Neran, her seven-foot tall body covered in soft blue skin. "I'm getting several life forms, but no structures, no radio waves, nothing."
The captain grunted. "Well, I guess we won't know for sure until we get down there. Preston, Lyles, with me! We launch in ten incs."
The three men were quiet on their way down to the ship's launching bay. Norbert wondered at the youth of the other two men, how their lives were in his hands in the hellish vacuum that was space. Their mission was simple -- travel to Bernya, survey it for life forms and resources, then report back to Home Planet for a potential colony.
Home Planet wasn't anyone's home, not originally anyway. The 5 billion residents were all imports from all corners of the galaxy. The reason it was Home was that it was the central headquarters of the Universal Space Exploration Federation. USEF had one directive -- spread, discover, colonize. Any natives were absorbed or destroyed, depending on how they decided to take to their new planetary roommates.
Any time a new inhabitable planet was discovered, a team was sent to find out what they could about the planet, map a general lay of the land and find out what they could about any intelligent inhabitants. Through many years of space exploration and travel, USEF had found that the chance of indigenous inhabitants was unlikely. It seemed that while an infinite universe bred a seemingly infinite amount of habitable planets, intelligence was somewhat of a commodity. What people they generally found were usually tribal, almost savage and more than willing to submit to these strange magicians who had descended from the sky. Norbert himself had been made a god once by a small arachnoid race before he was able to explain what was happening.
The lift slowed to a stop and with a whoosh, the door opened onto the launch bay. Preston and Lyles sat down in the pilot and navigator seats, while Norbert strapped in behind, awaiting the launch. No matter how many times it happened, how many planets he explored, the feeling was always the same -- excitement, curiosity, anticipation and, in a small recess of his mind he carefully avoided, fear.
