Flight Of The Anasazi - Chapter 13

 Flight Of The Anasazi

By David Billiot

Copyright 2026: All rights reserved

Chapter 13: Gun Control

Mark heard Lalia carrying something and he saw her pass the door to medical.  Good for her. She’s busy. Mark turned back to Bruce. 

“Alright. DNA. What’s the deal? And no scientific names. The regular common name.” 

“It’s grass.” Bruce said. 

“Not alien grass?” Mark asked. 

“By the DNA we wouldn’t be able to tell if it grew here, on Meica, or on Florida.”

“Al, how long until the drone returns with the sample from the ocean?”

“It is in flight now. The delay is due to several factors but I am compensating.” Al said. 

Mark leaned back in the chair. “Ok. I know I’m not supposed to speculate but let us suppose the stuff in the water is something from Florida. What could it be?”

“Most likely algae.” Bruce said and the word algae was so high and squeaky it grated on Mark’s ear. 

“Bruce, how attached are you to this avatar?”

“I think it is working out very well.”

“Maybe just try a slightly deeper voice.”

The avatar of Bruce on the screen looked puzzled. 

“You know.” Mark started to explain. “Women love guys with a deep voice.”

“Really!” Bruce said in amazement. “Cause you know, ok, don’t tell anyone but Sally and Steve broke up and I was wondering if maybe it was my chance to …”

“Who are Sally and Steve?” Mark asked. 

“Sally is valve control for FTL number five and Steve is part of flight authority.” 

“And they broke up?”

Bruce nodded. “But don’t worry. They agreed to stay friends.” 

Mark scrolled the touch screen of the monitor down to show him the progress on the replacement part for panel number 138.  It was still printing. The heat build up on that one area had been a bit too much. The sensor had tripped and now protocol dictated the part needed to be replaced. It was likely still usable but when dealing with space flight you don’t take any chances. The Anasazi was designed for Mark to do spacewalks in order to repair the outside but he was on a planet so the repair would have to take place in gravity. 

Mark closed his eyes for a moment and nearly nodded off. He snapped back but Bruce noticed it. 

“Captain, you are working during your scheduled sleep cycle. I suggest you go to bed.” Bruce said. 

“Agreed.” Al said. “The repair can be done in the morning.”

Mark thought about it and eventually relented. 

“When I wake up I want to know that you have a flight plan to get to that extractor and the calculations for the next jump.”

“We will likely also have the results of our tests completed by then as well.” Al said optimistically. 

“Very good. Carry on.”

Mark left and saw Lalia in the corridor looking at something with her head tilted like she was puzzled. 

“Hey, it’s bed time.” he told her. 

She pointed at the wall of the corridor.  There was a display there that cycled through the pictures of Amanda Roma and her crew of influencers.  

“Who are these people? Important?” she asked. 

“They’re the ones who were supposed to be flying this ship. But, yeah, they’re important. So important that we couldn’t risk their lives so I flew the mission as a test to make sure everything was safe. And it’s not.”

Lalia did not really understand right away so Al told her in her language he would explain more in the morning. 

Lalia actually felt like it was too early to go to sleep but since Mark was going she decided to go as well.  

In Mark’s quarters the two took turns taking showers. Mark went first and then it was Lalia’s turn. He had a lot on his mind but told himself he’d think better in the morning. 

Lalia came out of the shower wearing one of Mark’s shirts instead of the pajamas he’d given her. She sat on his bed and looked around in the dim light. 

“How do you say love in your language?” she asked him. 

Mark read her meaning and then he said the word. She copied him and practiced a few times. 

“My father told my mother he loved her every day until she died.” Lalia explained. “He told me every day he loved me but no one has ever said they loved me before.”

Mark was confused so Al wrote a more detailed explanation.  In Lalia’s language there were multiple words for love depending on what kind of love and who it was said to. Jer had used the word for love to Lalia that a parent says to a child, meaning something like dedication.  Jer used a different word for love meaning more like romantic love when saying it to his wife.  

“For my people, we only have the one word. And I think a lot of people use it too freely and might not actually know what it means.” Mark said. 

“I don’t care about them.” Lalia said. “You took my hand.”

Mark sat up, put his arm around her, and brought her into embrace. He looked over her shoulder at the hint Al was printing on the screen. He sounded out the words to tell her he loved her as a husband says to a wife in her language. 

… 

Mark waited until the pressure door was sealed. He waved at Lalia who was watching him through the window in the door and then again checked his suit to make sure all was well. As before, the suit was functioning as it should be so Mark pressed the controls for the ramp to lower. 

One slight modification that had to happen to the suit was the gloves. This wasn’t a spacewalk and while the repair tools were designed for the thicker gloves, the ladder and harness were not.  So instead of the gloves for vacuum Mark was wearing much thinner gloves that should nonetheless remain airtight given the planet’s air pressure. 

Mark went down the ramp and saw the black grass with his own eyes. The field of grass stretched off into the distance to the horizon. Mark turned on the high beam lights of his suit to get a better look. The blades of grass looked like they’d been covered in dry ink. The wind blew and the grass swayed this way and that. 

Mark carried the equipment down the ramp one piece at a time and started to get set up. He had to bring the ladder to the starboard side of the ship and secure it to the ground. That was easier said than done since the ground was soft and muddy. Mark went a few rounds of trying to get the ladder set up since strong winds were messing it up. 

Finally the ladder was set up and Mark was getting ready to climb it and harness himself to the outside of the ship.  

“Captain, before you ascend, I have some news.” Al said over the radio. 

“Go for it.”

“One, the black material in the ocean is indeed algae. There are also indications that the waters have fish in them as well. Two, we have the calculations for the next jump. Three, I have a flight plan …”

“Can’t this wait until I am back inside?”

“Oh, but Captain, I … well, of course. You are right, Captain. You need to focus on the repair.”

“Thank you.”

Mark started to climb the ladder and he was halfway up when something black came out of the grass and hit the ladder hard enough to cause it to tip and hit the side of the ship. Mark held on and heard the sound of an animal crying out because it was injured. Mark started to come down the ladder but before getting all the way down he jumped and let gravity take him the rest of the way. 

“Al, I have hostiles. Send up four drones to sweep the area.”

Mark grabbed his sidearm and ran to the landing gear so there would be something for cover and to put his back to. Then he saw them. Silently they were approaching, stalking up and then when they were close they would burst into speed. They were fast but not fast enough. Mark fired his gun and blew one of the animals in half. The terrible sound caused the others to scatter. As they retreated Mark got a second animal into his sights and he fired.  It dropped and Mark scanned the area for more danger. 

“The other three animals appear to be regrouping.” Al said. 

“Point me.” Mark commanded. 

Mark followed the trail of the animals for a ways until the Anasazi was in the distance. 

“Captain, I do not believe it is safe for you to track them further.” Al said. 

Mark turned his head to look from side to side. “Are there any more of those things?”

“Currently no. The ones you are following are racing away from us.”

“They might be back. You’ll have to keep the drones up. I want to know if there is any movement.”

“There is a lot of wind, Captain.”

“That panel has to be fixed.”

Mark went back to the ship and along the way he passed one of the animals he had shot. He knelt down to get a closer look at it. “Feral dog.” he deduced. “If there are dogs, then could there be people?”

“Possibly.”

“I’d hate to be trapped living in a hell like this. We’re getting out of here.”

Mark returned to the ship and completed the repair.  It took six trips but he brought all the tools and the old panel into the ship.  He took one last look at the endless field of black grass and then closed the ramp. Al had told him that the air of the planet was not toxic and would be quite breathable, just like Meica, but Mark didn’t trust it. The sight of that black grass just did something to him. It was too alien. Even if it was genetically mundane, it just looked too alien. Mark waited for the ramp to seal and then for the air to cycle before entering the ship and removing his suit. 

He got his helmet off and Lalia came to him to assist him. 

“You can update me now, Al. Are there any more of those dogs out there?”

“None, Captain.”

“Bring in the drones. Let’s prep to leave this place behind.”

“One small thing I would like to point out. The analysis of the age of the planet has been completed. It is roughly ten to eleven thousand years old. I was able to get a sample from a small rock outcropping and compared that with the organic material in the soil under the ship.”

“So someone made it. I’m not surprised. But they messed this one up. Didn’t get it right.” Mark concluded. 

“It could also be that they set the planet up perfectly but were too ambitious. If the planet was set to a twenty four hour day originally, the closeness to the star is likely the reason for the spin to be slowing.” Al offered. 

“What star are we going to next?” Mark asked to change the conversation. 

“It is a star with approximately two point five solarmass.”

“If we find another one of these planets there, that will definitely be a pattern.” Mark said. 

“It seems to me to be a poor choice for placing a planet.” 

“Yeah, but they put one here. Anyway, let’s get a move on. Obviously wait for me to get my suit off.” he said. Then he raised his arms and Lalia pulled the top part of the suit up and Mark’s head went down into it and he wiggled out. 

… 

Roma was in the captain’s quarters on the Roanoke. She never let any of her men into her quarters, instead always taking meetings in the conn or in her office. Stormer had modified the ship’s sleeping quarters to put four men in one cabin on bunks.  However, when not doing training the Roanoke would dock at station and do maintenance. 

Roma looked at the calendar on her wall. She marked off another day. 

“What are you looking at, Mark Adakai?” she asked herself. According to the mission plan he should be in orbit around the red dwarf six lightyears away. “Do you need rescue? Do you need me to come and get you?”

Roma hung her head and felt some kind of pain.  She hated not knowing if he was there at the star or not. She hated not knowing if he was fine or in urgent need of rescue. She hated that he had gone and not her. She hated the fact that there was a reason for him to go but no reason for her to go.  Not yet.  Not yet. But soon, one way or another she would break these chains holding her back. 

She left the ship to get something to eat in the officer’s mess and captain Penbrie came up to her. 

“Good work rescuing the crew of the Good Day.” he said. 

“My men did the work.” Roma responded. 

“Did you do any follow up?”

“Not me personally.”

“They were smuggling weapons. Didn’t know what they were doing. Probably more Cloud city trouble.”

“I’ve been too focused on my mission to worry about it.”

“Do you mind if I sit with you?”

Roma shrugged. 

Penbrie sat and smiled. “I’ve wanted to ask you to dinner for a while but I was always too scared.”

“The officer’s mess is hardly a date.” Roma said. 

“Ok. I accept that. So let’s go some place nicer next time.”

“I am busy.”

“I heard a little bit about it. When I was a boy I wanted to be a firefighter. Did you know that firefighters have time off and have families and all of that?  Now doesn’t last forever and once it’s gone, it’s gone. I should have asked you to dinner a year ago. But I waited until now and I feel like a fool.” 

“I would have turned you down a year ago.” Roma clarified. 

“And what about now?”