Y342-23-2 Chances are that by the way things must've looked to them, everybody on Quoventar thinks we're dead now. We made an emergency base conversion, at the same time we hit the ground, so the ship has been damaged some. We're going to try and send out some distress signals...not like it'll do much good if everyone thinks we're spacedust.
Y342-23-3 The distress signals didn't get any answers. We've got enough food to last about a month, but we can't go outside because this part of Quoventar has poisonous air. Degee is getting sick-- she may leave us soon.
Segra looked away from the screen for a second, thinking again. He decided he'd better tell his father about what happened. However, turning around, Segra saw that the hatch was closed. For some reason, it wouldn't open. After a few guesses at opening the hatch with the consoles, Segra was stumped. He decided to try the one button he had been avoiding the whole time-- the one he feared most was the self-destruct button.
For about thirty seconds, Segra felt himself going up. The floor shook. He realized that Alpha Zero had gone back into flight mode. Segra pushed the button again, hoping to put it back down to the ground. This simply resulted in more shaking. Segra sat down in a chair that was next to the consoles and strapped himself in.
Oh no, he thought,
what's happened now...?
Segra looked at the screen in front of him, and it showed a bunch of stars and the like. He unstrapped himself from his chair, and felt himself float up and around the cockpit. After getting used to zero-g and taking a few minutes retrieving his gun, Segra maneuvered himself to a hatch leading down further into the ship. Luckily, there was a warning printed on the hatch that led to the outside, so there was no chance of a mix-up if one kept alert.
The bottom half of the ship was a different story than the top. The lights on top went off when he went down, but the lights on the bottom didn't come on. Segra had packed a small green wristlight in case he got lost in the woods at night, so he turned it on. It illuminated a fair portion of the room. It appeared to be only half the size of the cockpit, but there was a door which presumably led to the sleeping quarters. Nobody was sitting at the chairs down in this room, so he continued into the next.
As he expected, the other room was the sleeping quarters. There were five beds in all -- they could all come out of the wall and go back into it when the time was right. Segra had seen beds like that before, which was how he knew. Two of the beds were out. The woman who had been in the distress signal was in uniform on one, with a blanket covering her. Her head was turned to the side, and half of her face was green. After checking her pulse, Segra knew she was dead. Segra looked to the other bed. A man, who looked like he could be the captain, was laying there. He was burly and muscular, with tanned skin and a rough face decorated with black hair. His shirt was blue and silver, and he was covered by a blanket as well. Segra checked his pulse as well, and found that the man was dead.
Segra went back up to the cockpit and strapped himself into the chair up there. He reached out and tried to set a course for his father's palace. Unfortunately, he hit a wrong button somewhere along the line, and the words "Course set. Headed to Llai V at 978. Alpha Zero will arrive at Llai V in an hour. Segra tried to change the course, but he was panicking too much to do much of anything.
About an hour later, Segra was calm now, but had given up all hope of getting the ship to turn around at this point. For all he cared, the ship might as well take him to the end of nowhere. He felt the ship jump around as it entered the atmosphere of Llai V. When the ship got too close to the ground for comfort, Segra hit the same button that had put the ship into flight mode. Alpha Zero ground itself into the earth, and its hatch opened. Segra passed out in the chair. It had been a long day.
"Llai V"
Segra woke up on a cot in a tent. Whoa, strange dream I had last night, he thought. Wait a minute! Where's my...oh no.
A tall, darkskinned man dressed as a ninja walked in. "Hello, sir. Did you sleep well last night?"
"I'd have slept a lot better if I wasn't a planet away from home."
"Ah... Well, sir, I should probably get Zeye -- she'd know more about you than I would." With that, the man turned and walked out of the tent. About five minutes later a woman walked in, wearing similar dress, but with a brown cloak around her.
"We found your ship. The Alpha Zero, is it not?"
Segra raised his hand a bit and began to get up, his mouth widening. "And you would be Prince Segra, would you not?"
Segra was so dumbstruck that all he could do was nod his head. The woman explained things in greater detail. "You see, we of the Llai tribe have been having some difficulties recently with the Robotics on this planet. We have, several times, requested assistance from our allies on Quoventar. However, they presented us with the news that the Robotics are stronger allies, and thus they must support the Robotics rather than us."
There's only one person in the kingdom that can make a decision like that, Segra thought, my father. Segra was getting concerned at this point, and made it known. "So, what are you going to do? Hold me hostage? Who are you anyway?"
"Zeye is my name," the woman chuckled, "And let's hope it doesn't come to holding hostages. I don't enjoy that sort of work much."
"Well, what's the alternative?"
"Segra, I know how difficult this would be for you, but we think Alpha Zero would be a great addition to our military. Will you aid us in driving off the Robotics?"
"I'd rather do that than be held hostage. What would you need me to do?"
Zeye's face became excited as she let out some of her plans. "Well, you may be familiar with Alpha Zero's base and flight modes. We're going to need Alpha Zero as a makeshift base. We're planning on equipping it with extractors-- with those, we can mine materials needed to make our weapons. Also, Alpha Zero has superior weapon capabilities for a ship of its kind."
"So, basically, it's going to be your ninja tribe and Alpha Zero with me in it, against the Robotics and maybe even my own people?"
The excitement faded from Zeye's face. "Yes."
"Ow."
"Ow indeed. That will make it very tough. Are you sure you want to do this, Segra?"
Segra's face was solemn and serious. "Yes."