Chapter 1

“Captain on the bridge,” announced the youthful Cadet, his pale blue tentacles writhing proudly at the thought of having done something useful, despite only being trusted with scut work while on the bridge.

Everyone stood to attention, excluding those whose attention was too important for them to stop what they were doing.

“As you were,” announced Captain Varshad, as he silently glided over to the command console where his second-in-command, Senior Commander Lushram, was concentrating so hard on his display screen that his purple tentacles were virtually motionless. “How are we doing, Senior Commander?” asked the Captain.

“All systems nominal,” reported the Senior Commander, his purple tentacles now moving as though ironing out the kinks from being still too long. “We’ll be exiting Q-Space in just over ten minutes.”

“Very good, Senior Commander,” the Captain praised his second officer. “It’s been many years since the previous mission to this neck of the woods so we should take precautions in case the primate primitives have advanced more than expected. Raise the shields and ready weapons as soon as we exit Q-Space.”

“Acknowledged, Captain,” replied Senior Commander Lushram, “but the last mission here reported the primate primitives hadn’t even discovered electricity, let alone nuclear power or space flight. Do you really think they could be a danger to us?”

“Very unlikely, but we mustn’t take any unnecessary chances,” replied the Captain, whose claret tentacles snaked enigmatically, showing he was deep in thought. “Did the previous mission record what the primate primitives call their planet?”

“Earth, Captain. It means soil or dirt.”

“Typical primate primitives!” scoffed the Captain. “They have such predictable imaginations and vocabularies.”

A five minute warning alarm sounded throughout the ship to let the crew know that exit from Q-Space was imminent, since the usual nasty lurch was liable to cause disorientation.

“Prepare to raise shields and ready weapons as soon as we’re out of Q-Space,” Senior Commander Lushram called out to everyone on the bridge.

“Additionally I want all frequencies checked for evidence of electronic signals and, as we get closer, surface scans of the target planet to look for signs of nuclear activity,” added Captain Varshad.

Now nearly everyone on the bridge was displaying their excitement with writhing tentacles since they they were doing something more useful than monitoring the boring nothingness of Q-Space.

The next four minutes seemed to stretch interminably yet the one minute warning alarm sounding caught many by surprise. Everyone grabbed hold of something solid and waited. There was a stomach-churning lurch then the Q-Space engines fell silent.

“Shields raised,” called out the Defence Commander.

“Weapons readied,” called out the Offence Commander.

“Visual to main screen please Commander,” said Captain Varshad to Senior Commander Lushram.

“Acknowledged,” said the Senior Commander as the main screen switched to displaying the view in front of the ship.

“No bogeys on sensors,” called out the Defence Commander.

“Where is the planet?” asked Captain Varshad.

“It should be more or less in front of us but we’re still a long way out,” said Senior Commander Lushram. “Switching to 25 times magnification.”

The small blue spot near the middle of the screen caught everyone’s attention: blue planets were precious because they were few and far between.

“Set a course for the planet, one half maximum,” ordered the Captain.

“Acknowledged, Captain,” replied the Navigation Commander, and the ship’s thrusters rumbled into life.

Nobody on the bridge said anything as the tiny blue planet slowly expanded on the screen. The Comms Senior Ensign nervously broke the silence. “Captain, there are an awful lot of electromagnetic signals emanating from that planet.”

Captain Varshad sighed. “I guess the primate primitives discovered electricity then.”

“More bad news, sir,” reported the Sensor Senior Ensign. “I’m detecting residual nuclear radiation emanating from the planet. “However it all seems to be from nuclear fission. There’s no evidence of nuclear fusion.”