Avalon Outpost 5.1.3

Avalon was a desert like planet with an outpost and a few android runned mines within a few miles. From the closest colony it took a week to get to the planet. Plus the fact that nobody ever was in a hurry to get there.

A blonde woman with her hair made into a ball on the back of her head walked through the white hallways. She is dressed in a blue jumpsuit. A song is playing in the background. She wasn’t much for music but it sounded like jazz, which wasn’t much to her liking.

“… See you in the background”… a male voice sing with.

“Jackson”, she called.

“…Walking cross the floor”... the voice continued.

“Jackson”! She called higher.

“Shut the damn music off”! An Asian female voice demanded.

The blonde woman entered the room the voices came from. An Asian woman in her thirties glared in irritation at a brown haired man with a pair of glasses and an unshaved chin. The Asian woman was Ming-Na and the man Jackson.

“What”? He asked, turning around to the newcomer.

Her name was Mika Vorner.

“Aren’t you paying attention Jackson”? She demanded. “I’ve been calling you”.

“I haven’t heard anything”, Jackson defended.

“Wonder why”, Ming-Na said sarcastically.

“The pressure in the lower generator is down”, Mika said. “Get the readings up. We don’t want the robots slacking off”.

“You’re doing it so good already”, Ming-Na said with a smug look.

Jackson glared a venomous glare her way.

Jackson turned to the screen and started pressing on the keyboard. Ming-Na turned back to her own monitor in the rooms other end. Mika walked over to her.

“Anything new”? She asked.

Ming-Na looked over her shoulder.

“Anything new”? She repeated in disbelief. “You’re kidding right? Like anything ever happens”.

“I wouldn’t say that”, Mika teased. “A meteor striked last week. Wasn’t that exciting”?

“It hit 260 miles away”, Ming-Na reminded.

“Fine, I’ve done it”, Jackson said. “Happy”?

Mika raised her brow.

“… For reminding you to do your job”? She asked. “Not really, no”.

She turned around and walked out again.

“You know, you need to relax and get that stick out of your ass, Mika”! Jackson called after her.

“Knock it off”, Ming-Na warned.

Jackson turned back to his screen and turned the jazz back on. Passing by the recroom Mika saw on the black couch a young red haired woman with long hair and bleak skin laid on top of a man with black hair, her head resting on his chest with her eyes closed. The man had his hands on her back. He had a goatee and both was in their twenties. Her name was Debora “Debi” Callaghan. Debi is an engineer while the man, named Joachim Johnson is a weapons engineer from Linköping in Sweden.

He constructed and built the rocket system that shoots down asteroids that might threaten the outpost, mines or the surrounding area. Soon Mika entered a small room with monitors and consuls. It was the central control room. A bold African American man sat at one of the consuls and stared at a monitor with several readings.

“What was the problem”? Kevin asked.

Mika sat down and sighed.

“Jackson”, she said.

Kevin snorted.

“Should have known”, he leaned his head back. “How’d that guy end up here”?

“Rich Family Corporation, built a lot of technology used in colonization”, Mika explained shortly. “He’s grandfather was George Oxford”.

Kevin turned his head in disbelief and surprise.

“The founder of Oxford Industries”? He clarified.

Mika nodded.

“Holy shit”, Kevin exclaimed. “Damn boy”.

“Yeah”, Mika sighed. “I’m not saying he’s not a good technician. He know his stuff but… his attitude”. She turned to Kevin. “Remember what I said five months ago when I got here with you, Debora, Jackson and Andrei”?

“What’s that”? Kevin asked, not remembering.

Mika’s lips curved into a smile.

“I said that Jackson’s probably a nice guy once you get to know him”, she reminded. “You said I was probably wrong”.

Kevin’s expression turned into a grin.

“You were wrong there”, he stated grinning.

Mika pressed a few buttons on the keyboard before getting up.

“I gotta get something to eat. You want anything, Kevin”? Mika asked.

He shook his head. “Nah”.

Mika walked through the hallways towards first her quarters. She opened the door and entered the room. She looked in a shelf for a book and grabbed it and so left. In the cafeteria Mika took a cup of coffee and two sandwiches. At the same table she sat down at a young black haired woman laid across it, sleeping.

“Jane”, Mika said.

The young woman continued sleeping. Mika shook her head and decided to let her sleep. It wouldn’t be too good if she was tired when she was on duty later. Jane had black straight lying hair and green eyes, though you couldn’t see them as she was sleeping. Jane Fox arrived three months ago from the colony of Mars. She was an astrophysicist and one of the youngest in her field. She ended up here on an outpost on the Avalon colony to escape to a calmer life, without the pressure.

A bold man entered the cafeteria. He was tall with muscles and a strong look. Andrei “Boris” McNamara was an engineer born in Moskva in Russia. At early age he joined the UN colonial forces. He spoke with a slight Russian accent only. Boris was a nickname Jackson gave him to piss him off but it set in with everyone, including himself. He grabbed a cup of tea, potatoes and a piece of meat.

“Someone’s tired for sure”, he said looking at Jane.

“I almost would like to join her”, Mika joked.

She took a sip from her coffee before biting into the sandwich again. And another member of the outpost crew stepped into the cafeteria. Martin Fletcher was a rover operator and former American military vehicle engineer.

“How you doing people”, he said pouring up a cup of coffee.

“Martin”, Andrei nodded courtly.

Martin left as quickly as he’d come with the coffee cup in his right hand.

Mining Site Alpha

A Norwegian man with thick curly dark orange hair and a beard played a first person shooter game on the computer. He had blue eyes and a strong built body. He wore a thick brown shirt and black pants.

He found himself ten miles away from Outpost 5.1.3, about a few hours trip. He was alone in a small facility. That’s except the androids who mined ore in the underground mines. His name was Jonas and he was a Biologist & Mining & android Operator. Jonas was in his late thirties.

The door to his office opened.

A white android entered. The face looked somewhat human.

Jonas stopped the game and turned his chair around.

“What is it”? He asked. “A problem”?

“Not a problem”, the android replied. “More of a situation”.

“Explain”, Jonas said.

“Off course”, the android said. “We have located a craft in the mine”.

Jonas was surprised and didn’t fully understand.

“W-what do you mean a-a craft”?

Jonas had a light Scandinavian accent, more exactly to Southern Norway.

“It appears to be a space craft”, the android said.

Jonas got to his feet in a second.

“A-a-a s-space c-craft”, he stammered with his Norwegian accent.

2: We’ll Make History

Mika put her hand on the board beside the keyboard as she leaned forward towards the image of Jonas on the screen. The orange haired Norwegian man sat in his office chair.

“Are you sure”? Mika asked.

“Very”, Jonas replied nodding swiftly. “I only a few minutes ago saw a feed from the mine myself. It’s very alright”.

Ming-Na’s jaw stood open by shock. Nobody could believe what Jonas’s androids had found. Those stupid robots. Jackson sat in a chair, looking hyped like a child on a sugar rush. The large Russian Andrei stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall. Others in the room was rover operator Martin Fletcher, Kevin, Jane Fox, black haired Joachim with the goatee and Yaseen Khumalo.

Yaseen Khumalo was a black skinned South African bold man in his fifties. He sat in a wheelchair beside Mika. Yaseen was a specialist in Chemistry, Biology, Physicist, Astrophysicist, Meteorology, Mathematics and Languages.

“How large is it Mr Jonas”? Yaseen asked.

“About”… Jonas looked at some notes to his side. “Three hundred meters from front to stern and seventy-five across”.

“Holy fuck that’s one big mothafuckin’ ship”, Kevin exclaimed impressed and still in shock.

Yaseen wrote something into his paper notebook. Jane looked over his shoulder and saw he was calculating something.

“How ‘bout an entrance”? Kevin asked, almost regretting it afterwards.

Shit, he didn’t wanna go inside it even if he got a promotion and better pay.

“The androids have dug out a hatch on to top of it”, Jonas explained. “The ship seems to have crashed and made a cavern around it as it did”. He looked at his notes on a datapad. “The hatch probably is an escape hatch. It is too small to be a main entrance. At least that’s my guess”.

“So, any idea how long ago this thing crashed”? Joachim asked.

He scratched his black goatee.

“Eh… uh…” Jonas shrugged. “I have really no idea”.

“Approximately four hundred thousand years ago”, Yaseen said.

He looked up from his notebook.

They all looked shocked at him.

“How the hell you”… Jackson began.

“I calculated the size and how deep it was down”, Yaseen explained. “It wasn’t actually that hard”.

“Yeah”, Jane said. “We’ll just take your word for it”.

Joachim smirked and patted her on the shoulder. Jane met his gaze and immediately turned away, feeling she was blushing.

“I’m assembling a team to head to Alpha”, Mika decided. “We’ll go in together”.

Jonas nodded and smirked sarcastically. “Yeah, because I really wanted to go in on my own”.

A round of chuckles went around.

Ming-Na looked a bit disappointed.

“What is it”? Jackson asked. “Aren’t getting enough sex”? He smirked smugly.

Andrei smacked him in the head with a glare.

“What’s up Ming-Na”? Mika asked censer.

Ming-Na sighed.

“I just hoped it would be more resent”, she confessed.

Her disappointment was understandable. The only civilizations ever located was the ruins of by now extinct ones. The youngest found was ruins on a planet that had been hit by an asteroid fourteen thousand years ago. The asteroid hit and destroyed all life on the planet. Otherwise the ruins seemed to indicate something like 21st century earth in development.

“So, about these teams”, Martin inquired. “You’ll need someone who can drive a rover”.

“Like Kevin”? Jackson joked.

“No”! Martin protested.

Joachim and Andrei chuckled.

“I ain’t goin’ near that space shit”, Kevin made clear.

“Okay”, Mika said. “Martin, Jane, Joachim, Debora and Boris leave with me”.

Jackson cursed over not getting to go.

Martin made a victorious hand gesture while Joachim nodded with a huge smile.

“I’ll find Debi”, he said.

Mika nodded.

“Debi, you read”? He said into his ear comm.

“Right here cutie”, Debi replied in a cute tone.

Jackson looked at Joachim and shivered over the statement that he was cute. It ended like most times with Andrei smacking the back of his head.

“Get your little hot ass to the embarkation room”, Joachim continued.

“For you… I’d go anywhere”, she said in a seductive voice.

“Don’t say anything you’ll regret”, he suggested.

Jackson couldn’t handle the flirting sense he wasn’t being flirted with and left. He was also bummed over not going to the awesome alien ship.

“Get your gear and get to the embarkation room”, Mika ordered.

Joachim was going to enjoy dropping the bomb about the mission to Debi.

In the embarkation room Martin put a see-through mask on and a small tank on his back with oxygen. The air was breathable but after about thirty minutes you’d be dead of the toxins. Under thirty minutes a person could survive the toxins.

Debi turned to Joachim with a suspicious look.

“I swear if your messing with me, you aren’t getting lucky for a year”, Debi promised warningly.

“It isn’t a joke”, Joachim assured with annoyance. “I promise baby”.

“You can always spend that year in my bed, if he is lying”, Jackson turned and left.

Disgusting fuck, Mika sighed and glared.

Debi stuck her tongue out at him.

He did the same back.

“What are you, twelve”? Andrei asked shaking his head annoyed.

Jane was the last one into the rover.

3: Mammoth

Mining site Alpha

A dozen building was ahead of them as the rover stopped and everyone got out. Mika spotted Jonas coming towards them with two androids. It had taken two and a half hour to get to the mining site. A few androids move along around the site. Carrying equipment in different directions.

Martin, Jane, Joachim, Debi and Boris was coming up behind her.

Mika shook Jonas hand. He had a strong but gentle grip.

He had spent two weeks here alone so he always like company. Two weeks ago his college Ben Carlström, another Norwegian in his field was injured in an accident and lost both legs. They had been here for six months together and run all the mining sizes. Jonas was mostly bored out of his minds, being alone and all that. But every Friday Joachim, Debi and Boris came over for a movie night.

“Shall we”? Jonas asked politely and gestured for Mika to take point. “Ladies first”.

They entered a mine and used the elevator in the shaft to go down. They didn’t know exactly how far down they went but it felt far. Martin was the first one to step off.

“You know, my son is going to love this story when I get back home”, Jonas said.

Jane smirked happily.

“How old is he again”? She felt bad not remembering but it didn’t seem to bother him.

“Eleven”, he answered.

“Still wanna be a space pilot”? Joachim asked curious.

“Yes, he still want to fly through space”, Jonas said smiling.

“My little sisters are gonna be amazed”, Debi shivered in excitement.

Debi had an older brother in his thirties and an older sister that was 28. Her younger sisters was six and seven. She also had a two month old brother, but she hadn’t seen him yet sense she’s been home for a few months. She laid her head on Joachim’s shoulder and sighed. She missed them.

They entered a larger cavern and stopped. They stopped and starred in amazement. The ship laid in front of them. Joachim took a step and placed his foot on it.

“Oh, my, god”, Jane exclaimed in a whisper.

“Amazing, huh”, Jonas said turning around.

“Oh yes, very”, Mika nodded, awe struck.

After a moment they walked out on the ship and Jonas opened the hatch. Mika’s flashlight seeked down the dark ship. Martin was the first one to climb down. As Jonas was the last one down his flashlight looked around.

“This is interesting”, Joachim said.

“Tell me about it”, Jane replied, still in awe.

“No, I mean that this ship’s been here for about four hundred thousand years and it is still far more advanced than anything we have”. He turned to Mika. “What if there still around… somewhere out there”.

Mika hadn’t considered that. But he was right. Just imagine how advanced they would be.

“Shit, imagine meeting these folk”, Jane pondered.

“Perhaps we should split up boss”? Andrei asked.

“I-I don’t like that idea”, Jane confessed a bit frightened by the thought.

“Calm down”, Mika reassured. “Whoever was onboard at the crash is long dead”.

“Assuming they can die”, Jonas said.

Joachim glanced at Jane. She looked frightened.

“If that’s true we have nothing to worry about”, he said confident.

Andrei looked at him unsure what he meant.

“What do you mean”?

“Well if there are sentient life forms onboard that can’t die of age or such”, Joachim started explaining. “Then they would have no complex of killing or death in any form”.

Andrei nodded slowly.

“Unless we threaten them”, Martin stated.

“How you gonna threaten something that can’t die”? Joachim retorted.

“Make sense actually”, Andrei agreed.

“So, we’ll split up”, Mika decided. “Boris and Martin, you’re both with me. Rest of you head that way”.

Debi looked down the dark hallway.

“Okay”, she said.

The two groups started moving in different directions. Debi noticed after a while that Jane was still a bit frightened so she lightly shoved her towards Joachim.

Jane looked at her, trying to understand what she pushed her for.

“Don’t worry Jane”, Debi said cheerful. “Joachim’ll keep ya safe”.

Jane glanced at him and away when she felt she was blushing. It didn’t feel much easier when Debi clapped her in the back with a smirk over it. Debi know she really like Joachim, but she was fine with that. The whole reason for making her walk beside him was that Jane probably would feel safer.

Debi knew Jane would never make a more or anything like that as long as Debi and he were together.

They stuck their heads into different rooms. Some looked like storage rooms while others was empty or had consuls of some kind, though far more advanced than anything they’d ever seen. The lost track of time as they searched through room after room, hallway after hallway.

They entered a half open door of unknown metal.

“That’s not possible”; Jonas exclaimed. “This area still has power… after so long”.

“I so wanna get my hands of the power source”, Jane stated, shimming with excitement.

Her fear was gone. They continued down the hallway with empty rooms behind glass on their sides. Suddenly Debi let out a shriek and jumped into Joachim’s arms. Everyone flinched at what she’d seen. In one of the compartments a skeleton laid. A skeleton of a long lizard like creature. Joachim tried to speak but couldn’t get a word out. The creature had been dead sense the crash probably.

“Oh… my… god”, Jane mumbled horrified. “You… you think… it might be one of the…”

“No”, Joachim pondered. “Giving the nature of the room and this whole area. I’d say he’s... sorry, he was, a specimen, not a passenger. But I suppose he could have been. If this was a prison ship of some kind”.

“So…” Jonas started while looking deeper down the hallway. “This ship could have been some kind of research vessel”?

Joachim nodded.

“I’d say so. It seems the most likely. At least with the knowledge we have now”.

“Cool”, Debi stated smiling.

“Mika”, Joachim said.

“You found something Joachim”? Mika asked.

“Yep, a lizard-like skeleton. Long dead”, he explained.

“A-a skeleton”? She asked for confirmation.

“Yeah that’s right. Given the area we’re in now, it looks like this ship might have had a research purpose. There’s a whole lot of containment chambers here”.

It took a while before Mika replied.

“I-I’m at a loss of words”.

“Check this out”! Jonas shouted.

“I’ll get back to you”, Joachim finished.

They ran over to Jonas who stood ten meters further from them. They stopped and looked into a containment chamber filled with what looked like ice. And… it was something large inside.

“W-what is that”? Jane asked Joachim while hanging onto his arm.

She stood halfway hiding behind him.

“This must be some sort of freezing chamber”, Joachim said. “M-maybe they all were supposed to work like that”.

Suddenly he gasped and flinched.

“I-it can’t be”, he stammered.

“W-what”? Jane asked worried.

Joachim stepped up to the glass separating them from the frozen creature and laid his hand on it.

“T-that’s a mammoth”, he murmured. “It’s a fuckin’ mammoth”.

4: Payday

“B-but how is that possible”? Jonas asked confused and shocked.

Jane was speechless.

“I-I don’t know”, Joachim confessed. “They m-must have visited earth and gathered specimens”.

Debi pointed towards another containment chamber that was frozen.

“Maybe there’s something else in that”.

“It is active so it should be”, Jonas said walking over.

“Otherwise they weren’t very bright”, Jane stated.

“Let’s see”, Jonas said gazing inside.

He stopped and stared. As the theme of this search seemed to be speechlessness they were in fact that. Speechless yet again.

“Ah, ah… ah”, Jonas tried.

In the frozen containment chamber a young beautiful woman appeared. Her body was naked and she had long black hair and darkened skin.

“God I’m happy Jackson’s not here”, Jonas said.

Debi wanted to chuckle but her speechless condition didn’t let her.

Jane immediately looked up at Joachim for an explanation. He had none this time. Though he tried anyway.

“Giving her skin and hair… my professional view says she’s from… North Africa or the middle east around the time of Ancient Egypt”, Joachim tried.

“But there weren’t people for four hundred thousand years ago”, Debi protested. “Only monkeys in trees and stuff”.

“M-maybe they… got a hold of… a specimen of Homo sapiens and”… he shrugged. “I don’t know. Did something to her so she evolved much faster”…

He shrugged again. He was only guessing. He really had no idea. Actually the only idea he had sounded kinda dumb.

“How we gonna explain this to the others”? Jonas asked.

“That’s okay”, Debi said smirking. “That’s Joachim’s job”.

He glanced at her with raised eyebrows.

“Is she alive”? Jane asked.

They focused on the woman again.

“I suppose so”, Joachim said. “Sense she’s in… stasis still… yeah, probably”.

Jonas suddenly grinned widely.

“Which means we can bring home a living mammoth to earth”, he grinned widely. “The research community will pay anything for a living mammoth”!

Debi grinned to.

“We’re rich”, she stated.

“Might be in the future”, Joachim suspected. “Not to mention that everyone will wanna get their hands on the technology in this ship”.

Debi throw herself in Joachim’s arms and cried out of immense excitement and enthusiasm.

“We’re gonna be rich”! She screamed.

Jonas chuckled over Joachim’s expression when Debi threw herself at him.

Later, Jonas Office

Back at Jonas office they discuss the situation.

“Right, a mammoth and a human girl”, Mika tried taking it in. “Well I’m gonna enjoy making this call to my… actually, who tell hell am gonna call about this”?

Martin smirked at the remark.

“The androids are checking the rest of the ship as we speak”, Jonas informed. “They have found two other frozen creatures that’s not in our database”.

“What do we do about the woman”? Jane asked. “I mean we can’t just leave her there… right”?

“You wanna wake her up”? Andrei clarified.

“Course”, Jane said harsh. “We cannot leave her up there, frozen until the military shows up to lock her up in a lab to find out what happened to her”.

“Maybe doctor Khumalo can figure out the controls”, Mika suggested.

Andrei turned to her.

“Wait, you’re telling me you agree with her”? He confirmed in disagreement. “Imagine the trauma she might be exposed to”.

“So what”? Jane asked upset. “We just keep her locked up forever”?

Andrei sighed.

“I second that”, Debi raised her hand.

Mika nodded.

“The decision is in the end mine”, she said. “Joachim get doctor Khumalo on call”.

“I’ll drive back to pick him up”, Martin volunteered.

Mika nodded.

“I’ll go back with you”, Andrei decided.

“Sure man”, Martin replied smiling. “I could use the company”.

5: New Friend

Yaseen Khumalo’s laptop was hooked up to the alien computer system to the containment chamber the woman was in. It hadn’t been an easy travel down here for a man in his fifties and in a wheelchair. His fingers danced around on the keyboard while Debi and Jane both sat leaned against the wall.

Both looked incredibly bored.

Joachim stood not too far from Yaseen. He had his arms crossed.

Ming-Na who was the Outpost medic sat leaned towards the wall across from the other two young women.

Yaseen made a clapping gesture with a cheerful smile.

“You’ve done it”? Joachim asked impressed.

“That depends on what you mean”, he replied. “I haven’t deciphered their language or even come close. But… I think I can do this and let out attractive friend out”.

“Do it”, Joachim said.

Jonas suddenly came walking towards them with an android behind.

Yaseen pressed a few buttons on the keyboard. The three women got to their feet.

“Watch the magic boys and girls”, he said smiling. He looked at Joachim and Jonas. “Attractive, isn’t she”?

Jonas and Joachim throw a glance at each other.

“Yeah”, Jonas said awkwardly, trying to play it down. “… Sure”.

Joachim didn’t reply so Jonas and Yaseen turned their heads to him.

He sighed.

“Yeah”, he confessed. “She’s really hot”.

He felt Debi’s hand smack the back of his head. Turning around he found her glaring at him with her arms crossed.

“Though no one’s as hot as you baby”, he assured.

Yaseen shook his head. “Oh, if I was thirty years younger”.

Suddenly it turned out Yaseen was right and the stasis “ice” disappeared and the glass afterwards opened. The naked woman fell to the floor. Joachim and Ming-Na run over and kneeled beside her. Joachim felt after her pulse.

“She’s alive”, he informed.

“Thank god”, Jane sighed of relief.

“What about her memories”? Jonas asked.

Yaseen cleared his throat.

“Assuming you and Mr Johnson are right about her genetic manipulation she’s gonna have no memories at all. No speech ability and it is conceivable that she won’t be able to walk”, he considered. “But it is off course only a theory. No one’s ever dealt with a situation like this before”.

“She appears to be fine”, Ming-Na stated while standing up. “She is, medically fine”.

“I think she’s waking up”, Jane interrupted.

The woman’s eyes opened slowly. She started to sit up slowly with Joachim’s help. Feeling someone touching her she looked over her shoulder to see a black haired man with a goatee. She flinched and moved away in fear. Her expression told of fear of them.

“It’s okay”, Joachim assured with a calm voice as she cramped up against the wall. “It’s okay, you are fine”.

Slowly he moved closer towards her. Her eyes wondered between him and the others. She tried to move further away but the wall prevented it. Joachim stopped.

“Get me a towel or something”, he asked.

“I’ll get a blanket from the office”, Jonas said.

“Yes, it might be best if all but one leave”, Yaseen suggested. “Maybe she feels safer than”.

“I agree”, Ming-Na said.

“Good luck honey”, Debi said in a seductive tone.

“Thank… what”?! Joachim spin around. “Wait what”?

Yaseen waved at him as he left in his wheelchair.

Joachim sighed.

Hours went by with Joachim sitting down, leaning back on the wall with a black blanket lying to his side. She stayed in the corner and stared at him with terrified eyes. She had no idea where she was or... even who she was. As the hours traveled by Joachim had constant questions by the others what was going on and if they should switch place for him to rest. He declined with worry that if someone else came she would be just as scared of him or her and it would start over again. Not that he’d made any progress at all up to this point.

Finally he fell asleep. He had no idea for how long he had slept when he woke up. He was surprised to see the naked woman cuddled up beside him with her head resting on his knees. She held one of his hands in a grip with both hers close to her chest. She was fast asleep and as not to wake her he slowly grabbed the blanket and covered her wonderful body up. He laid the other hand over her gently.

“Blev det kallt i ditt hörn gumman”? Joachim asked rhetorically. (Did it get cold in your corner honey?)

Jane, Mika and Debi was coming down to see why Joachim wasn’t answering comms anymore. They were surprised over seeing the young, now half naked woman with a blanket over her lying cuddled up with him.

“Woah”, Jane exclaimed. “Guess she got friendlier without us, huh”.

“It looks kinda cute”, Mika smiled.

She turned her head to Debi.

She looked less than thrilled over the naked woman hanging on her boyfriend.

“Cool it down Debi”, Jane whispered. “This is good news. She’s not afraid of us… him anymore”.

“Can’t you see I’m thrilled too”? Debi asked sarcastically. “This is my happy face”.

Mika shook her head chuckled over Debi’s hopelessness.

She gently shook Joachim’s shoulder and he immediately woke up.

“Hi Romeo”, Mika smirked. “Come on let’s go, shall we”.

Joachim gave her a killing look and stood up with the woman in his arms. While walking back he noticed Debi wasn’t the happiest right now.

“Come on baby”, he tried. “You don’t think… she isn’t”…

“Don’t say she’s not your type”, Debi warned him. “She’s a young woman and she’s naked. That’s every man’s type”.

Jane raised her brows and looked at Mika who gave her an expression. Don’t interfere.

Back at the mining office Martin, Ming-Na and Jonas waited. Yaseen was in the ship with a trio of androids, trying to decrypt the language.

“So you got her out, huh. Nice man”, Martin chuckled.

Joachim frowned. He sat her down gently in a chair. She woke up and found six people surrounding her. She quickly stood up and cling to Joachim and hid behind his back. The blanket fell to the floor.

“It’s okay”, Mika said calmly. “We’re not going to hurt you”.

The woman didn’t calm but clinched harder to Joachim.

“I suggest we get her back to the outpost”, Ming-Na said. “I can run more tests and she can sleep in a bed instead of Joachim’s lap”.

Joachim frowned at her but turned to the woman.

“I’ll get some clothes on her before we head out”, he decided. “She’ll freeze half to death like this”.

The others left to get themselves ready to leave. Except Jonas. He was staying around and Martin was coming back to pick up him and Yaseen later. Joachim found a blue jumpsuit and gestured for her to sit down in the chair. It took a while and a few protests but he finally got the jumpsuit on her.

When he signed up for Outpost duty he never expected he would help dress a young woman. She looked with a frightened expression at the gasmask and the small tank. Joachim placed it on her back and the gasmask over her face with a few protests.

“Keep it on”, Joachim demanded, though he didn’t know if she understood.

Hopefully she kept it on sense the other also had them. They walked out from the building and to the rover. Inside they removed their masks.

“She needs a name”, Martin stated.

“Something exotic and seductive”, Ming-Na smirked with a frown from Joachim.

“How about Alex”? Jane suggested.

“Oh, yes. Very exotic”, Ming-Na retorted.

The woman sat as close to Joachim as she could and he’d laid an arm around her so she’d feel safe. Though Debi had her suspicions it was for another reason.

“I think Alex works fine”, Mika interjected.

6: Noises

Joachim was sleeping in his quarters after a very successful and eventful day. He was exhausted after dealing with the woman, now nicknamed Alex. But she had warmed up to that the others weren’t dangerous either, though she didn’t seem to like Jackson-surprise, surprise-very much. Debi was cuddled up beside him with her head on his chest.

She was happy over finally being alone with him without little miss “nudity” around. Jackson was pouting in the control room over not getting to see the woman-Alex-in all her naked pride.

Mika was in the Central Control Room, having a conversation with a face on a screen. He was in his mid-forties with brown hair and grey hair sneaking up on the sides.

“This could be one of the greatest discoveries in history Ms Vorner”, he reminded her.

“I am well aware of that”, Mika nodded while hiding her irritation. “But the girl’s not leaving”.

“I don’t think that’s up to you Ms Vorner”, he said coldly.

His name was Trevor Larkin and he was the director of Earth Colonial Corporation in the sector.

Mika looked down at the keyboard a moment before looking up and sighing.

“It isn’t your decision either”, she retorted. “Sense she is human she falls under the Stockholm treaty on Treatment of Sentient Beings of 2130”.

Trevor snorted.

“The circumstances are far outside the treaty”, he tried to convince.

“I doubt that”, Mira replied smiling. “But I’ll have to send a message to Earth and the United Nations Division for Human Rights and… you know that can take a few days, but I’m sure they will be more than interested in what you wanna do with her”.

She held back the wish to grin over Trevor’s anger.

“I am coming out to Outpost 5.1.3 myself to check on your discovery on the mammoth, girl and two other frozen creatures and the ship”. He ended the transmission directly afterwards.

Mika leaned back in her chair and sighed loudly.

“Great”, Kevin said sarcastically with a chuckle. “The big guys coming out. How long till he gets here”?

Mika shrugged.

“Depends. He’ll be here in seven to eight days, depending on if he has a ship available”, she theorized. She turned to the computer. “I’ll send the message to the UN Division for Human Rights. Just in case Mr Larkin is up to something”.

“I hear that”, Kevin agreed. “I ain’t letting that girl become some fuckin’ lab rat”.

Mining Site Alpha, inside the ship

In what Yaseen assume is, or was, the bridge he tried to access the few systems that still functioned. For hours on end he have tried to break the language and open the working systems. He cocked his brows.

“Ha”! He exclaimed. “This must be some kind of log. With enough power I might be able to have it up and running. See how these fuckers look like”.

He tried for several minutes but it wasn’t enough power in the bridge systems.

“Mr Larson, I require your assistance”, Yaseen informed.

“With what”? Jonas replied through the comm.

“I need a portable generator to the ships bridge”, Yaseen explained.

“Is it really a good idea to power up the ship”? Jonas asked in disagreement. “I mean that what if we mistakenly activate a defense system or… or I don’t known, let the mammoth out”.

“I am only going to power up a few systems on the bridge”, the South African calmed him. “I want to take a look at a log, besides the ship is buried under a mountain”.

“A log”? Jonas asked with interest. “You found a log. Like what, a captain’s log”?

“Possibly”, Yaseen replied. “So I need a generator as I said”.

“Eh, okay I’ll get a portable generator up to you”, Jonas said.

“Thank you”, Yaseen finished.

He smiled at the first good news of real progress he’d had. Hearing sounds he turned around and moved towards the door. He assumed the androids had returned from checking on a room he found interesting. Reaching the doorway he looked both ways in the hallway. But he saw nothing.

“Strange, I was sure I heard something”, Yaseen told himself.

He shrugged and turned around to get back to work.

“Mr Larson”.

“Yes”? Jonas replied.

“I don’t want to give you more work but could you have an android get me something to eat. I haven’t eaten for hours”.

“Sure, just give me and moment and I’ll have both food and the generator up to you”.

“Thank you”.