Chapter 2

We check each other out and patched minor injuries then did a system check and found all major power was offline and most were not going to be repairable. The emergency backup systems were failing but the good news was the ship was still intact structurally. If we could repair the needed systems and find a power source the ship would fly again.

Victor asked me to take my team and explore the area around the ship for friend and foe. He would take his team and check the outside of the ship for damage and repair needs.

We were divided into three teams; 1st team was me the Platoon Leader armed with a XM8 AutoRifle, Eagle our medic armed with a XM8 Carbine, Gee the communication specialist armed with a XM8 Carbine, Della and Kay were grenadiers armed with XM29. 2nd & 3rd teams were made up of Peta and Que both snipers armed with a XM500 semi-auto .50 caliber, Fox and Julie were grenadiers and Li Indee Charlie and Bee carrying XM8 Carbines. We all also carried a XM8 in Pistol configuration and a nasty 15” combat knife. The XM’s all used the standard 30 round magazine of 5.56 Nato with one in the pistol thigh holster and two opposite thigh, everyone carrying XM8’s had eight in their tactical vest; those carrying XM29’s had six in their tactical vest and ten extra grenades. I carried four of the 100 round drums.

Team 2 was on my left flank staggered Li Peta Fox and Indee team 3 was on my right flank staggered Charlie Que Bee Julie. I had Della out on point about 100 meters in front of us, Kay was in front of me about 8 meters. Eagle was just behind and to my right about 6 meters and Gee was to my left behind me about 8 meters. Our Call Sign was Uniform followed by our alpha letter, so I was Uniform Mike but internally I was just ‘Mike’.

We did a spiral search around the ship and out close to 1000 meters. With a 100 meter spacing between spirals it took us close to 5 hours. We could hear animal sounds but saw nothing. We didn’t even see or find any bugs. Most of the plants were unidentifiable. When we returned Victor informed me that the ship was structurally ok but most of the power systems were fried and we didn’t have spare parts to fix all of it. He did say that we could repair the main systems to support us but we were not getting off the planet without some major help. I reported what we had found mostly nothing and that we appeared to be safe for the moment.

We cleaned up and ate dinner. The next order of business was to do a really good inventory or what we did have so we could figure out what we would have to ration and what we were going to have to find replacements for.

With the ship closed and limited sensors working we slept without being disturbed.

The next morning Victor instructed me to take a small patrol and set out some sensor relays to increase our range. Also he wanted us to see if there were any signs of sentient life. I took Eagle Gee Li Fox Indee and Peta. We also took assault packs which carried sleep gear, extra ammo, 2 days of food and 2 liters of water. Eagle carried a trauma pack instead of the medical bag. It was twice the size and had equipment to allow her to handle any medical emergency. Gee had the electronics pack instead of the communication pack it was about 1/3 larger because of the sensor equipment. Everyone carried a sensor relay as they were only a meter long and the top looked like a 4 D size flashlight on a thin metal rod. They were shielded once activated and took a lot to damage or destroy. We decided on a ‘V’ like wave moving out 5000 meters to set the first relay at 12 o’clock or north. Then moved back to the ship and out at 2 o’clock, back and so on at 4, 8, and 10. We kept the last two to set any anything significant we might find so we could locate it quickly and monitor it as well. We found a large river at the 8 o’clock position just about 200 meters past the 5000 meter limit. So after finishing at 10 we moved back to the 8 position and followed the river 500 meters up and down the river placing out last two relays. The river seemed too deep and too fast to try and cross at the time. We reported all this back to everyone and found the sensors were all working perfectly.

Victor and the rest were able to get the ground sled out and a great inventory of supplies. The ground sled was a gravity vehicle that resembled a truck there was the driver and assistant driver in the cab area near the front and behind them was a bed with fold down seats on each side that allowed 16 passengers to ride eight on each side. It had its own power cell and had a top speed of 50 kilometers an hour.

Another day gone and after cleaning up dinner Victor called an informal meeting. We discussed what was needed for our survival and left it open for questions. We now had a source of water and would start looking for food. Nobody had any questions at this time or at least any questions that could be answered. We all were wondering if we would ever get home.

The next morning with the increased sensors we were able to locate a large herd or gathering of some sort of animals. Victor wanted to stretch his legs so he volunteered to scout out the animal herd and took a small team consisting of his medic Zeee, Yah Ya his commo specialist, Wendy and Hottie carrying carbines, Sierra a grenadier and Nombie the sniper. They only took day packs which were butt packs with 2 meals, 1 liter of water, weather gear and 100 rounds of extra ammo.