14: AU Thear: Evelyn: A Planet Outside the Window

[k_a_webb]

Evelyn sat on the bunk she’d slept in every night for three years and tried not to think about what was happening. She’d known from the day that got on the ship that some day it might land somewhere or hit something, but it hadn’t crossed her mind that whoever had made it might have given it a coordinate to land at. Most of the girls on the ship had noticed the way it was aiming directly at a planet, so it was all they’d been talking about, with some being absolutely terrified, absolutely sure they were all going to die, and the others being excited about something new happening.

Butterflies had been fluttering in Evelyn’s stomach since she’d heard the news. At times she was excited, because three years was a long time to spend travelling though space with the same people so anything new was wonderful, but there was also a fear that wouldn’t completely fade. They had no control over what was happening and although they knew they were heading towards a planet they had no idea where they were, what the planet was, or where exactly they might end up landing if they did land at all.

“Evie, stop thinking so much,” Lilith said, as she walked into the room. “None of us know what’s going to happen, so we can’t plan for it, and to be honest I’m not sure that this is something we could have planned for even if we did know it was going to happen.”

Nodding, Evelyn smiled at her friend. “Has anyone worked out what planet we’re aiming for?”

“There’s a couple of possibilities, but no one’s sure. Personally I think it’s Thear.”

“Why do you think it’s Thear?”

“I looked at the map and…” Lilith shrugged. “It’s just a feeling. I don’t know why exactly I think it’s Thear, but it’s in the right area and that’s about as much information as we have right now.”

“I’ve come to trust your feelings, Lilli, so if you say it’s Thear then I’d be happy to put money on it.”

“Thanks.” Lilith smiled. “We don’t have much information on Thear, which isn’t a surprise to anyone. It’s as though they picked a Goldilock’s zone, picked a planet they thought might be habitable, and aimed us at it. Until we land, if we land at all, none of us have any idea what the planet’s going to be like.”

“Or if it’s inhabited?”

“Finding an inhabited planet is extremely unlikely.” Lilith glanced out of the window. “They keep talking about what the people would be like if we did land on an inhabited planet and it’s as though they’ve watched too many really bad films.”

“They probably have.” Evelyn raised an eyebrow. “What do you think the people would be like if we did find an inhabited planet?”

“I don’t know, Evie, but I think if we did find an inhabited planet we’d probably find bipeds on it. It seems more likely than finding intelligent bug people or little green men.”

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.

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[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>She’d known from the day that got on the ship that some day it might land somewhere or hit something<<

That should say "that she got" above.

>>“None of us know what’s going to happen, so we can’t plan for it, and to be honest I’m not sure that this is something we could have planned for even if we did know it was going to happen.”<<

Just a note of personal taste, and this isn't one of my favorite series so you can take it with a grain of salt if you wish. I like characters with agency. I hate the ones who act like dead leaves in a river, letting life just push them around wherever.

>>It’s as though they picked a Goldilock’s zone<<

Delete the apostrophe in "Goldilocks" above.

>>“They keep talking about what the people would be like if we did land on an inhabited planet and it’s as though they’ve watched too many really bad films.”<<

Like the ones where dropping untrained random colonists on an alien planet would give them any chance of survival ...

Yeah, lower than average plausibility rating on this story. My suspension of disbelief seems to have escaped from the trunk.