By Nathan Warner
A terrible catastrophe threatens an entire planet's biosphere. Captain Marta Jeffries must try to save them.
“Inertial Dampers to maximum!” Captain Marta Jeffries bellowed, gripping her command seat till her bones ached as the chair bucked her like a Tellarite bull.
“Aye, Sir, Inertial Dampers to maximum!” Lt. Leslie Chambers acknowledged from the helm, trying to tame her seat as well. The ship shuddered and shook as it descended through the alien atmosphere. The refitted Galaxy Class Saucer of the U.S.S. Exemplar had only recently been completed at Utopia Planetia, where the engineering team had taken a bold move by integrating landing gear into it with new avionics and upgraded antigrav thrusters to make ingress and egress of alien worlds as easy as the proverbial walk in the park. This decision by the ship yards had been in response to the Enterprise D’s recent catastrophic landing on Veridian III, which had gotten the ship’s “incomplete” Saucer design some bad press.
Marta and her crew had transitioned the Drive Section to a “loaner” Saucer to keep the Exemplar in active service while they waited for the upgrades to be finished on their “home” Saucer. It had been a bit frustrating packing up their belongings and moving the whole crew over to the “loaner” – a stripped down Saucer section that had, until recently, belonged to the U.S.S. Integral until its Drive Section had suffered a violent demise a few years ago in an antimatter storm. The process to upgrade the Exemplar’s Saucer had taken about a month to complete, and Marta had only collected it a few weeks ago.
She adjusted herself deeper in her seat and grimaced at the scene outside. This death dive through the atmosphere was their first opportunity to test the new Saucer in the field. So far, she wasn’t impressed – it was one rough ride. She patted her seat.
“Don’t worry,” she muttered apologetically to the ship, “If I get out of this alive, I’ll give Commander Riley a phaser massage for us, when we get back!” The cocky, smiling face of the refit’s lead division Engineer wouldn’t leave her mind’s eye. She gripped her armrests as the Saucer listed to Starboard slightly. She could see Lt. Chambers frantically righting the ship from the helm. Suddenly the deck dipped and the planet below filled the Viewscreen.
“Report!” she bellowed.
“The avionics aren’t handling the atmospheric turbulence!” Lt. Chambers yelled over her shoulder as she frantically tried to adjust their approach, “I’m attempting to correct the problem!” Marta tensed in her chair, wanting to jump up and do something, but there was really nothing she could do. This was just one of those moments when captains feel completely helpless, she thought. Well, she hated it. All she could do was hold on for dear life and stare into the Viewscreen, which showed the uninhabited and untamed world below rapidly rising to greet them. But then, she noticed their nose was rising – slowly rising – until she could once again see the horizon. In an instant, the shaking ceased and the ship felt as calm as a boat ride in a glassy pond. With a deep sigh, Lt. Chambers sank into her chair, disappearing from the Captain’s view, but stabbed a triumphant ‘thumbs up’ into the air.
“I’ve isolated and corrected the problem, Captain,” she said, sitting up and recovering her focus.
“What was wrong?” Marta asked.
“Well, apparently the new Avionics upgrade had correctly programmed meters into the Altimeter,” Chambers reported, turning around in her seat, “but the landing cycle was done in feet for some inexplicable reason.”
“Feet?” Marta asked in disbelief.
“Yes, Sir,” Chambers said, rolling her eyes “so you can imagine, the ship’s automated landing cycle ‘thought’ we were much lower than we were, and it was conflicting with the atmospheric entrance program. I’ll run a full diagnostic once we’ve landed and see if there are any other surprises waiting for us.” Marta shook her head.
“And they call themselves Starfleet’s finest!” she muttered, thinking again of Commander Riley. The entire Bridge crew turned their attention back to the Viewscreen, which was opening up on the world below them. Paneriam was as a green and lush fantasy – an uninhabited M-class planet that was as pristine as paradise. They’d only named it yesterday when they pulled into orbit and sent down Away Teams and shuttle surveys to make sure the biosphere was compatible with their cargo and guests.
“Our Guests!” Marta gasped. She tensed again. How had they managed that bumpy ride? She tapped her communicator. “Captain to Main Shuttle Bay?” she called – nothing, “Counselor Droiban, come in!” Silence. She got up and headed for the turbolift. “Lt. Chambers, you have the Bridge – I’ll be in Main Shuttlebay – don’t land until I’m back!” She took one last look out the viewscreen as she stepped into the turbolift. The ship was in a gentle glide now, still hundreds of miles above the surface. The doors shut, blocking the view, and the lift began its descent. She’d be back before they landed – she wasn’t going to miss that! She turned her attention to what lay ahead as the turbolift seemed to take forever for only descending 4 decks. It gave her a moment to steady her rattled thoughts.
What was this – day 4 since the catastrophe, or was it day 5? No, it was four days ago that they had gotten the distress call from Paneria – a peaceful, warp capable species near the Typhon Expanse. Several days earlier, the Paneria had detected a tsunami of rogue comets on a course to enter their star system. “We need immediate assistance!” Prime Minister Chamba had said through the audio channel. Only now did Marta remember that the Paneri were slightly xenophobic and didn’t show their true faces unless they absolutely had to.
“You must hurry!” Chamba continued, “Our astrophysicists have projected the complete destruction of our star system!” Marta nodded to the voice.
“We will intercept these comets and see if there is any way we can stop it,” she responded.
“No!” Minister Chamba cried, and then caught hold of himself, “I am sorry, Captain, but we don’t have time to waste trying to stop the inevitable – the estimated volume of ice approaching us is greater than the entire volume of our solar system – I doubt even your technology could stop it.” Marta glanced to her Science Officer, Lt. Lamoch, who had been checking the long-range scans of the ice flood. Lamoch shook his Vulcan head once – expending the least possible amount of energy to tell his Captain that the Minister was correct. Minister Chamba didn’t wait for a reply.
“If you are willing to lend us aid, we would deeply appreciate your help in the evacuation procedures!” he continued. Marta tried to remember back to Starfleet Academy when she’d read about the Paneria. Though warp capable, they preferred their own planet’s wonders to the wonders to the Universe and had hardly finished exploring their own solar system. They had a uniquely symbiotic relationship with their environment. They had diverted their civilization’s focus away from space exploration and towards the preservation of their magnificent plant and animal life. Ironically, it seemed their poorly funded Space Exploratorium was what they needed now in the impending danger.
And the danger was impending – in less than 12 hours the flood of comet fragments would pulverize the entire system. At warp 9, the Exemplar arrived in orbit of Paneria in less than 2 hours – 10 hours to disaster. Captain Jeffries beamed down with her Away Team to meet Minister Chamba and assess the situation. They materialized in an Eden-like garden that seemed to stretch into the horizon. The grass-like fibers on the ground were perfectly manicured without a weed in sight. Everywhere the hedges of exotic plants poked onto pleasant garden pathways of stone. The air was fresh and invigorating.
But the moment of peace quickly passed – a flurry of Paneria citizens appeared, moving towards them – rapidly digging up the gardens. Marta took a moment to size them up. They were tall – 10 feet, perhaps, and though definitely humanoid, they looked rather “tree-ish” to her. Their hair reminded her of an evergreen bush her parents had once planted back on earth, while their pale limbs struck her as akin to paper birch tree branches. Marta noticed suddenly that the Paneri were only digging up one plant of a kind before moving on.
Before she could reflect on this, a deep booming voice accosted them - “Captain Chambers!” Marta looked up to see a tall figure swaying towards them – his birch-like arms outstretched to great them. “I am Minister Chamba – welcome to the capitol of our planet,” he said in what was probably an earnest voice among the Paneri, but which sounded like a gentle breeze through leaves to the Away Team. He bent awkwardly at the middle and gestured behind him towards a large wooden “cathedral” of sorts 300 meters away that climbed out of the grounds by immense tree trunks, which arched and rose twenty stories into the air, culminating in an enormous canopy whose branches shaded the entire area – not that they needed the shade – the air was the perfect temperature.
“I thank you for your offer to help us,” Chamba continued impatiently, “Time is of the essence – if you could follow me?” As they walked alongside the long gait of the Paneri Minister, he explained their situation. “We have over a billion species of plants, animals, and insects on this planet that are essential to our survival,” he said, “as we share a unique bioelectric connection. From what we know about humans, losing our biosphere would be like you losing neurons in your brain. We would develop a condition not unlike an ancient earth disease you once called Alzheimer’s.” Marta was impressed by his knowledge of human biology, but they weren’t here for a biology lesson.
“I understand that it is a very serious situation,” she said, “but what can we do to help in the evacuation?” Chamba nodded.
“That’s just it, Captain,” he said, “We need your help to transport samples of our entire biosphere off world.”
“What, you mean animals, plants, and insects?” Marta said in surprise.
“Precisely,” Chamba replied.
“What about your population?” Marta asked, casting her hand at all the Paneri bustling around them.
“Fate has decided we are expendable, Captain,” he said; “only a handful of us have been chosen to go with you as members of our biosphere.” The weight of his words swayed Marta and they chaffed at her human values, but upon a moment’s reflection, she saw that they had little choice. There were no other Starships in the vicinity – certainly not less than 9.5 hours away, and the Paneri had little to no working impulse or warp transportation – only a few hundred orbital cargo ships. Regardless of how they cut it, people were going to die.
“How…how many?” Marta asked, struggling to keep the emotion out of her voice as she looked out on all these doomed people. Chamba straightened sadly.
“Eight couples,” he said.
“Eight!” Marta exclaimed, “But surely we have room on the Exemplar for at least a hundred!”
“You forget, Captain,” Chamba said slowly, “that we need you to carry away samples of every living thing – this will certainly fill up every crack of your starship, I think.” Marta remembered what he had said earlier and the weight sunk in.
“And you, Minister?” she asked, “What will you do?”
“I will stay behind with my family,” he said, gazing into the distance, “We can have no partiality – it was only fair that the chosen were selected at random.”
“Minister, we will do everything in our power to find a way to save your people,” she said, “Surely, there must be a way!”
“It is unlikely, Captain,” he replied, “but I thank you for the thought – it was well-spoken and with feeling. Now, we are running out of time and I need to know if you will help us with what we asked of you.” All Marta could do was nod.
“Yes, Minister,” she said, “How can we help?”
The next 8 hours were the most grueling of Marta’s life. She ordered round the clock Away Team and shuttle details to help sort and catalogue the samples of the Paneria biosphere while organizing the direct beam-up of smaller samples and creatures into the Exemplar’s cargo bays. Unfortunately, there were over three hundred animals and plants that had to be taken in their adult stage as smaller samples were illusive or unavailable. These included what the crew had affectionately called the Porcupine Mammoth, Dragon Condor, and Redwood Anaconda to name a few. These creatures were transported to the Exemplar’s Main Shuttlebay via the Paneri’s cargo vessels and orbital barges.
As Marta oversaw the last shipment arriving, she could see that Chamba had been correct. They literally had no more room on the ship – even the shuttles were packed with plant seeds and insects larvae. She stepped over the giant reptilian tail of a creature Ensign Rideway called a “Godzilla Whatzup” as she tried to make room in a corner for a young pair of “Kangaroo Bears” – also dubbed by Ensign Rideway. She shook her head – it was no coincidence his first name was Adam. She tapped her Communicator.
“Captain to the Bridge,” she called.
“Captain, this is Lt. Lamock,” the even voice of her Science officer sounded.
“ETA for impact?” she asked.
“We just spotted the wave of comets on visual sensors, Sir,” he reported, “It is a sight to behold – more than three times the size of this solar system and moving quite rapidly. They will be impacting the system’s sun in 5 minutes. We should be underway in no more than 6 minutes.”
“Thank you for the update, Lt.,” she said, “If I’m not on the Bridge in 6 minutes, you get the ship out of here, understood?”
“Understood, Sir,” he replied quickly and logged out.
“What’s that? You think he’s a little too eager?” she said goofily to a cute pack of Ferret Foxes, “Yeah, he probably wants my job.” She glanced up and straightened her stiff back. The shuttlebay was packed with animals – some scurrying around, others cowering in corners, and some munching on the food that the Paneria had brought for them. She needed to make her way to the transporter pad. With no small effort, she reached it but not without stepping on a few toes and tails in the effort. Tapping a location on the console, she stood back and watched the menagerie of the Shuttlebay vanish in a shimmering cloud of light to be replaced instantly with the fading in of the magical world of Paneria. The stale, sweaty air of the Shuttlebay was replaced by rich floral bouquets.
“Captain, it is good of you to see us off,” the voice of Chamba sounded behind her. She turned to see a small crowd of Paneri citizens standing solemnly in a circle in the garden.
“We loaded the last specimen,” she said, and then smiled, “You were right – we’re climbing over each other up there – the ship is packed, but I can still cram you and a few others on the Bridge.” Chamba stood and sighed a deep, peaceful sigh.
“No, there must be no partiality – we chose 8 and 8 there will be. Thank you, Captain, for the thought. You do not know how much peace your efforts to save our way of life has given me,” he said, “And I cannot thank you enough for what you have done – it outstrips all means of gratitude, but I have one last request.” He held out his hand and Marta instinctively offered hers. He dropped a silvery seed into her palm.
“Plant this on the new home you find for my people, Marta,” he said, “in memory of me and my family. It is connected to me and my family, and we will live on in some small way as our memories are carried in it and will be implanted with it. Generations to come will hear our voices when the alien wind of that planet blows through its leaves and they will smell the healing scents of this very garden on the breeze.” Marta bowed.
“I consider it a great honor and a solemn duty, Chamba,” she said. The Minister suppressed some emotion and glanced up at the sky. Marta followed his gaze and the gaze of every other Paneri on the planet as they solemnly gathered together for the end. The sky – normally a deep blue – was slowly fading into a milky white, which swallowed the entire canopy.
“You must go, Marta,” Chamba said, “Please take good care of our memories and our future.”
“I will,” Marta said, and then tapped her Communicator, “One to beam up.”
When She arrived in the Bridge, the crew was standing motionless, gravely staring at the Viewscreen. Marta stared with them at the wall of ice and snow barreling like an unstoppable Berellian bulldozer towards this fragile solar system. Suddenly, the sun flared up, glowing brighter than ever and then, just as quickly, was snuffed out under the avalanche of comets. The system went dark.
“Lt. Chambers,” Lt. Lamock said, breaking the ice with his equally icy voice, “Break orbit of Paneria. Full impulse, if you please.” The U.S.S. Exemplar backed away from the planet and retreated just as the first comets charged into its moon. A massive explosion rose up in front of Paneria for a moment as the moon’s far face was obliterated and it was pushed – no shoved – violently into Paneria like a sledgehammer. The crew shielded their eyes as the beautiful world lit like the sun momentarily in an enormous explosion. The whole scene was unimaginable as the wall of ice – many millions of miles tall and wide – swept Paneria away like a push broom to a grain of sand. In an instant Eden was gone.
“Warp 1, now, Lt. Chambers,” Lamoch said, wishing to put a safety margin between them and the flood. In an instant they had left the scene of destruction and death, but the heaviness of what they had witnessed weighed them down.
The days that followed were very somber for the crew as they tried their best to take care of their unusual guests. Marta introduced the Paneri survivors to Counselor Axwanna Droiban, and they held daily meetings with the Betazoid who was able to empathize in a unique way to their feelings. The 8 Paneri onboard spent their time in the Main Shuttlebay calming the animals and being calmed by them in turn. If Axwanna wasn’t so busy with the Paneri and the crew, Marta would have liked to have had a session with her herself. She couldn’t help but feel responsible for Chamba’s death – if only she had tried harder to find a solution to save the people of Paneria. The Comet flood’s origin was still a mystery, and Starfleet had sent its 5th fleet to intercept it before it reached Archer IV. Given the number of ships involved and their lead time, the chances were good that they would be able to halt the phenomenon before it caused any more death and destruction.
A Captain doesn’t have the luxury of feelings and Marta had to pick up the threads and chart the next course of action. With the available ships joining the 5th Fleet, it was up to the Exemplar to find a new home for the Paneri, and this became their top priority. She held daily meetings with Pradash, the elected leader of the now tiny Paneria Civilization, searching the Federation index for a new planet worthy of them. After 3 days of searching, Pradash finally moved from his seat in the massive stellar cartography room and leaned forward over the railings.
“There!” his voice boomed. The planet before them was registered RB8 – an uninhabited, M-class world that held a remarkably similar climate to Paneria. Over the next hour, they poured over every available survey note on the planet. There wasn’t much to go on – it was just outside Federation space on the other side of the Typhon Expanse, but it looked perfect. Pradash smiled and sank back in his chair.
“Captain,” he said slowly, “for the first time I feel hope for my people and our way of life.” That was good enough for Marta and she tapped her Communicator.
“Jeffries to the Bridge,” she called.
“Lt. Chambers here,” came the reply.
“Leslie, chart a course for the M-class planet ‘RB8’ – maximum warp!” Marta ordered. There was only the briefest pause as the Lieutenant pulled the planet up on Navigation.
“Aye, Sir, one RB8 coming right up,” she responded, “Estimated time of arrival in 2 days.” Marta nodded.
“Let’s do it!” she confirmed, and then turned to Pradash, “We have work to do!”
The first order of business was a meeting with her Chief Engineer, Bobby McKenzie – an impassioned young man with hair the color of fire.
“Aye, it’s the only way,” he repeated. Marta sat back in her seat in the Conference room.
“But surely there has to be another way to deliver our cargo than landing the ship?” she asked.
“Nope.” McKenzie said, succinctly punctuating his earlier statement, “not unless you have some freighters up those tiny sleeves.”
“Very well,” Marta said with a sigh, “make preparations to land the Saucer.”
“Aye, Captain!” McKenzie said, a little too eagerly for Marta’s taste, leading her to suspect the Engineer was yearning to try out the ship’s new Landing Mode.
Over the next two days, the engineering crew began replicating parts for a physical ramp to be constructed off the aft Saucer once the ship landed, providing a means of egress for the larger fauna in the Shuttlebay. On the second day of labor, they pulled into orbit of RB8. The planet was a sight to behold – as green and lush as Paneria had been. Pradash dubbed the planet ‘Panerium’ and beamed down with the first Away Team. His report was almost exuberant.
“It will do very nicely,” he said. Over the next twelve hours, Marta sent a small army of Away Teams and Shuttles to confirm the initial reports of the planet’s perfect compatibility – she did not want to disappoint Chamba’s memory. She instinctively patted the small seed he had given her, which she kept in the Away Mission pouch on her waist. Finally, by the next morning, all the boxes were checked and they were in the green for their Landing.
“Commander Nixel, come in,” Marta called to her first officer in the Battle Bridge.
“Nixel here,” he replied breathlessly. She smiled – he sounded more nervous than her.
“Relax, Commander,” she said, “Remember, you’re not the one entering the atmosphere!”
“Aye, Sir,” he replied, “We are go for launch.” Marta smiled at the old Earth saying. Sitting back in her seat, she took a deep breath.
“Separate the ship,” she commanded. With even greater ease than normal, the ship split smoothly and the Saucer effortlessly reached out for the planet.
“Ha – not so fast!” Marta thought, remembering the awful trip into the upper Stratosphere. Her mind had returned to her walk toward the Main Shuttlebay as she reached the doors at last. She was still a little shaken from the rough ride and was anxious to know the state of the animals.
Suddenly, the doors opened and a large Peacock Ostrich came barreling out into the corridor. It stood six feet tall and flared out its plumage train, filling the entire corridor with the fan and taking a menacing step towards Marta. She backed up, but then straightened her shoulders and began advancing towards it. The bird stopped and looked sideways at her - then it folded up its train and made a break back towards the Bay.
“That’s right, you’d better run!” Marta cried, following suit and entering on its heels. The sight and sound of what accosted her was overwhelming. The Shuttlebay was in complete pandemonium – a stampede! Pradash and Counselor Droiban were lying on the deck as an enormous Elephant creature rose up menacingly on its hind legs before them. Rather than one trunk, like a human Elephant, this creature had a head that resembled an Octopus – with five thrashing trunks and a vicious beak hidden beneath them. It appeared intent on crushing Pradash and the Counselor beneath its two tall pillars of legs. Marta tapped her communicator.
“Doctor to Main Shuttlebay!” she cried and then rushed in to face the beast. Charging up to meet it, she threw out her hands to make herself look as large as possible and then yelled at the top of her lungs. The giant creature came down on all fours and stepped back from her waving arms and reverberating cries, bobbing its head and waving its enormous ears at her. It turned around and charged away towards the Shuttlebay door, scattering two shuttlecraft out of its way, which slid several meters away, bumping into the Swallow Bee nests and setting them off into a buzzing cloud. Marta picked Pradash and Droiban to their feet – the counselor had some blood on her forehead from a small gash, but otherwise seemed alright.
“Minister, what happened?” she called above the noise.
“I…I don’t know,” he said, looking dazedly over the scene of mayhem, “The turbulence frightened them, I think.” Marta looked at the mess the situation had become and then had an idea.
“Minister, gather your people!” she cried, and then turned to the Counselor. “Axwanna, I need you to bridge the Paneri’s thoughts to the animals,” she said, steadying the Counselor as she swayed on her feet. Marta hoped she didn’t pass out from the head trauma.
“Yes…yes, I think I can do that,” Axwanna said faintly, pulling herself together. Pradash drew the remaining Paneri around Marta. She fixed their fearful faces in her gaze. “I need you to calm the animals,” she said. “Think of home – think of hope!” The Paneri women closed their eyes first and breathed in deeply – the men followed suit. Axwanna closed her eyes and swayed towards them, reaching out and projecting their thoughts into the shuttle-bay. Almost immediately, the animals slowed their rampage, and finally stopped. They ambled or shuffled back to their respective corners and returned to their foodstuffs. The effort must have taken all of Axwanna’s mental exertion because she passed out just as Doctor Amble ran in and took charge. Content that the worst was over, Marta returned to the bridge.
The scene on the Viewscreen was tranquil. They were floating over a bank of cumulous clouds looking down on a lush and fertile valley between two glorious mountain ranges.
“Report?” She asked collapsing into her seat. Lt. Chambers turned in her chair.
“We’re approaching the landing site, Captain,” she said.
“Good!” Marta almost shouted, “Engage the landing cycle.” She felt the slight shudder in the deck as the six landing pads extended from the Saucer and reached out for the earth. “Like a hawk hanging in the wind,” Marta whispered, reflecting on how serenely they were drifting toward ground. I might get used to this landing ability, she thought. The ground slowly welcomed them and she marveled that she could see individual stalks of grass. Suddenly with a gentle jolt, the ship made land.
“All gravity moorings in place,” Leslie reported, “and the antigravity buffer is operating in perfect parameters.” She gave an absent-minded “thumbs up” sideways to Lt. Lamech at the Conn as she tapped her final commands on her consol before turning around. “Alls well that ends well,” she said. Marta had to nod to that – after the past few days this was as good as it got. She tapped her communicator.
“This is the Captain speaking,” she said, “We have successfully arrived at Panarium. All non-essential crew, prepare to assist in the disembark procedures for our cargo.” She got up and headed for the turbolift. “Lt. Chambers, please triple-check those diagnostics on the lift off-cycle,” she called over her shoulder, and then turned with a smile at the doors, “After you stretch your legs for a bit, of course! You’ve done an excellent job today.”
“Aye, Sir!” Leslie said, almost jumping out of her seat.
In the Shuttlebay, the animals were calmly going about their business and Marta saw it was probably thanks to Axwanna, who was sitting down on a bed of straw with her eyes closed, but deeply concentrating. Not wishing to disturb the situation, Marta tiptoed around her and found Lt. McKenzie near the bay doors unstacking the large pile of Tritanium struts and panels for the ramp.
“How is it going?” Marta asked.
“We’re good to go, Captain,” McKenzie replied, and then turned to a nearby crewman, “Hey, raise the door, will ya?” At the press of a console, the massive bay door slowly rose before them and clean, soft light poured in around their ankles and up their legs, until finally drowning them in its brilliance. The ship was perched in the valley, which extended endlessly out of sight, and the green loveliness of everything filled the view. They maintained the forcefield to keep the animals inside and the engineering team fired up the tractor beams to begin quickly constructing the ramp fragments and moving them out and down to the earth below. In about 30 minutes, they were done and McKenzie and Marta walked out onto the hull, down over the aft arch and onto the constructed ramp, which extended at a steep, but manageable 30 degrees to the surface. McKenzie jumped up and down on the surface as if to test its sturdiness, and Marta just shook her head with a smile.
“I hope you designed it to bear more than just your weight, Lt?” she said. Bobby looked up with a fire in his eyes.
“Aye, Captain,” he said, “but I never have others do something that I’ve not tried myself.”
“How about that stew you made for the senior staff last month?” she poked him.
“Aye, that!” he said, shaking his head, “Well, I could nae believe ya all sampled it before I could warn ya the replicator had malfunctioned – it was supposed to be haggis, not head lice!”
Marta laughed – the first emotion she’d let out since the start of this mission, and her eyes quickly teared up at the thought of all the lives that had to be lost so this moment could happen, but she sniffed them away as the first animals sauntered by across the deck and onto the ramp. Soon, a steady stream of Ensign Rideway’s Porcupine Mammoths, Squid-faced Oliphants, Redwood Anacondas, Fan-headed Giraffes, and Godzilla Watzups, to name a few, paraded past them.
Suddenly with a mighty screech, the two Dragon Condors leapt into the air and lifted themselves high above the ship as they eagerly pulled out into their new home. Marta watched them fade into the horizon and then turned to follow the Paneri down the ramp to the earth. There, on a slight hillock in the valley nearby, she planted Chamba’s seed, promising to visit it again one day. The small gathering of crew and Paneri stood in solemn memory of the mighty sacrifice of Chamba and the millions of Paneri who perished in the flood, and then they gazed out on the inviting and healing vistas of the new world that welcomed them with a soft breeze carrying a healing essence.
Yes, the Paneri were home.
