The Quarry

[Rage Menelas]

[font=Lucida Sans Unicode]Charlie was not on board the ship. Ryan had searched it twice, finally concluding that he must have left in search of help or to elude the aliens that had attacked them. Why he had so rudely left behind his apprentice, he didn't know. Irregardless, Ryan was no longer comfortable on Saar'floe; he wanted off...

In his search for his wayward master, he had discovered that the ship system was not working. He tried to access it just as Charlie had instructed him but to no effect. He did find what appeared to be an obvious hatchway to the outside on the lower deck. But as the system wasn't on-line he was at odds about how to open it. Then he noticed what looked like a control panel about three foot from the floor to the right of it. It was marked with strange writing, not unlike that which graced the console on the bridge. He mentally cursed Charlie for not teaching him what the unusual characters meant. He shrugged. What did he have to lose?

Gingerly he pressed on one of the alien ideograms, the most likely candidate. Bingo! The door slid open, revealing a small chamber on the other side and another closed doorway. Inside were suits of various sizes hanging from the walls. These must be environment suits, he concluded. Now that was confusing; some were extremely small as if for a child. He shook his head, dismissing that particular dilemma. He could ask Charlie about it when he found him. He was confident he didn't need a suit, after all he had seen humanoid people on the surface earlier. Surely it would be safe for him...

The console beside this new door was a clone of the other so there was no mystery on this one; he simply pressed the same symbol. The first door slid closed with alarming finality. Ryan swallowed hard, fighting off the fear that he was trapped. Then the other door popped with an eardrum-cracking sound, swung out and upward. Sunlight flooded in and he cautiously exited the ship...