Precipice

“Your command is my to-do list,” Qui

He plotted a course through the ring of dead satellites and readied the ship for atmospheric entry. The massive orb of the planet filled his cockpit canopy. Seconds later, a pale orange wall of superheated gas formed ahead of the Rocinanteas it made its swift descent. Turbulence shook the small cargo vessel, and the ship’s spaceframe groaned in protest. The planet’s curved horizon quickly flattened as Qui

Glancing at his instruments, he said, “Comin’ up on your first point of interest.” He pointed to starboard. “That side.”

“Can you take us down to two kilometers?”

“Sure.” Qui

“Perfect,” Bridy said. “Give me a slow circle of the area.”

Qui

In a hushed voice he said, “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair.”

Bridy nodded, apparently recognizing the quote from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias.” With her gaze still fixed on the decaying metropolis, she replied, “Yup.” She looked at Qui

“You got it,” Qui

Over the next few hours, they saw dozens of former cities, all in various stages of decay: conquered by wilderness they had once displaced, swallowed by seas they had once kept at bay, buried by a desert’s inexorable march, or ground into dust by continent-wide sheets of ice nearly two kilometers thick.

“I’ve seen enough,” Bridy Mac said as they cruised over a moonlit coastline dotted with the disintegrating tops of sunken towers. “Set course for the largest humanoid settlement. Rig for silent ru

“On it,” Qui

“As usual,” Bridy said.

One of the reasons she needed him as a partner was to skirt Starfleet’s all but sacrosanct Prime Directive, which forbade its officers from making contact with or interfering in the affairs of pre-warp cultures. As a civilian, Qui

“Okay, we’re in position,” Qui

Bridy ran another sensor sweep and studied the accumulated data. “Looks like they’ve built on the remains of an old city. Livestock, natural fertilizers in the soil, diverse agriculture … it’s a pretty large farming community. I’m also reading a lot of small sail-powered ships along the coast.” She smiled at Qui

“I’ll dust off my rod and reel.” He folded his hands behind his head, leaned back in his chair until it was almost horizontal, and stared through the canopy at the flickering stars. “We go

The lithe brunette shut off the sensor apparatus. “Fine, let’s go meet the locals. But this time keep the ship ready for a quick liftoff. I don’t want a repeat of that mess on Cygnar.”

The mere mention of that planet made Qui

McLellan watched the shadowy details of a gutted city rise to meet the Rocinanteas Qui

The ship hovered over the landing site for a few seconds, extended its landing gear, and made a smooth vertical descent. With a mechanical whine the wingtips folded into their landing configuration, up and inward over the bulky warp nacelles, which together were as massive as the ship they served. Quick spurts from the directional thrusters kicked up dust and vapor beneath the ship, which submerged into the cloud and settled to the ground with a soft tremor of contact. “Nicely done,” McLellan said.

“Years of practice,” Qui

“Do they have torches and pitchforks?”

“Not that I can see.”

She got out of her chair. “Then let’s go say hi.”

Qui

Stepping off the ship behind Qui

They waited underneath the thick aft section of the Rocinante’s main hull, which was shaped like a narrow wedge. The exterior of the ship was a mottled dark gray with pale splotches from years of crude repairs at various alien shipyards. The cockpit was covered by a dark-tinted canopy.

A group of six humanoids clambered through gaps in the walls around the Rocinante. The first ones through reached back to assist the others. Once they were all inside the gutted structure, they stepped into the glow of the Rocinante’s floodlamps.

The entourage consisted of what looked like four males and two females. Tall and thin, they had slender limbs and six long delicate digits on each hand. Their chins and foreheads were prominent and squarish, their noses were broad, and their large ears protruded horizontally from their heads. All of them wore simple clothing that looked as if it had been made by hand.

At first McLellan thought they were albinos, but as they moved closer she saw they had pale gray complexions. All six of them had long straight hair the color of white gold.

Their most striking feature, however, was the single lidless multifaceted eye that ran the length of each individual’s brow, between the nose and forehead.

The female leading the group stepped forward, paying no heed to Qui

Not wanting to give offense by trying to deflect the woman’s attention to Qui

Dipping his chin, Qui

McLellan said, “Our species calls itself human.”

Clearly picking up on the cue, Naya replied, “We refer to ourselves as De

Qui