Dune's of Mars Warrior Princess end of part 2 part 3 and part 4

Ending of part 2


End of part 2


The middle-aged man ran up the street oblivious to the large man who now stood motionless near one of the huge pillars that held up the sixth level ceiling of the multilevel, underground city of Ducada.

Shanon stepped out in front of the man and they collided, the man bouncing back, falling in a sitting position on the street. The man sat for a second and shook his head then looked up to see what had hit him. A grinning giant wearing a goatee and long cornrow braided hair stood with his arms crossed stared back at him. The middle-aged man trembled with apprehension. Shanon reached down and helped the man back to his feet and asked him his name.

"My name is Kopas, sir. What can I do for you, kind sir?” Kopas clasped his hands together and bowed slightly and gulped. "You will come with me. I require your services little man," Shanon commanded.

The middle aged man babbled on about his wife and kids and a whole string of other relatives as he shuffled behind Shanon. Shanon growled, "Speak not, little man." and pushed Kopas forward ahead of him.

The desert warrior princess stood on a balcony two floors up from where Shanon had just performed his abduction of a free subject of her kingdom. She still wore the leather tunic and the garbs of a desert traveler. She took the railing of the balcony in one hand and swung over it and down, catching the railing of the next balcony, then down again with her other hand. She swung down to the ground level from a sign post and landed about three feet from Shanon.

Shanon was the man she knew as a devoted member of her guard and a fierce warrior but she could sometimes almost read the restrained maliciousness just barely held in check behind those nearly glowing amber eyes. The princess, holding her sword point down on the ground with her hands resting on top of the hilt, stood legs slightly spread out and addressed Shanon in a soft but authoritative manner.

Part 3

Shanon stood stock still with his hand hovering over the hilt of his large two edged sword. The princess shook her head very slowly, indicating for him to think again as she lifted her sword horizontally to the left of her head in the attack stance. She rearranged her fingers around the hilt of her sword, not in nervousness or anxiousness, but to assure a tighter grip.

In the meantime Kopas figured it was time for him to sneak away. He did not much care to find out the odds of saving his own neck. Regardless of who was victor in this battle, his neck would still hang in the balance, he thought. He had already seen the princess in battle and what she could do with her sword. Scanning the area, it did not take him long to spot a target destination. In a flash he was gone, disappearing into the maze of passages between structures.

The princess stood her ground remaining in attack stance, staying silent. Her black, piercing eyes burned into Shanon's. Slowly he removed his hand from the hilt of his sword and stood at ease, then with his right arm in a salute he bowed slightly, stood tall again, then turned and left, without a word spoken.

Kopas was gone, so he didn't want to push his luck and maybe lose more than just a slave, he thought. He had the slightest doubt of his skill to match hers and any doubt in any battle usually ends up being fatal. Perhaps another time, he thought, as he disappeared into a dark entry way of one of the structures along the corridors of this level of the outpost.

The princess ran back and jumped to the first balcony, then to the next, then back on her own balcony. There she leaned on the railing just as though she had not left. Hanging her large, two edged sword on the wall of the foyer she sat on the oversized velvet couch before the huge stone fireplace that held a holographic fire.

She thought about her next mission. Unfortunately, her last desert foray hadn't borne as much fruit as she had hoped. That was as it is and always has been the trait of the star children. Once turned against each another some would sooner go to their version of hell than to make peace with their enemy

She settled into deep thought: It is probably to our advantage have but a limited number of ships to make the next trip. It is a one way trip. I am hoping that we can reestablish our culture and continue to preserve our history on a new world before we completely lose all records of our advanced knowledge.

A firm, but not loud, knock at the door disturbed her thoughts. Zapporah turned, putting a drink she had just been sipping on large granite table in front of the couch then turned back saying. "Who might be here to see me this evening?" “Captain Kopago,” the voice returned, muffled through the heavy door .

"Please come in and do tell me what is on your mind, Commander.

Kopago walked and turned to close the heavy door and awaited further orders. “You may sit on the chair next to the fire place if you wish, Commander.”

The commander took his cap off, nodded, and proceeded to the chair Zapporah had indicated. Before he could speak a word she gestured to the bottle and asked, "would you like a drink, Commander?"

"Yes, I believe I will," the Commander responded. "As he settled into his seat Zapporah said, “Let us spare all the pleasantries and just get down to business." “Tell me the truth, Commander, what are the latest observations by the astrophysics team?”.

“It's not good, Highness, not good at all. The first wave is going to hit within the next two months followed by another wave, that one so dense it is doubtful if there will be anything left standing upon the entire planet, in about three months.”

Zapporah pensively pinched her top lip with her right thumb and index finger.

She examined her commander closely. “Average height, well-built, dark brown hair and hazel eyes, good-looking enough to take as my prince,” she thought grinning. He especially looked even more attractive in his half leather and half metal warrior uniform. He would be good at flying the Quontose, a dragon-like creature, vegetarians and not carnivore like Earth dragons.

Kopago put his drink back on the table and asked to be excused, She could tell that he was getting a little uncomfortable with beads of sweat rolling down his forehead and cheeks. Zappora smiled and set her drink down as well then said. “That is fine, commander but if you should change your mind the door will be open to you.”

Part  1 and part 2

http://cynthiasfairiesandme.blogspot.ca/search?q=dunes+of+mars+warrior+princess

Part three continued

The exodus had already begun, people in order of importance not position. From the unskilled laborers all the way up to structural engineers, technicians and men and women of science were the order of importance.

This area of Cidonia was once a seaport island in the eastern ocean. It had once thrived as a center for planetary trade. Now it lay in a great desert. But the desert had once more come back to life where the tents of many different colors had been erected almost overnight.

All those people waiting to get on the ships, Zappora thought to herself.

There was a knock at the door to which Zappora responded with, “Enter!” Her voice had trailed off, then reaffirming herself she said it louder. She had no Idea there would be this many. From some of the flags she saw fluttering above the tents even some of her enemies had joined ranks with those in the exodus.

She could not refuse them but she also realized that there simply wouldn't be enough ships even if they were to go into full production twenty-four hours a day.

They had been left on this outpost with only what the watchers thought would suffice for their survival: a few ships and some high tech tools for building, for many thousands of years, most of those few ships had remained in their underground bunkers, unused. It had already taken them several generations to merely double their number.

Those many generations ago the leaders refused to believe even when the evidence of a moving mass of asteroids was heading towards Mars was clear. In those many thousands of years the mass of asteroids may change its course, they reasoned.

So that's the way it came down until the time limitation had run short, and they could no longer deny the fact that the mass of asteroids may hit Mars. It could no longer be denied when one could actually see it using nothing more complicated than what we back here on earth would refer to as a child's back yard telescope.

Zappora suddenly became aware that she was pacing back and forth when a woman's voice brought her out of her reverie.

"Princess, are you well?" came the voice again. Turning she looked at Lalea and said," I'm fine, just a little distraught."

"I can well understand that," General Lalea said, still standing at attention at the door, waiting till Zappora told her otherwise. “Oh, please be seated. My apologies. I need to put myself into a different perspective, and I am thankful for a distraction from the debating committee that's going on in my head right now,” Zappora responded pointing at the right side of her head.

Lalea walked over to a chair by the night stand, pulled it out, and sat, saying, “I believe I will be here for a while. I pray that it is acceptable for me to be sitting,' she responded with a smile, then saluted.

Zappora cared deeply for this woman. She was not just her most trusted general but also her confidant . Both were close to the same age of 300 Martian rotations of the sun.

Zappora then told to Lalea all of the thoughts that had gone through her mind, that she had been pondering earlier before she fell silent. Lalea pulled the foot stool over with her right foot then placed it atop the cushioned stool and rested her elbow on her knee. Head down she pinched at her lips in deep concentration. She removed her hand from her lips and said:

“My dear Zappora, you have not the power of Universe. You are limited in resources, and I am quite aware that our first law of order is to never leave another behind. But in this case even though it may be a distasteful necessity, it will be unavoidable for survival of the genre. And it is your standing command to be followed, to have it arranged in order of priority, not social importance.” “That leaves out the elite. They are last in line, but nobody knows who is going to be first and who will be last until they are called.”

Lalea continued: “We need those who are most capable of rebuilding an empire on a new world. We do not need an army of soldiers with energy weapons; we need builders and farmers. The first armada of ships to leave was composed mostly of workers, builders and engineers.”

Zappora found herself to be quite busy the next few days personally overseeing the screening of new passengers and prospective passengers who camped out in the desert which by now was as far as the eye could see. Many of them were sworn enemies to the The Confederate Empire of the Continental Territories

She perspired as the thought went through her mind that in less then a month the first wave of asteroids would hit. Granted, most of the people on the planet, could have survived the first wave, but Zappora doubted very much if even their underground cities and compounds would survive the impact of the second barrage.

On the tail of her thoughts the ground shook followed by an ear splitting roar. The power system failed, and all was in darkness.

The ground shook once more the power came on again. Everywhere was chaos. The fronts of some of the buildings had collapsed as well as the roofs of several levels above revealing a rusty blue sky. Dust was everywhere. It was difficult to see further then ten feet ahead of her as she walked out on the pavilion overlooking the next level down. (Fortress in City square Cidonia)

There were dead bodies amidst the dying and the struggling for escape. Her people were screaming and running around debris in panic everywhere below her. She called for Lalea and gave her last orders then stopped and held her two hands in her hands bowed slightly and said, “May our Spirit Mother be with you.” Lalea saluted then turned and left to go to join her people at the ships, Zappora left in a quick, nearly running gate back to the family palace. Again despair hit her, it felt like a great heavy dark leaden cloud floating over her, ready to fold itself around her and suffocate her. She was now running, while she hoped that she would find more then just ruins, There were things she needed to take care of on her own. The palace was still in one piece.

Zappora slowly walked up the spiral staircase to her quarters in the family palace, went to the walk-in closet and took a few things out and stuffed them in a bag on the bed then fell on her knees and resting the upper part of her body on the bed where she cried uncontrollably for nearly an hour.

In a drawer she found a diamond encrusted ring. She knew it immediately being her mothers. That ring had never before left her finger. She laid it on the bed and bade her mother and father farewell. She knew then that she would never see them again. They would have too much pride to remain in the city and to be left behind, no exceptions; no one of the society's elite gets off planet unless they have devised their own way off. Her mother and father chose the modest way out. She cried again then wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and hurriedly tied up her bag and tossed it over her shoulder, then left the room.

Zappora looked up to the ceiling of the once underground city, for the first time in her life she could see the darkening ruby evening sky and soon the stars peeked through. She could feel the air whooshing around her escaping through the aperture above her.

There she saw it. The blue star and it's companion moon, the brightest star in the Martian heavens. The third planet from the sun, what would they find there she thought momentarily then decided it was time to move on.

Writen by Cynthia

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Dunes of Mars Warrior Princess Part 4

She cried again then wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands. Then she hurriedly tied up her bag and tossed it over her right shoulder and hoisted a second bag on her left shoulder and departed.

The crowd of panicked people below seemed to have thinned out. Only a few remained, carrying belongings in knapsacks or in carts, all shuffling their way further into the heart of the compound where there may be a chance it would be deep enough underground to protect them. But Zappora also knew that the tunnels leading towards the compound where the ships were would be would prove to be nearly impossible to navigate.

There was one shuttle being reserved for her not far from where she was, and the way might be easier to negotiate as most of the people would be looking for the conventional shuttles. Zappora, with two heavy back packs slung over her shoulders, half-stumbled her way through the crowd towards the stairs which were now only a mere few feet away, on the other side of the crowded causeway. That would be the stairway leading to the shuttle one level below, she thought.

A man wrapped his arms around her bags, attempting to bring her to the ground. He was probably after possession of her goods. Zappora dropped her bags, screeched, and leaned to her left at the same time she brought he right knee into the man's loins.

Turning back she saw a form bending over to grab one of her bags. She stood on one leg and let fly with the other one sideways and felt a crunch followed by a scream! Zappora thought she may have broken her upper right ribs with her drop kick. After that there would be no problems for her to get the rest of the way across the causeway.

She turned back to the man who lay in the fetal position on the concrete causeway, reached in her breast pouch and withdrew a few coins then spoke as she tossed the coins to him: "I apologize for your discomfort but I was just protecting the merchandise. You go that way and follow the crowds. I believe you will find a few cantinas there.” She pointed over her left shoulder.

Hefting her bags up on her shoulders once more, she turned and walked away and was grateful to see the crowd giving her wide berth as she walked the remainder of the way to the stairs, unimpeded.

There were people sitting on almost every stair as she made her way to the lower level. Upon reaching the platform she dropped her bags near the edge where she hoped she would be embarking. There were a few people milling about but not as it was on the upper level.

These people looked more lost and scared than dangerous to her well-being. It appeared that their minds were already preoccupied on by things besides her. It seemed that some had already made residence down here from long before the alert got out about the asteroids. Astronomers had observed a rather large explosion within the Kuipler Belt which had increased debris to the already overcrowded asteroid belt causing it to swell outward.

There had been another rather large asteroid nearly the size of Mars that was hidden from detection so they could only guess it was this large asteroid that had somehow blown-up. Legends once had told that this planet had living beings who lived under its surface. The people of Mars had never felt any reason to make much of a contact with them.

Zappora felt the vibrations below her feet well before she had a visual of the shuttle coming down the tunnel on her right. The bullet shaped special shuttle stopped abruptly before her, without a sound except for the rush of air that ruffled her hair. The door opened. Zappora threw her two bags in and stepped in behind them.

The doors shut immediately after she cleared the doorway. Looking outside she noticed that not a soul stirred. They either sat or stood looking a bit stunned at the appearance of a shuttle out of nowhere in a tunnel that had not been used for as long as they could remember. Maintenance on the tunnel had gotten underway six months earlier with the sole purpose of creating an emergency evacuation route for the princess.

She sat in one of the seats of this two-passenger capacity vehicle. In the seat behind her sat General Lalea, her personal escort. In the compartment beside her was the computer components housing. The shuttle was fully automatic and robotic controlled.

As they reached the midway point of their destination there was a deep rumbling sound then everything shook violently and the air filed with dust. Zappora hit the panel over her head with her fist and a little door opened releasing an oxygen mask.

She didn't waste any time punching-in some emergency codes into the computer then hit the manual override button. There was going to be some wreckage ahead and she trusted the guidance of her senses better than the electronic sensors of a machine. She took a second to look back to General Lalea. Good, she thought, after realizing what happened she hadn't wasted any time donning an oxygen mask. Another chunk of debris from space had crashed into the ground not far from where the city compound was located in the Cidonia Hills.

Zappora brought the shuttle to a sudden stop. The entire side of the tunnel had caved in and she was not certain if there would be enough room for them to drive the shuttle between the pile of debris and the opposite wall. She didn't take it through without some loud to high pitched screeching sounds on both sides of the shuttle as it scraped at the debris on one side and the wall on the other.

Finally they popped free from their restricted passageway, back into the open tunnel once more. Intermittently there was collapsed wall debris that made for a loud, noisy, bumpy passage. At one point the entire floor of the tunnel had collapsed and only darkness could be seen below the shuttle. It was a pit of darkness that appeared to be bottomless.

At last they reached the end of the tunnel. She could see the light from the main debarkation chamber not far ahead. General Lalea stepped out in front of her and took one of her bags and threw it over her shoulder and began to step down to the platform then extended her right arm out for Zappora. “Come, Princess, we do not have time to spend being idle.”

Zappora stepped down then let go of Lalea's hand and looked up at the high vaulted ceiling. It was so high it was that there was a haze near the top, like wispy clouds. They were now standing in what some day the people of Earth would call the Great Cidonia Face or the Face on Mars.

By cynthia ©

Dunes of Mars Warrior Princess Part 5 

There was a great roar and the floor beneath her shook violently. The lighting flickered then came back on. The air was saturated with dust so she could hardly see the complex below except for what was close by. She could see people running around in a panic.

She heard screaming and orders being shouted. “Red Alert! Red Alert!” The compound had been breached and Zappora could feel the rush of air blowing her hair as the inner air pressure of the complex escaped through the hole in the wall and into the thinner air on the surface.

Lalea put her hand on Zappora's shoulder and said," This way!" She pointed urgently to an entrance to their left. Zappora wasted no time in following, slowing but momentarily to look back. As much of the dust had now settled she saw where a good portion of the eastern side of the complex had caved-in. There were six ships in that area that had been taking on passengers. Only three were left and one of them was her own.

She stopped and said to Lalea, “I want you to go ahead to my ship and give the order for them to take on as many passengers as they can fit. I know the royal ship was the ship that had been assigned to the few leaders who had been chosen for the journey, for there would be a need for leadership to organize the rebuilding.”

The kind of leaders who had been aboard had the personal experience in many trades and professions. They were the leaders. That meant her ship was only populated by a few and could make room for more. She gave the command to Lalea and immediately her general left to give the orders to proceed with the administrative work of assigning new passengers to their ship.

Kopago jumped with energy weapon in hand when a loud, deep, angry male voice barked at him. "Did you really think you were going to leave without me and my men? And put that weapon away before I have you put in the brig.”

Kopago put his weapon back in his shoulder holster without any trace of being perturbed by Shanon. He scanned through some documents on his text reader, a device similar to what we call a tablet that he held in his right hand then pursed his lips, tapping them with his left-hand index finger and said, quite nonchalantly, "I'm sorry, Colonel Shanon, but I do not see your name or your warriors on any of these lists"

"What are you saying little man?" Shanan said, snatching the device from Kopago's hand. He scanned through it then shouted, "Bah! Someone has made a mistake and will pay dearly for it once I get my hands on them!"

At this point Shanon took the device and threw it over the edge of the platform into the crowd of people below who were struggling to get aboard the ship. Then he turned and took Kopago by the shoulders and was about to toss him into the crowd as well when a commanding female voice exclaimed, "STOP!" Immediately Shanon dropped Kopago and turned to look at who had distracted him from his actions.

He stood weapon in hand and growled, "And just who are you?"

“I am Lalea, Princess Zappora's First Commander.”

Shanon, a seasoned warrior who stood nearly over 2 meters tall just laughed and said, in an arrogant tone, “Go away, this is not for little girls.”

In a flash, before Shanon could even begin to realize what had happened, he lay on the ground with Lalea's dusty footprint imprinted across his mouth.

Shanon stood up and barked orders at his warriors to seize her. Three of them found themselves flat on the concrete platform before they had even seen her move. She flipped in the air before Shanon and had him by the front of his tunic, twisting it around his throat. She screamed, "Call your dogs off! This sword thirsts for Vagoona blood on this day.”

Shanon raised his arms and his company of warriors stopped where they stood. They knew that if they took one more step their commander would no longer be among them to lead them.

"Now, back off!" she commanded, pressing the sword a little more into Shanon's neck where a tiny drop of Vagoona blood ran down his neck from the sword's point.

The troop abruptly turned and left the way they had come. Another voice piped-up: “It's alright, Lalea. You may drop the sword now.”

"Yes, your highness,” Lalea said, letting go of Shanon's neck. She then bowed slightly in respect. Zappora had not got accustomed to the title of “your highness” yet. But with the absence of her parents she was the next heir.

Shanon had turned in a flash and lunged for Lalea. He connected with her right foot. Off-balance, he staggered back, arms whirling in attempt to right himself. The back of his foot caught on something and the next thing he knew he was falling 3 levels, (comparable to a ten story building of today). He lunged with his right hand and caught a support beam between levels and used the momentum to swing himself up and over onto a platform

The lift was out of order so he took the stairs three at a time, but no matter, after he had kicked the entrance doors to the launch pad there was not a living soul to be seen. He could feel the hum from within its hull so he knew they would be preparing for launch. There was still another ship in the west wing on which they could try to haggle transportation, he thought.

Zappora settled into a seat next to Lalea and on the array of consoles on the other side of the cabin was Kopago and three other crew member technicians.

A woman, Gazina, walked into the cabin, stopped before Zappora, bowed slightly then stood at attention, and said, "Your highness. It might be wise for you to reconsider our passenger count. We have made the calculations ten times over and the results come out the same each time. We will be lucky if we have enough fuel and supplied to reach Earth with only a third of the passengers we now have. And if we do make it to earth we may not have the power required to make a landing on the planet.”

“But then this ship was built exclusively for you the day you were born. Your parents knew about this impending doom of our world, and they made preparations for it. It is your ship, my lady, and it is yours to command," Gazina finished and stood at attention awaiting orders.

Zappora sat forward slowly and said, "No the passengers stay. Let us see, once we have reached orbit, how many ships there are still close enough to us where we might be able to shuttle some of our passengers to other ships. This would also lighten the load. That would be preferable to leaving them here, doomed to die from the onslaught of asteroids.

“As you wish, my lady,” Gazina spoke softly, then bowed and turned and left the cabin.

Zappora flew over to the control panel, setting the sequence in place to open the vent in the dome to the open sky above, which was filled with bright stars of every color. The nucleonic turbine drives whined louder in pitch as the entire body of the ship vibrated. Then there was pinging sound, a pressure that firmly kept her in her seat, then no more noise or pressure. They floated in a dark sky filled with stars and spiral galaxies.

Arrangements were immediately made for the transportation of some of the passengers to other ships. Shuttles were set to go at 1800 hours, which was three hours from now, she thought.

She looked through the ship's control cabin viewing screen, and right before her shimmered the blue dot of a planet that was going to be their new home.

Although she already had much information about this planet through the few probes they had sent there in prior years, She wondered what exactly they would find there. The information she had told her that it was mostly comprised of steamy jungle. This planet was at a much earlier stage of development than they were on Mars.

But the hot and steamy she knew that that would spell trouble for most metals. More permanent structures would have to be built of granite for durability.

Back in her quarters aboard the ship, Zappora undressed and took a sonic shower, then donned a gown and robe and lay on her bed thinking about what was in store for them after landing on that planet. She wasn't even sure she would like it. She would miss her desert.

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Dunes of Mars Warrior Princess pat 6


Zappora thought back at the experience of leaving the compound, something that would remain engraved in her conscious memory for a very long time. As she sat in the commander's chair the entire ship rumbled under her as and it was not just from the nucleonic turbo engines.

Something large had struck near the compound. Sweat beaded-up on her forehead as she leaned back in the head rest and lay her hands on the arm of the chair. A helmet lowered over her head. The visor of her helmet flipped down and a screen within the visor lit up. From her vantage point she could see the entire complex of the domed, walled structure above them.

On the exterior a face was carved out of the solid granite of the mountain many generations before her. She knew not when her people came to this planet.

The inside of the face had been hollowed out at the same time the face was being formed. Within it there were many levels, much like her city. And like a city many people could live and work there.

Besides being a star ship hangar, it had other functions. Most of the upper levels were libraries of information, data centers where knowledge amassed from many different societies of several galaxies was cataloged and preserved. This entire compound had been designed for the sole purpose of passing-on this ancient knowledge to future generations newcomers to the site called The Face.

Now they were about to embark upon a new beginning on an alien planet that, even with the extensive store of knowledge she had of that planet, there were still some things that defied detection, things of which she was not sure,

Her head tilted back and felt the hum of the head rest. Now she could see the vaulted stone roof some distance above, in a fog-like haze. The air pressure had steadily gone down after the first barrage of meteorites that nearly destroyed anything that got in its the way. Dust was thick in what was left of the atmosphere. Not much of any kind of life would be left after the next barrage of meteorites and asteroids hit her home.

Zappora closed her eyes momentarily and wept, then opened them again and gave the order for the final countdown. The ship's engines built-up the energy needed to reach escape velocity as the nucleonic turbos whined ever louder.

She felt a light pressure pushing down on her as the domed complex began to recede behind her. She could only see what was ahead. A huge block of stone moved to one side, groaning grudgingly across its recess.

Then the block stopped and Zappora only had the time to think, “Sideways!" The ship tilted sideways and scraped its way through the aperture diagonally. She felt a second wave of pressure against her, then nothing. Zero gravity, they had made it into orbit. Aside from a few gouges and scratches to both left and right side of the ship, they remained intact with a hull sound enough to make the journey.

Zappora unstrapped herself as soon as the artificial gravity field was switched on. She then pushed a button whereupon the helmet retracted back into the overhead console.

She joined with Lalea , Gazina, and Kopago at the wall to wall instrument panel with the astro charting and various measuring instruments and other analytical devices. An entire array of instruments was dedicated to ship's functions. Everything was in the green except for the two damaged sides of the ship which were on yellow alert. Other tracking devices that flashed every color of the rainbow translated the space outside of their ship into visual data.

Zappora could not see any great problem that would keep them from proceeding to the third planet from the sun. They could affect repairs to the ship during the journey to their new home. The exchange of passengers was made and they left their home planet, knowing that in all likelihood they were never to return.

Two months into their journey they had approached the blue planet close enough so that they could actually pick out different continents in a vast deep blue to turquoise ocean. Most of the land was covered by a thick, steamy fog that obscured most of the features of the continents. It appeared to them from their perspective as one would see the full moon from Earth. The moon appeared as a small ball rotating around the blue planet.

“Coordinates Delta 9 degrees east , X-ray 31 degrees north!” Captain Lalea shouted excitedly. “I think I found a place that is free from the steamy fog!” she said, pointing at the monitor. Zappora rushed over to check the readings for herself. Satisfied, she smiled and said, "Good work, Lalea. Now let's go have a sit down again, maybe for the last time in any spacecraft we have.”

All were glued to the monitors until it was time to belt back into their seats for entry into the atmosphere of the new, blue planet's atmosphere.

The entire ship shuddered, creaked, and groaned, but it held together as it entered the Earth's thick atmosphere. Everything shook so violently that none of the automatic controls wouldn't work properly. Zappora flipped off the automatic pilot, took manual control and flew the ship down 'by the seat of her pants', as flyers say. She felt the ship thump hard. Every support beam in the frame groaned and creaked, then all went silent. Everyone got out of their seats and danced around, shouting and hugging one another, because they were still alive after a voyage of 301,000,000 kilometers and entry into the Earth's atmosphere

Little did Zappora know what would come afer earth.

Thank you so much my dear friends, I just pray you have enjoyed reading these stories half as much as I did writing them. I started them many years ago and though it was time to close the loop 

Writen by Cynthia ©