CREATIVE WorRKS

Space Geographer
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Morgan Hannah
Life & Style Editor

 

I SELB a (omorRabl keel Mol aesnioe- Recipe Vie NOT B CASK oMUE ou
signed up to explore space, I had to follow. It turns out I was pretty good
at this space geographer stuff and flew through the ranks while flying
through space. Soon, my days as an observer were over and I found myself
in engineering. Then, shortly after that, I was working on the Bridge—
scanner’s relay. From there, it was an easy transition to first mate and then
captain. Malory, on the other hand, never made it past lieutenant—and
never forgave me. Now, do I think I was responsible for her inability to rank
up? No! But might I have had something to do with it...? Maybe.

Was Comte Bence Me uole mS MESO veya eV(oleM Dem aaateTembr ices]
corporation isn’t one of them. When we were young, out of high school and
getting jobs, I was the one who applied to franchises and chains for their
stability, structure, and job perks. Malory always had to go for the one-offs,
the independents, the off-the-beaten-path places. She said they fit her style
more—a free spirit. An adventurer. Which, come to think of it, may have
been her ticket into space geographer training... ] just wish it wasn't also
what pushed her to be so risky, so insubordinate.

Let me back up a little. Back when we were both Lieutenants, Malory
and I had gotten into a fight. The captain at the time, Captain Rogers,
needed an away team for first contact on an unexplored alien planet with no
obvious life signs, but very obvious vegetation formations—something we
desperately needed to back up our replicator systems. With sleeves rolled
up and hair loose, Malory insisted that she was right for the job, but with
the strong gravitational pull of the planet and my natural piloting skills,
Captain Rogers and I thought it best that I take a shuttle craft down to the
planet’s surface. Malory protested strongly and was dismissed as the away
team, led byanyself, went over our mission briefing. Little did we know,
Malory launched an unauthorized mission of her own to prove... I don’t
know that she could do it?

I cannot forgive myself. If anyone had to, wouldn't it have been better
that I had died? Then at least Malory and our baby brother back on Earth
could’ve seen each other again. They always had such a strong connection.

Now, years later and captain of my own Starship, I’ve been searching
the quadrants of space looking for all the planets with a strong gravitational
pull. But not quite like Xexon. And something about this planet jogs my
memory ina familiar and painful way. I have to believe that it’s the right
one. I have to believe that Malory is down there, and that she’s alive.

Continuation of this exciting adventure next week!

Illustration by Morgan Hannah