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To start things off, I hope you guys had a good Christmas and a happy New Year. Sorry for the huge delay but I had to spend time with family, so I didn't have much time for writing. After this gets out i'll switch back to Occupational Hazard so I don't keep you guys waiting on that. To be honest though i'm kinda on the fence with this chapter. But i'll let you decide, feedback if much appreciated and I hope you enjoy.

(Another day starts for John and Jim. While John stays back to process ore samples, Jim is sent to go and do maintenance on a few things. But he stumbles upon something far more interesting.)

United Corporations

-Chapter 1-

AUDIO LOG

SMITH, JIM. (CEC)

Alright uhh, this is audio log one. Time is 22:36 and the date is January 12, 2634. location, Outpost Bravo. We’ve been here for about a week now since setting everything up. Outpost Alpha is in similar conditions. To be honest I don't know who got it worse. While John and I have to clean the sand out of the shuttle and trucks engines every day, plus the extreme heat and sometimes even sand storms. Up north Mary and Sam have the complete opposite! During the winter it snows almost non stop and when it's summer...well once it's summer it will probably rain, A LOT!

But seriously i've asked them multiple times if they wanted help but each time they refused. If they're not careful they could easily freeze to death. Constantly checking fuel lines and what not. Trust me, if it can freeze, up their it will. They even said there coffee froze in their cups!

Besides all that we both have made good progress. According to the reports this place is a gold mine: cobalt, silicon, osmium. And a lot of it. The only problem is we're not alone. I know sounds weird doesn't it. First time we’ve made contact with aliens. Hypothetically speaking, eggheads call them Sergals but don't want us to make contact saying “You'll compromise the natural evolution.”

Anyway John and I have a lot of work to do. Check the prospectors, make sure the communications relay it still up. And clean the sand out of everything...again.

Smith out.

END LOG

-~-

Jim let out a tired sigh, while rubbing his face with gloved hands. The past week had been hard. Setting up everything since the initial landing had him constantly working, only sparing time to eat and sleep. But now they were done. At least with the first stage, he still had to do routine maintenance and if anything broke...

He glanced towards the clock, which read 22:51. “Humph, talked to myself for fifteen minutes.” The thought of sleep was too good and with a grunt he lifted himself up, making his way to see if John was still playing with rocks.

Surely enough as he left his previous room he recognized the body of John slumped over his worktable. Jim approached quietly and softly shook his shoulder, waking him.

“Hey man, i'm gonna get some rest. You should too.”

John yawned in response. “You go ahead, i've got one last sample to test.”

Jim rolled his eyes at his friend's ignorance. “Alright just don't stay up to late.”

“Yea, yea. You're the one who has to get up early tomorrow.”

He didn't give a verbal response. Just shook his head and made his way to his room. Once inside he sat upon his bed and removed his engineering suit, laying it over a nearby chair. Before he went to bed he set his alarm to 07:00. Early enough to get his work done but late enough to get a healthy amount of sleep.

With that done he switched the lights off and slipped under the covers, quickly succumbing to exhaustion. Nothing could be seen besides the blue glow of his RIG.

-~-

The familiar yet annoyingly persistent sound of Jim's alarm clock awoke him suddenly. After a few moments a figure under the blankets started to shift. Before a hand reached out and lazily smacked the top of the alarm clock, silencing it. The room was once again filled with silence until the sound of shuffling.

Jim sat up and took a moment to rub the drowsiness from his eyes before swinging his legs off the bed. He stood to his feet, giving a stretch to the sounds of faint popping. He stepped over to his door, which lit up with a faint blue glow. Stating ‘Open?’ which he pressed, giving a slight hum from the doors hydraulics.

As he exited he saw something that made him smirk…John. Who was content with snoring on the desk. Jim was briefly glad the rooms we're sound-proof. He pondered waking him but after a moment of thought he decided to leave him there, besides Jim did warn him. He'll just have to deal with his constant complaining about his back once he wakes.

Making his way past John he opened another door that lead to the showers. Once he activated one of the stalls he slipped inside when the water was comfortable. Letting his body settle in the familiar warmth.

Once finished he dried himself off and put on his ‘normal’ clothes. Which consisted of work boots, jeans and a flannel. His next order of business was to get a morning ration before getting ready to head out.

The ration turned out to be as hard to eat as it was to open. It wasn't too bad if you washed it down with water. But he supposed it could be worse.

After he finished his meal a small amount of movement caught his eye, causing him to look up as John began to wake from his slumber. He immediately groaned and sat up straight in his chair.

After letting out a few curses John eventually made it to his feet. Slowly walking past Jim to his private quarters, all the while avoiding eye contact. Jim wanted to say “I warned you!” but refrained knowing his friend learned his lesson. Albeit the hard way.

After he'd left he threw away any scraps that we're left over from his ‘breakfast’ and made his way back to his room. There we're a few things he needed before heading out. The first day was usually the most interesting, with little to do since most of the machines we're probably still up. He was seeing everything for the first time. Because of that he preferred to get started early to avoid any unnecessary hassles.

After entering he quickly adorned his Engineering Suit and checked the inventory, making sure it had a med pack and a stasis pack just in case.

“You can never be too prepared.” He mumbled quietly, letting his helmet fold over his head and settling into the familiar visage before making his way out of the room.

As Jim entered the garage he was once again reminded of the poor state of the CEC, budget wise that is. The land vehicle they gave him was an old station utility truck, one that was akin to driving on smooth steel roads not desert sand.

It's once white and green paint could vaguely be seen where it wasn't chiping off or rusted off. Jim hoped the interior was in better shape.

It came as a pleasant surprise when he opened the door, which creaked on unoiled hinges, and found the interior with very few problems. Although there was a fine layer of dust covering everything, nothing that a few minutes with the windows open couldn't fix.

The rear cabin was in similar conditions. There was even a small cot on the floor. Other that a few missing tools - which he could easily replace - Jim decided that the truck was in working condition.

After he climbed back into the driver's seat he gave the engine what was probably the first start up in years. But being a utility vehicle and more functional in it's design, it started. Sending a light vibration through the floor.

The hangar doors opened to reveal a blizzard of sand, the faint sounds of them bouncing off the windshield was soothing in a way. With no other concerns he began to guide the truck out of the hangar, once out and sure the doors were closed behind him he set a course to the long-range communications relay.

Sure the the two outpost could communicate but in order to report back to the nearest CEC Orbital Command Platform or OCP they needed something with a little more muscle. And since they had to put it in the desert - something about least obstructions - that meant constant checkups to make sure it wasn't covered in sand.

hopefully nothing bad would happen on the way there.

“You’ve gotta be FUCKING KIDDING ME!! That's the third time this turd has gotten stuck.” Jim slumped back against his seat and let out a labored breath. The first two times the truck only needed to be rocked back and forth to free it, but now...Jim didn't know what to do.

He exited the truck to further asses the situation and found out two things. One, and probably the most obvious: both the back wheels we're about halfway buried in sand. And two: either the truck didn't have four wheel drive or it was broken.

Using kinesis could work but he didn't know how much weight his was rated for. Unless he could find something to lodge under the wheels to give it traction. He looked at the surrounding area.

“I'm not going to find squat- wait.” He saw what he could only guess was wood, how it got out here could be anyone's guess. But it could work...possibly. “Hell, it's not like I have any other option.”

Before he left he quickly grabbed a Hydraulic Saw - basically a plasma chainsaw - just in case he had cut it out of the ground. After quickly depositing it into his RIG he looked back towards the wood. He estimated it a few hundred meters away and began walking.

The little ‘journey’ left Jim sweating under his suit from the intense desert sun. Funny how people take granted the smallest things, like the trucks AC unit. He did though make it to the wood, up close they seemed to be logs from some long forgotten tree. Their origin mattered little to Jim, as long as they could fulfill the desired job.

He lifted his arm and faced his palm towards the wood. After his kinesis had a solid hold on the log he slowly pulled it from the ground. But as he did a body fell to the ground with a dull thud.

“What the hell?!” He dropped the log out of shock and stumbled a few steps back. At first he thought it was dead till he noticed the faint rise and fall of it's chest. “Must be one of those sergals the scientist mentioned.”

After a few tense moments hesitantly approached, taking notice of the white and tan fur. He couldn't see any physical injuries but he could guess it could easily be suffering from dehydration.

“Hello?” He kneeled by it's side and gently shook it's shoulder, receiving no response. “Shit…”

He couldn't just leave it there, not after knowing he could of helped. But it's not like he could waltz back and show John saying “Look what I found.” The only solution he could think of was to give it a med pack and some water, bring it back to the truck and see it it woke before he had to return to base.

After quickly injecting his med pack into its elbow he bent over and gently slipped an arm under the crook of it's legs and the other behind it's back. Hoisting it's form upwards he grabbed the log again and carried the sergal back towards the truck.

The trip back was uneventful, although it did allow Jim to have a better look at the sergal. He went with his best assumption and guessed it was a female, although he could be entirely wrong since he had nothing to go off of, until proven otherwise.

After awkwardly climbing back into the truck he laid her down on the cot. Now though he had a more oppressing matter to attend to. The truck would be going nowhere and calling John to bring the shuttle over was not something he would like to do.

Once he made his way back into the grueling desert sun he promptly set about cutting the log into appropriate pieces to fit his need. Leaving the sergal in the truck wasn't perhaps the best idea, but he doubted she would wake. And even if she did the presence of clothing clearly displayed a higher form of intellect, with that came the possibility of communication. Although the chances of them speaking the same language seemed unlikely.

Having cut two alike pieces he used some straps he found in the truck to attach them across the rear tires, which proved to easily remove the truck from it's sticky situation. And after removing the wood from the wheels he deposited them back into the truck - incase he had to use it again. Now he could make his way towards the relay, hopefully without anymore delays.

-~-

By mid afternoon, going off of the planets time, Jim found himself nearing the coordinates of the relay. As he made his way over the last dune he saw what was unmistakably the relay, maybe because it looked completely out of place. Already he could see the dish was clear of any sand, at least any that would cause problems.

After parking nearby he cast a glance behind him at his passenger, who was still unsurprisingly still laying down. The somewhat steady rise and fall of her chest to point out she was still alive. He decided he'd try and give her some water once he was done. Once he figured out how he would do that without harming her.

As he opened the door he was once again reminded of the unbearable heat, he decided he would make it quick and only check the circuits, battery and some other subsystems. Or he might find himself in the same boat as the sergal.

“Ohh man is it hot out there.” Jim asked no one in particular, desperately retracting his helmet and grabbing a nearby rag to wipe the sweat from his face. Whether it was dirty or not mattered little. He quickly drank multiple long gulps from his canteen, which reminded him of his ‘patient’ in the back seat. Calling up Mary, since she was a medical officer stationed on a now decommissioned CEC ship. At first their was a few moments of static but eventually a woman with blonde hair appeared on his holo display - he made sure to lean towards the door so she couldn't see the sergal in the back.

<Jimmy, you need something?>

“Umm yea, I had a question about medical stuff.”

<You're going to have to be more specific, what happened. Did you or John get hurt.>

“No no, we're fine I uhh…” He didn't see any other way besides telling her the truth. “I...found one of those sergals they informed us about unconscious in the desert and I was wondering how I should give it something to eat or drink.”

There was long pause where he could see Mary studying his face to see if he was lying. Seeming to have gotten her answer.

<Show me.>

“What, why?” Jim asked, brow furrowing in confusion.

<I'm curious, according to central all attempts to study them have been futile. They seem very skittish towards us.>

“Ok so, food...water…?” Jim asked, leaning so his camera would pick up the laying form of the sergal.

<Ahh yes, well until it wakes I would recommend not trying to give it anything. Unless it stays unconscious for a couple days.>

“Ok...wait so you want me to take her back to our base.”

<Oh Jimmy, don't be so silly. What else are you supposed to do, leave her out in the desert to die. You're too soft for that.>

“Hey! I'm not soft. Besides John will give me hell and you know that.”

<If he does you tell him to talk to me. Oh and if she does wake do tell, i'd love to know more about her kind.>

“Alright, well i'm gonna start heading back now.”

<Ok Jimmy, stay safe.>

“Will do.”

Jim was surprised to say the least. He wasn't expecting Mary to want him to keep her not to mention she said she would defend him if John argued. Then again she was right about leaving her out here, which was...probably against regulation as well. He let out a labored breath and wiped his hands on his cheeks before deploying his helmet, which masked his conflicting mind with three narrow slits.

“Well what's the worst that can happen, ahh why did I say that…”