Before Perfection
by The Great Red Dragon
Chapter 5
I have no idea how long I was knocked out, and no idea of how long I traveled in hyper-space. I could have gone in any direction, into any galaxy. The universe is endless, and more often than not, entire light- years go without planets or even stars. It's just one, big, black mess. For what could've lasted hours, I traveled through the infinite waves of nothingness. Millions of stars I must've past, and probably even more planets. The distance that I covered was suicidal...but then again, was there anything that I could've done about it?
When I finally did wake up, it took a few minutes for me to realize where I was, and what I was doing.
...Huh? Wha...w-where am I?
...Oh, in the space ship, yeah...and what's this?
I'm in hyper-space? Oh, well, that's just fine.....
....
WHAT!?!
I jerked awake and yanked back the hyper-brake.
WHHH-CHBUANGGG!-SMASH!
Even spacecrafts come equipped with seatbelts, and I hadn't secured mine. When I hit the brake, I was ricocheted forwards with enough forth to kill a human (man, good thing those things are made of armored glass, or else I would've been hurling through space). For a second I thought that my nose was broken, as blood dripped into my mouth. I lapped it up sickly and touched my nasal-bridge tenderly; it was okay.
When I got back into my chair, I felt so angry with myself. I had told myself that I was Experiment 541, and that I was better than anything else. But now, I had allowed myself to fall unconscious, and thereby had risked my very existence...but that was still at risk anyway.
Just then, I remembered my injuries. As if I had inserted a video into a VCR, the full physical realization came back, and I was in considerable pain from there on. The burns and scabs on my back had begun to crust, and I got a nasty feeling when I felt dried blood on my fur. The palms of my hands were burnt, but not bleeding. They felt raw and tender, and it hurt a lot when I pulled out a metal splinter from between my fingers that had gotten lodged there when the control deck had been blown up. Most noticeably was a gash on my shoulder that the sentry droid had given me, and it seemed as if it had gotten infected.
I bit away my nagging injuries and got the sense to look around. My ship was hovering next to this great big gray thing, which I soon recognized to be quite a small moon.
But the moon wasn't what caught my eye...it was this bright blue planet that held it in orbit. I had never seen such a thing; I had seen planets of dessert, forest, and snow in my training...but never planets made of blue sapphire.
The beauty of the shimmering water was enough to make me forget that my body wasn't compatible with water; I sink like a stone.
When I checked out the control panel, it turned out that the planet read-out system had been spared from the H-67's blast. I searched through the star charts and found out that the planet's intergalactic name was 'Kiarr', 'Terra', or 'Earth'. According to the planetary description, it was a peaceful and naturally-productive planet. Its species were said to be below intelligence, although some of them were endangered species (the mosquito...?).
Then, I realized that I didn't want to go to Earth. First of all, what would I want on a planet of dim-witted creatures that weren't even intelligent? Also, I knew that if I were to land, I would be risking not getting off again. I didn't know what the extent of the ship's damage was, and I didn't know if the lift-off thrusters were still working properly - that was reason enough.
Perhaps, I thought, I would travel to the paradise moons of Karak. They stood in the same galaxy as this planet...I had memorized where they were. In Jumba's lab, I had memorized the planet's exact coordinates, in hopes of going there someday.
However, fate had other things in store for me. When I reached for the hyper-drive gunner again, my big, black eyes fell upon the fuel-gauge, which read about one half-notch away from /E/.
When I saw this, I let out a roar of rage and banged the ship's dented panel with a mixture of anger and frustration. But it wasn't rage, or even anger.
It was knowing the fact that I was defeated.
Oh sure, I had gained much victory in my escape from Jumba, but that wasn't going to get me anywhere. This was supposed to be my time, when I beat the odds and got rewarded for my valor and determination. I felt that I had deserved something after my many months of Hell, and all I was given was more trouble and turmoil. I was lost, and my stamina was burning out. After all, I'm only human.
I spent some more time up in my spaceship, just floating, not burning any fuel. I closed my eyes and whimpered softly into my hands, my bad-guy persona lost
By then, I had decided that I was damned. There was no other explanation for it...besides rotten luck. What was I to do now? I didn't have any fuel to get anywhere, and there was nothing on the planet! If my landing gear was dead as well, I wouldn't even survive the landing [crash].
As the weight of all torture fell down upon me, I dramatically bent my head forward and somehow grazed the thrusters...I swear, it was coincidence.
BOOZSH!
I was off again!
My head flew up in horror and realization for what I had done. In panic, I grabbed at the controls, but apparently I had already been pulled into Earth's gravitational field. I pulled and yanked desperately at the joystick, but already I had begun my descent towards the blue planet. Once I had cleared the fiery ozone layer and atmosphere, I was falling like a loose rocket projectile, and the steering was as good as dead.
In terror, I realized where I was headed...I was headed towards the water.
Right then, I was going to die. My ship was falling so fast, but I could still see the big blue, even through the haze of the heat that was being caused by my breaking of the ozone. I was heading straight towards the water, with no land in sight. I screamed in frustration while frantically trying to pull my craft towards the large continent east of me. I realized that I wasn't going to make it; I was just going too damn fast. I wouldn't make it!
...Or perhaps I would.
Luck was with me, and somehow, a tiny set of islands came into sight. Maybe even those would be out of reach for me, at the angle I was falling...no, I was going to be able to make the one on the far left. But only just.
...I'm not going to go into the details of my crash, because you can probably imagine it better than I can explain. I'm only going to mention the great lurch of my ship as it made it's landing (crash) in a thick, green jungle, and for a long time I was being tossed around like a piece of nothing, while my ship settled. And then, just to cut short, I passed out.
I had forgotten where I had landed and what my surroundings were...but I would find out anew, once I woke up.
I awoke in a very uncomfortable position. I tried to pry myself loose, but evidently the cockpit had closed ranks, and wasn't going to be stretching anytime soon. I was pinned down where the cockpit's Plexiglas had caved in, and I started to panic. I'm an individual that can't be this cramped up, and when I am, I go crazy. At one point I was actually screaming in desperation, while hopelessly struggled against my prison. I squealed pathetically when my lower left hand got stuck, and I was left handicapped. Call it claustrophobia.
Finally, I told myself to cut out the craziness, and that the only way I was going to get out was if I remained calmed. I took a deep breath, and remembered my meditation back in the cell. I closed my eyes, and began to relax all muscles in my body. It felt good, and for a time, I was able to forget my position.
When I re-opened my eyes, I felt determined. Carefully, almost expertly, I began to feel out the weakest points of the wrecked aircraft. I found them in a large crack in the Plexiglas, on a side of my seat, on the other side of my seat, and behind the headrest. Carefully, I managed to place my multiple hands on these key points, and began to press against them.
EEEHHHRRREEE...
The metal around me creaked and groaned as my muscles began to pulse. I clenched my teeth together and closed my eyes. I had to create more pressure on the outside force than it was exerting on me: basic science.
EEERRREEEHHH...
"C'mon, c'mon", I told myself.
"You can do this..."
SKREEEHHH...
"Ahhhh..."
NREEEKKKHHH...
"Uhhh...!"
ERRREEEHHH...
It was bending, ever so slightly. I was pushing harder and harder against it, but more and more resistance was being put against me. It was so damn hard!
ERRRHHH...
"Aeeehhh..."
Then…it happened!
RRREEEHHH...
"Ahhh-AAAHHH!"
RE-BWOWCHH!!!
All at once, unexpectedly, the whole entire thing sprung apart like a wired jack-in-the-box. It gave a great, loud bang, and a large, hellish wall of fire burst forth. For a moment I was engulfed in gas-fueled fire, but it only was there for about half a second, before it took up its supply of oxygen and faded.
I fell over from my position and was left lying on my dismembered cushioned-seat, with a horrible-feeling burn on my already-bruised nose.
I moaned loudly and picked myself up, and I felt the extent of my injuries.
My body was a train wreck. I had several burns on my face, and the crust on my back and hands had opened up from my struggle. The quills on my back were chipped and bleeding horribly. I had more cuts and bruises that I wanted to know about.
I knew that I was in bad condition. I couldn't see straight, and I felt like I was gonna vomit my stomach out. I knew I needed help, but where would I find it, on a scarcely indigenous planet, more than half a dozen light-years away from any civilization?
