Chapter One: Crushing and Meeting

It was just like walking through a door. Well, at least like walking through a door while escaping the building when the building is collapsing. On the other side, the ever-present darkness of space welcomed them, though if not in such a desperate situation, they will notice the lack of stars. What caught their eyes is a blue planet in front of them, like a log will catch the eye of a drowning man.

"Main power failure!" shouted T'mor. "We are losing main engine and stabilizer. I'm diverting power from backup generator."

"It's no use! We are still under the pressure from the rift. It's like being pushed forward. It's impossible to pull up. I must attempt an emergency landing!" commander shouted back. As an adept pilot, Commander William Donner had an instinct for flight. Though encountered numerous incidents, he had never brought anyone on board to harm. Unfortunately, that record seemed to end today.

"It's a class M planet. We can land on the continent on the northern hemisphere." said Dr. Hofmann from the sensor console. "The air is composed of 22% oxygen and 78% helium, 0.96 times Earth gravity. Hold on, there's…"the console dimed all of a sudden, interrupted the doctor. "Oh, no. sensor offline"

The shuttle Helios dived into the atmosphere, tumbling. Seconds after the entry, it was engulfed by a giant fireball. Suddenly, the shuttle pulled up changing to a less frightening angle, two dots of white flame visible by its sides. All the while, it appeared to be more in control, than in the mercy of the Law of Gravity.

"Power surge detected, a huge EM wave hit us. Circuit will fry in seconds!" doctor alerted from the back seat. True to his words, all console shut down merely seconds later. It was when the free fall started. "Brace yourselves!" commanded Donner, "We are crushing."

Helios was gliding down, barely evading a steep cliff, with an angle of about 30 degrees, towards a forest near a plain. Fire ball had receded, but the velocity was still scaring. The abdomen contacted the trees, causing the shuttle to leap up then crushed to the surface face down. It slid forward upside-down for about a hundred metres, and stopped in front of a row of trees, and rolled back up.

Silence fell upon them as they were recovering from the impact. Moments later, T'mor cracked her eyes open. "Are you alright?" She was answered by the sound of seat belt unfastening. "I'm fine, some little bruises of course. What about the commander?"

A quick check on him turned out not so good. "He seems to be in coma, probably concussion as well." She turned to the doctor, "He requires medical treatment, help me lie him down."

"I'm afraid there's no time. We've got a plasma fire in the cabin." He pointed to the aft quarter. A green fire, like polar aurora, was sweeping across the shuttle swiftly. "We need to evacuate to outside, NOW!" The doctor rushed to the door and swung if open. The difference of air pressure pushed him out, leaving him with drumming in the ear. Meanwhile, T'mor untied her superior and carried him out on her back. When she cleared the shuttle, it was already consumed by fire.

Leaving a hundred metres between them and the burning shuttlecraft, she lied him down under a tree. For she and Dr. Hofmann, it was only scratches and bruises. But the commander's situation was a lot worse, given that his head slammed on to the console upon the second impact. What's worse, they didn't have any medical supplies with them in such a hurry.

A boom caused them to snap up, staring at the smoldered wreckage of what's left of Helios. Pieces of metal scattered all around it.

"Oh. That's the worst possible thing. What more could happen?"

"First things first. After the fire dies out, I will see if I can salvage any medical equipment and supplies .Judging from the equal distance between these trees, we are very likely to meet sapient species on this planet. We must make full preparations, should they be hostile against us, or worse, a pre-warp civilization. Wait, who's there?" T'mor turned to northeast, pointing to the sky.

Up in the sky, a blue creature was circling the crush site at a high altitude. It had a pair of wings with a prism colour tail trailing behind. Soon, it was joined by another yellow one who seemed to be the same species, a species unfamiliar to both of them.

"Quick, hide!" T'mor whispered, while carrying the commander below the tree. "they may be hostile." However, they were still spotted, as the blue one took one glance their direction and dived towards them, for the red shirt of commander was really a drawback when you are trying to go unnoticed. In a blink of eye, the blue creature stood in front of them. Both sides stared at the other, alert, ready to attack or flee.

The blue creature, a quadruped, was very similar to a horse, or rather, pony, except the short, more human face, a pair of bird-like wings, and of course, prismatic colours. It stood at about eighty centimetres tall, though the mane-like hair made it hard to tell. If not in such a tense moment, Dr. Hofmann might find its large eyes, as well as other parts of it, adorable and reminded him of character in cartoons. No sharp tooth and claw, indicating its herbivore nature, usually means limited hostility. The mane of it was obviously styled, another proof that it was intelligent, as well as that it just spoke in a language that neither Vulcan nor human understood.

"What did it say? My Combadge is broken. Probably because of the EM burst." asked the doctor.

"Mine too. We have to do it the old-fashioned way." Turning to the alien, she said slowly "We mean you no harm. We come from the United Federation of Planets. My name is T'mor and this is Doctor Johann Hofmann. Do you understand me?" With that, she spread out her hand to show that she held nothing, as in standard gesture taught in the Academy.

The alien seemed to be a little at ease, though still confused, stepped up a little. The yellow one with pink mane landed behind it and exchanged a few words, before took off and flew away, maybe calling more of its kind, acting like the two humanoid would sprang at it and eat it alive the whole time. It was time to make diplomacy and earn their trust, at least dissipate their potential hostility. So T'mor raised her hand and posed a typical Vulcan hand gesture. "Live long and prosper."

At the sight of her raising hands, the alien startled a little and seemed ready to flee, but with no further movement, it soon relaxed and realized what did they mean to do. She walked cautiously to them stopping two steps away before, to their surprise, extended its hoof to her. T'mor went still for a moment, and took its hoof in her hand, shook slightly. Hofmann watched from the back intently, taking mental note of everything about the alien pony. T'mor, on the other hand, was more composed, for both her training back at the academy and Vulcan mental discipline. Were she a human, she must be amused by the scene before her.

"Just like when Vulcan met Human." She thought to herself.