This post started off as a one-off response to a writing prompt in the Freewriters Community. Then I wrote a part 2 (with the outcome literally determined by a coin toss).
But that naturally leads to a part 3, which is where this short series comes in. I felt that doing it in just one post really wouldn't give enough time to build up a bit of suspense 😀 Enjoy !
Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio
Governor Mihai Dafang's desk was at least an inch deep in dataslates. Reports, background information, requests for updates from Colony Central. He was drowning in them. But, he thought to himself, that was the only way one could drown on this abomination of a planet.
Dafang hated the place he was supposed to rule with a passion. It was too cold and too dry. The star Meranda gave off plenty of light, but it just bounced off the light grey rocky surface seemingly without leaving any heat behind.
Even the gravity was wrong. It was heavier than his home world of Tarnyu V, but too light for a world this size. It was like the place was made from pumice stone, it just felt wrong.
His door bing-bonged to announce a visitor. Dafang looked forward to the day that Colony Central would fulfil his request for a proper door-announcer system that could detect who wanted to hassle him, and give him the chance to deny entry or pretend he wasn't in.
Before he could answer, the door swung open. His number two walked straight in without waiting to be asked.
"Good morning, Governor. I thought I'd remind you that you're due to visit the settlements of Greenfields, Star Valley and Waterside Meadows today. Greenfields expected you last week, but you asked me to re-schedule at short notice. Also, the monthly return to Colony Central is twenty three hours overdue. Oh, and they have advised that an additional five thousand colonists will be in the shipment arriving in three days."
"Is that everything, Mr Garnes ?" Dafang slowly and deliberately poured another black coffee for himself from the jug sitting beneath the percolator.
Then he looked up, fixing Chief Administrator Ribbin Garnes with a cold stare. The Givan didn't flinch. Nor did he blink. He wasn't capable of it, the inhabitants of Giva might be (just !) humanoid but they'd evolved an alternative way to keep their eyes clear with a kind of constant flow and filtered recuperation organ. It made them far too alien to look at.
"Almost, governor. I have arranged for your personal transport to be ready in five minutes. But there is also a report you were copied in on, which I'm sure you will have read, from the settlement at Hilltops."
"I am sure you are going to remind me what it said..." Dafang interjected.
"Yes," Garnes continued in a clipped tone, as if the interruption from his superior had just been an irrelevance.
"Hilltops reports that all of their mountain goats have disappeared without trace. They put them in the barn at night as per regulations, and in the morning they were gone. No signal from their locator chips, which is unusual. They are requesting assistance and a new allocation of goats."
"Well find them some goats then. Send some assistance. I have three settlements to visit, and I'll be boarding my transport in ten minutes."
"Five, governor."
"Ten. I'm finishing my coffee first, or do you have a problem with that ?"
Garnes' only response was a slight clearing of his throat as he turned on his heel and walked back out without another word.
What an objectionable person, Dafang thought to himself as he slowly sipped his coffee.
Previous posts in this series;
- @alonicus/24-january-2025-mariannewests-freewrite-writing-prompt-day-2626-mother-love - the post that started it all, and introduced the spine-spiders
- @alonicus/escape-from-the-caves-of-meranda-iv - the sequel, where the science team escapes back to base and recommends the planet not be colonised. They were too late.