"A Little Vacation" (S/F Micro-short)

The great spiral arm of our galaxy can be seen out of my cabin window. It's beautiful.

I've watched over the months as Earth grew smaller and smaller until it was only a speck. I knew I'd return - if it was still there when we got back.

There's a lot of problems back there & I'm lucky my parents now lived in the Aldeberon Colonies. It's fairly peaceful there since they declared autonomy from the Union.

Over the last two centuries mankind made immense discoveries in propulsion methods in our Stellar Fleet Ships. A trip this far out from the rim only takes seven months now, where it used to be three years.

The fleet engineers sure knew what they were doing when they built the "Constellation".

The flight to Theta IV is a lot nicer this time around. I do have to share quarters with three other people, but that's OK by me. On a trip this long, you still need people to talk to and do things with to pass the time.

Last trip, on the "Vega", was horrible. First, those old grav couches made you sick and then you had to spend 12 months in suspension to protect you from the constant acceleration before you could get out & enjoy yourself during the 8 month deceleration!

Seems almost barbaric compared to the new ships. Hell, I can't even feel the rhythmic pulsing of the anti-matter engines! The "Vega" never stopped shaking!

I could hardly stand up on the beach on Theta IV after getting off the "Vega"! Took me a while to get my land legs back.

Theta IV is a beautiful place though. Great big oceans, plenty of land that's flush with flora & fauna. It's an E-Class planet orbiting a G-class sun...just like Earth. As soon as Union Astronomers confirmed its habitability - off we went!

The culture created by the indigenous sentient life forms there is pretty interesting. I think they said it was equivalent to Earth's bronze age. They also told us that the Thetans had descended from reptiles too. First time I saw a Thetan it scared me to death! They're peaceful though. They've got some kind of religious beliefs, but it doesn't make sense to me.

Looks like we are in orbit. I've got to go prep the drop ship. Lots of things to get ready to go down there.

This time when I hit the beach, I'll be ready to kill every Thetan I can right off the bat. I mean, our orders are to cleanse the sentient life and secure the safe arrival of the mining vessels.

The Thetans ain't gonna kill themselves.