Friday, February 12, 2010

29 Days to Go

Editor’s Note: Today’s post is the second entry in Lieutenant Gamble’s Personal Log. (Reading Time: 2 Minutes)


Lt. Gamble’s Personal Log (29 D.T.D):


The outlook didn’t look any better when we woke this morning. Doc thinks he has the time of our death pinned down as close as he can get it, but he wants to run a few more tests to make sure. He’s using the equipment at the national hospital, which is just down the street from the palace. We’ve made the palace our base of operation. It and the hospital are about the only two places that haven’t lost power. It also has some of the most comfortable beds I’ve ever seen and there’s still food in the kitchen. It’s frozen, but I suppose the royal family must have had too much to take with them.


Doc seems to think the people of this planet left after they found out they were exposed. If we can get off the planet within a week or so, we might be alright too, but that doesn’t look likely. The princess keeps asking our prisoner a bunch of questions. She thinks he can tell us something. But he isn’t very talkative. She thinks we should let him go. I don’t think that’s a good idea. She’s left the decision up to me, for now. I would just like to know more about what he’s thinking. If he’s afraid to die, I can’t tell it.


There aren’t any people lying dead on the street, like you might expect. There are animals of all kinds, but the people aren’t here at all. But that makes sense. I look out at the stars and I know where they are. They’re out there, killing our people. But they won’t win. We’ll push them back to their own planet and they can all die from whatever this plague they’ve unleashed is.


I’m going to get out and look around. A planet this size is sure to have a ship that will get us out of the atmosphere. We might have to sit in orbit for a while, until someone comes and picks us up, but at least we’ll be alive. Maybe we can rig the escape pods. The aren’t designed for that and we wouldn’t have any room. No, I think we’d die anyway. I’ll see what else I can find and I’ll let you know.