Dorian's vision began to fade as he slumped over the navigation console. Hundreds of systems still to investigate...Something shimmered at the corner of his vision. Exerting every fiber of his will, he forced his eyes open.

And saw... her.

At first, Dorian was certain he was hallucinating. An ethereal female apparition was floating above the deck, smiling enigmatically. She raised her arm and pointed out the nearest port. Dorian looked, and saw three brilliant lights twinkling where before there had been nothing. When he shifted his gaze back to the figure, she was gone. He returned his attention to the port, and watched in wonder as the three lights flared with supernova intensity, then dimmed out completely, leaving only throbbing afterimages seared into his brain.

Hell, he thought. Even a product of delirium was better than nothing.

Panting, Dorian punched in the coordinates.

The stars exploded. Darkness took him.

Dorian awoke bathed in shafts of milky blue-green light from the moon shining through the cracked viewport. He took a breath, tasted loamy air.

Minutes later his feet squelched in blue mud. Dusk was falling. Forests of bizarre flora cut jagged holes from the sky. He smelled wood and damp metal. He heard water gurgling from a nearby brook.

Towering over him was a massive artifact of alien construction. He stared up at its glimmering surfaces, shrouded in tendrils of mist, and its nearness made something hum in his mind like a swarm of insects. Its indestructible tip had taken a chomp out of his tailfin during landing. Lucky it wasn’t more.

He couldn't help it. His tangled white beard cracked open in a fierce irrepressible grin.

Trillions of miles from home and marooned on a hostile alien world. Nevertheless, he'd made it. This was Nexus. He had much to do: repair the ship, catch up with the fleet, and ready the way for planetfall.

But all he could think about right now was once more seeing his daughter's face.

Source: World Story