The Atlantic Settlement

From the commander’s chair, I watched as the black lifelessness of space faded away and we entered the blue atmosphere of Earth. The shift in gravity changed on our ship as we descended further and stopped to hover just above sea level.

“Ma’am, we’ve arrived at the coordinates but cannot detect any sign of the settlement,” Cody reported, his chest puffed and arms tucked behind his back in a formal stance.

“At ease, Cody,” I replied, then turned my gaze upon his green form.

“Yes, Ma’am.” He agreed and relaxed slightly, but still seemed tense.

A small laugh escaped my lips as I appraised him momentarily, reminded of how eager I was in my younger years. 

“They may still have their cloaking devices on. Let’s have Jetson send out a request for landing.” I instructed with a fond smile at my young but well-chosen second in command.

He drew himself up into a formal stance once more. “Already done, Ma’am. But we have received nothing back.” He informed me, his face a painfully tight mask of neutrality.

“I see,” I hummed to myself. Then turned to the rest of the crew. “Let’s prep for a hydro-landing and try to make contact again. Jetson, do some digging and see if something has gone awry, or if the water is interfering with our signal.” I commanded as I got to my feet and stood in the middle of the command room.

Cody moved to stand alongside me. He tapped his toes in unease. One of his many habits that tend to get on my nerves from time to time, but this time seemed reasonable.

“Ma’am, all of my transmissions have bounced back. But I have recovered an old distress signal that was sent out a few days ago.” Jetson stated, his eyes wide in nervousness, and the previously busy command room fell to silence.

All eyes looked at me as the crew held a collective breath of anticipation.

“Pull it up on the overhead, let’s see what it says,” I commanded in a steady voice, hoping my calm would bleed into the uneasy feeling my crew had adopted.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Jetson agreed with a nod and spun around in his chair. He began madly typing away at his keyboard and the overhead screen lowered over the front view window.

“A distress signal? Should we be letting the crew view this with us?” Cody muttered at my side, his brows pinched together in a look of concern.

“They deserve to know as much as we do,” I replied in a soothing tone and kept my gaze fixed on the screen.

Before me, it flashed with a blue feed and then the image of Commander Raidah from the Atlantic Settlement appeared. Her Mars-red skin glistened with perspiration and her enormous eyes were wide in a calm but silent panic.

“Push play please, Jetson,” I commanded and pulled my shoulders back in preparation for what we were about to see.

“Yes, Ma’am.” He replied, and the screen came to life.

The crew and I watched as Commander Raidah settled into her chair.

She breathed a long sigh of relief as the camera shook and a rumble echoed through the background.

“This is Commander Raidah, license number 2346, of the Atlantic Settlement on Earth.” She spoke with a shaky voice, as the camera hadn’t focused yet. “Construction was completed several days ago. We have sent word that we are ready to start colonization.” Raidah was interrupted by a similar rumble to the one we’d heard at the beginning of the feed.

The camera shook again as she continued. “It seems we have miscalculated the risks associated with our underwater settlement on Earth.” The port window behind her cracked visibly and water leaked into the room behind her. Several screams of terror interrupted her.

Raidah bit her lips together in anxiety, and her pale eyes grew visibly glassy. “This will be my last transmission, as there were not enough escape pods for everyone. But I fear even those will not be enough to evade the wrath of this little blue planet.” She ended with a loud swallow.

Raidah wore a solemn gaze as she leaned over and the feed was cut off.

The screen before us blinked to bright blue again and the command room fell into a stunned silence.

“What the hell was that?” Cody muttered mostly to himself.

I stared at the screen in shock as I did my best to school my expression into one of neutrality. I couldn’t let the sting of losing my long-time friend show as I put on a brave face for the crew.

“Let’s scan the waters for survivors,” I instructed and cleared my throat in discomfort. “Also, send out a few probes. I’d like to see what became of the settlement,” I added, and a tightness formed in my chest.

“Yes, Ma’am.” The room echoed around me as I sank into my commander’s chair and the crew jumped into action.

“What is it, Ma’am?” Cody whispered. He leaned over and watched me, his eyes wide with concern.

“The Earth is prone to something called earthquakes. In its infancy, the tectonic plates shifted and created the different lands that humans call continents. There are still earthquakes on land, but it appears they plague the ocean floor as well.” I explained, my voice hollow and emotionless as I swallowed a lump that formed at the base of my throat.

“What are you saying?” Cody asked as he stepped away from me, his eyes flashed with confusion and horror.

“Ma’am, we have found no sign of our kind of life forms, but the probes have found what remains of the settlement,” Jetson called as he spun around to face us.

“Put it up on the overhead.” I requested and stared at the blue screen in anticipation.

The feed showed the murky grey view of probe number 34341 as it wandered through the dark waters. Its spotlights illuminated very little of the debris-filled water.

We could only make out pieces here and there of fallen walls, crushed technology and the like. But the most telling was when our little probe found the ruins of the entryway that once read ‘Atlantic Settlement’, but the words were broken apart and all that remained was a single word, ‘Atlantis.’

I chuckled to myself at the irony of it. 

The memory of some silly human folklore, about a lost city by the same name, came to mind as the probe’s feed cut out.

“Thank you,” I spoke to the crew and a small smile crept across my lips as I got to my feet.

“I am sorry for many of your losses in the destruction of the Atlantic Settlement,” I spoke as the command room fell silent for me. 

“We should have known there was some kind of catch when the humans so willingly surrendered to our forces,” Cody growled, mostly to himself.

“Humans did not do this,” I stated as I gave him a pointed look, then returned my gaze to the crew. “The Earth is a force of nature, a living being in itself. She demands nothing but respect and is unhappy with our takeover, so she took it out on our settlement by swallowing it whole.” I explained and cleared my throat again in discomfort.

“Let us leave the little blue planet to her previous affairs and deliver the report to the mother ship,” I instructed, and the crew jumped to work again.

The commander room was just as it had been before the discovery of this tragedy.

Author’s Note:

Liam’s Mother Nature Challenge inspired this story.

Thanks for reading,

- Donna Fox (HKB)