JUST above a remote portion of the Valley of Sayir that began to slope upward toward the mountain bearing the same name, the Equinox burst into reality with a snap of white light. The ship was right side up according to Emil's lightning quick jump calculations, but it was still plummeting toward the ground in a crippled condition.
"Hey, we're not upside down!" shouted Kale.
"See what happens when I take the wheel?" replied Emil confidently.
The controls jerked hard in Kale's hands. "We're still falling!"
"Problem!" Emil focused on his instrument panels. "100ft…60ft…30ft."
Kale slapped the docking thruster's control. The ship lurched, struggling against gravity with all the resistance it had left-it wasn't enough. The Equinox slammed into the valley floor with a massive Boom!
The shields collapsed, sending random blades of energy ripping into the ground away from the impact. When the cloud of dust began to settle again, the ship was intact but was unlikely to ever get airborne again.
"Is everyone okay?" Kale asked.
"Present," said Emil.
"We're alright," said Merab and Jael.
Kale tapped the intercom, perhaps the only thing still functioning on the ship. "Mother, how are you, back there?"
It took a moment, but they replied. "I think we're all in one piece," said Mirah, "I take it, we crashed?"
"Yes, but we made it to the rendezvous point," joked Emil from the background.
Kale shot him a weary look. "We're down in the Valley of Sayir, Mother. It's probably a good idea if we abandon the ship, just in case we were to have an explosion."
"We can't move Ramah right now," said Mirah, "I need to monitor her for a while, especially after that crash."
Kale wasn't going to argue a losing battle. "We'll inspect the ship and try to make sure we're not in any danger by staying on board."
The intercom switched off on Mirah's end. She was adamantly against endangering a patient.
"I'm glad Ramah is doing fine, but explosions don't do much for one's health."
Kale moved from his flight chair and retrieved a tool kit. He tossed it at Emil. "We'd better get to inspecting this heap then."
It took an hour and a half to get main power restored and they found nothing endangering their stay inside the ship while they waited for the rebel forces to catch up to them. The engine's hyper-coil was supplying ample power, enough to even use the internal transgate if necessary. The group scavenged for food in the galley, and took turns sitting with Ramah in the Infirmary.
Juli and Kale were trying to get the scanners operational on the bridge so they might get a fix on the rebel army and find out how long it would be until their arrival, but no luck yet.
Merab, Jael and Mirah were in the galley finishing their meals, while Emil relieved the doctor and sat with Ramah. They were enjoying a very nice conversation and perhaps even a bit of flirting. All the crew had to do was to wait for the others and then decide on their next course of action.