Missing Planet
By S.E. Batt
()
About this ebook
Items are lost all the time, but never something quite as big as an entire celestial body.
The Planetary Monitoring Station finds a nasty surprise when one of the planets in their solar system vanishes without a trace. Mystified by its disappearance, Garren sets out to try to find it. Will the planet, and all of its populous, be found again?
A humorous short story at 6,100 words, bundled with BONUS SHORT STORY 'Act of God' at 3,800 words.
S.E. Batt
S.E. Batt loves all things light-hearted and humorous. When he's not writing, he's playing video games, talking to other writers, and generally wishing he was writing. He's a proud member of the Forward Motion online writer's group, and sends all of its members a digital thumbs-up.
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Book preview
Missing Planet - S.E. Batt
Copyright
Missing Planet (with Act of God)
S.E. Batt
Copyright 2013 by S.E. Batt
Smashwords Edition
Table of Contents
Copyright
Missing Planet
Act of God
Thanks
Other Works
Excerpt from A Hero Unto Death
Missing Planet
Planets are usually very well-behaved beings. They come near a star, get stuck into an orbit, and generally stay in the same place for a bloody long time. It came as a surprise, then, to the two aliens, staring at a monitor depicting that they weren't as well-behaved as they'd like.
The text on the top-left of the screen identified the planet as Yugon. On the right, vital statistics were displayed, telling the two onlookers the size, mass, population and general make-up of the planet. It would have been a routine observation if there wasn't the problem of the planet not actually showing up in the main window.
I thought you said this thing was accurate,
Lugter said. He was the one standing beside the operators chair in a very official-looking uniform, complementing his lime-green skin and entirely blue eyes. So, where is it?
Well, that's the problem,
Garren said, starring as the role of the operator. This camera is locked onto the point where the planet would be, based on the calculations of its orbit. Every one of our cameras use the same algorithm. Standard fare, really.
So where the bloody hell is it?
I don't know,
Garren said. He brought up the very official and technologically-minded console for people who knew how to code. Unfortunately, he didn't, meaning his only communication to the console was simply 'PLEASE FIND YUGON I DON'T KNOW WHERE IT IS', which returned an error message with the computer telling Garren to type 'help' for more information, as if asking Garren to continue for further laughs. Garren felt he had enough of this coding malarkey for one day and closed the console. We just brought up the feed given similar reports from delivery companies and neighbouring planets. They're all mentioning that Yugon has vanished, too.
Can you take direct control of the camera?
Sure,
Garren said, tapping the joystick next to his keyboard. Do you want to try it?
Lemme have a look.
Lugter took hold of the joystick. Garren discreetly tapped a key on the keyboard to put the camera into manual control. The last thing he wanted his higher-ups to feel in such a stressful situation is embarrassed.
Lugter tugged the camera around. Garren watched the stars fly about the screen, showing everything bar the planet they were searching for. The camera rotated upwards, leftwards, upwards again, spun on the spot, and -- because he was now at his wit's end -- Lugter resorted to looking under Garren's chair.
Well, how about that,
Lugter concluded. The planet disappeared. Just...upped and gone. Totally vanished. When did this happen?
About three in the morning. We went through the footage around the time of the first reports, and we witnessed this.
Garren brought up the video of the evidence. The monitoring program gave way to a video player, which showed Yukan in its famous blue crystal-like form. As soon as the image appeared on the screen, it promptly vanished without any kind of ceremony or last goodbyes, leaving the starry background as the only focus.
Well,
Lugter said, folding his arms. What do you think we should do about this?
What do I think?
Garren repeated. I'd hope that you'd be the one to tell me what to do.
Well, I have no bloody clue. Can we look around? Try to see if someone left it lying about somewhere? Always works with my television remote.
"Space is awfully big. I don't think we can just go look for it. We'd have to send entire fleets