Houston is Long Gone

In a craggy, dusty landscape where soft sandstorms brewed, laid an unknown pod that came from a craft. The trail it left behind was at least a quarter mile long sliding across the slightly sloped ground, before digging itself slightly into the dirt to stop its progression. The once porcelain white pod was dirtied in a light shade of brown; and charred black from re-entry into the atmosphere.

Inside the pod lay a young man, with short but now messy black hair, his light brown eyes opening and closing due to being in a daze. He rubbed his head before lightly shaking it, working out the cobwebs within his head. As he finally gained a form of consciousness, he grabbed a com in a slight panic.

"Houston, this is Leon Atkins from Andromeda 7, come in! Houston, this is Leon Atkins from Andromeda 7, come in!"

He kicked the floor of the pod out of frustration, realizing there was no use in even trying to contact them, being an entire galaxy away. He let out the deepest of sighs in an attempt to calm himself somewhat, before refocusing on where exactly he ended up. He grabbed the hatch handle to open it, however it was jammed, likely from the damage.

"Argh...this is completely beyond a bad luck day…"

He leaned back to one side of the pod, and forcefully kicked the hatch door repeatedly, over and over. Until finally the door opened, though he was greeted with a great deal of sand and dust into his face. He quickly turned away, and put on his helmet to protect his eyes from getting blinded before he climbed out.

He surveyed the desolate landscape, pondering to himself. "Is there any life out here at all, or….am I the only one? Speaking of...did anyone else from the crew even survive?" These words raced through his head as he trudged through the craggy landscape with his spacesuit on around him.

He pressed on without noticing a change of scenery, it was like he'd never progressed forward despite walking in one direction.

It wasn't before long though, when multiple figures could be made out through the sandstorm. Upon seeing this, Leon waved his arms around and jumped to get their attention.

"Hey! I'm not sure if you can understand me! Over here! Over here!"

Leon's voice was muffled by his suit, though it seemed he'd gotten their attention.

A total of four figures made their way to him, as they got closer, it could be seen they were all in full suits of armor, like they'd stepped out of the medieval times. Three of them were significantly larger than one who looked tiny in comparison. Leon wasn't sure what he was in for as he couldn't see their faces or anything.

The small armored person spoke in a feminine voice.

"Knock him out. I'm not in the mood for answering basic questions."

Leon couldn't even speak before his helmet was ripped off his head. He tried to move to do something, but his body felt like it was completely paralyzed. He glanced up to see the hilt of a sword come down on his head, knocking him unconscious.

-

Several hours had passed after Leon was unceremoniously knocked out, seemingly for no valid reason. He finally began to stir as his eyes opened and closed feeling a headache from the sharp blow over the head. Though, a loud metallic banging jolted him to sit up.

"Ughhhhh…..that's making my head ring even worse…..where is this…?"

He sat off the edge of an uncomfortable hard bed, looking out to see bars before him. He looked down at himself as the astronaut suit was still on him before checking his surroundings. He found himself in a damp, musty jail cell. "Greaaaat, I haven't even been here that long and aliens threw me in a jail cell. Next thing I'll wake up to is them using me like a lab rat….or worse give me a probe." He walked to the bars and gripped them tight in his hands, pulling back with all his might.

"Not even a budge…"

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Leon jumped upon hearing a blood curdling scream to his left after a light flash, was it electrified? "Well they must see whoever that was as much more of a threat than I am."

Defeated, he walked back to sit on the bed. He heard metallic footsteps of someone who was walking in armor, they echoed through the dank prison along with occasional water droplets that echoed in the darkness. The steps neared him, coming from the left side where the flash came from.

"You try that again and you'll be hung as an example tomorrow!"

An authoritative female voice boomed through the emptiness. It was so loud people above ground could probably hear it themselves. Leon recognized the voice as the one who gave the command to knock him out.

He heard her step his way, until she appeared before him. For such a foul attitude, she was very easy on the eyes. Her features were soft and feminine, her authoritative attitude is surprising, as she looked to be around Leon's age. Her blue eyes pierced through the darkness, along with her light fair skin, while her jet black hair blended in, in comparison.

She addresses Leon in a cocky, yet eloquent voice.

"I see you've finally awoken from your slumber. Which I will apologize for, it was an ill tempered decision on my part. But I simply wasn't in a mood to answer questions while traversing that dust ball of gross landscape. I do hope you understand where I'm coming from."

"Erm….excuse me?! Where YOU are coming from? That was probably one of the most petty things I've heard in my life." He paused for a moment and realized she spoke his language and cocked his head at her, as she looked human. "Ok...what kind of weird body are you hiding under there? You look too human and speak my exact language, that's too weird."

The girl retorted in a very condescending tone.

"Are you a moron, or dense?! I'm a human like you! As far as language, well, your pathetic Earth can thank us because we created your basis for language. I won't personally take credit for this, but an applaud for my ancestors would be greatly appreciated." She flipped her hair after speaking with a smug smile, as if she wanted him to praise her.

Leon gave her what could only be described as a dirty look. He hopped to his feet, marching to her until he made a clang against the bars. He locked eyes, realizing he had a few inches of height on her. His voice was filled with irritation from how she spoke.

"Where the hell do you get off? Who are you that you think you can go around talking to people like they're some sort of peasant? While your ancestors do deserve credit; you need to take a rain check on that attitude of yours. I mean seriously! Who died and made you a queen?!"

The girl bit her lip. "Grrrrrrr! This low life has no tact or censor at all! What is his problem?! Ahhhh...just calm yourself Katrina. Tell him exactly who you are and he'll grovel at your feet!"

Katrina's outward voice came out in the same snotty tone as before.

"I may not be a queen. But I am Princess Katrina Shoud! From here on out be careful what you say to me, my family and I can easily get people…..handled. Now...since you had no idea you were in royal presence, I'll give you a pass just this once. Next time you won't be so lucky."

She grabbed a key out of her armor and opened the door for him.

"Come now. My mother and father are expecting you."

Leon carefully walked out of the cell, glancing at Katrina for a moment, before following her lead. "I already know I'm not going to like her. She screams privileged rich girl vibes, like some fake reality show Beverly Hills bitch."

Katrina gritted her teeth, as if reacting to what he said in his mind. But took a deep breath to compose herself as they made the ascent upstairs.

Katrina opened a trapdoor out of the ground that fed into a courtyard behind a massive castle. As Leon made his way above ground he couldn't help but look in awe of the stone structure.

"Wow. She wasn't kidding about being royalty. This castle looks like a daunting structure to anyone." He thought to himself. He looked towards her and she had the slightest of smirks for some reason.

Katrina gestured to continue on, heading into one of the backdoors. As they walked in, she closed the door behind him.

With each metallic step she took on the pristine tiles, echoes filled the castle marble walls. Through the massive chamber were golden pillars spanning toward the other end. Had such a place been on earth, one could assume it was the 9th wonder of the world. While Leon took this in, a mischievous smile crept along his face while listening to the droning echoes.

"Hellllloooooo!"

His voice carried nicely, giving him a green light to do more.

"ZA WARUDO!!!!"

"That sounded so cool!!"

Before he spoke another word Katrina turned around and gave him a glare that could've seared through him.

"Can you please act with some sort of tact and not some 5 year old child?! You're about to confront my parents who are royalty; you better grow up in 3 minutes flat!"

Her voice boomed at Leon, echoing through the massive castle. He simply shrugged at her.

"Fine. Sorry I've never been in the audience of such high class. I'll be sure to grow up, little princess. So chill out."

His voice was direct, and surprisingly calm. A reaction Katrina didn't expect, as she turned around and moved forward in a huff. The pair headed on moving through more extravagant rooms with intricate statues, furniture, weapons and paintings.

They stopped before a large double door that was sculpted in gold, with a ferret etched in. Leon looked at it curiously, wondering.."Of all things, why a ferret?" He shrugged it off as Katrina looked at him seriously.

"Best behavior."

All the nerves he should've felt are hitting him like he'd crashed into a brick wall. The doors opened inwardly, as every step he took became more labored, unknowing of what fate will bring on the other side.