The Seed

A short, sci-fi, "what if?" story.

Photo by Marc Sendra Martorell on Unsplash

Alarms blared and lights flashed as the astronaut quickly reached for the manual controls. The ship had unexpectedly dropped out of warp speed.

“The engines have failed!” Captain V yelled to his copilot who jumped into the seat next to him.

“Communications are down too,” First Officer Q added. “We’re stranded out here.”

“Where are we?”

“I don’t know. The navigation computer is down. The last coordinates I recorded said we were still hundreds of light years from home.”

Captain V grimaced. This was the furthest from home they had ever been. But they knew the risks when the mission to plant the seed began. They knew if they ran into a problem that far from home, they may never return.

And this wasn’t a drill.

V gripped the controls and managed to shift the craft’s trajectory with the manual thrusters.

“I might be able to guide us towards that planet up ahead. Looks like it might even have some natural resources. If we’re lucky, we may be able to camp there until we can call for help.”

The ship barreled towards the unknown planet. The two astronauts gripped their armrests and watched the bright red glow on the window as they penetrated the atmosphere.

Their spacecraft gyrated and careened through the sky, violently knocking Captain V and First Officer Q around in their seats, until they finally crashed on the surface.

The sound of the alarms stopped, and the lights no longer flashed.

“You ok?” V asked, rubbing his head.

“Yeah, a little bruised but I think I’m fine,” Q replied.

Outside the window, a sandy desert environment surrounded them.

“You said this place had natural resources,” Q said. “But it looks like we landed in the one spot that’s nothing but sand and rock.”

“There’s a river to the east of us. We passed over it when we crashed,” V insisted. “The planet has water. That’s a good sign that it might have other resources we can use too.”

The astronauts unbuckled their seatbelts and stood, checking their suits and locking their helmets in place. Q opened the craft’s exit ramp, giving it a strong nudge to break it free from the sand that held it shut.

“Looks like we’re in luck,” V said, looking at the readings in his helmet’s digital diagnostic display. “Atmosphere here is pretty similar to ours. Nitrogen, oxygen. I don’t think we’ll need the suits.” The two detached their helmets and threw them back into the craft.

Slowly, they stepped down the ramp, looking side to side at the alien environment. “Look at that bright blue sky!” Q remarked. “Reminds me of—”

“Stay focused,” V barked. “Look. We’ve attracted some attention.”

A small group of two-legged figures approached with primitive spears.

“Bipedal life!” Q cheered. “Does this mean we can plant the seed here?”

“Here? On this planet?” V scoffed. “I can tell just by looking at them these creatures have not evolved enough for us to plant the seed here.”

“Our mission was to plant the seed on a planet with bipedal life—”

“Our mission was to plant the seed on Menes,” V interrupted. “This is not Menes.”

Q’s head dropped as he watched the small group of cautious figures stop a safe distance from the crashed ship. “But they are bipedal,” he said pointing to them. “And they may be evolved enough that we could justify planting the seed here.”

“We will call Mission Control for help,” V insisted.

“Communications are down,” Q argued. “Even if we could contact someone at Mission Control we’re still hundreds of light years away. We’d be long dead before anyone got here.”

Captain V’s shoulders dropped.

Q continued, “But if we plant the seed here, it will open the bridge and automatically take us home.”

V sighed, keeping an eye on the figures with spears who were obviously curious about what had just crashed on their planet. “Spare me the science lesson, I know how the seed works,” V said. “The problem is, what do we tell Mission Control when we get back?”

“I don’t know,” Q said. “We could tell them we thought this planet was Menes so we planted the seed. Even if we’re in trouble, at least we’ll be home.”

V looked at the planet’s natives who pointed, jumped and made guttural sounds at each other. A few more gathered, adorned with animal skins, holding wooden sticks with stone tips. One with a large headdress and painted skin began to slowly step closer.

The astronauts didn’t flinch.

“And what of the creatures?” V asked, pointing to the planet’s natives. “They’re clearly not ready. We’ve never planted a seed on a planet with life that wasn’t ready.”

“Once the bridge is open, we’ll be able to maintain contact with them,” Q said. “Even if they can’t communicate with us yet, we could keep an eye on them until they’re ready.”

“We will be able to?” V asked. “Who’s we? Not me. Are you going to ask for special permission to babysit a planet you prematurely planted a seed on?”

“Well, that’s better than being stranded here forever, isn’t it?”

Captain V thought about it for a moment. He looked at their wrecked ship embedded in the sand. Q was right. The only way home was to plant the seed.

“Fine,” he said sitting on the edge of the ramp. “Plant the seed.”

Q dashed up the ramp and into the ship. After a moment, he returned with a metal, pyramid-shaped object.

“You realize what will happen,” V said, putting his hand on Q’s shoulder to stop him. “The seed will open the bridge, and we’ll go home, but this planet and its people will never be the same.”

Q looked disappointed as if the captain might have changed his mind about their plan.

“We don’t know what will come of this,” V added. “The seed could cause them to evolve into self-destructive creatures — amplifying their primal aggression.”

The native in the headdress stood, still a safe distance away, gesturing what the astronauts assumed was an attempt to communicate.

“You’re right, we don’t know,” Q said. “But they look friendly. The seed could enhance their innocence and kindness. They could become a loving, peaceful species.”

“The seed will enhance their intelligence and open their minds to greater awareness,” V said, “but they won’t be ready to join the League of Planets.”

“I don’t think we have a choice.”

Q placed the metal pyramid in the sand and stood back.

“For thousands of years, the seed’s monuments will stand yet the planet’s inhabitants will be unable to understand the origin of them,” V said, shaking his head.

“One day, when they’re ready,” Q said, “the League can send an ambassador to explain everything to them.”

V nodded reluctantly.

That was all the permission Q needed. He twisted the top of the pyramid-shaped device to activate the seed. The two astronauts walked back up the ramp and into the ship.

Outside, the ground began to rumble. The natives braced themselves and looked to the sky as an intense blue light shot up from the seed.

The ground broke open as three giant points began to form in the sand. Jutting straight up from the ground, a square base grew larger under each of them. Sand and rock from the planet’s surroundings came together, as if molded into place by an unseen hand, to form three immense monuments that resembled the seed itself.

The planet’s natives scattered, frightened at the grand spectacle.

Finally, after the ground stabilized and the sand settled, three large stone pyramids remained. The seed had arranged them in a pattern mirroring that of the constellation directly overhead. Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka — three stars that provided the coordinates home.

The two astronauts braced themselves as the bridge opened and lifted their ship into the blue light, carrying them back to Mission Control.

Q watched out the window, down at the natives who stared in awe and wonder as the ship ascended into the heavens.

“We’ll be home soon,” Q said, turning to V.

“You’re right,” Captain V said. “We should start preparing our report. We’ll need to answer for what we’ve done.”

“I know, I know.”

“In your haste to plant the seed, did you even check the name of this planet?” Captain V asked. “You know that will be Mission Control’s first question.”

Q sighed. “Let me check the star chart.”

Now in the darkness of space, traveling beyond the speed of light on the seed’s bridge, the planet was long out of sight. Q tapped a few buttons to find its name.

“Here it is,” Q said. “Earth. It’s called Earth.”

“Well, let’s just hope Earth turns out ok.”