ound. Earth flew outward in a pelting hail. The ground shook. There was a loud crack, a thud of some heavy body, and then silence.The ship had crashed in the plowed field to the north of Atalla's home.He sprinted around the cottage, meeting his mother and father. A confused babble of voices rose ahead. Charging out to the brow of the low rise, they gazed down. Atalla's jaw dropped as the scene opened before him.Two deep furrows had been dug right through the heart of the simsass plants. Broken stalks drooped forlornly, sap oozing from their sides. At the end of the furrows was the strange ship. One sail-were they sails? Atalla wondered- had caught against the tartoo tree, the only tree for miles around, and had snapped clean off. So had the top of the tree. The ship lay below, near the dry riverbed.In unison, Mother and Father muttered, "I'll be damned."*****Gerrard Capashen wiped a trickle of blood from his closecropped beard. The once-healed cut on his left cheek had opened again, but if that was his worst injury, he was lucky. Ribs ached beneath his red waistcoat. He would have fallen if not for the helm, but it had paid him back with a blow that drove the air from his lungs. Clutching the wheel in strong hands, he managed a shuddering sigh."I shouldn't have taken the wheel from Hanna." Gerrard released the helm and staggered across the bridge of Weatherlight. "Hanna!" he gasped out, approaching the navigator. She slumped across the cartographer's desk. Gerrard tenderly embraced her. "Are you all right?"Hanna lifted her head, breathing in short, panting gasps. She raked blonde hair back from her face and said breathlessly, "Yes… but what of the ship?""Ship be damned. What of the crew?" Gerrard said gravely.The only ot
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