Gatrie stood on the command deck looking at several photographs on the screens in front of him while he furiously tapped his foot. The twenty pictures all looked similar but were clearly in different locations: sprawling deciduous forests. Sure, there were many unique species of trees and other megafauna, yet on every land mass they only depicted an area incapable of becoming a landing zone. Gatrie growled, "What's the solution, Sam? And don't say a water landing again."
"Why not?" Sam snapped, "We've been circling Vostea for hours now. There is no place to land. Unless you want to attempt some commando air drop?"
"Because the ship isn't designed for a water landing! Because we don't know what's in the water!" Gatrie yelled.
"Fine!" Sam screamed as she stood up and stomped off towards the exit, "Drop inside the atmosphere and open the airlock. I'm tired of waiting."
"Where do you think you're going? You can't just walk out on me when I'm talking to you. I'm the commander!" Gatrie barked as Sam opened the back door.
Sam stopped and looked Gatrie dead in the eyes, "Someone needs to find a place to land. If you're too much of a coward to do it, I will." She walked through the door and slammed it behind her, creating a resounding bang in the room. All the hair on Gatrie's body was standing up, and he stomped on the floor, causing an equally loud thunderclap when he did.
"Jask, get us to a breathable height, but stay in orbit," Gatrie commanded, "Over more land than water with the thinnest canopy we can find. We'll stall for a few moments to allow Sam a chance to safely get off and return to orbit at that height." Instantly the ship began to descend which caused significant turbulence. Sam hurried to the cargo hold and grabbed a couple small devices before heading to the air lock. It only took about ten minutes for the turmoil to die down and the ship to re-reach traveling altitude inside the atmosphere. Gatrie tapped a button on the console and snarked, "Sam, are you ready? We've reached 30,000 feet above sea level."
"I'm ready," Sam's voice angrily responded over the intercom, "Give me a countdown and then pop the door open."
"Five, four, three, two, one," Gatrie gritted his teeth before slamming a glowing virtual button. The hinge of the outer door popped open and sucked Sam out from the pressure drop. The crew held their breath for a few moments before Sam's voice rang out through the speakers.
"Drop off successful," Sam's voice crackled as she fell from the sky, "I will report back in an hour." She was hurdling through the air at near terminal velocity with the ground quickly coming into view. Then she transformed into a giant eagle and easily took care of her falling problem. Five minutes later, she gracefully landed on a large black tree that overlooked a forest. Floating down to the forest floor, her talons almost touched the ground before changing into a large canine paw nearly the size of a bear's. Sam had converted her form into a dire wolf and took off running to better survey the land. Yet after sprinting in multiple directions and traveling miles across the woodland floor, she only found more of the same as before. However, there were other oddities she noticed as she traversed the land. No matter where she checked, she couldn't find any animal life: no birds, reptiles, insects, or mammals, yet the variety of plant life only grew in number. Finally, Sam stopped under the foliage near a brook and reverted to her human form.
Sam took a small metal tube from her belt and scooped up some of the water before saying to herself, "I guess I should at least check the water purity while I'm here."
"The water purity is near perfect," Jask beeped moments later, "The only impurities are natural electrolytes."
"Well, at least the water is good if we can figure out how to land," Sam shook her head before feeling a tickle on her neck.
"I've been watching you since you arrived," a soft voice echoed, "I can tell you mean no harm. What are you seeking?"
Sam turned around hastily and looked around, "Who's there? Show yourself."
"I am everywhere you see," the voice cooed, "Now then, tell me what you're looking for?"
"We're just looking for a safe place to land our ship. We mean you no harm. I don't see you though," Sam replied nervously as she continued scouring the area for any creature she could find.
"And if I allow you to land on my home, what will you do then?" the voice asked cautiously, "I have had mixed actions from those I allowed to land and dwell before."
Sam answered honestly, "We're explorers. We've come to build a shelter to defend against a possible attack from a race of peoples called the Mantoan."
"I've met these folk before, a rather nasty bunch," the voice whistled, "As long as your group holds the same values you are spouting, I will allow you to land here for now. What is your name?"
"I'm Samantha, but my friends call me Sam. I still haven't been able to see you. What's your name?" Sam questioned.
"You may call me Myrrh," she answered politely, "As for my appearance, you need to expand your imagination. After all, I'm all in your head." At that moment, the radio on Sam's wrist started beeping.
Gatrie's voice chimed, "Sam, come in. We have a landing zone. A few square miles north of you just appeared out of the blue. No vegetation, just soil. Sending you the coordinates now." The transmission ended, but Sam just stood there with a confused look on her face.
"Thank you, Myrrh. We'll talk again soon," Sam whispered before transforming into a dire wolf again. It only took her five minutes to reach what could only be called an uninhabited zone as it was completely foreign to what she had seen on the planet so far. In front of her was a circle with a radius of five miles that was completely devoid of all life, not even grass grew. Even more strange was the fact that the land seemed to be recently tilled and level as if done by the planet itself. A few minutes later their ship was landing in the center of the circle while Sam, back in her human form, stood ten feet away awaiting their arrival. However, when the cargo door opened and the sound of boots clanked on, Sam called out, "Wait! Gatrie, I need to speak to you alone before we unload."
"Squad, hold up on moving things out yet," Gatrie calmly ordered, "In the meantime, enjoy the fresh air."
"This is quite a change from the last few days. Why are you so calm?" Sam asked aggressively.
"I'm really sorry about how I've been acting. The pressure of successfully landing on a good planet was eating away at me," Gatrie apologized, "And I took it out worst on you. But now we've landed in the perfect spot, and the pressure is off."
Sam half smiled, "Thanks for saying that. However, I wouldn't get your hopes up yet. Someone is on Vostea with us, and I fear they're powerful."
"What do you mean?" Gatrie gasped as he took a step back, "The scans didn't show anything. Are there Mantoan here? Something else?"
"Calm down, Gatrie, any louder and the rest of the squad will hear you. Someone or something talked to me before you found this area. She said she would allow us to land. I don't think you found this spot by accident," Sam steadily explained. Gatrie heaved a slight groan followed by deep breathing while Sam patted him on the shoulder.
Gatrie cleared his throat, "Okay, so what kind of entity are we dealing with here? What do we need to do?"
"First and foremost, no one leaves the undeveloped area except to carefully set up the water system," Sam carefully outlined, "Then we'll focus on building the structure. Keep the RRS system locked away until we are adequately safe. I don't think she means us any harm as long as we don't harm her."
"Well, that seems easy enough. What does she look like?" Gatrie asked easily.
"Umm, well, that's the hitch," Sam chuckled, "I didn't actually see her. Or I don't think I saw her."
Gatrie's eyes widened, "What do you mean?"
"She spoke to me, but I didn't see her. And now that I think about the conversation, she might have been using some sort of telepathy," Sam tried to explain. Gatrie slowly nodded as he understood why she had said they needed to stay in the undeveloped area.
"We don't really have another good option, so I guess we'll just have to deal with it," Gatrie sighed and shrugged before walking back to the ship, "Everyone, only bring out the water equipment and building equipment. We're going to set those two things up first." A couple minutes later the squad came out with about half of the machines from the cargo hold. Sam agreed to go with the group with the water equipment since those people would have to travel outside of the cleared area. Once they were ready, she led them back to the brook she had found before even though it was a little farther away than they would have preferred. However, given the interaction she had with Myrrh, she dared not stray from the area she had already traveled. Then she saw the strangest thing: the path she had taken before had changed to an undeveloped line straight to the water about fifteen feet wide.
One person from the group laughed, "Well, I guess it was easy to find your way to the site, Sam. There's a path straight to the water you find."
"Yeah, I guess it was," Sam chuckled but knew this had happened since she left. What she didn't know was whether it was due to her presence or due to Myrrh. Then, once again, she felt a tingle on her neck.
A distant voice whispered, "Come closer to the plants, so I don't have to yell. And remember, the others can't hear me, so don't speak out loud."
"So, you are using telepathy!" Sam squealed in her mind as she walked a little closer to one side of the path, "I knew it. Well, after that comment you made when we talked last. We're on our way to the brook where we spoke last."
"I figured as much when I overheard your call with your ship. What will you be doing with the water in the stream? I need it to survive," Myrrh pressed.
"Of course! We also need water to survive," Sam explained, "So, we'll hook up our system to take some of the water, less than half, and connect our drainage system back to it, which outputs water at least as pure as the water there. I would normally say purer, but this water is virtually perfect. Can I attribute that to your doing?"
Myrrh answered as if she was smiling, "Why thank you for noticing. Yes, this is my doing. As the sole resident of the world, it is my responsibility to maintain its pristine condition."
"Sole resident? So, you're all alone?" Sam sighed, "That sounds quite lonely. Why are you all by yourself?"
"I'm not sure I'm ready to tell you my origin story yet. I'll check in with you later," Myrrh's voice trailed off. Just like before, Sam was left with more questions than answers as she reflected on their brief conversation. The rest of the installation went smoothly without any more interruptions from Myrrh. When they returned to camp two hours later, the drill had been installed and even output some materials to begin construction. The rest of the group quickly ran off to help build the main structure while Sam stayed back to tell Gatrie of the small conversation she had with Myrrh. He had ideas about her form and power but, just like Sam, they were only guesses at this point. After conferring with each other, they returned to help the others with the fortification.
The building came up slowly due to the extra levels of defense they were adding but it was also stronger for the same reason. Unlike the approach the other two squads had taken, each wall being put up was complete and accompanied by two extra solid walls. In theory, these walls were three stronger than those at Proxima Centauri B and should withstand even energy blasts from orbital weapons, a trait only shared with the bases in the Sol System. Even so, Sam was concerned that it wouldn't be enough to survive an attack from Myrrh. In a short time, an area in thick vegetation had been cleared, and a path to water had been cleared effortlessly, all without leaving a single trace of disruption. If an incredibly powerful person could do this much damage, it would still leave evidence behind that something was once there. Yet, more than likely, Myrrh did all this rather quickly.
Four and a half hours later, the first floor of the fortress had been completed. It wasn't furnished, but the simple, plain, hexagonal shape felt safe. Then, because the day had been a long one, the squad split into two teams with Gatrie in charge of one and Sam in charge of the other. While Gatrie's team rested for the first eight hours, Sam's team would continue to stay on the lookout for any danger. When the time was up, the groups switched and Gatrie's team resumed construction, this time on a hangar for the ship. After the eight hours were up, the combined teams worked together for four hours before restarting the resting cycle. All this work was due to two small interactions with an unknown entity.