The mission was supposed to be simple, unfortunately space flight was never that simple. The ship was hit, badly. Mini-meteorites, too small to show on the scanners, had wreaked havoc on the flight surfaces, and blown one engine. They were on course, but out of control.

The close proximity of the two planets was supposed to help keep the margin for error down. It was a comparatively short hop, with a small burn to shift from the orbit of home to the orbit of the destination planet, verdent, full of possibilities. The path took them through the asteroid belt, though too briefly to be in danger from a large body. The mini-meteorites had done their job nevertheless.

Enlil fought with the controls, but ultimately the landing was going to be down to luck. The crew of the Nephilis were the cream of their civilisation, the last hope of a dying world. The planet below was quiet, boiling with life, but not intelligence. The spacefarers on the Nephilis carried with them all they required in order to change all that.