"The Stargazers were right, Scriber. We'll be able to breathe just fine on the surface."
Scriber Arrymoro bobbed his heads, the motion not dissimilar to a wave in water. One of his speakers, Ro, turned fully to face to the officer across the room, as the rest of him gazed out the window. Twenty years Scriber had been awake on the ramship, and still more he had spent in coldsleep. There would be no more of that now, though; with the work ahead of them, the Effort would need all the packs awake and working.
"Good. Dispatch the first survey team." He paused, but the officer knew better than to take that as an end to the Scriber's orders. The Effort's leader adjusted a mounted telescope and pressed an eye to it. His Ro continued to watch the officer's members in silence, while the heads behind her looked in all directions. "The islands we discussed, the ones in the north. Send them there."
"Yes, Scriber. Right away." As the officer's bodies turned and walked out, a shiver ran through Arrymoro. Soon, the Packs would be setting foot on a whole new world, filled with alien life. The light of the ramship's last burn would soon reach the Packworld and they would see that the First Colonization Effort of the Packs had reached its destination. The Scriber prayed that there were still Packs capable of watching.
The plane entered the atmosphere just north of the equator, gliding down at a sharp angle. Oddly enough, the freefall didn't give Diraphus butterflies in his stomach until the pilot called out somewhere off to his left, in the cockpit: "We've breached atmos. Everyone buckle in."
The spaceplane had no windows in its cargo bay, leaving the few passengers stowed back there blind. Diraphus sat in a line along the left side of the plane, with a pack he didn't know sitting across from him, on the right side. In the back of the plane, the survey truck was strapped down, carrying another two packs. It was cramped, and a little disorienting; the walls were quilted, but the mind chatter still overlapped too much for comfort. Scout Diraphus found himself spacing out a number of times since boarding the plane.
While he couldn't wait until they landed, he was more than a little nervous about his mission today. Soon, the spaceplane would be landing on the alien world, and the surveyor packs would file off the plane and into the wilderness. The truck would be doing a fair amount of the heavy lifting, scanning this and that. Nothing the Packs developed could beat feet on the ground, however, and that's where Diraphus and the other scout came in. While the truck made a slow patrol of the immediate area, they would be trotting off into the wilderness to see what could be seen, and -- with any luck -- they'd find a suitable place for an outpost before sunset.
"Hang on, and don't wet yourselves." And they were no longer in freefall, just like that. Diraphus was no pilot: he didn't know if the craft leveled out or just hit thicker atmosphere. In any case, the engines cut in moments later. A few more minutes and they'd be at the landing site, if the pilot was as good as they said. Either that, or splattered across some alien jungle.
The plane landed safely enough, though some time later than the scout expected. The pilot claimed she was having trouble finding a good place to put the craft down. The cargo bay door opened slowly, filling Diraphus' nostrils with the scent of the alien air. After so long with the ramship's recycled air, he couldn't tell if it was unusual or not. The other scout unbuckled quicker, so Diraphus let him leave first. No use getting a headache in a rush to get off.
In truth, though, Diraphus was more nervous about what he might see than he was worried about getting a headache. The light flooding in blinded him to the outside, at least at first. The truck rolled out, guided by the other scout. Diraphus opened his eyes wider despite the pain, trying to get accustomed to the glaring sunlight. A few minutes passed, and even the pilot trotted out before him, lighting up a flavored vaporstick for each mouth. The glare slowly faded, and Diraphus took a few steps forward with his best eyes, squinting a bit.
The indistinct green and brown of the underbrush dominated the area the Scout could see, but there was something more. A low hanging branch was just within view, its tree's apparent proximity serving as a testament to the pilot's skill. No ordinary flyer could land that close without much more than a scratch. Something about the leaves caught his eyes, despite it being no more or less green than the rest of the jungle. As he brought more members forward, he could see what it was.
And suddenly, the scout was home again, and younger. Around him, his brother and sister ran, chirping and howling away. He wasn't all there, now and again blind to some of his member's sights. A branch struck his Raph, a few star-shaped leaves clinging to his snout. The Packworld was so far away now, but here, on the alien planet he had spent over a century flying towards, were the same star-shaped leaves.
The scout finally stepped off the plane. Pilot Kegidiku hadn't rushed the poor triplet out of her plane, instead leaving it be. They were a rare sight, with most packs formed of four or more members. There were little instabilities here and there in triplets, quirks that made them seem not quite right. Any that didn't devolve into mindless animals were almost sure to be incompatible with new members, and short-lived. This scout had made it, however, and Kegidiku was willing to accomodate it, however slow it may be. When it finally did step down the ramp, she turned two of her heads over, sucking deep on the vaporsticks before she spoke.
"The truck went east a little ways, and Ibakherga is heading north. S'pose you'll be going south, then." She pointed the other two heads into the jungle straight ahead of the cargo ramp. "That way."
The triplet smiled at her, and trotted off in such a child-like fashion that Kegidiku couldn't help but smile to herself and shake a couple heads. Maybe it was a bit slow, but at least it was enthusiastic about its work.