The meteor caught the couple completely by surprise. The ball of incandescent light shot past the speeder and slammed into the fields to the side. The blast and EMP combined blew out the suspensor generator, dropping the machine to the ground hard, making it skid for fifty feet before coming to a grinding halt.
Bail quickly leaned over to check on his wife, and their infant adopted daughter, Leia. The child looked surprised, peeking out over her blankets like she was expecting to see dancing Ugnaughts just around the corner. Not that it would have surprised Bail at all. Ugnaughts would have been preferable to being stranded out in the middle of nowhere. Experimentally, he toggled the comm switch, but nothing happened. Same with the beacon. "Great," he muttered with a heartfelt sigh. "Whatever that was, it fried all the electronics." He stepped out of the car. "Hold on, dear. I'll be back."
His wife laughed and stepped out of the car herself, cradling their infant daughter. "Don't be absurd. We may as well have a look at what interrupted our drive, yes?" With that, she smoothly stepped across the hardtop to the far side of the road and over to where clouds of smoke could be seen billowing out from the farmer's field beyond.
Bail followed, more concerned for his wife and baby Leia than out of curiosity. That changed as he took in the devastation. A low whistle was his reaction at the sight. "Look at that. The impact must run over half the field."
His wife stepped into the dirt and walked along the impact channel. "The meteor is at the end. You can just see it over there."
Bail held out a cautious hand. "Hold on, we don't know if it's radioactive. I'll go take a look." Suiting actions to words, he pulled out a spacer's datapad, keyed the radiation counter you'd find on anything owned by a spacer, and advanced. But despite making it clear to the final crater point, there were no telltale clicks. "Huh," he said after a moment. "looks clear."
The two adults slowly advanced on the meteor. It was a rough sphere in shape, with lumpy protrusions all over. In fact, to Bail's trained spacer eye, it looked less like a meteor, and more like some kind of descent pod. Cautiously, he drew his pistol and walked around it. His wife frowned when she saw him stop dead, and drop the pistol, shock on his face. Curious, she stepped over.
Baby Leia cooed and clapped her hands at the sight. The young boy standing in the open mouth of the alien descent pod smiled and clapped his own hands. Inside, a handful of brightly colored blankets, several intact crystals of various colors, and a clearly artificial glow of some unknown kind were the only hints as to what they'd been given.
Bail looked over at his wife. "We have to find out where he came from, you know."
His wife smiled and shook her head. "Wherever it is, he clearly hasn't got a home. And I'm sure we can take in another. We managed just fine with little Leia, here." She reached out, and smiled when the little boy took her hand trustingly. "All he needs now is a name."
Bail gave her a helpless look as she casually added another foundling to their family, and fatalistically shrugged as he began gathering belongings. "Fine. Easiest thing is to claim he's the son of our cousins, back east." He looked down at the baby, and crouched, wrapping one of the blankets around his waist. The baby spontaneously threw his arms around Bail, hugging him, and drawing a quiet laugh out of the man. "All right! All right."
Picking up the boy, he followed his wife back out of the crater. "I'll go get the repulsor grips in a minute, and put that thing in the back. As for a name..." He paused and shrugged. "Your family's fond of single-syllable names, as I recall. Very practical. We could name him after your cousin."
His wife smiled at that, bouncing Leia up and down as she walked the child back to the broken speeder. "What do you think, Leia?" She held the giggling baby to let her see the young boy. "Say hello to Clark!"
===
This one sort of ambushed me, and I had the urge to write it. No guarantees it's any good, however.
---
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.
Bail quickly leaned over to check on his wife, and their infant adopted daughter, Leia. The child looked surprised, peeking out over her blankets like she was expecting to see dancing Ugnaughts just around the corner. Not that it would have surprised Bail at all. Ugnaughts would have been preferable to being stranded out in the middle of nowhere. Experimentally, he toggled the comm switch, but nothing happened. Same with the beacon. "Great," he muttered with a heartfelt sigh. "Whatever that was, it fried all the electronics." He stepped out of the car. "Hold on, dear. I'll be back."
His wife laughed and stepped out of the car herself, cradling their infant daughter. "Don't be absurd. We may as well have a look at what interrupted our drive, yes?" With that, she smoothly stepped across the hardtop to the far side of the road and over to where clouds of smoke could be seen billowing out from the farmer's field beyond.
Bail followed, more concerned for his wife and baby Leia than out of curiosity. That changed as he took in the devastation. A low whistle was his reaction at the sight. "Look at that. The impact must run over half the field."
His wife stepped into the dirt and walked along the impact channel. "The meteor is at the end. You can just see it over there."
Bail held out a cautious hand. "Hold on, we don't know if it's radioactive. I'll go take a look." Suiting actions to words, he pulled out a spacer's datapad, keyed the radiation counter you'd find on anything owned by a spacer, and advanced. But despite making it clear to the final crater point, there were no telltale clicks. "Huh," he said after a moment. "looks clear."
The two adults slowly advanced on the meteor. It was a rough sphere in shape, with lumpy protrusions all over. In fact, to Bail's trained spacer eye, it looked less like a meteor, and more like some kind of descent pod. Cautiously, he drew his pistol and walked around it. His wife frowned when she saw him stop dead, and drop the pistol, shock on his face. Curious, she stepped over.
Baby Leia cooed and clapped her hands at the sight. The young boy standing in the open mouth of the alien descent pod smiled and clapped his own hands. Inside, a handful of brightly colored blankets, several intact crystals of various colors, and a clearly artificial glow of some unknown kind were the only hints as to what they'd been given.
Bail looked over at his wife. "We have to find out where he came from, you know."
His wife smiled and shook her head. "Wherever it is, he clearly hasn't got a home. And I'm sure we can take in another. We managed just fine with little Leia, here." She reached out, and smiled when the little boy took her hand trustingly. "All he needs now is a name."
Bail gave her a helpless look as she casually added another foundling to their family, and fatalistically shrugged as he began gathering belongings. "Fine. Easiest thing is to claim he's the son of our cousins, back east." He looked down at the baby, and crouched, wrapping one of the blankets around his waist. The baby spontaneously threw his arms around Bail, hugging him, and drawing a quiet laugh out of the man. "All right! All right."
Picking up the boy, he followed his wife back out of the crater. "I'll go get the repulsor grips in a minute, and put that thing in the back. As for a name..." He paused and shrugged. "Your family's fond of single-syllable names, as I recall. Very practical. We could name him after your cousin."
His wife smiled at that, bouncing Leia up and down as she walked the child back to the broken speeder. "What do you think, Leia?" She held the giggling baby to let her see the young boy. "Say hello to Clark!"
===
This one sort of ambushed me, and I had the urge to write it. No guarantees it's any good, however.
---
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.