#6 Akako Yamauchi
The passenger starship the Ninsun II was on its return flight back to earth when a miscalculation in its flight route sent it into a meteor shower just outside of Mars orbit. The ship took heavy damage and was pulled down on to the red planet. Somehow the youngest person on the flight of thousands, thirteen-year-old Akako Yamauchi was the sole survivor.
Encasing her body in a space suit and filling her backpack with a solar flashlight and all the supplies she could find Akako left the ship in search of help.
Mars had a number of tiny settlements on it, but no more than five hundred people on the entire planet, she search was almost in vain.
After nearly a day of walking she came across an excavation site, a small but abandoned camp at the base of a massive red mountain. A tunnelling operation had been underway, the tunnel was the only place that still had a functioning air filtration unit so was Akako’s salvation.
She took refuge in the tunnel; finally being able to remove her space suit and breath in some pure air, well as pure as filtration units can produce.
Bedding down for the night in the bed of an old drill team member, Akako was woken from her sleep by a sudden sound coming up the tunnel. It sounded like someone was calling to her in a language she didn’t even know. She was drawn to the call and found herself moving further and further into the tunnel, into the mountain.
Her flashlight, her only source of light guided her down and down until she entered a vast cavern. Crystal clear water poured from outlets in the side off the cavern wall and formed a natural pool, a tiny island of red land sprouted from the serine water at its centre, light filled the cavern from a number of strange glowing crystals in the walls, the light seemed to somehow spotlight the island. Akako was still being called, called to the island.
Placing her flashlight down she swim out to it. Dripping wet she walked across the island, her footprints sinking into the soft sand. At the heart of the cave resting on a pedestal of rock was a mask. It was a deep shade of red with white markings over it. The mask appeared to be the perfect size for Akako, fitting her face flawlessly.
Akako was no longer being called. Akako was home. The old inhabitants of Mars rose from their slumber in the cavern to join their new Queen. To join Queen Akako, ruler of Mars and all that comes with it.
About the Author (Author Profile)
Shaun was born, a baby, like most. He grew up in a small village in the U.K and went on to read The Hobbit, play tabletop fantasy games and see the greatest movie of all time, Die Hard. Through these wondrous events he grew into the man he needed to be. The one who spends his Saturday nights at home drinking Pepsi, (other fizzy pop brands are available) whilst writing comics he one-day hopes someone will actually draw into a nice pretty comic book. Until then he will just keep on writing. Shaun can be found on the Internet at his blog. Or if you’d rather have his words 140 characters at a time over on Twitter under the very imaginative and clever handle of @ShaunRichensSubscribe
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