The Real Leader

When a shockwave hits the ship above an alien planet, who steps up?

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Stories of optimistic sci-fi that give you energy and something to talk about. Think bigger.

Hi.

Welcome to the show.

Today's story is: "The Real Leader."

Let's get into it.

GALADEO
Your ship crashed on my planet. 
How did you survive?

SAM
Where am I? What is this room?

GALADEO
It’s a chamber where you can answer questions about how you managed to live.

I am Galadeo. What is your name?

SAM
Um. I’m Sam. Where are the others.From my ship? 

GALADEO
They are safe, Sam.

SAM

They’re safe? When can I see them?

GALADEO

Soon. First I need to understand.
Your ship crashed. What happened?

SAM
Um.
We... 
We were in this planet’s orbit.
And then a shockwave hit us. It came out of nowhere. 
It was massive. It shook the whole ship.

GALADEO
Were you the pilot?

SAM
No. I’m the intel officer. I learn about the planets we visit, and their…uh…people.
But the ship. We were going down.

GALADEO
What happened to the pilot?

SAM
When the shockwave hit the ship, he was thrown out of his seat. He was knocked out.
People were screaming. We were going down.

GALADEO
Then what?

SAM
Everyone stayed in their seat. 

GALADEO
Then how are you all still here?

SAM
I got up. I went to the controls.

GALADEO
Do you know how to fly a ship?

SAM
No. I’ve never flown a ship. 

GALADEO

Then why did you rise?

SAM
My home. My family.
I had to survive. I wanted to go home and see my family again.
So I took the controls.

I must have been able to get the ship down to the ground.

GALADEO
Answer my question, Sam. 
Why did you rise?

SAM
I told you. My family.

GALADEO

No. Others have families too.
But they did not rise.

Why you?

SAM
I don’t know.

GALADEO

You do.

SAM

I don’t know. I was terrified.

GALADEO
Why did you save the ship, Sam?

SAM
Because
It’s up to me.
I know that we can’t just hope others will save us.

I need to step up.
It’s up to me.
*** 
I know that everyone sits. hoping someone will act. Someone else. but then no one acts.
That doesn’t work.
We need to step up.

GALADEO
How do you know this?

SAM
Something I learned when I was a boy.

GALADEO
Tell me.

SAM
When I was young. I found a bird in the forest.
Its wing was damaged, bent. 
It was on the ground. It couldn’t fly. 
I was walking somewhere I wanted to go. I don’t remember where.
I thought I could leave the bird and go on my way. I thought someone else could help.
But then I looked at it and I head something in my mind.

GALADEO
What did you hear?

SAM
“It’s up to me.”
That’s what I heard: “It’s up to me.”
I ran home. I got gloves and a box.
Then I found the bird again, put it in the box. And I brought it to someone who could help.
A doctor for animals.
She fixed the wing.

GALADEO
She fixed the bird’s broken wing?

SAM
Yes. And then I brought the bird back to the forest.
And I set it free. It soared into the sky.
So now I know.

GALADEO

Know what?

SAM

That when something needs to be done. When people need to be saved.
I can’t shrink away and just wait for others.
We can’t do that. We can’t hide away.
And that’s what I heard in my mind when the ship was going to crash:
It is up to me. 
So I got up.

GALADEO

What did you do?

SAM
I grabbed the wheel. 
It yanked me left and right.
But I pulled it back. That stopped the spinning. 

GALADEO
But you weren’t safe?

SAM

No. The ship was still falling. 
We needed to land.
But we were almost at the ground. 
We had ten seconds maybe.

GALADEO
What did you need?

SAM
The landing gear. 
I saw a red button and I just hit it.
The legs of the ship jumped out and I guess the landing pads too.

GALADEO
What was it like when you hit the ground?

SAM
The ship slammed on the ground and shook wildly. 
I tried to hold the wheel to keep things steady.
There was a lot of screaming.
Some of the landing gear broke on impact. 
It was more of a crash than a landing.

GALADEO
But you were alive.

SAM
Yes. We were all alive. 
I was shaking. But we were alive.

GALADEO
Thank you, Sam.
That is what I needed to understand.

SAM
Wait.
I have a question. For you.

GALADEO
I have been waiting for that.
What is your question?

SAM
The shockwave that hit my ship.
Where did it come from?

GALADEO
It came from us.
We sent the shockwave.

SAM
Why? Why did you do that?

GALADEO
We had to know.

SAM
Know what?

GALADEO
Who the real leader is.