They’d crashed on a very accommodating moon, it turned out. The weather was clear, the temperature mild, the air breathable, the flora and fauna both edible and minimally aggressive.
The only discomforting element was the ruins.
They were so well incorporated into the landscape in some places, it was almost hard to notice them. All that was left was stone and metal, but enough of it was there to intrigue the Engineer.
“Just one day trip!”
She and the Captain were arguing while fishing in the briny lake. There was a stone plaza – or maybe a stone roof – that protruded out into the deeper part of high tide and made for good hunting; the construction of it was tantalizingly mysterious.
“We need you focused on getting us out of here, not settling in.” The Captain sighed and started pulling her line back in. “I need you to make the ship livable enough we can get inside and repair it.”
“I just need to collect some data; I can examine it after we leave.”
“No!”
Around the camp stove at dinner, the Captain found few allies.
“They’re creepy,” said the Bosun. “Ruins don’t work like this, so evenly spread out. I say send her out for a day.”
“Don’t you want to get out of here? We need the ship working!”
The Navigatrix raised a hand –
“I agree, we can’t ignore how strange this place is. But if you can’t spare the Engineer, Captain, you could send someone working on less urgent things?”
“Everything is urgent right now! Are you angling for a day off too?”
The Navigatrix gave the Captain a withering look.
“Supervising is not an urgent role, Captain. Why not go take a walk tomorrow.”
The worst part was, everyone else agreed.