This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Engletroll on 2025-12-13 11:16:08+00:00.

Previously.../...

Patreon .../.... Project Dirt

“Can't we go any faster?”

He looked over at her and chuckled. “Not when they are linked up. I told you it would be slow.  Max speed is about 75 to 80 kilometers an hour.”

“Why? We should have the energy,” He could hear she was annoyed by the answer, and he could not help but smile.

“We are dragging a big box that is not very aerodynamic after us; most of the energy is used to give us height.  You want to go faster? Sure, we have to lower the height, but I prefer keeping us up here with no risk of some idiot shooting at us with a bow.”

She looked down at the ground fare below them, then at the indicator, five hundred meters above ground.

“So if we go down to, let's say, three hundred, we get more speed?”

“Yes, but trust me, it's better to take it slow and safe than fast and risk detection.”

“We can still be detected. And we move slower.”

“We move 75 kilometers an hour, I don’t think they can keep up on the ground.”

“It's just these scooters are so damn fast, and  we are using them at grandma speed.”

“We must have different grandmas,” he replied, and she turned toward him.

“What do you mean?”

“Granny was a racer, she would kill me if she saw what I have done with the scooters.” He said, thinking of his granny working on the engines and teaching him everything he knew. She wanted him to be a mechanic, but he wanted to fly. She had never said it, but he thought she was proud of him.

“Damn, my grandmother was a judge, corrupt as hell. The other owned a couple of nightclubs. They never wanted me to meet her, I was banned from them. I only met her once. When we raided her so-called nightclub.”

“Oh, so is any of your family besides you that’s not involved in the family business?”

“Got an uncle. He works as a psychologist. He and his family are out of it. There was one other, but he got killed.”

“Damn, sorry to hear that.”

“Oh, I never met him, but they used him as an example to keep us in the family business. The speech goes like this ‘Be careful, Uncle Gino left, but our enemies killed him when we could no longer protect him.’ I’m starting to think there was never an Uncle Gino.”

“Yeah, so they had a scary story to keep the family from turning to good. Damn, not what I would expect.” As he spoke, the nature below them changed from snow and ice to green forest as they came down from the mountain and into the long fjord. They quickly left the forest behind and flew over the water. He looked at the map.

“There is an island at the end of this fjord, we can stop there for the night. I want to run a diagnostic on the scooter and make some adjustments.”

“Wait, you want to run diagnostics now? Are you sure this scooter can handle the stress?”

“Don’t worry about it, they can handle it. I just want to check the energy output, and if the highness wants to increase the speed, maybe even a little. Oh, and the scooters can be detached, and then you get the full speed.”

“I’m highness now?”

“Well, you are a mafia princess.”

She laughed at his comment as they started to fly through the fjord. Below them, they saw some fishing boats in the middle of the fjord.

“Locals below!”

“Where?” She looked down, but they had already passed them.

“See, we have enough speed.”

“There is never enough speed!” She replied.

“You’re the fast-is-always-better type?”

“Yes! I hate waiting.”

“So I should be faster in everything  I do?”

“Yes.. wait, no, not always.. You bastard!” He could hear her smile through the microphone.

“What me?”

“By the way, do we have any music on this thing?”

“Yeah, music, movies, small drones for action recording, lights, radar, and for weapons, the guy had installed a forward-mounted concealed plasma autorun, two grenade holders that were modified to be dropped as bombs, and a smokescreen.”

“shit. I  think I know what these bikes are… fuck.” She started to mess with the interface, searching for something. “They have camera recordings, right? Or were they wiped?”

“Yes, of course? Why. I didn’t touch that. Why?”

“It’s the bikes they used when they kidnapped me.  People died then, and I remember they spoke on several raids on the safe houses, too.  I’m sure they recorded it. Hell, if I’m lucky, I get who sold me out.”

“Go wild. I got the driving. I’ll let you know when we arrive at the first stop.”

He looked around as they flew above the fjord. The place was beautiful, with green and yellow trees along the sides. Waterfalls are coming down the steep mountainside.  He could see the deep fjords below, wondering what was below the surface.  After a while, he entered the interface and found the music files and looked for something nice to listen to. It was mostly alien music, and he ended up skipping most of the songs as he made a playlist of something he could listen to.

After a few more hours, they left the fjord, and the three islands popped up, protecting the fjord from the harsh ocean outside.  He spotted three villages.

“Locals coming up. Three villages, two on the first island and one by the entry of the fjord.”

“Uh, oh.. ohh .. are we stopping?”

“You want to stop?” he looked at her, and she seemed confused.

“You don’t? Can we check out the locals?  How long a range do these small drones have?”

“About five kilometers. Why? “ He slowed down the scooter to a full stop.

“There, that island. It looks empty, so we fly over and take the drones for a spin. Just to see what they can do.”

“These are not as good as the ones back on Peppermint.  They are for recreational purposes.”

“Yeah, but I want to see. I mean, are these as bad as the green ones?”

“As you wish, princess.” He started the scooter and found a place to park that seemed to be difficult to access by foot and did a quick scan. Some small bird life and semi-aquatic life were playing on the water and shore. They looked like large cats with fins instead of feet. It reminded him of a seal except for the catlike face and a long, thick tail. He got off the bike and stretched. It felt good to move. She looked at him, and he helped her off.

“They can't see us here,” he checked the wrist computer and then smiled. “And we are at the breathable area now.

“so we can remove the helmets?”

“Yeah, but I would not recommend it. Better to do that slowly, start the adjustment protocol.”

“So I don’t get to see your beautiful face?”

“Hey, check your carbon levels. You're speaking nonsense.” He replied, and she teasingly pushed him.

“Stop it, you're actually good looking.”

“It’s not like you have many people to compare me with here.” He leaned back over the scooter display and released a tennis-ball-sized round drone.

“Well, let's see who we can compare you with.” She replied and did the same, and soon two small dark metal cubes flew over the water towards the closest fishing village. The village wasn’t big, it had twenty-two houses that looked like a mix of Asian and Viking longhouses, and the people were the same pigmen who were busy doing their daily work. The men were powerful and strong. The children were helping their parents.  They spied on them for a while. Kiko was leaning into him as they moved the drones around.  Then they quickly checked the other two villages and didn’t see much difference. But they noticed the village on the shoreline had a salted field facing the forest.

“Hey, we were right, these guys are not so bad.”

“We don’t know that yet, but they don’t seem so bad. Let's get going. I want to go further out. There is an island two more hours out. I will feel safer there.”

“If you insist.  But we could take an early night.”

“Look, you saw that they all were carrying axes or swords, right? Those guys are used to fighting, and an axe to the  display can make us stranded here.”  He replied, and she gave him a salute.

“Yes, sir! As you wish, Sir!”

“ha ha. Very funny.”

They collected the drones and flew off, and two hours later, as he had promised, they found a new island. It looked like a giant dead tree stump, and he landed it on top.

“You picked a volcano?”

“A dead volcano. It won't burst unless we blow off the top and start blasting down to the mantel.”

“So you’re a geologist too now? So many secrets.” She replied as they went off, and he released the drones and put them on guard mode. They would circle the base slowly and warn them if anybody approached.  Then he opened the container, and they entered. He closed it and activated the cleaning program, then removed the suit. Kiko followed him and smiled as she saw his face.

“There you are, beautiful.” She smiled, and he helped her out of the suit. He had made a small room for them to stay. It had a small kitchen and a bed with a large screen. They settled in as he made them dinner. She started watching something on the screen, but ended up watching him make the food as she had her head resting on her knees, hugging her legs. She didn’t say anything, but the way she looked at him made him feel something strange. Like he wanted, no, he craved her. When he finished, she just smiled and bit her lips, shyly looking at him.

“It's not poisonous.” He said, and she giggled.

“I know, I’m just not used to this.”

“Being kidnapped and dumped on a forgotten planet with a farm boy?”

“Well, that too, but you are also much more than a farmboy, and I mean this. You make dinner from scratc...

Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1plj2jq/crashlanding_12/