Alioth's Journal: The first of 2K6

The first meme, that is. But bear with me, it's rather a good one. I spotted it in Turg's journal (http://slashdot.org/~turg/journal/125927); the rules are here: http://slashdot.org/~Shadow%20Wrought/journal/125811.

Anyway, on with it:

Silently, the spacecraft descended, its retro thrusters spewing a transparent blue volcano of plasma.

The immigration minister in Alioth's largest city, Edinbugh, had described the ship's commander as a parasite, profiting from the misery of the famous refugee he was carrying. The ship's commander merely said he was trying to help the helpless. He never wanted limelight, and now his photograph was over every information service in the Alliance. He was more concerned about his inadvertent fame than the inevitable legal jam in which he was about to become mired.

The commander set the autopilot, then went to feed his pedigree Boxer, a dog so ugly it had made his famous passenger reel in alarm. The dog was in the cabin, nestled up against the warmth of the sterilisation boiler. There was a small, but distinct sound. The commander mused to himself with his luck, it was probably the atmospheric shielding generator going offline.

Although the commander hadn't realised it, his muse was correct. The hull plating peeled off like layers of an onion - the ship, its commander and its famous passenger meeting a violent, fiery end.