Marooned on Beaver Planet

“Everyone! Brace for impact!” was the commanders order as I held on the armrests of my seat. There were about 25 passengers, our spacecraft was about the size of a small airliner, 4 seats across with a center aisle.
Everyone wore similar jumpsuits, almost light blue in color. I was seated about halfway from the front. I could see the two pilots as they struggled to maintain level flight, we were obviously going in for an emergency landing.
I looked outside of the porthole, we were gliding in at a safe angle, but too fast. The land on this planet appeared similar to the Earth, but for now, I just wanted to land and get away from the spaceship.
The craft leveled off as it struck the ground and skidded along a grassy field. The pilots were frantically attempting to stop the sliding craft. I could see everything shaking and bouncing inside of the cabin as we held on. The ship slowed and came to a gentle stop. Everyone immediately unbuckled and headed for the exit hatch on the left. I remember seeing a mix of men and women astronauts, from various races, and about 30 to 40 years old.
The shiny hatch lowered and everyone evacuated the ship. We stood around and looked out over the land, which was all grassy rolling hills, trees, and no signs of civilization.
Our spaceship was only slightly damaged, both short wings were intact. The shiny skin showed a few dents, but nothing serious. Everyone understood that we were going to be on this unknown planet for the rest of our lives.
Someone noticed a group of individuals approaching, still too far to identify. We watched as they came closer. To our collective amazement, we were being visited by a group of upright walking beaver people.
The leader of the group approached us, he spoke, “Is everyone alright? We saw your ship coming in and we came out to see if we can be of any help.”
One of the pilots explained that everyone came through okay, the only problem is that we have no way of ever returning to our home planet Earth.
The leader again spoke, “I am Dr. Ott, the leader of the Clan of Beaver of the village of Nor.” He was obviously the oldest of the group, he wore no clothes, with the exception of a pair of glasses, he was all beaver.
The other beavers proceeded to move amongst us and introduce themselves. None of them approached me. We all then began to follow our beaver rescuers back to their village, where we will stay.

(I don’t fully recall the actual walk, there was a dirt trail that we all followed)

We arrived on a hillside overlooking the beaver village. Dr. Ott explained that each one of us would be welcomed into every ones homes.
The village was just that…a small village, complete with a population of beavers of all sizes going about their daily business.
As we entered the main street of the village, the residents came out to greet us. I remember the little beaver children coming up to us, smiling and chattering their excitement at out arrival.
We were first going to Dr. Ott’s home, where everything will be explained to us and we would be assigned to our adoptive homes.
Dr. Ott’s home was constructed of logs, of all sizes. Everything was built as any intelligent beaver would, the logs were obviously chewed, and they were joined with expert precision. All of the wood surfaces were sealed with clear lacquer.
We entered his home, everything was of solid wood… floors, walls, doors, cabinets, furniture, tables, chairs. He gave us a tour and explained that everything was similar to the workings of our former home planet.
The kitchen was carved and polished thick wood counters, cabinets and a sink. Mrs. Ott smiled as she was busy at work preparing a meal for her new guests.
The rest of the expansive home was similar to our homes, the only exception was the pool in the middle of the living room. I looked down and at the bottom, in about 12 feet of water, his children were watching a TV set! They were also working on their homework.
Dr. Ott explained that they spend a lot of their time under the water, especially in the summer months. He opened a cabinet and produced an underwater breathing apparatus for us in the event that we wished to join them. The gear consisted of a simple mouthpiece fed by a thin air line.
A few of the crewmembers took up the offer, put on the breathing gear and jumped in. I could see them sitting on the recliners deep at the bottom. They were watching TV.
Mrs. Ott was serving food and drinks. We were soon standing around mingling with other beaver people that were opening their homes and adopting us. I never did find out where I was going to stay. I was talking to another crew member about getting back to Earth, we agreed that unless we could come up with a Space Shuttle type of launch vehicle, we will have no way of returning home.
Dr. Ott then walked up and spoke, “I have the necessary money and technology to get your spaceship back into orbit. It will take a tremendous amount of work, but I believe it can be accomplished.”
I responded, “ Doctor, don’t you understand that it took a huge amount of engineering, money and resources to get our ship into space, and I don’t see how you and your people will be able to help us get back home.”
He responded, “Yes, I understand your doubt, but I am the richest member of the Beaver Clan, I possess enough money to purchase the necessary equipment from NASA.”
I then asked Mr. Ott if he had been in touch with NASA, and was aware that Earth was far away and getting all of that equipment here was not possible.
“Just let me worry about that problem, I think I have enough pull to get us the necessary material. In the meantime, enjoy your stay with us. “
He waddled away I turned to the other crew member and asked him, “Do you believe that he will be able to buy a launch complex from NASA?”
He responded with something about lets just see what happens.
I went outside, there were several small beaver kids playing. They squealed as I approached and ran off. They were all smiling as they returned. I tried to get closer to them, they seemed friendly, but they were very shy.

I could see the entire village below us, Dr. Ott’s home was up on a low rise at the end of the main street through town. I wondered to myself about my family back home, knowing that I will never see them again. My family, home, friends, job, car, dogs… I am never going to see them again.