Planet of Creation

To these hardened spacemen, it was heaven. Bald rock sprouted grass, metal parts popped up as required, new men relieved the weary as soon as the need was merely thought of. Who could imagine there was a joker?
In the control room was silence like fabric strained to the verge of tearing. Softly through the weave of it came the murmur of the engines, fretful, unhappy, the whimper of something sick.
The whimper echoed Thettumir's feelings. He gestured suddenly at the telescopic space scanner, the six snake-like digits of his hand stiff with dismay.
But that is all? There are no other planets in this region?
None. Vandumonn shook for added emphasis the erect spiny crest which ran from the top of his head down the middle of his back. I have made absolutely certain of that. This is the only planet. The next nearest sun is ten light-years away. But listen to the engines, Commander. I am an astronomer, not an engineer, yet I know the engines will not take us that far. Even if they could, it would be a gamble as to whether or not that next nearest sun had planets.
Thettumir gazed once more at the magnified image in the scanner. It showed a great red sun, already well on its way toward cooling, and far off to the right, a silvery speck which was the only planet circling the dying giant. He reached for the dial which increased the magnification of the scanner and twirled it until the disc of the planet filled the entire screen.
The battered flagship had approached closer, but, as before, Thettumir was able to make out no details. The planet was covered with clouds—strange dense gray clouds. He knew the clouds indicated an atmosphere—perhaps even a breathable one—but his reluctance to accept the planet as a temporary repair base was due to the fact that the clouds would make landing extremely difficult. The Urgollian fleet was already badly damaged, and additional injuries would only complicate matters further.
Yet Thettumir knew they would have to land. The fleet would never reach Urgoll in its present condition. Many other vessels had suffered even greater damage than that to the flagship.