Problem Planet

A routine transport mission goes wildly off‑course when a sudden maneuver forces the crew to dump fuel and crash‑land on an obscure, uncharted world. The pilot, a young and pragmatic engineer, finds himself stranded with Senator Clive Littlebrook, a seasoned politician whose ego is as massive as his résumé. With their ship’s supplies limited and rescue uncertain, the two must quickly turn the barren landscape into a livable outpost.

As they trek through rolling hills, they discover a clear stream, abundant wildlife, and the skeletal remains of an ancient city—evidence that the planet once supported a civilization. Littlebrook instantly declares himself ruler, insisting on a one‑party autocracy while assigning the pilot every conceivable civic duty, from policing to sanitation. The pilot, more inclined to bend like a willow than break, humors the senator while secretly plotting how to survive both the environment and the imposed hierarchy.

What follows is a tense experiment in makeshift governance, resource management, and adaptation, as the pair confront the paradox of being both the rulers and the ruled of a forgotten world.