The last thing Dorothy could remember was the storm. What she didn't remember was getting on the the Cyclone, the spaceship her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry had prepared for an emergency just like that one.

But they weren't on board. There were no signs that they had even attempted to get on so they could all make their getaway until things were safe again.

It didn't help that, no matter how hard she tried, Dorothy couldn't remember anything apart from the storm, the twisted winds and clouds of death, that had began to tear their farm to shreds. It tore through everything. First the barn, then the fields and fields of crops that grew. Dust and debris blinded her view as her aunt and uncle had urged her onto the ship.

She had a hunch that the house had been destroyed, but she had been on the ship before she could see it.

Then, Dorothy woke up.

She didn't know how long exactly she had been in cryostasis, but the computer system had indicated that it had been a long, long time.

For all she knew, she could have been in for a few months, or many, many years.

She was awake. Which was lucky enough, since many people had went into cryostasis on Earth, never to be able to wake up again.
But now what?

Dorothy plopped down onto the pilot's seat in the cockpit. The screen displayed stats for distance traveled, the amount of oxygen on the ship, and the like. The majority of the screen, however, displayed what was outside of the ship. The vast darkness had billions and billions of stars embedded in it.

She sat back and wrapped her arms around herself. What happened to Aunt Em and Uncle Henry? If it had been several years since she had left Earth, there was no way for her to find out if they were alive or not. And, if it had been even longer, they had probably been dead for a while. Though she didn't remember much about life before the storm, she knew that her aunt and uncle must have loved her. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

Dorothy put her hand on the console's sensor and scrolled through the information that the computer system was giving her. Only enough oxygen to last a few weeks. Only enough food to last a few weeks. Only enough water to last a few weeks. Sighing loudly, she turned it off.

Either the ship's computer calculated that the Cyclone was close to a planet with an atmosphere similar to Earth's, and hopefully had the added benefits of life on it, or it had glitched very, very badly.

If it had glitched just that badly, she probably wouldn't be able to change the course to go back to Earth and go back into cryosleep. If she could, she wouldn't be under cryostasis for the right amount of time.

Dorothy gnawed on her bottom lip for a moment. She would just have to trust that she was close to a new planet.

She froze, her eyes fixated on the screen. She let her arms fall and her shoulders slumped. If she were just that close to a new planet... She must have been on the ship for decades.

Dorothy shut her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself again, trying to create the sensation of a hug. The storm flashed through her memory, with its fury of thunder and lightning and screaming wind. Why didn't Aunt Em and Uncle Henry board the ship, when the storm was of that magnitude? Why would they send her off the planet all alone?

*****
Dorothy cracked her eyes open when something cold nudged at the knuckles of her right hand. She rubbed one of her eyes with her free hand, and glanced down beside of her.

A realistic bark sounded from the little robot. It wagged its tail at her, and yipped again.

Knitting her eyebrows together, she stood up off of the seat and knelt down in front of it. A red collar encircled its neck, and it had a shiny pendant on it. A tag.

Dorothy pinched it between her fingers and lifted it up to read it.

"Toto," she murmured out loud.

The robotic dog yipped and wagged its tail some more.

"Thanks, Aunt Em, Uncle Henry," Dorothy muttered. "Having a robotic dog sure beats having you two!"

As if in response, Toto let out a soft whine. Sighing a bit, Dorothy reluctantly patted its... no, his, head. 'It' seemed too impersonal for her, even though for a robot.

He wagged his tail some more, and she couldn't help but smile a bit.

"I guess it's just you and me, then, Toto.

Suddenly, the Cyclone rocked and jolted, and Dorothy lost her footing, the socks on her feet causing her to slip around a bit. She fell into the pilot's seat as Toto skidded into its base with a thud that made her cringe.
"Please fasten your safety harness," the operating system said. "We will be landing on the planet shortly."

Dorothy looked up at the screen. The ship was nearing a mammoth planet of many, many colors, white, fluffy clouds visible in the atmosphere.

She stared, wide-eyed at the the sphere suspended in front of her, then she closed her eyes and shook her head for a moment. When she opened her eyes, it was still there.

There was a tightness in her chest, but she was still able to let out a sigh, a breath, of relief.

"Please fasten your safety harness. We will be landing on the planet shortly," the operating system repeated.

Dorothy quickly fumbled for both sides of the harness, her hands slippery and hot with sticky sweat. She finally snapped them together, sat back, and grasped the arms of the seat tightly.
Possibilities and fears and hopes and dreams and nightmares all raced through her mind as the Cyclone surged towards the planet.