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Chapter 1: After The Crash (No Time To Mourn)
I awoke from yet another hazy dream last night. It seems that I cannot place the skies and the stars – that which lies beyond this world’s atmosphere – out of my mind again. I recall that enthralling feeling. The sense that I could accomplish anything that I had set my mind, well perhaps more honestly, my time towards. Years of yearning to traverse the universe. From conducting trains in training to jets and planes for swifter navigating… and the confidence that came with my photographic memory! I could simply close my eyes and those sceneries would reconstruct themselves as perfect sculptures, acting as the pillars that protect my memory. That was until a couple weeks ago.
As these thoughts protruded from my mind, the ceiling and walls began to shudder and enclose around my makeshift mattress. Six feet by two feet with a simple emerald green curtain used as a blanket. It was all I could really salvage from the wreckage, apart from the flat pieces of scrap metal used to fashion this bunker. I suppose it was a kinder fate than the others had received. Still I wonder how it all happened. The standard protocols were well written: project outwards from Earth, reach the lifeless planet under investigation, autopilot the landing, set up camp, collect biomass and rocks, analyze and simulate, and then return to Earth for debriefing. That’s how Bill ran his ship anyway.
A few decades ago, space travel was simple only in theory. Some mathematician had crunched the numbers to demonstrate that it was possible, but practical? I had doubted it. That was until Florence came up with an elegant starship designed for smaller crews. Solar powered for star-adjacent operations while capturing asteroids to use as fuel for the in-between-star travel. Our crew had reached further into the galaxy than anyone had from Earth. We sailed the void until we reached a new planet and we named each one “Planet X”. Our mission specialist, Kiyoshi, deemed every operation the “The Search for Anything on Planet X” since most planets were desolate; nothing but large rocks. We all lived for the darkness, however. That vacuum. The emptiness that we could not define in ourselves. The void which we searched to fill within ourselves, but as the years progressed, the galaxy along with that void only seemed to grow. I wish we could – well, there’s no point in wishing now – “There’s a time for gazing up at the glass then there’s a time for action!”. That was one of the few sentences Kiyoshi ever uttered. He would always say it with a well resolved look in his eyes as if he needed convincing more than anyone else. This is all beside the point now. There are seeds from the cryochamber that need planting. Hopefully my sloppily written notes from our previous expeditions will suffice. You should never count on your memory lasting forever.
It’s incredible that the crash only injured us. Venere’s control of the ship upon striking the cobalt moss-covered surface was impeccable. She truly is a master of her art. Now my art was and always is the master of all things. I do not normally indulge in boasting as it is only establishing an opportunity to be disproven since people love to keep my ego grounded. In all honesty though, my visual memory eased the recollection of entire sections of textbooks such that a simple read through would allow me to draw upon specific information whenever needed. I was placed on these missions as the backup to any other role in our crew, although my variable skillset is less than ideal when compared to the true Masters. Never the less, I always found the joy in my various roles: from the removal of the stray hair above Bill’s greying beard as the stress of leading the ship took its toll, to aiding in writing the countless journal entries upon discovering new plant life, to even simply handing Florence the tools she needs to keep the engine functioning properly. Unfortunately, on the latter I had been far too focused on another task to properly help Florence when the ship started decreasing in altitude.
I should not focus on that today. Not on all the past failures. It will not aid in today’s harvest of Ooze, but GOD maybe it wouldn’t kill me to rest even for a single day – ah, though it probably would. It feels like I am the one doing all the work around here! The other seven crew members seem to have lost their will to live and they cannot complete the simplest of tasks. At least they listen to my orders as if I have assumed the role of captain. Locating enough resources to rebuild our starship is a worthy task, but first there’s potential food that needs to be gathered. Nothing is getting accomplished just staring up at these metal plates I now call home.
Chapter 2: Oh, It Goes Down Smooth (Wandering Through The Forest?)
One. “Ugh”. The hissing sound of air seeping through my gritted teeth resonates through the hollow bunker, encasing me in an everlasting echo of humiliation. Sigh. Once more – Two. “Hmmmt, ahhh”. The searing pain in my lower abdomen spiked. My vision is enveloped by black dots slowly flickering away as the silver bolts and sheet metal resumed their endless taunting. I can’t stay here any longer. “THREE!”.
Thankfully, I managed to roll over onto my bedside, quickly placing my feet on the cold smooth floor whilst clenching my abdominals after the final attempt to get out of bed this… morning? What was the periodicity of this planet anyway? Does it ellipse both blue iridescent stars or spend more time around a particular one? How many days had gone by since I salvaged the wreckage for materials? When was the last time I replaced this makeshift bandage reeking of rotting flesh? No matter how much effort I put into dismantling this blood-soaked once-white cotton, those pesky black dots would emerge from my peripheral vision, coalescing in the center then dissipating leaving behind a hint of amber colour. The reflection of light must be passing through where the edges of the sheet metal meet.
I lost my train of thought again. Alright. There is a plethora of tasks to tend to, but I will focus on the most valuable – my health. I believe that I can get up to salvage for medical supplies. Just take it slower, Verity.
After a short rest, while sitting up of course, I hobbled towards the door subconsciously reaching for an invisible handle. I paused for a second for the pain to subside and with my eyes dashing up towards the ceiling in frustration, I contemplated the obvious mistake developed from years of simple luxuries. It appears my mind has finally joined my body – lost in space, heh. At least I can still laugh about my situation. I shook my head and with a shoulder to the door, the thin sheet of aluminum effortlessly collapsed onto the thick moss coating the ground outside.
I was immediately taken aback by the sheer beauty of acres of Persian blue fused with miniscule specs of light which break through the darkness as fireflies would on cold Earth nights. I forgot how absolutely stunning this variant of Planet X is. “How is light moving like THAT?” I exclaimed. Oops. The words just slipped out. I know should keep my thoughts on the inside where it is safe, but the moss appears to absorb the light produced by these flickering fireflies. I reached towards the pocket on the upper right of my torso for a small black notebook which kept all the sketches of lifeforms, plant or animal, from all the planets I had visited up until now. I thumbed through the first few pages only to realize that I had not taken many notes on six years’ worth of missions. This is what happens when you become too reliant on your perfect memory. In any case, I opened the notebook to the nearest empty page, number five, jotted down my recent findings then added ‘The radiofrequency waves are transmitted directly into the moss, which appears to breathe and dissipate the light throughout’. Flipping to the preceding page apparently lies a description of ‘The Ooze’. I do not recall ever having written this, but it reads: ‘A specimen of particular interest: An Aegean pumpkin covered with purple protrusions and a sticky luminescent green interior – hence the name The Ooze’. Interesting. That is the name I chose? Twelve years of higher education and that’s all I could come up with? I firmly closed the notebook, pocketed it, then took a step outside onto the sea of blue velvet. My eyes darted below towards the orange light protruding from the moss. The phosphorescence of this moss is pressure sensitive. I must be dreaming.
Moving southeast at the speed at which my temporary disability allowed, I came upon the ledge of a vast pit where a river likely flowed a millennium ago. I will analyze the erosion of the cadmium-red rocks to determine which fluid engraved its name later. I am here for… wait. Wasn’t I planning on salvaging the wreckage for medical supplies? I must have gotten caught up in my research again.
I bent over gradually to pick one of the five remaining Oozes, careful not to get pricked by the needles. I grasped one by the underside then plucked it off the ground. Just like a coconut now. I lifted the Ooze as high as I could then in one swift motion, I jolted its tough exterior onto a second Ooze, causing both to split open. A viscous iridescent liquid, the consistency of what sci-fi novels on Earth would consider Alien blood, seeped out onto the moss below. I instinctively plunged my hand into it, pulled up my white button-up shirt, and rubbed the cold liquid onto my wound. Pain instantly coursed through my body causing my legs to tense for a second then give out. I collapsed onto the ground, my vision blurring as the fireflies blinked in time with the stars. It was not a bad way to die.
As my eyes closed with my final breathe and the last seconds of my consciousness, a faint outline of a human appeared above me – red eyes and all.
Chapter 3: Venere, How Did We Get Here?
My eyelids fluttered open as my irises attempted to adjust to the light. I do not know what came over me nor how much more my body can take. My body laid flat on the ground. As my vision slowly returned, I could discern… emerald feathers and a beak? Wait, no. No beak, just a rough silhouette of a face. No feathers either, that was simply how Venere always spiked her hair. Long tufts fluttering over her forehead with the sides and back shaved down to the wood encasing her beautifully symmetric face. Immaculate umber skin surrounding her slight lips. Piercing green eyes matching the colour of her dyed hair and aged with the focus of a veteran starship pilot. This was the woman who somehow navigated the crash landing on Planet X with little harm to its crew members. The starship, however, was heavily damaged – and to think of a repair? I do not believe that there are any raw materials on this rock comparable to Earth’s, nor do we have any of the machines necessary to refine such materials into something useful like a new ship hull. Although, I must admit, I have not been physically capable of exploring this planet as much as I would like due to my wounds. My wounds! I had completely forgotten! I slowly moved my hand towards my stomach, nervous that the sores had become infected after pressing the phosphorescent ooze on it. As my hand reached above my bellybutton, my focus was interrupted.
“Are you well?” Venere asked in a soothing tone. The words were as comforting as waking up after an unintentional nap by my fireplace on Earth. Her right arm was reaching downwards towards my chest, offering to guide me back onto my feet.
“I am surviving. I believe it is the best that we can do right now. Thank you for asking. I am certain I gave you quite another scare after finding me incapacitated,” I replied formally. Given her superior rank it was difficult to break the ritual of our relationship.
I reached upwards to clasp her arm with mine while lifting my body from the mossy ground only to fall softly back down. I peered upwards towards Venere and was caught by a confused look on her slightly tilted face. I must have missed her hand; my dexterity had diminished lately due to the numerous concussions. I brushed off particles of the cobalt moss, hoping for a hint of phosphorescence to no avail. The light pollution must be too great throughout the day to see the magic of this earth. I placed both of my hands on the moss and gradually brought myself to my feet.
“Would you like to join me in walking over to the wreckage?” I inquired. The question was phrased as a request rather than admitting that I needed her assistance to arrive at the ship safely to search for medical supplies without collapsing again. “The weather is beautiful as it always is here, the perfect amount of heat with a subtle breeze. We were quite lucky to have crash-landed on this particular planet as some of the others we’ve investigated were uninhabitable”. Thankfully on PlanetX, the two suns are an ideal distance away, keeping the surface warm throughout the extended hours of daylight.
Venere chimed in softly, “A walk would be most-welcomed Verity, but I’ve noticed that you’re hurt. You winced when you tumbled to the ground just then”. I shifted my gaze towards the ground, a little embarrassed to have not hid my ailment as well as I intended. She continued, “We’ve been together on these missions for years and in my role as the pilot, it is critical that I be observant. In other words, stop being so bashful and take off your shirt”. She paused for a moment, straitened up to appear sterner, then corrected herself “lift your shirt so that I may examine your wound”. I complied. Venere brought her left hand up to her face and scratched her chin as she deliberated. Her eyebrows lifted slightly, and her mouth scrunched up in the corner of her lips as she said “I see slight bruising. Certainly, nothing to be concerned about, but there may minor internal bleeding due to the trauma from the crash. We’ll have to keep a close eye on it”.
Surprised, I looked down to see for myself and found exactly as she had described. That’s… interesting. I had spent the previous week failing to reduce the spread of rotting flesh, barely able to get out of bed. The green iridescent ooze must have healing properties when applied directly to open sores with no discernable effects when absorbed through the digestive track! Here I had been ingesting this elixir to sustain my hunger, what a waste! I must have been overemphasizing the pain since regaining consciousness as I had not looked at my sore until now. I glanced back to Venere who looked quite perplexed and then I let out a sigh of relief and said, “I am so grateful to have you looking after me Venere”. She smiled and nodded. I continued, “now about that salvaging trip – I could use something softer than the itchy curtains I have been using as a makeshift blanket”.
Ecstatic that I was not in any severe pain anymore, I grinned and headed southwest towards the wreckage. Venere followed closely. The moss felt comfortable on my toes, as if the whole planet’s surface were covered in carpet. The suns warmed the ground while shining in the violet-tinged sky. Not a cloud to be seen! Venere and I talked about our studies leading up to the acceptance into the Bill’s air crew as we embarked on this wonderful stroll. She led the conversation, “…and when Liandrin patched you back together after our first exploration simulation! I swear only you could ignore all the alert walls through the virtual reality headset and fall off the stage during training”. We laughed together and for a moment I felt like everything was going to be okay. She lifted her arm and pointed, “say Verity, let’s take the short cut through the southeastern fields to save daylight”.
I immediately felt my heart sink and my face grow cold. My anxiety was building so I quickly attempted to regain control of myself by tucking in my shirt then replied, “I would rather celebrate my health and take the longer path alongside the mountains. There are plenty of hours of daylight here, why not fully soak it in?”. She seemed delighted by my response and so we continued towards the mountainside. I peered back to where she pointed and shivered. We’ll have to go back there someday, won’t we?
Chapter 4: A Binary Star System (Stay Tuned for a new…tune)
“Absolutely incredible”, I was astonished as I stood with the remains of The Great Beyond directly in front of me. All the years of outstanding work that went into constructing this colossal vessel had me thinking about the intricacies of its interior – now exposed for the world to see. If there was anyone else here to see it that is. The trip to the wreckage from our new home took quite some time so Venere and I decided to rest a moment on a dirt mound built up from the emergency landing. I’ll have to ask Florence to design a new watch once we’ve all decided on how to divvy up the hours of daylight and nightfall into a new set of equinoctial hours.
“Venere”, I prompted her for an opinion. “I have an idea of how to break down the time in terms of hours for day and night, but how do you think we should create our year system?”. Awfully presumptuous, I know.
“Kiyoshi mentioned that PlanetX is in a binary star system”, she replied. “As time moves forward, we should have a better sense of whether we are revolving around these stars in an s-type or p-type fashion”. I paused for a moment, prodding my memory for a hint of information. Venere noticed this and continued, “During our final mission briefing I explained that an s-type revolvement is when a planet is caught in a single sun’s gravitational ellipsoid with the secondary sun acting as a close observer. Envision this scenario similar to Earth except Sirius is a lot closer”. I nodded indicating my understanding. “A p-type revolvement is when a planet shifts between the gravitational pull of both suns, creating a more intricate ellipsoid. I believe that…”.
As she talked, I noticed a miniscule flickering light in the wreckage of The Great Beyond. I nodded along to Venere as I squinted, attempting to focus on the object in the distance. A blur of red and blue coalesced as the object moved freely about the wreckage. “Venere, could you pause for a moment? I believe Maxwell is sifting through a new section of the ship’s hull. I can see light flickering off his sunglasses.” It is nice to see him exercising again. “Let’s go see if he’s found anything that we can repurpose”.
I walked a few hundred meters to the edge of the rift created by the impact of the ship first touching ground. Venere lagged behind, clearly caught up in her own thoughts. I placed the open palm of my hand onto the warm ground and slowly lowered my body into the shallow crevasse. Two meters down, the steepness increased to a point where I could not control my slow fall, so I decided to embrace the edge and slide down the crevasse using my lower back as an anchor. After about fifteen meters, I embraced the crevasse floor ensuring to bend my knees to negate the impact of hitting the ground forcefully. I straightened my clothes then stretched my neck from side to side. I breathed a sigh of relief at the notion that my body was almost at one hundred percent. I craned my neck upwards, watching for Venere, but she never followed me down into the crevasse. There is no point in waiting, she’ll catch up if she wants to.
I strolled over to Maxwell, taking my time to avoid the large pieces of metal displayed over the ground like an artist’s canvas expressing the beauty of uncaged anger. He was in front of the newly formed entranceway into the hull of The Great Beyond, bent over, and looking at what used to be a control panel for the sliding doors. “Hmmm”, he began in his deep and friendly voice. “I was just looking over the keycard entry scanner, Verity”. The once lit touch screen that he had been investigating had a large crack extending across its entire length, rendering the screen itself useless. But not unsalvageable. Maxwell pushed himself up onto the flat of his feet and turned around to face me. I cracked a slight smile after seeing his yellow-tinged sunglasses were still covering his light brown eyes. His matching brown hair was as disheveled as I remembered with a ducktail beard to suit. His entire style contrasted the physicist’s sharp mind as if he were always too busy contemplating every known solar system’s precise trajectory to fix himself up.
I questioned, “Do you think that Florence could repurpose the electronic components and design a digital watch?”.
Maxwell stared forward, directly into my eyes as he likely considered what components a keycard scanner would contain. He usually ignored social conventions, opting to waste as little energy since he took every aspect of the law of conservation of energy quite seriously. He broke the silence a moment later, “She explained the binary system, correct?”.
“Florence? About the on-off nature of the keycard scanner? I suppose all electronics exist in such a binary state…” I replied, a little confused.
Maxwell continued, “No. Venere. Venere explained the ellipsoids of the planet in each case? It would not be too difficult to trace the flow of day and night as PlanetX rotated about on its own axis. Assuming we knew the time of one PlanetX rotation – or one day – and if daylight persisted for an entire day at various longitudes spanning the entire planet, then we must be in an s-type system.” I naturally finished Maxwell’s thought as I interjected, “Of course! In an s-type orbital there could exist a moment throughout the year when we are positioned between both suns, meaning that all longitudes of this planet would experience a full day in sunlight. In a p-type orbital, depending on the tilt of PlanetX’s axis only the poles would exhibit a full day of sunlight, not the entire span of longitudes!”.
“Precisely”, Maxwell calmly replied. I always enjoyed our pointed conversations. Right on cue – he continued, “And I’m certain that Florence could make use of the circuit boards found within the key card scanner, but you’ll have to track her down first. She tends to stray far from camp; she enjoys the whole discovery process of our missions. I’ve always been more of a hermit.” I nodded.
Maxwell turned back around and knelt over towards the broken device. After a few seconds he straightened out and pointed towards the miniature circuit board. “Go on, grab it. I’ll catch up with you”, he insisted. I shrugged, placed the one inch by one inch board in my pocket, then headed into the hull of The Great Beyond through a large gap in its infrastructure. I have got to locate those medical supplies. I placed my hand over my sealed wound and wondered who knows how effective The Ooze would be on subsequent uses. Best not to depend on foreign entities with no scientific evidence. It would be ideal to locate a softer blanket to rest easier.
Since the crash landing was executed properly, the hull was relatively flat. This made it very easy to walk around. The hull was dimly lit by the flickering lights which likely remained powered on by any unbroken solar panels still generating electricity to be stored in the ship’s large battery for subsequent usage. Florence and Maxwell had fixed up whatever they could. She was the most capable engineer in our training courses back on Earth. He studied very little and yet tested very well. He always knew a lot more than you would have guessed. To that end, how did Maxwell know what Venere and I were talking about as I approached him? He must have pieced together why I would ask about the watch. Smart man.
Chapter 5: The Great Beyond
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Chapter 6: You’ve Always Known You’re Not Alone
Currently In Progress! Check back later 🙂
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