PROLOGUE
The sky was still, calm and silent. Space itself is sometimes a place to get away from all the hussle and bussle of everyday living, that is if your everyday living consists of meetings, supervisor works and all round the clock experimentation. The only sound is that of a ship dropping out of hyperspace.
Carl made his way through the corridors of the Star Nexus on his way to the cockpit. It’s been a month of since the latest exploration began and the planet of interest is one that is....well, let’s just say....it’s something.
Letting out a yawn, he waited for the door to slide open, and he entered into the cockpit. There in the pilot and copilot seats are Mary and Stone, tapping away on whatever it is the are doing in the control panel. To the left you have Bob, head buried deep into a tablet, and to the right Stacy, scrolling through a hologram displayed in front of her. Taking in the scene, Carl walks to the control panel.
“Hey guys”, he said.
“Hey Carl. How was your nap?”, asked Mary.
“Peaceful. So what you doing?”
“Comparing the intel from the rover with the one we can gather from up here”, Stacy piped from her station without taking her eyes from what she was doing. Looking through the view point, Carl sees a planet that is more or less dead looking.
“That planet looks....”
“Rough”, said Bob as he made his way towards Carl.
“Rough is still nice. I was gonna say dead”
“It may look that way, but we’re picking up signs of life”
“How can anything live down there?”, asked Carl looking at the planet below.
“So who’s going down there?”, asked Stone finally looking up at Carl.
Without a second thought, there was a chorus of ‘not it’ accompanied by raised hands. Carl, Bob and Mary were the ones who weren’t fast enough.
“So, looks like you guys are the ones doing the exploration this time”, said Stacy now looking at the rest. A grin plastered on her face.
“Great. Just great”, said Carl sarcastically.
Carl, Mary and Bob made their way to the inventory to get suited up. Each put on what looks like astronaut suits, but more fit and flexible. From there they went to the hangar.
Bob pressed a button on the back of a ship, known as the Explorer and a ramp lowered itself. The Explorer is a big enough ship able to carry five passengers, and little cargo. At the control center, Mary and Carl flipped some switches, turned some dials and pressed some buttons then the ship whirled to life.
“You guys ready?”, came Stone’s voice through the comms in the ship.
“Yep. We are clear for take off”, replied Bob.
“Roger that. Opening bay doors. Good luck guys”
Seconds later the hangar doors opened and the Explorer blasted out....out into the unknown, out into something that unbeknownst to them will lead to the end of humanity as they know it.
The Explorer landed on the planet surface and the engine was turned off. The crew looked each other in the face.
“Ready?”, asked Mary.
A nod was what she got as a response from the rest. The doned their helmets and existed the ship. Taking in the scenery, the surrounding didn’t look as dead as it did from above and neither did the the atmosphere look as dense as it did. The planet’s sun giving a fairly decent amount of light to their environment. Still taking in their surroundings a chatter was heard from the transmission line.
“You guys good?”, asked Stone.
“Been better”, replied Carl tapping the side of his helmet.
“Okay. Life forms have been detected not to far from you. The mission is to look around, collect samples if possible. Copy?”
“Yeah, yeah. Loud and clear....captain”, replied Bob with a hint of sarcasm.
“I’m just gonna ignore the sarcasm”, Stone said and the transmission ended.
“Alright guys”, said Mary turning to face the rest. “We’re gonna have to split up to cover more ground. Bob, you’re on flora. Carl and I will go search for the life forms. Regroup back here in 30”
Everyone nodded their approval and went on to their respective tasks.
Bob made his way through the planet’s surface until he came to what looked like a small forest. It was fascinating. For a planet that looked so dead he didn’t expect anything to survive on it. He bent down to touch one of the small plants he came across. Merely inches from touching it, a chatter sound came from his comm.
“Bob....”, began Stacy. “Be careful. Remember this planet is still under exploration”. With a resigned sigh, he drew his hands back and continued his work.
On the other side, Carl and Mary were searching for the detected life forms and so far they hadn’t found anything.
“Hey Mary”, said Carl. “Do you have the feeling that we’re being watched?”
“Yeah. Thought it was just my imagination”.
Still talking, the sound of something run from behind them catches their attention and both turn around instinctively.
“Did...did you hear that?”, asked Mary panicky.
“Yeah. I think it’s time we head back”
“What’s wrong?”, asked Bob confused upon seeing his friends running towards the ship. “You guys look like you’ve seen a ghost”
“This place is creepy. Come on, let’s get out of here”, said Carl.
“So guys, how was it?”, asked Stone as his crew members flopped into available chairs.
“Don’t ask”, replied Carl.
Confused, Stone turned to Bob with the ‘What’s up with them?’ face. But Bob just shrugged.
“Okay, did you guys get any samples?”, Stone asked.
“Yeah” replied Bob handing him a container filled with test tubes of some flora he saw.
“When we get back home we’ll carry out some experiments on it. Maybe it will lead to a new scientific discovery”, replied Stacy collecting it from him.
But unknown to them, something had hitched a ride on their ship. And it’s hiding, relaying information gathered, waiting,......preparing to strike.....to cause destruction to a civilization it never even knew existed.
