Part 1
The ship rattles and shakes around me as I climb out of my stasis vessel. I stop with my legs hanging over the edge and take a moment to look at my hands. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the feeling of fresh skin. I flex my fingers slowly in and out as I try to fight the waves of spasms racking them. Eventually I give up and just let the waves pass on their own as I move on with my mission.
“Turbulence report.” I say with a hoarse voice almost but not entirely unlike my own.
“Deflection of a microasteroid and adjustment of course in order to account for high local celestial body gravitation.” A calm, robotic female voice with an Australian accent responds.
I keep my head held high and my eyes pointed straight as I make my way towards the back of the ship where I’ll find the storage lockers. Officially, they always try to keep the new shells as similar to your most recent one as possible. I’ve heard from a few psychoanalysts that it’s to lower the odds of any form of existential crisis or identity dissociation. But in my experience they don’t put as much effort into non exposed regions, probably saves on the bottom line. Nothing makes me detach more than looking down and seeing it curve the wrong way and I’ve got enough issues with the number of shells I go through.
After getting suited up and strapping my gear in place I make my way up to the flight deck. Once there I get seated comfortably in my familiar rig and move to take manual control of the ship.
“Set translucency to 85% and release controls to me.” I command.
“Understood, automatically adjusting for light exposure as well.”
The panels in front of me slowly fade out of sight and the vibrant splendor of the new view fills my eyes. Covering most of the left side of the window is a massive and iridescent blue orb, Canis Majoris. Even at this remarkable distance it still shines brightly and has an incredibly dominating presence. My destination planet is found at the center of my console and looks like a small entirely blue marble.
Traveling through space is usually an incredibly boring career. Most of the time I go from space station to space station fixing messes or looking for odd jobs to fill my wallet. Sometimes I’ll get to visit an asteroid either to disable it or take care of some deranged ex-military that stole a ship and is trying to camp out off radar, forgetting completely about the ship’s tracking device or thinking they managed to deactivate the four different security programs. A story for another time. Another sizable portion of my time is spent traveling to colonies on arid planets to deliver supplies or passengers. But sometimes I am graced with special missions that always find a way to be interesting.
I lean over and pull out a small black pen from inside the arm of my chair. Once in my hand my optic feed prompts me to shift to any number of useful applications. I make a small motion with my wrist and a digital notepad appears in the corner of my vision. At the top it reads “Wonders of the universe”. It’s a brief list of various celestial bodies and galactic events that I’ve seen in my travels. I write “Roseus Oasis” in the air along with my current coordinates and it is then digitally imprinted onto my notepad.
I put the pen away and pull myself back, now ready to appreciate the sight before me. As I shift my body weight slowly to my right arm, pushing down gently on the altitude adjuster, I descend through the uppermost cloud layer. I look in awe as the clouds billow around the front of my ship, their blue coloration making me feel like I’m in a dream.
As I penetrate the cerulean cloud cover the world beneath me comes into view and its bright aesthetic catches me off guard. The area I am descending into is covered in a deep pink forest. “Sequoia Fuscia” my optics inform me. The trees are massive but low to the ground, forming complex knots as they use each other as stepping stones to overcome the high gravity. I can only wonder at the plethora of exotic life that must be contained beneath that canopy. I coast along the top of the forest until I spot a clearing in the distance.
“Open a communication with the local observation station.”
After a few moments I hear a pleasant ping.
“Euphrosyne, emergency or objective?” an authoritative voice calls out to me.
“Objective, ready for dome deactivation in five.” I respond.
“Understood, standard protocol remains five-minute check-in intervals. We aren’t as lenient as some of the interior stations. You don’t press that button; we light it all up.”
I ignore the warning having always followed standard protocol and reach out for the ship controls once more. I get the ship into place above the research outpost and program it to hover. I stand up and make my way over to a large blast door in a branching hallway near the flight deck.
“Open drop door and release cable”
“Good luck” the ship responds.
After a few minutes of patient waiting, I grab the cable and jump out of the open hatch. The cable slows my descent as I watch the nearly transparent bubble retract enough for me to slip through. I land with a soft thud on the gray grass, the dead and brittle blades crunching underfoot. I look up as the cable reels itself in, the bay door closes, and the Euphrosyne waits patiently for me to return.
I quickly pan around and take in my surroundings. To my right is a small metallic storage shed, to my left the barebones research facility. Its structure is sleek but simplistic, likely due to the low amount of resources allocated this far out in colony space. The rest of the clearing is covered in dead grass except for the randomly dispersed plates of gleaming metal embedded into the ground. I begin my quick walk around the perimeter. A few minutes later as I press my check-in button, I spot a large mass that was previously hidden behind the research building.
On approach my optics inform me that it is Bombyx Xtraterrestius, a large silkworm-like creature discovered by the initial planetary exploration team. To the side of the creature, I spot a hole burrowed into the ground. On investigation it looks to be a tunnel that leads to the outside. I sigh and reach into my right thigh pocket, pulling out a fingertip sized black orb that I then drop into the hole. After I watch it roll down and away, I press a button on the back of my glove and listen as the ground suddenly rumbles and I hear sediment filling the tunnel.
Turning back to the creature I inspect it thoroughly. It has a lime green coloration over most of its body with a net like pattern of mossy green laid over top of it. Its head is entirely that darker green. I can’t make out any visible eyes. Its mouth is agape and contains a series of thin circular blades. It has a circumference of about half a meter and is over three meters long. Towards the end it has four antennae that are currently flat against the rest of its body. Each one ends in a small black bulb. It is currently laying in a pile of sickly yellow silk that looks to have been scattered about the area. I reach out to inspect it further but upon my touch the insides cave and the entire worm deflates with an ominous rush of wind. The stench is terrible. The insides must have been rotting for much longer than the outside. I step away disgusted and make my way back to the buildings.
I approach the storage shed and grab the handle. Sliding it back hot air rushes out of it and into my face. I wave the air aside and shine my knucklelight inside. I notice that the lack of power caused some products to explode in their containers and that there is a slick appearance to everything as it’s covered in condensation. Aside from that everything appears to be in its place, a standard research equipment arrangement and supplies. I leave the shed door open so it can air out and make my way to the central building.
I approach the entrance and see on the security panel that the entire building is on lock down.
“Need an entrance override. And seal it behind me, just in case.” I signal to the station.
The panel in front of me flashes yellow a few times before the door slides open, I rush inside quickly as the door closes shut once again. The smell that hits me is like nothing else I’ve ever experienced.
