by Steven Webb
“Shit.” He slammed his fist against the keyboard. “A fucking asteroid? Really?” He looked down at the broken keyboard. “Damn it.” He would have to take care of that later. Right now his attention needed to be dedicated solely to the newly discovered planet.
“Sir, are you alright?” Julie asked from the back of the room.
Frank had forgotten she was still there. “Yeah, sorry you had to see that.”
“It’s alright. There’s been a lot of pressure on you.”
“Thanks, but I still shouldn’t break stuff like that.”
“It’s fine, really. I’ll have them send in a replacement right away.”
“I’d appreciate that if you have all the data you can forward it to me and go ahead and take a break with everyone else.”
“Info’s already sent.”
“Great. I’ll see you in a bit.”
Once she was gone. He pulled up all the information the satellite had compiled. Most of it was raw unprocessed data at this point. He uploaded it to his zipdrive and headed off to the conference room. A few phone calls later and every top scientist on base was on their way. With that part done, he now had the hard task of reaching the President. The phone rang and rang.
“You’ve reached the office of President Graham. Can you please tell me who’s calling?”
“This is Frank Bruner. Head of NASA.”
“And what is the nature of you’re call?”
“We’re getting ready to have a meeting on the findings from the midpoint relay satellite.”
“I’m sorry but you’re satellite pictures are going to have to wait until the president is free.”
“I need to talk to him now.” Frank was getting frustrated. This conversation was going nowhere.
“Sir I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait.”
“Listen, just tell him who’s calling. I’ll take the heat if he gets mad.” That had to be enough to get through.
“Fine, please hold. But I can’t promise he’ll take the call.”
“Thank you.” Frank held the phone closely. He couldn’t wait until that snarky receptionist had to come on the phone and apologize. The other end picked back up.
“Sorry about that, sir. The president said he would gladly take your call.”
A smirk crossed over Frank’s face. It was so grand. He felt as though the receptionist could feel it on the other end of the line. “Glad to hear it.”
“President Graham here. I’m all ears, Frank.”
“Great, I’m going to patch you through to the conference call system.” He pushed a button and the speaker in the center of the table took over. “Let me know if you can hear me.”
“I can.”
“Great. The others are just now arriving we will start in just a minute.”
“I’ll hold on.”
The others took their seats, unaware of what they were all in store for. “Everyone comfortable?”
They all nodded.
“I’ll go ahead and start. Just a little bit ago, NASA received their first video from the Midpoint relay Satellite. Our initial hopes were to find the Phoenix VII in tact, and establish a relay. Instead we found something completely unexpected. It appears that there is another planet in our solar system. It lies in our orbit on the far side of the Sun. it appears that an asteroid orbits the planet. There seems to be liquid water on the planet’s surface. Other than that, not much more is known at this time. Mr President, I will send you everything I have so you can take a look.”
“Are you saying we found a new planet that could support life?”
“Yes and judging from the last location of the signal from the ship, and not seeing any signs of them orbiting the planet, we have to assume they are safe on the planet’s surface. I would like your help to figure out as much as we can about this new finding.”
The speaker box interrupted, “Let me know what kind of funding you need. This finding could change everything.”
“Agreed. We will need to discuss future plans. I was hoping to open discussion of sending a rescue mission.”
“That would take several years to even get the plans made up,” one of the scientists said.
“Exactly why we need to discuss it now. If we have any hope of getting them back alive we need to get things underway.” Frank had to give it his all. “These are our people. We owe it to them. Besides, we don’t have to worry about contaminating the planet. If they are on its surface it’s too late to do anything. Just think of everything we could learn. There may even be life on that planet.”
“Let me see the data once you get more information and we can discuss it at a later date.”
“Thank you, Mr. President. Now any questions?”
The voices all intermingled as they hurried to please their inquisitive minds. Frank knew he didn’t have all the answers they were seeking, but he would do his best. This discovery would be one that without a doubt would forever alter the future of human history.
EPILOGUE
The sun shone down upon a baren red landscape. The red dust was the only remnants of the once beautiful and lush ribbon forest that adorned the land. Rusted skeletal fragments, scattered throughout, were all that remained of the once glorious Phoenix that had delivered the aliens to an otherwise undisturbed planet. A yellow barrier surrounded the red wasteland, spreading it’s fingers out to expand the destruction. Anything that dared to come into contact with the yellow moss would find nothing but death.
There was however one spot that managed to stave off the cold touch of death. A large swath of land, remained in pristine condition. The moss had ceased to exist along its borders. The cause, a strange blue plant that covered the ground with an interwoven series of vines. Here life could be seen and heard carrying on, undisturbed. The gel backs scurried through the ribbon branches collecting pieces of food. Their orange nests thrived amongst the ribbon trees. The echoes of the lost crews voices rang out sporadically, forming an incohesive conversation being had between the mimics. Their ghosts would forever haunt the forest that took their lives.
A pack of spikers surrounded their tunnels. The sunbeams streaming through the ribbons above, casting intricate shadows along the forest floor. The largest amongst them kept guard. It watched the pups chase each other around. Occasionally stopping to let out a high pitch squeal. The little spikes quivering with excitement.
The forest held within its protection, another secret. A series of nine worn rocks, placed deliberately, the remains of etchings barely visible on the surface. Time had not been kind to the crude memorial. The blue net plants had taken over, Indifferent to the memorial’s significance. A weathered toy Warneg Hero kept watch over the stones. It’s color had long faded away long ago. Just a few feet away an empty lean-to whose roof had rotted away and a stone ring where a fire pit had once been made up a now abandoned campsite. Beside the lean-to, the antenna remained ever vigilant, pointing to the sky. It’s efforts were in vain, for the battery cells had run dry now only filled with dust.
A hungry beast swung from ribbon branch to ribbon branch through the tangled forest towards the abandoned sight searching for food. Its six limbs allowed for flawless transfers. It caught the scent of food on the far side of the camp. Seeing no easy way to cross, the creature clambered onto a sturdy branch. It extended the loose skin on it’s sides into wing like extensions. In a single bound the creature went flying into the air. It slowly glided through the air following the scent. The source was just ahead. It threw out it’s limbs and grabbed ahold of a passing branch. The wing like structures deflated and the creature descended the ribbon tree climbing onto a lower branch. It found what it was hunting for. A strip of twisted cloth was hanging down from a lower branch holding up the decayed remains of Trent’s body. Bits of sinew just barely held the spine together. The bones were covered in scraps of flesh. Loose, tattered cloth draped over its shoulders. In the breast pocket a water stained bit of paper that sat neatly folded. On the ground the limbs laid in a
pile of bones littered with teeth marks. The creature descended the rope and began gnawing at the vertebrae. It removed what little sustenance the body could provided, casting used bones into the pile beneath it. An explosive sound over head caused the creature to flee in terror.
The source of the ground shaking sound was flying overhead. A large space ship had pierced through the planets thin atmospheric vail. In doing so the sheer speed ruptured the sound barrier. A noise only heard once before on this alien world. A red hot glow encapsulated the front of a ship on its descent to the surface. A large American flag, and the words USA adorned the outer hull.
What will the Ship find when it lands on the planet?
Is Earth prepared for the truth.
Find out when the story continues in
Avernus book 2
What They Left Behind
Until then, here’s a little glimpse of what’s to come
KAYLEN
8 miles per second, that is the estimated speed at impact when the ground was gashed open. The land exploded outward leaving behind a hole nearly a mile wide and deep enough to hide the statue of liberty if one felt so inclined. It’s sides were sheer cliffs with only two possible routes to traverse them. Soft dirt and new growth littered the inside of the crater. In the very center rested several large metal beams and sheets, remnants of a once glorious shuttle now torn and twisted. Sunlight glinted off it’s surface. Somewhere amongst the scrap heap lay the secret to the crash, locked within a metal box. It was up to Kaylen and her crew to find it and return it to the base camp for analysis. She stared out at the scene before her. “NASA we’ve successfully reached the wreckage. Requesting permission to head in.”
“Permission granted,” a gravelly voice responded.
“Rodger. Okay Bryce you go ahead and wrap around the left side. I’ll head to the right. Dan you take center. Keep your radios on.”
“Gotcha.” Bryce said as he took off.
Kaylen headed started towards her route but in her peripheral she noticed Dan hadn’t moved. She switched over to the private com channel. “Yo Dan you alright?”
“Yeah sorry, it just looks a bit tight in there.”
“I tell you what, we can switch roles. I’ll head into the middle and search. How does that sound?”
“Thanks. Sorry to make you do that.”
Kaylen gave him a nudge with her forearm to reassure him. “Hey don’t worry about it. We’re a team, that means we look after each other. Now get your ass over there, hehehehe.”
His laughter in response was a good sign. Now it was up to her to charge head first into the wreck. It started off simple. The way was blocked by some low hanging metal beams crossed with others jetting from the ground. She placed her hands on top of the first beam, and swung her legs up to the side. It was just like rock climbing. She hopped to the next beam and under the next, that lead her to one handing out over a small opening on the ground. She leaped down and walked past a large metal panel, but then came face to face with a twisted maze. If she was going to make it through the narrow passages she would have to get down on all fours. Luckily the space suits were more form fitting than their ancestors and the oxygen tanks were no longer large cylinders, but rather thin boxes that weighed just over five pounds. She crawled through the corridor, guided by the light atop her helmet, and the small pin pricks of light that dotted the passage, being careful not to catch her suit on any of the sharp metal edges. Exposed wires hung from the mangled ceiling above her like roots branching into a cave. By the looks of it this had once been a hallway. Up ahead a wall blocked her way through, forcing Kaylen into a side room.
The room itself seemed to have remained mostly intact. There was enough space for Kaylen to stand up once again. She swept through the darkness with her light. Bits of broken machinery were strewn about. “Guess this is as good a place as any to start looking,” she told herself. “Let’s see, if I were going to hide something in this room where would I put it?”
“Did you say you found a room,” Dan asked over the com.
“Oh sorry I forgot you guys could hear me.” She flipped over a metal sheet hoping to find something of use in her search. “Yeah I found a room full of broken machines. Seemed like just as good a place as any to find the box.”
“Well glad someone’s having good luck,” Bryce joked. “There ain’t shit out here. But better you in there than me,”
“Yeah you’d be freaking out in here. And trying to drag your sorry ass out would be impossible.” Her words were followed by an uncontrollable guffaw.
“Just let us know if you find anything.” Dan seemed annoyed by the whole exchange.
“Can do.” She let the conversation go, shutting off her mic, and returned her focus to the worst game of Where’s Waldo ever.for all her flipping of metal panels, and moving around crates, her search remained fruitless. By now she had rearranged almost the entire room in, fact the only thing she hadn’t touched was the electric box on the wall. It hadn’t occurred to her to look there. “Enh why not give it a try.” She clambered over to the wall and inspected the panel. It seemed to still be intact. There was no lock holding it closed which was a good sign. “Let’s see. Usually there’s a latch.” She felt along the edges, and felt her hand hit something along the base of the box. A quick flip and the latch disengaged. The panel opened up and there sat the black box she was searching for.
“Hey, guys I found it” she said, but no response came back. She started to work her way back towards the narrowed hallway that she had crawled through initially. “Did you guys hear me?” still nothing. “What gives,” she asked as she entered into the tunnel. “You guys playing a …” she suddenly realized what had happened. The mic was still off from earlier. “God Dammit.” A double tap on the side of her helmet let out a beep that echoed in her ears to signal she was live. “Am I coming through?”
“Yeah we hear you.” Dan’s replied. “Hadn’t heard from you in a while. Bryce and I Thought you might have run off.”
“Nope. right here. Well wherever here is. It’s kind of crazy in here.” She was trying to remember the path she climbed along to get to the tunnel system.
“Yeah see that’s why I went near the outside of the wreck. Less chance of getting lost. Kind of like you.” Bryce seemed to be down playing that he had been too scared to go in to the middle of the wreck.
Kaylen shrugged it off. She had more important things on her mind. “Crap, I got off topic. The reason I was trying to contact you guys was that I found the box.”
Her companions both spoke at once in a muddled congratulations.
“I’ll meet you guys outside the wreckage on the East side.”
Bryce responded first, “Okay on my way.”
It took Dan a bit, but soon he agreed to the plan too.
As Kaylen made her way back through the collapsed beams, and destroyed rooms it reminded her of being a kid. All those hours spent on the playground climbing through tubes, scaling the side of the jungle gym, and her daring attempts to walk along the top of the railing came flooding back to her. It made her feel giddy. A low beam forced her to crawl army style to get past. Coming out the other end she ran into a slanted wall that she could just as easily walk around but her brain was dead set on having some fun. She placed the small box inside the pack on her suit, and lined herself up with the wall. Her hands pushed her body forward and she took off in a full sprint. The weight of the suit could be felt inhibiting her movement just enough to cause her to doubt herself, but it was too little too late. The distance was short and before she had time to adjust to the misstep the wall was directly in front of her. No time to hesitate, she convinced herself and placed her first foot on the metal sheet. Using her momentum, she managed to take several steps up before gravity pulled her forward. She reached out and clung onto the ledge. The textured gloves gave her enough grip to pull herself up onto the top ledge. The view was spectacular, she took a second to just sit and look around the site and at the crate
rs ledge in the distance. It all felt so alien. As she sat there watching the world seemingly sitting still around her, the sight of a green object moving between the rubble reminded her that she had somewhere to be. If her guess was right that was Dan on his way to the meetup.
“Welp, time to get movin. Now how to get down.” She stared below her at the soft dirt. “Looks like I can make the jump.”
“What are you talking about?” Dan seemed highly invested in her dilemma.
“Oh nothing. Just talking to myself.” She decided she should keep her thoughts to herself for now. I don’t want to risk tearing the suit, and it’s a bit bulky so tucking and rolling seems like a bad idea. I guess I could climb back down the way I came up. She looked back and realized that it just didn’t seem fun enough so instead she found the rubble holding up the wall and decided to climb down it. She lowered herself down and searched for a foot hold. Her foot rested on a small ledge, just big enough for the ball of her foot. She grab on to a piece of rubble further down the wall. Her next step rested on to a metal pole. She shifted her weight but the pole gave way beneath her weight, sending her body falling. The only thing that saved her was her firm grip. Dangling there, she found a new foothold and stepped down, and then hopped off. Once her feet hit the ground she headed back, this time making sure to not taking any more detours or unnecessary stops.
Kaylen emerged to find Dan awaiting her patiently. “Hey you beat me.”
“Guess your just slow.”
Without a word she pulled the black box from her pack and presented it on open palms.