Cold, and a sharp agonising pain was what she felt. Her frozen eyelids broke asunder and saw their first light for God knows how long. The layer of glass above her lifted ajar.
‘Greetings Captain, I hope you have had a fulfilling sleep; but I have encountered an… interruption. I had to wake you early, for your immediate attention’
‘Early?’
‘Yes Captain’
She clambered her way out from the stasis pod and her eyes glanced to the others near her. No one but herself was awake. The Captain wobbled to a locker and got dressed, grabbed a calorie bar, a hot drink then headed for the bridge.
Consoles flickered to life upon her arrival and the blast-shields retracted, which allowed her to see what was going on out there.
‘My scanners picked up a celestial body’
The Captain took a sip of her drink, pulled out a chair, and gazed. Her face contorted into confusion.
‘What celestial body?’ She asked.
‘The one right in front of us, ma’am’
‘There is no planet in front of us, Cal’
‘But my analysis registered a celestial presence along our trajectory’
‘Double check your sensors’
The AI did what she had commanded and found nothing, she was right.
‘How odd, my scanners did pick up on something, I assure you Captain the planet was there’
She finished her drink and rose.
‘You sure you’re not having a glitch Cal, do I need to run a diagnostic on ya??’
‘Normally I would disapprove as I am a nigh perfect machine intelligence, I have even ran a self-diagnostic and it checks out. But you are free to do one on me Captain’
The Captain noted the AI’s willingness and hastily made her way down to Cal’s core where she tripled checked the logs and everything. The woman’s face contorted again with confusion. Cal did indeed discover a celestial body along their trajectory.
‘It seems you did scan an object of planetary proportions…so, have we come across a rogue planet?’
‘Unknown, that is why my readings also picked up anomalous attributes, yet the following priority was to wake you for further orders’
She left the core and paced back to the bridge, and gave a squint to the space outside.
‘Cal, give me access to the scope’
‘Of course Captain’
A metallic unit descended from the ceiling which appeared to have a set of binoculars attached to it. She placed her eyes against them and by doing so, enabled her to see 360 degrees of space around the ship.
Nothing, no sun, no planets. They weren’t situated in a star system. But their wasn’t anything to do with a rogue planet either. She switched to filters such as narrowband, polarisation, and infrared. None of these unveiled the mystery to what Cal detected.
‘How far from our destination are we?’
‘Twenty-five light years Captain’
‘Not even halfway…did you not detect this planet any earlier Cal, otherwise why didn’t you, I don’t know, go around it???’
Their was a pause. The Captain removed herself from the binoculars and looked around.
‘Cal?’
‘Sorry ma’am, I was recalibrating my scanning software. To answer your question, I did not have enough warning that a rogue planetary body was crossing our trajectory. In other words, it popped out from nowhere; which forced me to decelerate the vessel immediately’
‘Hmm, ok, still doesn’t make any sense. I couldn’t see it myself with the scope, no trace either. Whatever it was…’
‘Captain?’
‘Wake me if anything strange happens again, I’m heading back to sleep’
‘Affirmative’
Twenty-four years had passed, and Cal detected nothing of the mysterious sorts (except for a sudden spike in solar activity at the star they refuelled at ten light-years back), until now.
Cold, and that familiar sharp pain was what she felt followed by a burst of light as her eyelids moved ajar. It felt as if it was but a moment ago when she’d got back into the cryogenic pod. She rose in a stiffened manner and carefully got out of the pod, stumbled, but found a railing nearby to support herself. The Captain glanced about, noted that the others were not waking up, she then looked up to the ceiling and spoke.
‘What is it now Cal?’, she said, annoyed. She had hoped not to be waken again until they’d reached their designated destination.
‘Apologies ma’am, but the rogue planet has returned’
The woman didn’t bother getting dressed, she grabbed a towel instead, wrapped it around her numbed body, and expressed confusion.
‘What, the same planet we encountered last time, an-and how long has it been??’
‘Twenty-four years since our last interaction’
‘Twenty-four…we’ve got another year to go?’
‘Correct Captain’
‘Anyway, how can this be the same planet? It can’t have travelled twenty-four light years and miraculously shoved itself in our way at the same time and place. Could it be another rogue planet, even the chances of that I find very unlikely’
‘Basic scans have informed that it is the same rogue planet we encountered, upon further analysis, I detected quantum fluctuations’
The Captain had placed her hands apart across the bridge terminal, the blast shields opened and there, there it was, a black hole in space. Just not that kind of black hole. She could tell by the lack of stars in that area as well as its curvature, that of a celestial body.
‘Well, something is definitely there. Can you check its surface, atmospheric composition, diametre and gravitational force????’
‘Negative Captain, but I can say that the cloud layer, or layers even, are particularly dense and the electrical discharges are inhibiting my ability to perform a deep scan’
‘Take a snapshot for the log and prepare a probe’
The Captain turned and headed for the drink cabinet. Yet Cal halted her as he could not send the probe as the planet had vanished.
‘Gone!?’
She spun and stormed back to the terminal and gazed out towards the dark. The black hole was gone, and in its stead, a field of stars glowed brightly but one stood brightly most of all, their new home. Silence ensued, the Captain stared softly at the ocean of stars, but a subtle frown weighed upon her face.
‘Are you okay ma’am?’
She changed her mind on the drink and sat upon her pod.
‘Just get us to our destination, Cal’, she proceeded to lie down.
‘Yes Captain, good night’
A year passed and the generational ship arrived at the destination. Two-hundred and fifty-seven years of travel finally came to an end. Earth was far behind them now.
Under a new sun, upon a new earth, similar, yet different. Its air was lighter, it held a little more oxygen, and a lot more nitrogen (but not so much as to overbear). The water was warmer than Earth’s, though not enough to burn, and after being frozen for long period of time; it was most appreciated. Its gravity was a percent higher, barely recognisable.
Ten years on and the colony had thrived. People formed as well as resumed their relationships, children grew, and more were born; even the Captain gave birth, to a boy. It was a happy life.
However, on one sunny day during the planet’s equivalence of a summer, a black dot hovered high above the colony, and as people lifted their eyes to the sky, there, in the rays of the sun was a dark world: a world amidst shadow. Despite the light, its darkness seemed impenetrable.
Piqued, not having seen it till now, the Captain suited up, adorned her insignia upon her chest, said farewell to her husband and child and took her ex-bridge officers onto a shuttle (it came with the generation ship) into orbit.
The ex-bridge officers: Sarah, science, Rick, engineering, Thomas, navigation and Griva, communication.
‘So, this is it?’, Sarah asked.
The Captain looked over to the cockpits screen and stuck upon it was the picture took by Cal eleven years earlier.
‘It is, and if my theory is correct, it cannot disappear whilst being observed. And right now, it’s being observed by hundreds of people, including us’
Her fingers tapped away at the terminal and subtle hum filled the area.
‘Morning Cal, been a while’
‘Hello Captain, yes, ten years ago since my last activation. What do you require me for?’
‘You know that rogue planet, it’s back again, this time it’s orbiting our world. Could you launch a probe for us?’
‘Affirmative Captain, launching probe, ETA: two hours, fifty-six minutes and twenty-two seconds’
They had waited, some took to the mess hall, ate and drank, caught up with their doings in life. Aside from that they remained relatively close in contact via social media. But doing this again, together, in space. Was like old times.
Two hours forward, with unrelenting turbulence the probe made its way past the black layers of cloud, unscathed from its lightning, and remained intact as it descended upon the ground. It started up and took a preliminary scan of its surroundings, a hundred metres in radius. Then it began to collect samples of the surface, its composition, and of the air. After that came the photos.
‘Captain, the first set of photos have arrived’
‘Notify the others’
The others came, leaned over and examined the photos, whilst one kept their eyes on the planet. The photos shown a land of black stone, strange arches etched in a crooked fashion, pillars of jagged rock reached high to the skies, as if they sought for light. The only light they could get was the bedazzling blasts of the constant storm.
‘Cal, if possible, strengthen the signal between us and the probe’
‘We will need to get closer for that ma’am’
‘Make it so’
Once they drew closer another round of photos were taken, the degree in quality improved and they could see additional details.
‘What’s that?’, one of her officers pointed to an area on a photo. The Captain mover her fingers across the screen to zoom in.
‘Is that…a skull!?‘
‘Look!’
The further they examined they came upon not only one skull, but dozens, maybe hundreds. Bones that belonged to no Man.
‘Cal, take another set but reduce the field of view’
When the third set arrived one photo unnerved the officers to their core. They saw ruined structures but that wasn’t it, no, amidst a discharge of lightning, a shadow reminiscent to that of a humanoid figure stood out against the white flash.
‘My eyes are hurting Captain’, Griva said.
‘Rick take over. Cal, can you take successive snapshots at forty-four degrees’
‘Yes ma’am’
A flurry of photos revealed that the figure was still there and with every shot, drew uncomfortably close. It was a long, skinny, dark figure. Its face covered by a white mask with two dark holes where the eyes would be. As those who looked took a synchronous blink the mask was no longer on the other side of the screen, it became the screen. Everyone lurched and scrambled. The bridge lights malfunctioned at the presence, they swayed from full power to being dimmed enough that momentary darkness ensnared their vision. This figure crawled out, twisted, yet regained its original composure in mere seconds without anguish.
Rick was the first to go, in the disarray, the figure tore out his eyes.
‘W-wait! look at it and don’t blink, if-if it’s like the planet then it can’t move whilst observed’, Sarah suggested.
‘Fuck THAT!’, Thomas blitzed out of there.
Sarah was right, it remained motionless whilst their eyes lingered on it. But they couldn’t hold it forever and those deep, hollow sockets whether it possessed eyes or not they needn’t blink.
‘Can’t keep my eyes open for much longer’
‘Together, we back away to the door, ok?’, said the Captain.
The two ladies moved back, near the door, Sarah stumbled and fell which caused the Captain to avert her gaze yet within an instance, returned her eyes upon the figure that had its against hers. Its hands ready to clasp round her throat. Inside the woman’s chest was a pounding heart.
‘Get up Sarah!’
Sarah grabbed the Captain’s hand and left.
‘Cal seal off the bridge’
‘A-a-affirmative’
The door was shut, and through its window the figure stared.
‘Cal what’s going on!?’
‘Unsure, I believe it’s the being aboard, somehow, it’s interfering with my capabilities’
Lights flickered, the ones in the bridge turned off completely, and a loud set of banging was heard. The figure attempted to break the door loose.
‘Everyone, get to the pod’
SMASH!
With the door broken the thing had another chance.
‘Wait, if it can’t move whilst we look at it, I can do this!’, Thomas stormed over with crowbar in hand, and plunged it into the thing’s chest of where a heart should be.
The thing did not waver, did not yelp in agony, did not even care. It didn’t have to do anything as a bolt of electricity shot forth from its body and enveloped Thomas. Enough to kill.
‘THOMAS!!’ Griva screamed.
‘Down here, Griva come on!’
The lights in the mess hall flickered and to their horror, the thing claimed Griva.
‘Cal seal this door’
No reply.
‘Cal? CAL??’, shouted the Captain.
No response. Instead, she manually locks it. She grabbed Sarah’s hand and belted for the pod.
She entered the pod and fumbled with the controls.
‘Captain, it’s through!’
‘Keep your eyes on it Sarah, I just need a minute’
Her fingers tapped away as fast as they’ve ever done in life. The ignition was primed, the pod was ready.
‘Sarah it’s ready strap in!’
‘In’, she said.
The Captain closed the pod and ignited its engines. It launched with a powerful boom. Course set for home. She double checked the systems in case of any faults, but everything appeared green. In the corner of her eye, she saw a tall shadow, it loomed over her. The Captain’s head turned.
‘Sarah?…’
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Great post!
Matt
Thank you 🙂