"Karen, initiate autopilot." Mark used the voice command installed in his ship. Standing up and stretching his arms above his head. "Set course for coordinates 4.00, 3500, 1000.1 set H."

"Yes, Captain Mark." His computer Karen confirmed his request. Good- that should keep the ship on target while Mark went to get a little shut-eye. Technically Mark wasn't supposed to leave his post while the ship was in motion, but Mark saw no harm in letting Karen take over this one time. Mark retired to his chambers and closed his eyes. After all, what's the worst that could happen?

Karen was piloting his little cruiser deep into sector 7 quadrant 4B, uncharted territory. The module behind him to his left was recording his findings through every empty lightyear traveled. Mark failed to hold in a large yawn. It seemed like this quadrant would be just as empty as those he had previously traveled. While Mark had always adored the idea of space travel as a kid, he didn't find out until later just how boring it could be. Space was just so huge! What were the chances of a little human like him ever going to find something exciting? The statistics were not in his favor.

Mark jumped out of bed at the sound of the emergency alarms going off, only to fall flat on his face in his haste.

"Karen, what's going on?" Mark asked urgently, rushing back to the cockpit while the lights flashed red and the alarms continued to blare. Mark was still a bit dazed. How long was he out?

"Captain Mark." Karen's voice caught him up to speed. "The ship is experiencing some interference."

"What interf- oh no." Mark didn't need to ask Karen to know what was causing the problem. A planet so large that Mark couldn't see the whole thing blocked the view of what was just empty space when he went to sleep. "Karen, engage all the thrusters!"

"Thrusters already engaged." Karen informed him. Mark cursed to himself. He tugged up on the wheel, but it was no use. He was no match for the gravitational pull of the planet. As the planet's green surface grew rapidly in his vision, Mark realized his efforts were futile. Ditching the attempts of pulling out, Mark rushed back to gather the emergency survival kits and braced for impact.

Jack was washing the dishes of all things when he heard it. It was faint and if he had had the water running then he would have never heard it. The sound itself was strange, but if he had to guess he would say it was the sound of something hitting the ground. Maybe a bird or something?

He put down the dish and sponge, drying his hands. His curiosity was peaked. Living near the woods like this, away from everyone else, not a lot of things happened. Even if it turned out to be a bird, at least it was something for him to do. Better than doing the dishes anyway.

He quickly slipped on his shoes and a jacket before heading outside. He looked around the immediate area, but when nothing caught his eye he continued deeper into his back woods. Keeping his eyes to the ground. The sound had been distant, but it couldn't have been that far!

Mark groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. It felt sore, but he thanked his lucky stars nothing felt broken. The lights were all out, and it was dead silent. "Status update, Karen." There was no response. "Karen?" Mark tried again, but it was no use. Karen was gone.

Mark sighed, knowing he'd have to venture out into the possibly hostile nature of this unknown planet if he had any hope of repairing his ship. It took Mark a good while to pry the doors open with the automatic locks offline. Indigenous plant life greeted him, similar to the texture and look of grass on Earth but reaching up to his chest. He began to venture out, looking around. The entire scene reminded him of Earth, but on a far larger scale. He put his hand up against what seemed to be a tree trunk, but craning his neck up Mark couldn't see the top.

"What is this place?" Mark muttered to himself. Just then, the ground began to tremble. The trembles increased in magnitude like an earthquake. What gigantic beast was approaching? Frightened, Mark sought cover beneath the tree roots and looked back at his ship.

Jack had been right in his assumption. He had only ventured maybe a couple hundred feet before finding what he assumed to be the thing that had made the noise.

Jack's eyes widened at the sight of the small hunk of metal that seemed to be halfway into the dirt floor. He hesitated for only a moment before stepping closer and dropping to his knees. He wiped the dirt off the front with his sleeve, his reflection now looking back at him through the glass covering the entire front of it. As Jack continued to inspect it, he realized It couldn't have been a drone, like he had first thought. At least, not a drone that Jack had ever seen before.

He picked it up out of the little crater it had created, gasping in shock at how heavy it was. It was small, but it weighed quite a few more pounds then one might think. Even so, he lifted it up to his face, trying to look through the glass to see the inside.

There seemed to be a little seat, with a tiny wheel and buttons. Jack's mind immediately went to the thought of it being some sort of model ship. Like, maybe a model of one of those cool ships from those space movies that everyone liked. Because what else could it be, if not that or a drone? Another question popped into Jack's mind, where had it come from? He lived a good few miles away from anyone else. Not only that, but if this thing had crashed, meaning that it had been flying somehow.

Jack had way too many questions and no answers, but he found himself smiling regardless. He had just stumbled onto a mystery of sorts. A mystery that he was going to get to the bottom of. He stood up, the model or whatever it was in his hands. He scanned the forest floor once more for any parts he had missed and when nothing jumped out at him he turned around and headed back to his little cabin.