Space exploration was not as 'looked up to' as it used to be. Or so Annabeth Chase had heard. It used to be that at the first chance to go into outer space, people would jump up out of their fluffy recliners… and trip over their untied shoelaces in their haste to go. Now… things were different. Venturing into the unknown was bad.

She had seen the pictures, posters, and pamphlets informing the populace of the newest trips into the The Vast Unknown. Anyone could tell by the corners, by the oily smudge prints, the worn through sides also provided sufficient evidence that these papers had once been revered. Held high above society for the hope that they brought.

Now… they were cushioning for the concrete sidewalks. No one dared venture into the world outside their own. Except for The Pioneers. What were… no are… The Pioneers were those unafraid to explore. They were the settlers of outer space. They were the first to pack up their previous lives, and move into the vast unknown. Annabeth herself, was a Pioneer.

Not only was she a Pioneer… she was one of the few children to be born on Minerva. (A planet in between Saturn and Jupiter... let's just say the mortals faultily charted their solar system. Because they were bad at astronomy.) She was 'gifted' with wisdom... many wondered if it was the goddess' of this planets fault. All children born in space had special talents. They were called demigods, because, quite obviously, of the fact that they were 'born of the gods'.

Anyways, she was a legend. Annabeth was very proud of this. Well… she was proud of anything that she did relating to outer space. This because she was unique.

How many people did mortals know that lept between asteroids? How many that grew their own food… ON MINERVA! (A planet mortals didn't even know it existed.) Yeah… she was pretty cool.

Her feet scraped on a nearby asteroid. Shoot! She had overshot the jump. Annabeth had been hoping to take the shorter route, because it gave her more time to explore afterwards, to the Red Planet. Or as known by all the settlers; Red X. Now because of her athletic build she would have to continue on the longer path. Curse her athleticism! NOT! Annabeth chuckled to herself… if only she hadn't, possibly, been the only Pioneer to love, not just like, space exploration... then she might not have had to do what she considered the most fun thing ever.

Annabeth chuckled again, and looked around. Her vision was slightly marred from the sterile, boring, and clunky helmet she was wearing. So many vast acres of space to explore. For her to explore. She leapt towards the next asteroid, and towards Red X.

Annabeth was wary when she lodged her ship within the Red Planet's gravitational range. There was crime still... even in an expanse as incredible as this. Many space 'pirates' robbed people of their crops and ships. They were even known to kill Pioneers.

She frowned, remembering the chaos that happened when the entire Burnett family was found slaughtered in their home, their crops and top notch ship gone. They had sent out a search party for the criminals.

Annabeth ripped an equalizer patch out of the gray hatch by the docking rope. She attached it to her arm, and tore the clunky space suit off. Equalizers gave a person's body the ability to adapt to every environment. Handy huh? The only part of her suit she left on was her gravity boots. There was no use in endlessly floating through nothing.

Annabeth glided, bounced, and jumped to the next few asteroids, progressively making her way towards Red X. Whoosh! She was yanked into it's gravitational pull. Annabeth panicked. She hadn't expected the pull to come this quickly! Annabeth bent down, trying to switch off the gravity on her boots. She couldn't.

Well excuse her for not being able to reach her feet while tumbling through an acidic atmosphere! Which should have been expected. She bent down further… and almost touched her calves. Below her the ground was rapidly approaching.

Annabeth remembered how when she was six years old she would climb on the roof of her house, and jump off (what… she was a ridiculous child!) She grinned, and flipped over. Now, if she didn't turn off the gravity soon, her head would hit the floor.

Annabeth tucked her head into her chest and brought her legs up- it was way easier upside down. Her hands groped around the clunky boots on her feet. Aha! Finally! She found the miniscule purple button right next to her heel.

Whoom! She stopped tumbling towards the ground at a terminal speed. Annabeth turned around, so that she was facing the ground. She wanted to see just how close to death she had gotten.

Her eyes widened. She was, literally, only five feet from becoming another spot on the face of The Red Planet. That one was way too close for her liking. (Yes… she had near-death experiences all the time. It was part of being her.)

She shuffled around for about… hmm… maybe three hours. Time was hard to tell on Red X. Then, in the distance she saw it. THE blue rock. With all it's paint smears she could tell that that one was it.

She grinned when she found what came here for; a book. Yes… a book. In her grandmother's journal, she had said that she had left her most precious possession, this very book, under a blue rock, on the far, unvisible, and treacherous side of Red X.

Books, papers, basically any literary thing… was EXTREMELY hard to come by. Though, she prided herself on this, she had a huge library full of books in her room that she had read. Annabeth smirked… to herself. It's why she was so very intelligent (and humble!)

She heard a gigantic crash behind her. Boom! Another one. Annabeth slowly turned around. She didn't know what lived on Red X... and she didn't want to find out. There was a large red, and very hairy beast behind the boulder to her left. Slobber (eew) dripped from it's menacing teeth. The beast stood on it's hind legs ready to spring.

It suddenly whimpered and ran. Annabeth shuddered and backed up. In the spot where the beast had been no more than a minute ago, stood a group of boys in smooth, ebony jackets. (Leather maybe?) Pirates.

Could her day get any worse? She gasped. That was a rhetoric question. She wasn't asking for her day to get more complicated. Annabeth took one more look, and turned. She started sprinting. There was no way she was going to become a shish-ke-bob.

"Girl! Get back here!" A gruff voice shouted.

She didn't even have to think before she responded, "no!"

"You have something we want."

"Nope. No I don't!" She wheezed. Hey... it was hard running with the gravity off!

"GET BACK HERE!" She wasn't going there. No way she was going to die today.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Eek. She winced. Probably not the best thing to say. She was winded, but still running. Annabeth didn't know how she was still running. She shouldn't have been able to. In fact, Annabeth was probably running (no pun intended) on pure adrenaline.

If only Annabeth was able to jump off of something, then her anti-gravity boots would kick in. She huffed and wheezed. Why was it so hard to run in anti-gravity shoes? (Also rhetoric. She wasn't expecting an explanation while she was running for her life.)

Her eyes scanned the dry, dead plains, for something in which she could get a boost. About two hundred yards to her right there was a gigantic boulder. She huffed, and started towards the rock. She heard murmurs of confusion from the pirates behind her.

Putting on a burst of speed, she finished her sprint and lept up the boulder. Turning around her, Annabeth surveyed her surroundings one last time. She crouched down, and sprung up. She was floating up towards the gravitational ring- rather quickly- where she had docked her ship.

Annabeth peered down at her equalizer patch. It was withered and peeling. Bam! She ran into something. Her ship! Annabeth floundered around the outside till she found the docking hatch. Then she ripped it open, spilling onto the floor. She slammed the door behind her and took off towards the programing console.

Once she was on her way back to her home she relaxed. All in a day's work. Nothing major for Annabeth Chase. Except for, of course, what she would have to do tomorrow...

Soooo... did you guys like it? I am planning on continuing it. Soooo review if you want me to. Review if you want to see what happens next. Review if you have suggestions of what to do next. Review if you want to see Percy. Just review! Even guests can do it...