"You are to return to Planet 51, your goal is to study the species and the culture. Establishing good relations and trade if you can." Chuck stood at attention, his hands folded neatly behind his back as he was given instructions by his supervisor. Of course news of Planet 51 had quite a commotion back on earth. Most people thought Chuck was mad, claiming to have seen little green men when a robotic probe only took pictures of rocks. He had nothing to back up his story until Skiff had found the control for rovers camera drive, after that the pictures came flooding in. Scientists were astounded by these photos and ran hundreds of tests to verify that the signal was indeed coming from Planet 51. So after discovering a verified alien civilization Chuck had gotten a hefty pay raise and was now standing proudly in front of the board of supervisors. "Yes sir, when will I leave?" Chuck was so excited to be able to go back to that world and stay. There was so many things about that planet that fascinated him, like how the food could float and glow like it did. "Tomorrow, we will send you in a new ship with three other scientists and enough dried provisions to last you a year in the case that their food is inedible to you. We are also sending with you medical books on our species to give to the aliens, you said they speak English so I'm assuming they can read it as well. Books portraying out culture and literature will also be included. We have your co ordinates and more can always be sent." Chuck's smile faltered. Though it was a naive thought and a foolish hope to think that he would be sent back alone, he still wanted it. Of course he wanted to share his discovery with other people but couldn't he go back alone to research? He did not voice these thoughts.
"Yes sir, I will start packing immediately." of course having more people would lighten the work load but it didn't mean he had to like it.
"Very good, you may go." Chuck turned and his heel and left, glancing up at the stars as soon as he was outside of the building. He couldn't see it because it was too small but somewhere in the vast cluster of stars Planet 51 was awaiting his return.

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It had been about a year since Chuck had left. Lem was at the observatory shifting around boxes in the higher levels. Chuck had told Lem that the universe was bigger than he could ever imagine, but because their own equipment couldn't confirm this. so without proof of any sort what the alien had said was dismissed and quickly forgotten. Lem stopped to look up at the stars, he still remembered where Chuck's planet was and often caught himself staring at it, as if staring could help anything. Lem continued to shift boxes, he had been quickly demoted to a janitorial job when his mouth had gotten him in trouble during lectures. If he couldn't stick to hard scientific evidence then he wasn't allowed to give lectures, that's what his boss had told him. Lem hated his job now but it paid the bills, yeah he had bills. Right after he turned 18 he decided it would be great to move out and get an apartment, many lonely nights later he regretted the decision. Being an adult sucked. sighing Lem shut off the lights and started locking up for the night. His nights really were lonely, he didn't have Neera anymore. After a couple months she figured out that Lem wasn't enough of a free spirit for her, Well screw her and her hippie boyfriend. Lem dropped the keys in his shirt pocket and started walking home. He didn't need anybody. As he had been doing much too often he caught himself staring at that bright red star. Chuck's planet. Earth. It was there but Lem couldn't see it. Lem sighed, he didn't need anyone.