Honors Project
Science Period 6
Mrs. Leiden
Exploration to a new planet
I had been selected by my peers to begin a search for a planet in our galaxy that would be a suitable site for a new settlement. Due to my prestigious status at the Academy of Space Flight, they picked me to be the overall commander of this mission. I was thoroughly honored. I received the official mission briefing within the hour. That was a big day for me; one that would change my life forever.
Once I was briefed, I began to select my exploration team. I needed a geologist, a meteorologist, a physician, a technologies expert, a biologist, a mathematician, and an astronomer. Thanks to the Internet, I managed to find two of each, and all of them were adepts in their fields. Anne Derreckson and Rick White were the team doctors; the astronomy brothers were George and Borja Carlos; Rocky Jameson and Mick Al took up the geology area; the suave Vince "Hurricane" Schwartz (he got the nickname from his great-great grandfather) and Bonnie Quinn were both experts in meteorology; Fido Dextrous, mathematician extraordinaire, teamed up with Jim Redinuti; Lastly, the techies of the crew were Allan Wrench and Philip Screwdriver. When the team was selected, I realized that I needed to find a pilot. And when I looked them up, one man's name popped right to the top: Major John "Rambler" Fitzgerald, the best pilot on this side of the Milky Way. He would be perfect for such an important mission. With the idea of zooming through the galaxy in search of a new planet fresh in my head, I decided that it was late and I needed my sleep.
The day of the launch came almost too soon to believe. After months of training for deep space living, my team and I were ready. The ship I was supposed to command was a beauty called the Intrepid. It resembled a narrow, thin, silvery arrowhead with an ovoid, black front view port. Its four engines hummed quietly, emitting bluish antimatter. We waited anxiously to get on board. The mayor of the city stood on a podium in front of a large crowd and was going to make a speech. "This is an important day for our world," he said, "and it should live on in the history books." He went on about the history of the city and its relation to space flight. At last, it came to a close. "And so, we say goodbye to these brave space travelers and hope that they return with a bit of a home for us."
"Like that'll ever happen," said George Carlos, one of the astronomers. The team snickered. And so, we piled into the ship. John fired up the engines, and we all waited for the cue to lift off.
"Three," said a loudspeaker.
I was buckling up.
"Two."
I relaxed.
"One."
I held my breath…
The ship emitted a loud rumble and rocketed up and out of the atmosphere like a bullet. We were on our way to new worlds.
It had been several months since lift off and there was no sign of a planet large enough. Asteroids were a bad choice because many of them lacked gravity and breathable air. And they spun too fast. We saw several planetoids, but a bunch of them were too cold or too hot to handle. However, as I was sitting in my chambers drinking some coffee, I got a message on the intercom requiring my presence on the bridge.
When I got there, I saw the most amazing sight on the front viewer. It was a planet that was sparkling in the light emitted from its four suns. It looked like a giant silvery ball, shimmering grandly. I asked, "Can you get a readout on whether we can land on it?" Mick read the computer and said, "Probably, sir. It seems relatively stable, with a tilt on its axis of 20 degrees. However, it has an extremely high frequency magnetic field, but I doubt that it will interfere with landing." I said, "Land on it and prepare to leave the ship." The Intrepid made its descent toward the planet's glimmering surface. The landing spines extended and it hit the ground with a clang. "That's a weird noise for a planet to make," said John.
The crew and I made our way out onto the planet, wearing air tanks, just in case. It was a relatively flat plain. There was not a trace of anything for miles except shining earth. But that was interrupted only by four huge towers off in the distance, one at each corner of the horizon.
Vince scanned the air and said, "The air is breathable, with high oxygen content. We won't need these anymore." He and the rest of the crew doffed their air tanks and hung them at their sides. When I first inhaled the air of this alien world, it tasted very strange, with an almost metallic flavor. I looked at the ground. I jumped up once to test the gravity, and heard a soft clang when I landed. "It's made of metal," Rocky said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small magnet. He put the magnet up against the ground. It stuck fast. He slid it across the smooth metal, and it stayed stuck.
"It's magnetic, iron probably," said John. I said, "I wonder what those towers are?" I looked up and saw yet another amazing sight: The planet's four suns were in a circle on the eastern horizon. They were each a different color: one was black, another blue, another white, and the fourth was red. They were bright and made the ground hot. "It would take days to cross this 'desert,' if you would call it that, on foot," said Allan, "But that doesn't mean that we can't use the ATVs we packed."
Eight of the fifteen crew members, including myself, got into the all-terrain-vehicles. Each one was as big as a Ford Mustang, capable of holding four people. They looked like tanks; each one equipped with a small gun and was able to go from 0 to 60 in 6 seconds. The rest of the crew stayed behind to watch the ship. The ATVs shot off into the desert towards the nearest tower, which happened to be glowing iridescent green.
When we reached the tower about a half an hour later (our ATVs were fast), I realized how big this thing was. It was shaped like a big rectangular prism. It was probably a thousand cubic feet wide and long, and almost a mile high. It gave of a diffuse green glow and had a pattern on it like a computer circuit board. I saw beyond this megalithic structure the tops of trees barely poking out over the horizon. "Maybe we should make for the trees over there," I said and pointed. Back in the ATVs and off towards the forest up ahead. As the trees approached, I began to notice that the trees had the same metallic sheen as the ground in which they grew. Rocky guessed that they were made of copper. And upon our arrival there, his guess was confirmed. The entire forest, including the trees and plants, were made of different shades of copper.
"This place is amazing!" said George, as we went deep into the forest. But he said that too loud, for at that instant we heard a rustling in the leaves. Rocky turned, and saw a small figure poking its head out of a bush. It had a green, roughly serpentine head with large yellow eyes, and wriggling fingers. "It sees me," said Rocky, unknowingly. It was at that moment when the little thing let out a rumbling growl. The party and I took two steps back from it. Everything was silent for a few seconds, but, off in the distance, I heard a loud thump. And then another loud thump. And a third. It sounded like titanic footsteps were approaching us. Out of the trees stomped a gigantic creature. It appeared as a six-foot-tall warthog, but much more feral-looking, with big, curling and twisting tusks jutting out of its mouth. Vince screamed a girlish scream. George's eyes grew wide. "Run!" said Major John. And so we did. The creature came crashing through the forest after us. John whipped out a small blaster and fired two rounds at the advancing beast. It bellowed, but seemed to become more vicious. He continued to fire, but it just got angrier and angrier with each shot. I ordered everyone around a corner and out of sight of the behemoth, and it ran past. We breathed a sigh of relief. Fido, who had not said much during the expedition, found something on the ground. It was a root of a tree, but it was completely fused in a circle about a foot in diameter. "Look at this," he said in his shy voice, "Maybe we could take it back to the ship." We decided to call it a day and head back to the ship.
We spent the next few weeks studying the forest and the desert area. Other than the plants, the warthog, and the little green creature, we found no forms of life… until we found this little metal figure skulking around the ship. It looked like a little copper man about three feet tall with a head shaped like the beak of an eagle. It was completely featureless except for a pair of eyes. I questioned it, but it gave no response whatsoever.
It seems like a relatively sound place to make a city, despite difficulty to find water. I plan to send a message to Earth telling of our findings.