Hello all! This is Starry here to welcome you to my story!
This first chapter is a bit more technical and heavy on description it kinda has a similarity of 2005 Fantastic Four Origin story movie (the beginning part) but not really. I'm a HUGE space nerd and love all things space, if you're not a fan I posted the second chapter as well! But if you power through the first chapter I think you'll like the rest, and for those who skip to the second chapter I'll post a summary of the first chapter on the second! I'll post explanations for the space anomaly here though! A Coronal Mass Ejection is when a big burst of hot gas and radiation from the Sun is released into outer space, but this one is more supernatural in origin.
I hope you enjoy and thank you so much for reading!
(I forgot to put down my intro, my bad!)
"Hey Lore-bear, are you nervous?" Whitney asked, helping unhook the bulky space suit
Lorelei shrugged, wiggling into her space suit.
Whitney chuckled as Lorelei cussed at her gloves.
Whitney reached over and helped her fasten the clasp.
"Thanks." Lorelei said.
"Do you remember the mission objective?" Whitney asked.
"Yeah, repair the comms dish and run diagnostics."
They had lost communication with Mission Control two and a half hours ago, and after running multiple diagnostics inside, it was time for Lorelei and Jordon to embark on a Space Walk to hopefully repair whatever was wrong with the communications dish.
"Good. I'll hold off on our Marvel Marathon."
Lorelei smiled at Whitney's attempt to ease the tension that was felt among the group.
They were trying to stay positive, but without the reassurance of Mission Control being on the other line to help, they were flying solo.
"You better! If you watch it without me I'll never forgive you!" Lorelei teased.
Whitney laughed, backing out of the airlock and closing the door.
Lorelei fastened her helmet, breathing in the cool air that was released into her suit.
"Dale's, Wilson, can you hear me?" Grant's voice came in over their speakers.
"This is Dale's, I can hear you." Lorelei said.
"This is Wilson, can hear you loud and clear." Jordon said.
"Good. It's been two hours, forty five minutes and twenty seconds since we lost contact with Houston. As of now, we have done all we can on the inside, our next step is to check out the Comms dish and run diagnostics. That's where you come in."
"You got it, Anderson." Jordon said.
"NAISC, did you connect alright?" Lorelei asked, glancing down at the holo-panel on her suit's sleeve.
"Good afternoon, Lorelei, I've fully assimilated with your space suit." NASAs Artificial Intelligence Space Companion or NAISC for short, replied.
They waited for the airlock to equalize pressure with the vacuum of space, checking their gear and chatting as they waited.
Opening the hatch, Lorelei climbed out into the cold vacuum of space.
Mars took up the majority of her view.
The planet loomed large behind the Space Station.
Excitement made her stomach swoop as she floated in the vast expanse that was space.
She could make out Earth in the distance, a floating blue orb that glowed with the reflection of the Sun.
Lorelei turned to face the hatch, thanking Jordon as he handed her toolbox to her.
Attaching the box to her hip, she took Jordon's equipment and waited for him to exit the hatch.
Passing the box to Jordon, they began their way along the Station towards the communications dish.
It took them a while to reach their objective.
They hooked themselves to the panel next to the dish and began the task at hand.
They moved in tandem, unlatching the panel and allowing it to swing open.
Jordon fiddled around with the dish, running several diagnostics while muttering under his breath.
Jordon turned to Lorelei, confused.
"Nothing seems to be wrong-"
An alert interrupted the duo.
"Warning! I have detected a strange anomaly with the Sun. It has let off a CME that registers far above a G5. I must urge you to get inside as soon as possible!" NAISC said with urgency.
Lorelei cursed, examining the real time image of the surface of the Sun on her HUD, balking at the immensity of the fiery crescent that moved with unprecedented speed.
"Do you have an ETA?"
"With my calculations, thirty minutes. It's moving far faster than any normal CME!"
"It takes two hours to get to the hatch in a safe manner." Jordon said.
Lorelei and Jordon exchanged grim looks before moving to unlatch their hooks from the safety rail.
Hands trembling, Lorelei cursed at the multiple latches that kept her secured to the side of the Space Station.
Once she was freed she made her way across the body of the Station, moving hand over hand towards the crew's hatch.
Lorelei could hear Jordon praying.
His voice trembled as he prayed with fervor.
Lorelei prayed to any Gods that might be listening, begging they would make it inside on time before anything bad happened.
She could see the reflection of the CME getting brighter and brighter against the panels.
What had only been minutes felt like vast spans of time.
Lorelei reached the end of the solar panels before it hit.
The impact jolted through her body like a shockwave, the energy setting her nerves afire with pain.
Her HUD glitched, spasming and flickering as the radiation affected her equipment.
"W̵͉̐a̸͎̅r̶̰̚n̴͚̕i̶̚͜n̸̥͐ĝ̶͍,̵̤̋ ̷̣̎l̶̥̿é̸͉t̷̜͊h̸̦͝a̶͎̔l̵̮̉ ̵͙̏a̴͐͜m̷͚̆õ̵̜u̶͓̍n̵̳͗t̶͍̎ ̶̖̃ó̷͜f̸̝̑ ̵͖͋r̷͙͒á̴̰d̶̬͘i̴̎͜ą̵̒t̵̜͝î̴̟ő̸̧ṋ̶̋ ̸̢͝d̸̫̚e̸̙͆t̶͉͘e̸̓ͅc̶̪̓t̶̞́ẽ̷̝d̴̗̈́!̴̺̔" NAISC'a voice glitched and stuttered.
Her skin felt like it was melting off her bones, burning and aching as if she had just dove into an active volcano.
Lorelei let out a scream so guttural she promptly lost her voice.
Brain overloaded from the onslaught, Lorelei's grip on the Station was loosened, and she began floating away from the Space Station.
From the corner of her gaze, she saw something shimmering.
Turning, Lorelei saw an odd sort of portal that shimmered like sunrays shining from underwater, cutting a large hole in the fabric of space.
To her horror she found herself floating straight for it.
Once she was through the portal closed and disappeared as if it had never been there.
Overcome with pain, she finally slipped into unconsciousness.