December 26th 2052
I woke up a couple hours ago, only to realize I had been in some sort of coma for the past week. I don't recall what happened at the time of my collapse, only that I was hit by the bullwhip tree, and then shortly afterwards, I passed out. I also remember that, for some reason, I was not completely focused on my mission objective, deciding rather to pursue some creature that I thought I saw in the grassy plains of Soles Valley. Regardless of what happened and why, I have returned back to the lander to receive medical treatment for my condition. It would seem that the environment suit is no longer necessary, as I was able to survive a whole week breathing the air of this planet. This is good news for future colonization expeditions to the planet, so long as there are no diseases capable of harming human beings. I have also looked at the air quality results gathered over the past few weeks, all of which indicate negative readings of any bio hazards in the atmosphere. My blood work, however, has not been so kind. I am showing abnormally high levels of morphine, possibly from the bullwhip tree. I should perform a detox of my system, but I've lost precious time, I have to catch up. All I have to do now is change my bandages on my hand and leg, and I'll be ready to head back to Soles Valley. I went to remove the bandages from my wounds caused by the plants from Helbath Canyon and change them out with new ones. My left hand is still bleeding slowly, but consistently, and I can't risk an infection from old bandages. As I was unraveling it, I noticed there was something green on the cloth, green like the slime those plants were covered in. I continued unraveling the bandages, and I started getting nervous as my bandages were drenched in green. I finally breathed a sigh of relief when I saw my hand was still relatively normal, other than the hole through the middle of it. The green must have been from some kind of moss or something else like that that grew on the bandages as I was unconscious. I breathed a sigh of relief as I took out a fresh, sterile wrap and re-wrapped my hand. I did the same to my leg, except this time, I found some green on my leg. I went to touch it, and I noticed the area was abnormally numb. There was almost no sensation there, maybe this green stuff is producing the morphine in my body. If that's the case, I should remove it before it becomes a problem. I got my knife out and started scraping at the green areas, but I had to stop, as scraping the area caused immense pain. What was strange was that the pain wasn't from the cut, it was as if removing the green slime caused my body to feel the actual pain that was there, like the green stuff was numbing the area. It seems to make sense, if this green stuff is producing some kind of morphine or opiate similar to it to produce a numbing effect. It's strange, the effect is very localized to the green mass, yet blood work clearly shows the morphine everywhere in my body, this must be investigated later on. Better yet, I'll take a blood sample and send it to Herald for further analysis. I took a syringe from the medical kit, used it to draw 50 ml of blood, and then injected it into the Advanced Fluid Analysis receptor. Hopefully, by the time I get back from Algalva lake, the blood work will come back. I quickly put a small bandage on my arm, where I drew blood, and left the lander and got back into the E.M.V. I started driving back to Soles Valley so I can go to the lake in the middle, when I suddenly started feeling light headed. I stopped and leaned my head back for a minute to try and relieve the sudden dizziness I was feeling. Just as I was looking up, I noticed the clouds seemed to be changing colors. They were all gray just a minute ago, now some of them are changing to pink, others are green, and others still are yellow, maybe orange, I can't quite tell. I tilted my head forward and rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things. After I rubbed them, I looked back up, and the clouds were all normal again, normal, boring gray. What was that? Could the morphine be affecting my vision somehow? I can't worry about that now, I still have to reach Algalva lake and take a sample of the water. I started driving again, trying to clear my mind of all distractions, focusing only on getting back to Soles Valley, then to the lake.
I entered the valley after about an hour of driving, but as I entered, I started noticing patches of grass were blue, and others were red. I didn't notice that last week, maybe it's a natural process the grass goes through around here, like how trees lose their leaves in the winter to help conserve resources. As I continued driving, I noticed that some of the trees in the area were also experiencing the same discoloration as the grass. Very peculiar, what could have happened in the past week to cause such discoloration in all of the plant life? I continued driving until I reached the rocky area surrounding the lake in the middle of Soles Valley. It's tough terrain, but the E.M.V. is specifically designed to handle terrain such as this, and as such, made short work of crossing the many bumps and dips. Progress was slow but steady as I trekked through the rocky hills in search of Algalva lake. There were occasional signs of plant life, including a different species of the bullwhip tree which was covered in spikes and had a spiky tongue. As I continued driving, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, on my right. I quickly looked over and I saw something dive behind a rock. I stopped the E.M.V. and hopped out to see what it was. I ran over to the rock and looked behind it, except this time, unlike other times before, I actually found what I was looking for. There was some kind of animal on top of what looked like a nest with eggs in them. The animal was about the size of a squirrel, but it's teeth were enormous, it looked like they took up over half of this thing's head and stuck almost an inch above it's forhead. There were eyes on the side of it's head, but there was no way it could see in front of it with it's teeth blocking the way. How it could see was beyond me. It started making a hissing noise at me, and I decided I didn't want to test it's patience, so I backed up, and walked away from it. How exciting, I actually witnessed an animal for the first time on this planet. Wait, as I'm thinking that, I have a strange feeling that I saw something else before, but I can't seem to remember what it was. Some kind of feral, wolf like thing maybe? I can't remember, all I know is this is the first animal I know I've seen on Datur. Fascinating, there actually is advanced lifeforms on this planet, that's another one for the history books, I discovered the first actual advanced life form outside of Earth.
I got back into the E.M.V. and started driving again towards the lake. Fortunately, the lake was much closer than I previously thought, as I just went over two more hills, and there it lay in front of me. It really is a beautiful lake, not very large, but peaceful none the less. I drove down to the waterline and I pulled out a jar from the back to take a sample. I stepped out and into the water, the cool, refreshing water. I quickly took a scoop of water, closed the jar, and put it back in the back. I know I should head back to the lander, but it's only the afternoon here, I might as well stay for a little while. Just as I thought that, I started hearing voices. I looked behind me, but there wasn't anything there. "Daddy, you're supposed to say Polo." I heard next to me. I looked over, and I noticed what looked to be a silhouette of a child next to me. "Marco." It said. It looked like it was swimming in the water around me, and as it was swimming, I realized it looked a lot like Jack.
"Polo." I responded. Jack started swimming near me, but still couldn't find me. I remember this, this was a couple weeks before I was to leave for Datur. I took Jack to the lake so we could have some father-son bonding time. I wanted to tell him myself that I was going to leave for a long time, even though I knew it was going to be hard to tell him.
"Marco." He shouted, swimming around in a circle next to me, waiting for me to say it.
"Polo." I shouted in his direction. He swam right up next to me, and tagged me on the leg.
"Got you." He said enthusiastically. He started jumping up and down in the water, splashing me as he did. I started laughing as I splashed him back. I picked him up, and swung him around and around, all the while, he was laughing. I finally put him down, grabbed his hand, and walked with him back on shore.
"Jack, there's something I wanted to tell you, something really cool." I told him. He started getting really excited as we were walking back to the beach.
"What is it dad? You gonna go to the Moon, or to Mars?" He asked.
"Even better, remember that planet I told you about, Alpha-Simon 23776-98?" I asked him.
"Do you mean Datur, daddy?" He asked sarcastically, as if he was the one who named it, and I'm stealing that from him.
"Yes, Datur, thank you. Well, NASA has been working for many, many years to build a space ship that could travel to that planet, and they finally finished it. There's only one problem, they need someone to go to that planet to explore it. Guess who they chose?" I asked him. However, I didn't get the reaction I was hoping for as Jack's head fell to his chest, and a frown developed on his face.
"You did." He answered. He almost seemed ashamed of the fact that I was chosen to lead this historic expedition to this new world.
"What's wrong?" I asked him.
"Well, you told me that whoever went would be gone for a very long time. That means I'll probably never see you again. I want you to stay." He said as he grabbed my legs, refusing to let go.
"Jack, I have to do this. You and mommy will be taken care of, I promise." I told him. As I was speaking, he started to cry.
"No! No, you can't go, I need you, daddy." He shouted. His shouts were stabbing me at the depths of my soul. "Please, Please don't go." As he was talking, my vision started to narrow, and everything started getting dark. Just as I was about to lose my vision, all I heard was, "Please."
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Journey to Datur Part 4: Life Beyond
December 18th 2052
I have been traveling around Soles Valley for most of the week, appreciating the view and beauty that this planet has to offer. Also, I believe I have been tracking whatever it was that I saw when I first entered Soles valley. I'm always so close to finding whatever it is that keeps eluding my grasp. I have ran the batteries on the E.M.V. to empty multiple times looking for it, but it just refuses to be caught. I wonder if it has some kind of super speed, or maybe a special cloaking ability. It's possible, I suppose, I mean, I don't know what kind of abilities the lifeforms on this planet posses. I was inspecting another spot, when I started to hear something that sounded like a chirping behind me. It wasn't so much a chirping like a bird, but more like a squawk and a peep mixed together. I turned around quickly, but this time, I actually saw something. I just barely saw it, it flew away just as I turned around, but I know I saw it. It looked like it was dark pink in color, but it might have been red, it was too quick for me to see. I heard the sound behind me again, and I turned around, only this time, there was nothing behind me. I started looking around, trying to find out where that sound came from. Where did it go? I wanted to drive around, but the E.M.V. is almost dead, so I have the solar cells charging it now. Meanwhile, I keep having some kind of nagging feeling in the back of my head, like I'm supposed to be doing something important. Something about a lake or a river, well whatever it is, it can wait. I swear I'll catch this elusive creature that has thus far managed to evade my grasp.
I started walking into a small outcrop of trees when I noticed something moving on one of the branches. That's it! That has to be thing I've been chasing. I quickly started running over to the tree when suddenly, I was whipped across the back by one of those trees with the tongues. I had recently decided to call these trees bullwhip trees, but that aside, I just got hit by one of them. It tore through my suit, but didn't cut me, I guess my suit absorbed the brunt of the impact. Anyway, I can't stop now, I'm so close to finally discovering advanced life on this planet, I just can't stop. I started feeling an intense draft from the cut in my suit, but I actually kind of like it. The air is clean and brisk, it helps me to keep going. I started running faster and faster towards the tree where the creature was, but I started losing my vision. My vision was starting to narrow, but I was still driven to get that animal. I can still see it, sitting on the branch, waiting...for...me...to...get...
I started gasping for air as I fell to the ground, no longer concerned about catching the animal, only with catching my breath. I continued taking deep breaths, in and out, in and out. I tried to sit, but that took too much energy, instead I decided to lay down. Just as I put my head down, I heard something. I looked over, and standing right next to me was, oh my God, it's the creature I've been searching for. It looked somewhat like a little bird, about the size of a dove, but it had a long, pointed beak, and six eyes, two looking forward, two on the sides, and two looking down beneath it's beak, about where the chin would be, if birds had chins. It hopped over right next to my head, and it squawked at me. It's beak split into four pieces, each piece had rows of sharp teeth, which probably means that this bird is carnivorous. After it squawked, it started pecking at my suit, when it couldn't get through, it started trying to chew it. It continued getting more and more aggressive with me, but as long as it doesn't start attacking my exposed back, I should be fine. He continued attacking me, which started getting annoying, but I found I couldn't really move, so I just let him continue. He eventually got bored, so he turned away, and flew off. I thought that would be the last time I would see him, and as fate would have it, it was. The bullwhip tree that got me earlier whipped right at the bird as it was flying by, and it paralyzed it instantly. Maybe that's what happened to me, the tree might have some kind of toxin that causes paralysis. I just wasn't as immediately affected because I'm bigger than the tree's normal prey. Anyway, I managed to turn my head enough to watch as the tree uprooted some of it's roots to pull the bird underneath. Maybe it's not a tree, or a plant, at all. Maybe it's some kind of immobile animal, like coral or sea sponges. Although, it could be a carnivorous plant, like the venus fly trap, I just can't tell for sure yet. Well, since it seems that I have been poisoned by that tree, or animal thing, I guess I'm just going to have to lay here until I recover, if I recover.
I lay among the plants when suddenly I heard a strange noise, one that was familiar, but I still didn't immediately recognize. It was faded, yet still present, like something living made the sound. "Daddy." I heard in a faint whisper. "Daddy." I head again. I tried looking around, but I didn't see anything. It's dark, I think, everything seems well lit, but the sky looks black. It actually looked more like the sky was erased, everything above the trees looked like it no longer existed. "What's mommy..." the voice started to say, but faded too rapidly for me to get the rest. I had enough strength to sit up, but that was about it. I slowly looked around me until I caught sight of a figure standing in the distance. The figure started to approach me, slowly walking up to me as if it wanted to greet me, but was unsure of me as well. "Mommy." The figure mumbled. I started looking around again, when I noticed behind me there was another figure, this one of a woman. She was slumped down, looking like she was crying, but not making any sound.
"Jack, mommy is sick right now, she doesn't..." I started to say, but I caught myself. What just happened? It's like I couldn't control myself, I just started talking. What's going on? Wait, suddenly, everything started coming together. Yes, this was the night my wife went...the night she died. I looked over at the first shadowy figure, over to Jack, and I said, "Jack mommy is sick right now, she doesn't want to talk." I heard what sounded like an echo when I talked, but it also sounded like someone else was saying the exact same thing I was saying, I can't quite describe what's going on.
"Why is mommy sick? Did she take the bad medicine?" He asked me. I looked over at my wife, who was still crying in the corner. I tried to hold it back, but I just couldn't help it. I started to shed a few tears, but I hid them as best I could in front of my son, I still have to be a man for him, even in the face of such extreme emotion.
"Mommy just doesn't want to talk right now, why don't you just..." I started to say, but the woman figure, my wife, got up.
"How can you do this to us, to him, Richard?" She asked me. She then charged me, then stood just inches away from my face. "How can you just abandon your son like this? How can you just leave to go to some other planet and just pretend that we'll all be okay with it?"
"I told you, the Air Force will pay for all your bills, you will be taken care of." I tried to tell her, but she didn't care.
"Jack needs a father, how can you do that if your billions of miles away from home?" She asked me. She tried to slap me, but I caught her arm before she could hit me. She started struggling before saying, "Jack needs a man in his life, he needs someone he can look up to. I'm just happy you walked out on us, you're not nearly man enough to raise him." She spitted at me. I started to get really mad at her, but I couldn't let Jack see his mother like this.
"Jack, go to your room and don't come out until I tell you." I told him.
"But, dad..." He started to say, but I interrupted him.
"I said room, NOW!" I shouted at him. He looked at me, and he started to cry, but before he shed any tears, he turned away from me, and ran off. "Who ever said that I wanted to go to another planet? Who said I was okay with never being able to see my son again?" I asked her.
"You just don't get it, you don't get it." She told me.
"Look I think it would be best if Jack went to spend some time with your brother, he would be..." I started to say, but was interrupted.
"How dare you! I am a perfectly good mother and parent, I will be here for..." She said but I interrupted her this time.
"You have been smoking methamphetamine, I found your little baggie under the bed, don't lie to me." I confronted her about the meth I found a few weeks ago when I first noticed something different about her.
"That's...that's not what you think it is. It's not mine, it's not meth, it's...um, well it's not meth." She lied to me right to my face, who is this woman?
"Look, I'm going to take Jack to Mark's house, and I'm going to make sure your bad habit's don't rub off on him." I walked over to Jack's room when I heard my wife scream at me.
Then, everything went dark.
I have been traveling around Soles Valley for most of the week, appreciating the view and beauty that this planet has to offer. Also, I believe I have been tracking whatever it was that I saw when I first entered Soles valley. I'm always so close to finding whatever it is that keeps eluding my grasp. I have ran the batteries on the E.M.V. to empty multiple times looking for it, but it just refuses to be caught. I wonder if it has some kind of super speed, or maybe a special cloaking ability. It's possible, I suppose, I mean, I don't know what kind of abilities the lifeforms on this planet posses. I was inspecting another spot, when I started to hear something that sounded like a chirping behind me. It wasn't so much a chirping like a bird, but more like a squawk and a peep mixed together. I turned around quickly, but this time, I actually saw something. I just barely saw it, it flew away just as I turned around, but I know I saw it. It looked like it was dark pink in color, but it might have been red, it was too quick for me to see. I heard the sound behind me again, and I turned around, only this time, there was nothing behind me. I started looking around, trying to find out where that sound came from. Where did it go? I wanted to drive around, but the E.M.V. is almost dead, so I have the solar cells charging it now. Meanwhile, I keep having some kind of nagging feeling in the back of my head, like I'm supposed to be doing something important. Something about a lake or a river, well whatever it is, it can wait. I swear I'll catch this elusive creature that has thus far managed to evade my grasp.
I started walking into a small outcrop of trees when I noticed something moving on one of the branches. That's it! That has to be thing I've been chasing. I quickly started running over to the tree when suddenly, I was whipped across the back by one of those trees with the tongues. I had recently decided to call these trees bullwhip trees, but that aside, I just got hit by one of them. It tore through my suit, but didn't cut me, I guess my suit absorbed the brunt of the impact. Anyway, I can't stop now, I'm so close to finally discovering advanced life on this planet, I just can't stop. I started feeling an intense draft from the cut in my suit, but I actually kind of like it. The air is clean and brisk, it helps me to keep going. I started running faster and faster towards the tree where the creature was, but I started losing my vision. My vision was starting to narrow, but I was still driven to get that animal. I can still see it, sitting on the branch, waiting...for...me...to...get...
I started gasping for air as I fell to the ground, no longer concerned about catching the animal, only with catching my breath. I continued taking deep breaths, in and out, in and out. I tried to sit, but that took too much energy, instead I decided to lay down. Just as I put my head down, I heard something. I looked over, and standing right next to me was, oh my God, it's the creature I've been searching for. It looked somewhat like a little bird, about the size of a dove, but it had a long, pointed beak, and six eyes, two looking forward, two on the sides, and two looking down beneath it's beak, about where the chin would be, if birds had chins. It hopped over right next to my head, and it squawked at me. It's beak split into four pieces, each piece had rows of sharp teeth, which probably means that this bird is carnivorous. After it squawked, it started pecking at my suit, when it couldn't get through, it started trying to chew it. It continued getting more and more aggressive with me, but as long as it doesn't start attacking my exposed back, I should be fine. He continued attacking me, which started getting annoying, but I found I couldn't really move, so I just let him continue. He eventually got bored, so he turned away, and flew off. I thought that would be the last time I would see him, and as fate would have it, it was. The bullwhip tree that got me earlier whipped right at the bird as it was flying by, and it paralyzed it instantly. Maybe that's what happened to me, the tree might have some kind of toxin that causes paralysis. I just wasn't as immediately affected because I'm bigger than the tree's normal prey. Anyway, I managed to turn my head enough to watch as the tree uprooted some of it's roots to pull the bird underneath. Maybe it's not a tree, or a plant, at all. Maybe it's some kind of immobile animal, like coral or sea sponges. Although, it could be a carnivorous plant, like the venus fly trap, I just can't tell for sure yet. Well, since it seems that I have been poisoned by that tree, or animal thing, I guess I'm just going to have to lay here until I recover, if I recover.
I lay among the plants when suddenly I heard a strange noise, one that was familiar, but I still didn't immediately recognize. It was faded, yet still present, like something living made the sound. "Daddy." I heard in a faint whisper. "Daddy." I head again. I tried looking around, but I didn't see anything. It's dark, I think, everything seems well lit, but the sky looks black. It actually looked more like the sky was erased, everything above the trees looked like it no longer existed. "What's mommy..." the voice started to say, but faded too rapidly for me to get the rest. I had enough strength to sit up, but that was about it. I slowly looked around me until I caught sight of a figure standing in the distance. The figure started to approach me, slowly walking up to me as if it wanted to greet me, but was unsure of me as well. "Mommy." The figure mumbled. I started looking around again, when I noticed behind me there was another figure, this one of a woman. She was slumped down, looking like she was crying, but not making any sound.
"Jack, mommy is sick right now, she doesn't..." I started to say, but I caught myself. What just happened? It's like I couldn't control myself, I just started talking. What's going on? Wait, suddenly, everything started coming together. Yes, this was the night my wife went...the night she died. I looked over at the first shadowy figure, over to Jack, and I said, "Jack mommy is sick right now, she doesn't want to talk." I heard what sounded like an echo when I talked, but it also sounded like someone else was saying the exact same thing I was saying, I can't quite describe what's going on.
"Why is mommy sick? Did she take the bad medicine?" He asked me. I looked over at my wife, who was still crying in the corner. I tried to hold it back, but I just couldn't help it. I started to shed a few tears, but I hid them as best I could in front of my son, I still have to be a man for him, even in the face of such extreme emotion.
"Mommy just doesn't want to talk right now, why don't you just..." I started to say, but the woman figure, my wife, got up.
"How can you do this to us, to him, Richard?" She asked me. She then charged me, then stood just inches away from my face. "How can you just abandon your son like this? How can you just leave to go to some other planet and just pretend that we'll all be okay with it?"
"I told you, the Air Force will pay for all your bills, you will be taken care of." I tried to tell her, but she didn't care.
"Jack needs a father, how can you do that if your billions of miles away from home?" She asked me. She tried to slap me, but I caught her arm before she could hit me. She started struggling before saying, "Jack needs a man in his life, he needs someone he can look up to. I'm just happy you walked out on us, you're not nearly man enough to raise him." She spitted at me. I started to get really mad at her, but I couldn't let Jack see his mother like this.
"Jack, go to your room and don't come out until I tell you." I told him.
"But, dad..." He started to say, but I interrupted him.
"I said room, NOW!" I shouted at him. He looked at me, and he started to cry, but before he shed any tears, he turned away from me, and ran off. "Who ever said that I wanted to go to another planet? Who said I was okay with never being able to see my son again?" I asked her.
"You just don't get it, you don't get it." She told me.
"Look I think it would be best if Jack went to spend some time with your brother, he would be..." I started to say, but was interrupted.
"How dare you! I am a perfectly good mother and parent, I will be here for..." She said but I interrupted her this time.
"You have been smoking methamphetamine, I found your little baggie under the bed, don't lie to me." I confronted her about the meth I found a few weeks ago when I first noticed something different about her.
"That's...that's not what you think it is. It's not mine, it's not meth, it's...um, well it's not meth." She lied to me right to my face, who is this woman?
"Look, I'm going to take Jack to Mark's house, and I'm going to make sure your bad habit's don't rub off on him." I walked over to Jack's room when I heard my wife scream at me.
Then, everything went dark.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Journey to Datur Part 3: Soles Nights
December 11th, 2052
I am reporting back after my recent attack from the native vegetation. I played it safe by staying in the lander for 72 hours before venturing back out into the wilderness. So far, I have noticed no ill side effects from the slime of the plants, and the lander's medical tests showed no signs of poison in my bloodstream.The curiosities of this planet continue to fascinate me. While I'm not going back to Helbath Canyon yet, I have decided to err on the side of safety and avoid that area until further scans have been done, I still wish to know more about those plants, the ones that seemed to want to kill me. During my 72 hour medical watch, I came up with a theory as to why those plants erupt so violently from the ground. I believe it is so they can hibernate through the night, survive the cold and lack of light, then break through the ice in the morning so they can get sunlight. Well, I cannot test that theory out yet, but I shall in due time. Until then, my expedition must continue. There is a lake nearby, a couple hours drive from the lander, and I have been tasked by Herald to investigate it for signs of life. Unfortunately, the E.M.V. needs to be charged, as I have used the batteries up driving it back from Helbath. I haven't had time since last week, as I wanted to make certain I wasn't over stressing my hand and leg. While my left hand is almost useless now, my right leg has healed dramatically, I am almost able to walk normally again. I am having Herald test the green slime to see if it has any healing properties, all while trying to relieve the tension from my hand and leg. I started moving my right leg around, watching it move up and down, up and down. Okay, I can't get distracted, I have to plug the E.M.V. into the lander. The E.M.V. is equipped with solar panels to recharge the batteries, so I don't get stuck out in the middle of nowhere, but the lander has a much larger array and can charge the batteries much faster. It will still take a few hours before it's done, so while I'm waiting, I should explore the small rock formation south of my position. I started walking over there, when I got a strange feeling, I feel like I'm not even moving. I start running, yet the rock formation seems no closer than before. I look back, and it seems that the lander is still in the same place. It's as if I'm not even moving. I tried running even faster, yet I am still in the same place. I started to get light headed, so I sat down for a moment. I checked the oxygen level on my environmental suit, and it read normal. I looked around the suit to make sure that this one didn't have any holes in it, which it didn't. What could it be? What...is...causing...
I woke up later that afternoon, somehow right next to the lander, inside the E.M.V. to be more exact. What just happened? Did something move me? Did I pass out? I looked down at the battery level indicator and saw that the E.M.V. was at 100% so I could take it out. I started wondering, however, if I should leave here. Something clearly went wrong, causing me to pass out for a couple hours, maybe I should just relax and go out exploring later. No, I can't do that. Here I am on an alien world, the first man to set foot on a planet in another star system, I can't just take the day off for something as simple as passing out. I probably just stood up too fast and got a head rush, I shouldn't have to worry as long as I don't do it again. I sat down in the driver seat and started the E.M.V. I started to pull away, when I realized that, yet again, I was going nowhere. I pushed harder and harder on the accelerator, yet I didn't move. Is it happening again? I started to panic when I realized I had not detached the E.M.V. from the lander. How could I forget something as simple as that? Personal note, check cognitive functions after trip to the lake. I unplugged the E.M.V. from the lander, and started my trip to the lake. As is my duty, I must name every geographical place I visit. I decided earlier this week that I would name the lake Algalva lake, yet I have not decided on a name for the large valley in which it resides. This valley is a strange place, it dips very low and is very smooth, but in the middle is an area of small mountains and rivers, and it is there that the lake resides. I started looking through my tablet when I remember a conversation I had with my wife before the...no, what happened happened, there is no going back and fixing it, I can only move forward. Come on Richard, you're better than this, don't think about what happened to her, it's not your fault, you made the right choice, and you protected Jack, that's all that matters. Then again, she wouldn't have...STOP! Richard, it's not your fault, you can't keep blaming yourself for what happened to her. Okay, just take a deep breath, in and out, in and out. Okay, I'm better, I think, no, I am better. Now, the conversation I had with my wife, was that it? Right, it was our 15th anniversary, about 3 months before my journey to Datur was to begin. We were talking about our trip to the Mojave Desert in California when we first got married. She always had a fascination with deserts, something about the vegetation and the animal life always stirred up something inside of her. We were driving through Death Valley when she started looking around. She then turned to me and said, "There's not a soul around us."
I responded, "That's why they call it Death Valley." She looked at me and started chuckling.
"This whole valley is soulless." She whispered, "I love it." I could hear her words echoing in the back of my mind. I thought back to that day, that week. That was when everything started going wrong. She wasn't thinking, she made a stupid choice, she tried to hurt Jack, but it wasn't her fault. No, I have a job to do, right now I have to name this valley, I have to put her out of my mind. But, I can't forget the mother of my child, the woman I loved, I won't let her death be in vein. I scrolled down my tablet when I came across the name I know she would have loved.
Soles Valley.
I continued driving until the sun started to set. I have decided I would camp out here tonight. It looks like there will be no plants here to attack me in the morning, just a simple field of soft grass to lay down on and use for a bed. I stopped the E.M.V. in what looks like a small, flat area so I could setup camp. I unloaded my supplies, food, tent, cooking supplies, ect. when I heard a soft rustling behind me. I turned around, but I didn't see anything. Well, must be my imagination, or maybe there was a slight breeze and I just heard the grass rustling. Oh well, whatever it was, it's gone now. I started looking out over the field when I saw the moon setting over the horizon. I thought it looked beautiful, so I took out my camera again. I turned it on and started lining up the shot when I head that rustling again. I looked behind me, but yet again, there was nothing. I continued looking around when I heard it again to my right. I turned, but there was nothing there. Maybe it's just my suit making that noise, or maybe, maybe its an advanced life form. I still haven't found anything that resembles animals on this planet, but that doesn't mean they aren't here. Maybe they're just small and hiding in the grass. Could be an evolutionary defense, hiding in the grass from some predator that has yet been unseen. I put down the camera and started looking in the grass around my campsite for them. I was sifting through the grass when I heard the rustling behind me. I quickly turned around, but this time, I saw the grass move a little. I slowly tiptoed over to the spot, making sure nothing was moving in or out of the grass. I got to the spot and, without thinking, I fell down onto the area where I thought the creature was, trying to tackle it. I quickly started shifting in the grass trying to find any sign of an animal, but there was nothing. I was sure there was something here, I saw the grass move. I sat down and looked out over the valley. I know I saw something move, I just know it. I remembered that I wanted to take a picture of the moon setting. I reached over to my camera, aimed it at the moon, and took the picture. I looked down at the screen, and studied the picture. I wonder if there's some kind of life on that moon. I wonder what mysteries it might hold. Unfortunately, my job is here on Datur, not on it's moon. I'll report my findings when I return, but right now, I have to rest. My energy has been low this past week, and I fear that I might be getting sick. Hopefully it's not a disease from this planet, hopefully it came with me from Earth and the cryo sleep kept it alive in me, only to be reborn now. Hopefully, I'm not even sick, but if I'm not, then what is wrong with me? I must rest for tonight and tomorrow, I will take the first sample of water from this planet and send them to Herald for further analysis.
Good night, and God bless.
Commander Richard Gilman.
I am reporting back after my recent attack from the native vegetation. I played it safe by staying in the lander for 72 hours before venturing back out into the wilderness. So far, I have noticed no ill side effects from the slime of the plants, and the lander's medical tests showed no signs of poison in my bloodstream.The curiosities of this planet continue to fascinate me. While I'm not going back to Helbath Canyon yet, I have decided to err on the side of safety and avoid that area until further scans have been done, I still wish to know more about those plants, the ones that seemed to want to kill me. During my 72 hour medical watch, I came up with a theory as to why those plants erupt so violently from the ground. I believe it is so they can hibernate through the night, survive the cold and lack of light, then break through the ice in the morning so they can get sunlight. Well, I cannot test that theory out yet, but I shall in due time. Until then, my expedition must continue. There is a lake nearby, a couple hours drive from the lander, and I have been tasked by Herald to investigate it for signs of life. Unfortunately, the E.M.V. needs to be charged, as I have used the batteries up driving it back from Helbath. I haven't had time since last week, as I wanted to make certain I wasn't over stressing my hand and leg. While my left hand is almost useless now, my right leg has healed dramatically, I am almost able to walk normally again. I am having Herald test the green slime to see if it has any healing properties, all while trying to relieve the tension from my hand and leg. I started moving my right leg around, watching it move up and down, up and down. Okay, I can't get distracted, I have to plug the E.M.V. into the lander. The E.M.V. is equipped with solar panels to recharge the batteries, so I don't get stuck out in the middle of nowhere, but the lander has a much larger array and can charge the batteries much faster. It will still take a few hours before it's done, so while I'm waiting, I should explore the small rock formation south of my position. I started walking over there, when I got a strange feeling, I feel like I'm not even moving. I start running, yet the rock formation seems no closer than before. I look back, and it seems that the lander is still in the same place. It's as if I'm not even moving. I tried running even faster, yet I am still in the same place. I started to get light headed, so I sat down for a moment. I checked the oxygen level on my environmental suit, and it read normal. I looked around the suit to make sure that this one didn't have any holes in it, which it didn't. What could it be? What...is...causing...
I woke up later that afternoon, somehow right next to the lander, inside the E.M.V. to be more exact. What just happened? Did something move me? Did I pass out? I looked down at the battery level indicator and saw that the E.M.V. was at 100% so I could take it out. I started wondering, however, if I should leave here. Something clearly went wrong, causing me to pass out for a couple hours, maybe I should just relax and go out exploring later. No, I can't do that. Here I am on an alien world, the first man to set foot on a planet in another star system, I can't just take the day off for something as simple as passing out. I probably just stood up too fast and got a head rush, I shouldn't have to worry as long as I don't do it again. I sat down in the driver seat and started the E.M.V. I started to pull away, when I realized that, yet again, I was going nowhere. I pushed harder and harder on the accelerator, yet I didn't move. Is it happening again? I started to panic when I realized I had not detached the E.M.V. from the lander. How could I forget something as simple as that? Personal note, check cognitive functions after trip to the lake. I unplugged the E.M.V. from the lander, and started my trip to the lake. As is my duty, I must name every geographical place I visit. I decided earlier this week that I would name the lake Algalva lake, yet I have not decided on a name for the large valley in which it resides. This valley is a strange place, it dips very low and is very smooth, but in the middle is an area of small mountains and rivers, and it is there that the lake resides. I started looking through my tablet when I remember a conversation I had with my wife before the...no, what happened happened, there is no going back and fixing it, I can only move forward. Come on Richard, you're better than this, don't think about what happened to her, it's not your fault, you made the right choice, and you protected Jack, that's all that matters. Then again, she wouldn't have...STOP! Richard, it's not your fault, you can't keep blaming yourself for what happened to her. Okay, just take a deep breath, in and out, in and out. Okay, I'm better, I think, no, I am better. Now, the conversation I had with my wife, was that it? Right, it was our 15th anniversary, about 3 months before my journey to Datur was to begin. We were talking about our trip to the Mojave Desert in California when we first got married. She always had a fascination with deserts, something about the vegetation and the animal life always stirred up something inside of her. We were driving through Death Valley when she started looking around. She then turned to me and said, "There's not a soul around us."
I responded, "That's why they call it Death Valley." She looked at me and started chuckling.
"This whole valley is soulless." She whispered, "I love it." I could hear her words echoing in the back of my mind. I thought back to that day, that week. That was when everything started going wrong. She wasn't thinking, she made a stupid choice, she tried to hurt Jack, but it wasn't her fault. No, I have a job to do, right now I have to name this valley, I have to put her out of my mind. But, I can't forget the mother of my child, the woman I loved, I won't let her death be in vein. I scrolled down my tablet when I came across the name I know she would have loved.
Soles Valley.
I continued driving until the sun started to set. I have decided I would camp out here tonight. It looks like there will be no plants here to attack me in the morning, just a simple field of soft grass to lay down on and use for a bed. I stopped the E.M.V. in what looks like a small, flat area so I could setup camp. I unloaded my supplies, food, tent, cooking supplies, ect. when I heard a soft rustling behind me. I turned around, but I didn't see anything. Well, must be my imagination, or maybe there was a slight breeze and I just heard the grass rustling. Oh well, whatever it was, it's gone now. I started looking out over the field when I saw the moon setting over the horizon. I thought it looked beautiful, so I took out my camera again. I turned it on and started lining up the shot when I head that rustling again. I looked behind me, but yet again, there was nothing. I continued looking around when I heard it again to my right. I turned, but there was nothing there. Maybe it's just my suit making that noise, or maybe, maybe its an advanced life form. I still haven't found anything that resembles animals on this planet, but that doesn't mean they aren't here. Maybe they're just small and hiding in the grass. Could be an evolutionary defense, hiding in the grass from some predator that has yet been unseen. I put down the camera and started looking in the grass around my campsite for them. I was sifting through the grass when I heard the rustling behind me. I quickly turned around, but this time, I saw the grass move a little. I slowly tiptoed over to the spot, making sure nothing was moving in or out of the grass. I got to the spot and, without thinking, I fell down onto the area where I thought the creature was, trying to tackle it. I quickly started shifting in the grass trying to find any sign of an animal, but there was nothing. I was sure there was something here, I saw the grass move. I sat down and looked out over the valley. I know I saw something move, I just know it. I remembered that I wanted to take a picture of the moon setting. I reached over to my camera, aimed it at the moon, and took the picture. I looked down at the screen, and studied the picture. I wonder if there's some kind of life on that moon. I wonder what mysteries it might hold. Unfortunately, my job is here on Datur, not on it's moon. I'll report my findings when I return, but right now, I have to rest. My energy has been low this past week, and I fear that I might be getting sick. Hopefully it's not a disease from this planet, hopefully it came with me from Earth and the cryo sleep kept it alive in me, only to be reborn now. Hopefully, I'm not even sick, but if I'm not, then what is wrong with me? I must rest for tonight and tomorrow, I will take the first sample of water from this planet and send them to Herald for further analysis.
Good night, and God bless.
Commander Richard Gilman.
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| I am camping inside of Soles Valley, on my way to Algalva Lake to take the first water samples from Datur. I have been having strange dreams as well as one episode in which I fainted. On my return trip, I will use the medical examiner on the lander to uplink with Herald's medical bay to ensure my cognitive function is still at it's peak. I will examine the results and adjust my behaviors accordingly. I really hope there is nothing wrong with me. |
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Journey to Datur Part 2:Seven Circles of Helbath
December 4th 2052
Day 7 of my journey to this Alien world I have dubbed Datur. I have been traveling this illustrious planet for a week now, and I must admit, the beauty is awe inspiring. I have yet to find any advanced life outside of basic plant life, but what I have found is very beautiful. I have freeze dried a few specimens and taken photos of larger plant life that I cannot take with me. I have filled my E.M.V. three times this week, and I now realize I should pace myself a little more, as the landing pod is rapidly filling to capacity. I'll have to sort through what I have to select the most vital specimens for the return trip to Earth. I really wish I could take it all, the whole planet, back with me. There's so much here, things I never even dreamed of before. Plants that blossom flowers that look like completely different plants. There is one tree around here that seems to blossom flowers that look like cactus, or a tree looking planet that has a tongue whipping about wildly at it's trunk. It looks as if a snake was caught in a tree, and it was trying to find prey from it's new snare of a home. I have taken video recordings of these strange lifeforms, but due to data transfer limitations, I cannot send video files back to Earth. They will be uploaded to the ship, and return back with me. I have camped in the driver seat of the E.M.V. tonight so I can take a journey to a nearby canyon that was mapped out from the orbiting Geostationary Intergalactic Transmitter and Storage Shuttle affectionately called Herald. Before I was sent on my journey, I was given a list by many of my colleagues for names of any given area of the planet. I pulled up the list on my tablet, and started searching for names for canyons. I looked down the list, until I reached a name I believe is most fitting.
Helbath Canyon
It is nearly sunrise, and I am only a few miles away from the canyon. I want to take a picture of the planet-moon that is particularly large in the sky tonight from atop one of the mountains. I started the E.M.V. and started driving over the rough terrain to Helbath. The land here is really rocky, and devoid of life. This seems to be similar to deserts on Earth, very dry, and very warm. From what I can tell, Helbath Canyon will be similar to, say, the grand canyon back on Earth. Initial scans seem to point to Helbath being about 5,000 square miles, with canyons almost a mile deep at some points. Scans also seem to indicate that the canyon is made up of seven unique areas. Each area is elliptical but fairly uniform, that is, the boundaries between , and is separated by certain weather variations. There is blizzard, thunderstorm, tropical, temperate, desert, where I currently am, tundra, and high winds. My current job is to place weather tracking devices in each area to understand what it is that causes such a unique weather pattern in such close proximity to each other.
I continued driving up the mountain, slowly but surely ascending to it's peak, so I can take a picture of the beautiful sunrise. As I ascend, the temperature starts rapidly dropping, something I expected, however, it drops much more rapidly than what I am used to on Earth. As I am driving up, I notice snow has started forming on the ground. The higher I go, the more snow there is. I pulled to the side to get a sample, as this is the first real encounter I've had with the water of this planet. I scooped up a sample, and I poured it into a jar, I'll analyze that later when I get back to the lander. Right now, however, I have a little time to kill, and I have been working very hard over the past week, I think I deserve a little break. I jumped into the snow, and even though the environmental suit I was wearing prohibited me from touching the snow, I could still feel the cold running through my hands. I fell backwards into a patch of snow and started making a snow angel. I had a flashback to when I took Jack up to the snow for the first time. He was about, oh, five I believe, and when he first saw the snow on the side of the road. At the time, I was stationed at Beale Air Force Base in California, and the snow was only about an hour drive away, yet I was always busy, so taking him up to the snow was difficult. Finally, my wife told me I had to take the day off and be with my son. While it was hard to get the day off, I knew she was right, I had to be there for my son. My own father was always there for me, and it made me the man I am today, so I had to do that for Jack, I owed him that much. When we arrived, we pulled into a little parking lot, and went to the hill right next to it, and spent the day sledding down the hill and throwing snowballs at each other. That was one of the best days of my life, father and son, bonding in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. We were at one with nature, and with each other. Even with all we did that day, the moment that stood out by far was when we were lying next to each other, the sun was setting, the sky a magnificent red, the shadows descending on the side of the mountain, everything was so perfect and beautiful. Jack turned around to look me in the eyes, and he said, "Daddy, I want to tell you something."
"What is it, Jack?" I asked him.
"I love you." He responded. When he said that, my body was filled with an overwhelming sense of warmth and joy. My son, my blood, my everything, told me he loved me. I wouldn't trade that moment for anything, ever. Something like that can keep me contempt on this lonely world better than any amount of wealth or any material possession. I feel like I could live the rest of my life on this planet and never want for anything, just the knowledge that my son loves me.
I was lying in the middle of the snow angel I made, when I noticed the sun was coming up. Well, I guess it's time for me to get back to work. I was about to get up, when I felt a sudden and sharp pain coming from my right leg. Just a second after, I started to feel an intense draft flow through my suit. I grunted in pain, as I looked down to see some kind of plant had shot up out of the snow, and had ripped through my environmental suit, and tore a gash in my leg. SHIT SHIT FUCK SHIT, these plants ripped my suit, exposing me to potentially lethal bacteria or poisons. I started to panic all while trying to figure out how to fix my suit and heal my leg. I can get back to the lander, and use the first aid kit there, but that's at least 10 hours away, I have to fix my leg now, or I'll bleed out in less than an hour. I know in the E.M.V. there are a few rolls of duct tape I could use as bandages and as a patch for my suit. I started crawling through the snow, but as I was moving, more of these plants started erupting from out of the ground. They came up randomly and sporadically all around me. One popped up right in front of me, and another came up right under the E.M.V., but luckily, the bottom is reinforced with 2 inches of hardened steel, the plant never stood a chance. I have to make it to the E.M.V. if I am to get out of here safely. I continued crawling, but right as I was about to crawl into the driver seat, one of those plants shot straight through my left hand, leaving me in agonizing pain. I grunted and moaned, all while I slid my hand up the plant and freed my hand from the clutches of the evil spike. With all of my strength I could muster, I pulled myself into the vehicle and into safety from these plants. I went into the back seat and I opened up my tool chest and pulled out the duct tape. I started ripping pieces off, which was made all the harder considering my left hand had a large hole in the middle, leaving me with dexterity in my index finger and thumb alone. I started patching the injury on my leg first, as that was the more severe injury. Surprisingly there was very little blood loss from the wound, considering it's size. With my right hand, still covered by the suit, I wiped the wound and brought it back to see what had happened. Instead of being red, my hand came back dark green. These plants must exude some kind of green slime for some reason, and that must be what's blocking the blood flow. I looked at my left hand, and I saw the same dark slime there as well. Either way, I still have to patch my suit, I'll worry about the slime, and whether or not it's poisonous later. I finally patched my suit as best I could, so I got back into the driver seat, and I turned on the E.M.V. Just as I was about to drive away, the sun was rising, and there was a calm mist that had formed in the valleys. I know this is an emergency, but I had to take a picture, the picture I ventured up here to take. I pulled out my camera, and took one quick shot of the beautiful canyon that lay in front of me. Now, I must venture back to the lander and get medical treatment. God willing, I will survive the day, and hopefully will be able to continue my research on this planet. I will report back in one week, if I am still alive, with any and all of my new findings.
Good day, and God bless.
Commander Richard Gilman
Day 7 of my journey to this Alien world I have dubbed Datur. I have been traveling this illustrious planet for a week now, and I must admit, the beauty is awe inspiring. I have yet to find any advanced life outside of basic plant life, but what I have found is very beautiful. I have freeze dried a few specimens and taken photos of larger plant life that I cannot take with me. I have filled my E.M.V. three times this week, and I now realize I should pace myself a little more, as the landing pod is rapidly filling to capacity. I'll have to sort through what I have to select the most vital specimens for the return trip to Earth. I really wish I could take it all, the whole planet, back with me. There's so much here, things I never even dreamed of before. Plants that blossom flowers that look like completely different plants. There is one tree around here that seems to blossom flowers that look like cactus, or a tree looking planet that has a tongue whipping about wildly at it's trunk. It looks as if a snake was caught in a tree, and it was trying to find prey from it's new snare of a home. I have taken video recordings of these strange lifeforms, but due to data transfer limitations, I cannot send video files back to Earth. They will be uploaded to the ship, and return back with me. I have camped in the driver seat of the E.M.V. tonight so I can take a journey to a nearby canyon that was mapped out from the orbiting Geostationary Intergalactic Transmitter and Storage Shuttle affectionately called Herald. Before I was sent on my journey, I was given a list by many of my colleagues for names of any given area of the planet. I pulled up the list on my tablet, and started searching for names for canyons. I looked down the list, until I reached a name I believe is most fitting.
Helbath Canyon
It is nearly sunrise, and I am only a few miles away from the canyon. I want to take a picture of the planet-moon that is particularly large in the sky tonight from atop one of the mountains. I started the E.M.V. and started driving over the rough terrain to Helbath. The land here is really rocky, and devoid of life. This seems to be similar to deserts on Earth, very dry, and very warm. From what I can tell, Helbath Canyon will be similar to, say, the grand canyon back on Earth. Initial scans seem to point to Helbath being about 5,000 square miles, with canyons almost a mile deep at some points. Scans also seem to indicate that the canyon is made up of seven unique areas. Each area is elliptical but fairly uniform, that is, the boundaries between , and is separated by certain weather variations. There is blizzard, thunderstorm, tropical, temperate, desert, where I currently am, tundra, and high winds. My current job is to place weather tracking devices in each area to understand what it is that causes such a unique weather pattern in such close proximity to each other.
I continued driving up the mountain, slowly but surely ascending to it's peak, so I can take a picture of the beautiful sunrise. As I ascend, the temperature starts rapidly dropping, something I expected, however, it drops much more rapidly than what I am used to on Earth. As I am driving up, I notice snow has started forming on the ground. The higher I go, the more snow there is. I pulled to the side to get a sample, as this is the first real encounter I've had with the water of this planet. I scooped up a sample, and I poured it into a jar, I'll analyze that later when I get back to the lander. Right now, however, I have a little time to kill, and I have been working very hard over the past week, I think I deserve a little break. I jumped into the snow, and even though the environmental suit I was wearing prohibited me from touching the snow, I could still feel the cold running through my hands. I fell backwards into a patch of snow and started making a snow angel. I had a flashback to when I took Jack up to the snow for the first time. He was about, oh, five I believe, and when he first saw the snow on the side of the road. At the time, I was stationed at Beale Air Force Base in California, and the snow was only about an hour drive away, yet I was always busy, so taking him up to the snow was difficult. Finally, my wife told me I had to take the day off and be with my son. While it was hard to get the day off, I knew she was right, I had to be there for my son. My own father was always there for me, and it made me the man I am today, so I had to do that for Jack, I owed him that much. When we arrived, we pulled into a little parking lot, and went to the hill right next to it, and spent the day sledding down the hill and throwing snowballs at each other. That was one of the best days of my life, father and son, bonding in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. We were at one with nature, and with each other. Even with all we did that day, the moment that stood out by far was when we were lying next to each other, the sun was setting, the sky a magnificent red, the shadows descending on the side of the mountain, everything was so perfect and beautiful. Jack turned around to look me in the eyes, and he said, "Daddy, I want to tell you something."
"What is it, Jack?" I asked him.
"I love you." He responded. When he said that, my body was filled with an overwhelming sense of warmth and joy. My son, my blood, my everything, told me he loved me. I wouldn't trade that moment for anything, ever. Something like that can keep me contempt on this lonely world better than any amount of wealth or any material possession. I feel like I could live the rest of my life on this planet and never want for anything, just the knowledge that my son loves me.
I was lying in the middle of the snow angel I made, when I noticed the sun was coming up. Well, I guess it's time for me to get back to work. I was about to get up, when I felt a sudden and sharp pain coming from my right leg. Just a second after, I started to feel an intense draft flow through my suit. I grunted in pain, as I looked down to see some kind of plant had shot up out of the snow, and had ripped through my environmental suit, and tore a gash in my leg. SHIT SHIT FUCK SHIT, these plants ripped my suit, exposing me to potentially lethal bacteria or poisons. I started to panic all while trying to figure out how to fix my suit and heal my leg. I can get back to the lander, and use the first aid kit there, but that's at least 10 hours away, I have to fix my leg now, or I'll bleed out in less than an hour. I know in the E.M.V. there are a few rolls of duct tape I could use as bandages and as a patch for my suit. I started crawling through the snow, but as I was moving, more of these plants started erupting from out of the ground. They came up randomly and sporadically all around me. One popped up right in front of me, and another came up right under the E.M.V., but luckily, the bottom is reinforced with 2 inches of hardened steel, the plant never stood a chance. I have to make it to the E.M.V. if I am to get out of here safely. I continued crawling, but right as I was about to crawl into the driver seat, one of those plants shot straight through my left hand, leaving me in agonizing pain. I grunted and moaned, all while I slid my hand up the plant and freed my hand from the clutches of the evil spike. With all of my strength I could muster, I pulled myself into the vehicle and into safety from these plants. I went into the back seat and I opened up my tool chest and pulled out the duct tape. I started ripping pieces off, which was made all the harder considering my left hand had a large hole in the middle, leaving me with dexterity in my index finger and thumb alone. I started patching the injury on my leg first, as that was the more severe injury. Surprisingly there was very little blood loss from the wound, considering it's size. With my right hand, still covered by the suit, I wiped the wound and brought it back to see what had happened. Instead of being red, my hand came back dark green. These plants must exude some kind of green slime for some reason, and that must be what's blocking the blood flow. I looked at my left hand, and I saw the same dark slime there as well. Either way, I still have to patch my suit, I'll worry about the slime, and whether or not it's poisonous later. I finally patched my suit as best I could, so I got back into the driver seat, and I turned on the E.M.V. Just as I was about to drive away, the sun was rising, and there was a calm mist that had formed in the valleys. I know this is an emergency, but I had to take a picture, the picture I ventured up here to take. I pulled out my camera, and took one quick shot of the beautiful canyon that lay in front of me. Now, I must venture back to the lander and get medical treatment. God willing, I will survive the day, and hopefully will be able to continue my research on this planet. I will report back in one week, if I am still alive, with any and all of my new findings.
Good day, and God bless.
Commander Richard Gilman
 |
| This is Commander Richard Gilman, I have been on Datur for one week now, and I must say, the mysteries of this planet would take a lifetime to unveil, unfortunately, I only have 6 months to complete my research. I give to you this picture of Helbath Canyon right at sunrise. It's beauty is insurmountable, and even with my recent injuries, it has been the greatest part of my short journey on this wonderful plant. I only hope now that it will not be my last. |
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Journey to Datur Part 1: Arrival
November 27, 2052
Today ends my long, tedious journey across the stars to a planet 8.5 light years away from Earth, a planet that has been theorized to contain all the necessary resources to sustain human life, water, oxygen, plant and animal life, and more. Today, I will finally set foot on solid ground after, well I can't seem to remember how long it has been. Note, the cryo sleep seems to have affected my memory to some degree as I have trouble recalling my last moments on Earth. If my memory serves me correctly, I left Earth sometime in 2018, which means my trip took approximately 34 years to complete. This seems accurate, as the ship's propulsion drives move the ship at about 1/4th light speed. So then, I haven't touched solid ground in 34 years. Well, there's one mystery solved. I am currently looking out one of the windows on the starboard side of the ship, looking onto the planet I will soon be walking on. This day is one to be marked in the history books, as it is today, for the first time in history, man as set foot on a planet outside their own star system. The computers are currently running a diagnostic of the atmosphere to confirm it's makeup, and also to ensure the water is drinkable. No matter what, I will be going down onto that planet within a couple hours. Earth didn't spend 2 trillion dollars and 15 years of secrecy to develop this ship just so I could go up next to a planet after all. Funny, 2 trillion dollars for a ship, yet the camera they gave me to take pictures with was only worth about 750 dollars 34 years ago. I wonder what kind of camera someone could get for 750 dollars now? I do remember this camera a little bit, though. I was told to take it home and practice with it on my family and friends, get used to it's feel and it's features. I turned it on, and it slowly whirred to life after 34 years of dormancy. I started checking everything, and even taking a few test pictures to ensure it still works, which it does. I then went to the slideshow portion of the camera, and I looked back at all the fond memories I had with my friends. Yeah, I remember this photo. A couple weeks before leaving for my journey, me and some friends went down to a bar and they got wasted. They tried to hook me up with some drunk woman at the bar, who I don't even think was 21. I politely refused, and they called me a pussy whipped little bitch for not fucking every last woman I met. They seem to forget, or at least not want to acknowledge, the fact that I am, or was, happily married. Yup, those are my friends...were my friends. Speaking of happily married, I came across a picture of me and my wife, Leslie. I remember we were walking through a rose garden near where we live, and we had someone take a picture of us as we kissed under a wooden arch that was covered in roses. It was so romantic, and it was on that day that I fell in love with her all over again. I put my hand over the picture, as her image just brings back too many painful memories. I had to continue past her, and I did. I stopped on a picture of my little boy, Jack. He was wearing all of his Boston Red Sox gear, along with a catchers mit while holding a baseball. He wanted so badly to become a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, I wonder if he had realized his dream? He always wore Red Sox gear, the hat, the jersey, everything. We would always play catch in the yard, and it was there that I took this picture. He was only 10 when I took it, which means by now, he must be 44 years old. He probably has his own children in High School by now. I had to laugh a little. Because of the cryo sleep, I haven't aged a day since I left. I am biologically still 32 years old. My son is actually older than I am. My laughter turned quickly to sorrow as I realized that by the time I get back, he will probably be 78 years old, but I will still be 32. I will almost certainly have to watch my son die. I quickly turned off the camera to avoid thinking about it, and instead, turned my attention to preparation for landing on the planet surface. I know that back on Earth, this planet is called Alpha-Simon 23776-98, but that doesn't sound like a proper planet name. I remember the day I left for NASA, just about a week before the launch of this space craft, my boy came up to me and asked me what planet I was going to visit. I told him the name, and he didn't like it either. He told me he had a better name for it, so I asked him what it should be called. When he told me, I knew right away that it was the perfect name for this planet.
Datur.
I began final preparation within the ship for the planet surface. I checked the Extraterrestrial Mobility Vehicle, essentially a go-kart for other planets, and I performed a diagnostic of my environmental suit. I am not sure if or what kinds of diseases are on this planet, so I can't yet risk taking off my suit in the atmosphere until I know what's down there. The E.M.V. is equipped with an air quality monitor and will send data about the environment back to the ship so the data can be transferred back to Earth. As I was performing my diagnostics, I looked out the window to see a large object, about half the size of Datur, hovering dangerously close to the planet, maybe only 200,000 miles away. It caught me by surprise because no one observed anything hovering around this planet before, and I didn't see it earlier. Is it another planet that is about to crash into Datur, thus destroying it? I stood in anticipation, as I saw the massive object swing around the planet, and come within what must have been 100,000 miles of the planet. But, it then quickly started moving away from Datur, and I realized this must be a natural satellite that orbits the planet, much like our moon orbits Earth. This is Datur's moon. Once I realized this object poses no risk to the planet, I actually stood in amazement at it's majesty. It was grace and majesty beyond words to look at one world circling another, two spheres of life dancing an endless dance in the heavens so far from my home. No, there's no time for that, I must land soon. I got into the pod that will be taking me down. I performed all my safety checks, made sure that I was fastened into my seat, checked all life support, and soon after, it launched me towards the planet. The craft started to burn as it entered the atmosphere, but all gauges read normal, so I wasn't too worried. I fell for a couple minutes, and before long, the parachute opened, and I drifted slowly down to the planet surface. A few minutes later, I felt the thud that meant I had landed on an alien world. All gauges still read normal, so the ship was ready for takeoff when my journey to this planet is complete. I unbuckled myself and I put on my environmental suit. I don't have access to the E.M.V. from in here, so I have to go outside to unpack it. Outside, onto the first planet mankind has ever visited outside his own solar system. I thought back to when I was a kid and I watched an old news cast of when Neil Armstrong first landed on the moon, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." he told the world as he set foot on the surface of the moon. Not since that fateful day back in July of 1969 has such a historical event taken place. Well, I had heard there were plans to put someone on Mars, but I don't know if that has actually happened yet. I guess if they can send a man to another star system, they can send someone to Mars, heh. I suddenly became distracted by a beeping sound from one of the gauges in front of me. It was the air quality gauge, indicating that the air outside was good enough for me to breathe, 19.5% oxygen, 80% Nitrogen, .5% other gases. A little less oxygen than on Earth, but as long as I take deep breaths and don't over strain myself, I should be fine. I'm also thankful that I won't have to take my huge air tank around with me, and instead I can just rely on my filter to filter out any strange diseases or poisons that might exist on this planet. I unbuckled my seat belt and walked over to the window to take my first look of the planet of Datur. I could feel the excitement bubbling and boiling inside me as I pressed my face against the glass. My eyes widened as I looked out onto the awe inspiring landscape that was before me. I had landed on a mountain and set before me was a mountain range of unsurpassing beauty. Behind the mountains, the planet from earlier was setting in the distance quite rapidly. I must take a picture of this beauty and preserve it for the future of mankind. I quickly put on my environmental suit, picked up my camera, and pressurized the cabin before opening the door for the fist time onto this new and alien world. I grabbed the latch, gave it one mighty pull, and with a few clicks and bangs, the cabin door unlocked, slowly creaking and groaning, letting it's over 30 years of age be known to all who would hear it. I took a deep breath, this is it, the first time man has established a presence on a world outside his own solar system. On this day, Wednesday November 27th, 2052 A.D., mankind has become intergalactic travelers. With my camera in hand, I pushed against the door, and with much strain and force, the door opened onto this new, alien world. I looked out over the mountains and at that moment, a tear fell from my eye. "I wish you could see this, Jack." I whispered to myself as I stepped off the landing pod and made first contact with the alien world. The sun was setting quickly, so I quickly turned my camera back on, moved the setting to nature mode and took the first ever picture of an alien world. I watched as the image came to life on the screen of my camera. The image was as perfect as any image could be, yet it still didn't capture the full reality and beauty that this evening had to offer. I wish I could continue on, but, since I cannot explore at night, I must get some rest and wait for morning. I will document my finding, and in one week, I will upload them so they can be sent back to Earth. With that, I must sign out for the week, tomorrow, I start my journey of the planet Datur, and into the pages of history.
Good night, and God bless.
Commander Richard Gilman
Today ends my long, tedious journey across the stars to a planet 8.5 light years away from Earth, a planet that has been theorized to contain all the necessary resources to sustain human life, water, oxygen, plant and animal life, and more. Today, I will finally set foot on solid ground after, well I can't seem to remember how long it has been. Note, the cryo sleep seems to have affected my memory to some degree as I have trouble recalling my last moments on Earth. If my memory serves me correctly, I left Earth sometime in 2018, which means my trip took approximately 34 years to complete. This seems accurate, as the ship's propulsion drives move the ship at about 1/4th light speed. So then, I haven't touched solid ground in 34 years. Well, there's one mystery solved. I am currently looking out one of the windows on the starboard side of the ship, looking onto the planet I will soon be walking on. This day is one to be marked in the history books, as it is today, for the first time in history, man as set foot on a planet outside their own star system. The computers are currently running a diagnostic of the atmosphere to confirm it's makeup, and also to ensure the water is drinkable. No matter what, I will be going down onto that planet within a couple hours. Earth didn't spend 2 trillion dollars and 15 years of secrecy to develop this ship just so I could go up next to a planet after all. Funny, 2 trillion dollars for a ship, yet the camera they gave me to take pictures with was only worth about 750 dollars 34 years ago. I wonder what kind of camera someone could get for 750 dollars now? I do remember this camera a little bit, though. I was told to take it home and practice with it on my family and friends, get used to it's feel and it's features. I turned it on, and it slowly whirred to life after 34 years of dormancy. I started checking everything, and even taking a few test pictures to ensure it still works, which it does. I then went to the slideshow portion of the camera, and I looked back at all the fond memories I had with my friends. Yeah, I remember this photo. A couple weeks before leaving for my journey, me and some friends went down to a bar and they got wasted. They tried to hook me up with some drunk woman at the bar, who I don't even think was 21. I politely refused, and they called me a pussy whipped little bitch for not fucking every last woman I met. They seem to forget, or at least not want to acknowledge, the fact that I am, or was, happily married. Yup, those are my friends...were my friends. Speaking of happily married, I came across a picture of me and my wife, Leslie. I remember we were walking through a rose garden near where we live, and we had someone take a picture of us as we kissed under a wooden arch that was covered in roses. It was so romantic, and it was on that day that I fell in love with her all over again. I put my hand over the picture, as her image just brings back too many painful memories. I had to continue past her, and I did. I stopped on a picture of my little boy, Jack. He was wearing all of his Boston Red Sox gear, along with a catchers mit while holding a baseball. He wanted so badly to become a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, I wonder if he had realized his dream? He always wore Red Sox gear, the hat, the jersey, everything. We would always play catch in the yard, and it was there that I took this picture. He was only 10 when I took it, which means by now, he must be 44 years old. He probably has his own children in High School by now. I had to laugh a little. Because of the cryo sleep, I haven't aged a day since I left. I am biologically still 32 years old. My son is actually older than I am. My laughter turned quickly to sorrow as I realized that by the time I get back, he will probably be 78 years old, but I will still be 32. I will almost certainly have to watch my son die. I quickly turned off the camera to avoid thinking about it, and instead, turned my attention to preparation for landing on the planet surface. I know that back on Earth, this planet is called Alpha-Simon 23776-98, but that doesn't sound like a proper planet name. I remember the day I left for NASA, just about a week before the launch of this space craft, my boy came up to me and asked me what planet I was going to visit. I told him the name, and he didn't like it either. He told me he had a better name for it, so I asked him what it should be called. When he told me, I knew right away that it was the perfect name for this planet.
Datur.
Good night, and God bless.
Commander Richard Gilman
 |
| Friends, Family, Colleagues, all of mankind. I write this as a testament to the strength of human will, and the endurance of the human spirit, for on this day, November 27th, 2052 A.D. I, Commander Richard Gilman have officially set foot on the alien world Alpha-Simon 23776-98, a world that I now affectionately call Datur. |
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