Dark Space
Earth Year: Unknown
Time: Unknown
Mission: Failed
The infinite space with all its glorious wonder, mysteries and beauty caused nothing but misery and suffering. We spent the last two thousand years travelling at light speed through the darkest part of the galaxy hoping to find a second Earth like planet only to find a hostile alien world. It’s a sheer luck that we survived this hellish trip. Two thousand years. We lived as animals, enslaved by these unimaginable creatures who used us for labor and food. It all felt like a nightmare. But somehow, we revolted, somehow, we fought, somehow, we escaped. Here we are only eight light days from Earth. I prayed that she was still there and forgive us for abandoning her. She was our last hope as human beings.
The ten thousand souls on cryo-sleep will wake up on earth in a month on a planet that was nothing more than a myth. I can see Earth on the heads-up display as a blue dot. I couldn’t help tears trickle down my weary face. Someone heard our prayers and guided us back home. The time remaining to Earth was twenty-seven days as I slowed the velocity down. All systems were normal except for the fire we had two months ago. I took a deep breath as I stepped down from the control panel.
Eight Hours To Arrival:
Earth was directly in front of me. She was big, blue and beautiful and thankfully she was the same as all of the stories I’ve been told as a child. She grew big by the minute as we made the final approach. The only thing that was peculiar was that the moon seemed to be cracked into million pieces and smeared like a shooting star across the orbit. Suddenly, the emergency beacon screamed. Straight ahead, I saw a swarm of crafts approach us at high velocities. They were not friendly in the least. They opened fire without warning, and they didn’t miss a shot. We took critical hits and came to a complete stop within minutes. The cryo-sleep bay was on fire and six thousand perished within seconds. This was it, Earth didn’t want us back. I initiated the self-destruction mode when I heard a big explosion in the docking station.
I saw hundred men storm in in dark outfit get on board. I closed my eyes.
The men smashed their way into the control room. They seemed to know exactly where they were going. Two came straight at me and strained me. Once the whole ship was under their control, a man entered the control room. He was imposing and had presence. He took off his helmet. I was expecting one of those lizard things that we escaped from. It was a man, about forty-five, human. I thanked the lord that we were home at last. He didn’t say a word but had a concerning expression as he scanned the control room.
He seemed to signal one of his soldiers standing in front of me. The soldier positioned himself and hit me squarely on my temple knocking me out.