1

My ship crashed when I entered the gravitational pull of this random planet. It was a huge miscalculated trajectory by the idiots back at mission control and now I had to deal with it. My ship was built with the latest technology from the brightest minds back on my rock. Meant to carry myself and a platoon of space troops, it's stealth technology was top of the line. On a better year I would have had company but times were desperate and it was just little old me. This is important because I had landed in the most pitiful planets in the most pitiful time in their journey.

At the time I wasn't aware but I had crashed landed in the middle of a collection of h20 deep enough to handle the impact. My hull is pretty strong and can withstand up to a 10k degrees Fahrenheit. That doesn't mean that the landing was an easy one. It just means the next few years(or decades, I'm not sure) in cryostasis I dreamed about the hot scientists who saved my life while I slumbered from the crash.

I'm not sure when I came to but it took a while to get the fog out of my head. I stepped out of my pod and proceeded to regurgitate all the fluids meant to keep my airways fresh and my body from collapsing upon itself. I needed another shower but first I needed to turn on the scouting pods and research the surrounding area. For that I will need to turn the power back on, in the dark, because I had the brilliant idea I was going to conserve energy. Don't judge me, I had no idea how long I was going to be here as contact with mission control broke off a long time ago.

To the controls, I crawled. Believe me, you would too if you knew how small this thing was and how many gadgets we had onboard. Reaching the controls I was able to sync up to the power box and turn on the power. The power box seemed to be a bit loose but the display showed we had at least 85 percent power left in our baby universe on board. Caged universes were all the rage back home as we had moved from dark energy to Universal Bio Solutions in the last hundred years. It always felt weird knowing I had a whole universe on board without having met any of the creatures. Maybe some day.

The lights started to come on and I realized my eyes were burning. Ouch. As soon as I could adjust, I walked back up to the dashboard and flipped on the power. Nothing. That's what I could see all around me. Don't get me wrong : the dashboard worked but as my gradient shields dropped it was complete fog outside. I activated the external spotlights but they would not budge. I tried the search pods and while they activated they would not respond as soon as they were released which was weird. Those things were hardcore. Add that to the list of things that need to be fixed.

My dashboard was another interesting topic. I wasn't able to receive any broadcasts momentarily but I was able to re watch what I had from control. The last transmission was received right after I had passed Sol 235 and was about 15 cycles before I crashed. Apparently someone had decided to work 25 days straight, high off charcoal, and miscalculated. According to the geniuses who hired the guy, at the present rate of travel I was headed toward an unknown galaxy that hadn't been mapped yet. Great. Not only was a lost but I had no idea what I was walking into and all communication was cut off.

2

Days before we had crash landed, I had done an inventory check and, everything considered, I was doing alright for supplies. I had two synth eco suits, for planetary departure in any environment, and enough Medi meals to last me a lifetime. Medi meals, while not the most tasty of treats, had enough time released nutrients to last me a full two to three sol cycles depending on the system we were in, oxygen density, and temperature. While my core temperature was regulated by my suit, I still needed a relatively cool environment to keep my bio systems in check. I'm still not sure why I went into convulsions during my descent so I'll need to keep my health in mind as I venture into this new world. I could really be in any environment as the ship's mainframe reported a multitude of different minerals and ecosphere sin this sector and judging from the view, I may not even be on a planet with ample sunlight. Really only one way to know now isn't there.

As I am contemplating my next move, the ship dashboard reported it felt a breach in the hull. After being notified of the source of the breach I head for the area only to slip and fell with the force of a thousand pound rock. As I lay on the floor looking up I noticed that my face was being splashed with liquid. I grabbed a sealant from an emergency repair kit on the wall and plugged up the hole. Now what? Who knows how deep I am and what he air pressure will do once I step outside the airlock. I can't really turn on the engines without possibly putting us in more danger. I wonder if I could venture outside of the airlock without getting myself killed though. It's worth a try but first I need to gather my strength and make a plan for departure. I remember I also have a air balloon at my disposal. Not exactly meant for what I was about to use it for but it was worth a try.

I remember I had some liquid criton on board. Now I'm pretty sure liquid Criton had not been tested in this environment so I was taking a chance that may not pan out but I had to try because I wasn't about to die in this aluminum tomb. With the liquid Crition sprayed around my mouth in a way that resembled what you humans called “facial hair” I would be able to breathe and exhale underwater as long as it stayed where it was added when applied. I had been trained in a bunch of different tactical situations but this would definitely be new to me. As I sealed the breech closed behind me, I opened the airlock and a rush of dirty water rushed in.

3

You are not...

A awoke to a large electrical crackling sound. "What the fuck?" I actually said out loud, shot straight up and almost knocked myself out from banging my head so hard on the cabinet above. I got up and turned on my cabin dashboard. I checked all the sensors and something seemed to be off in the engine room. I grabbed my head gear and headed down there, half asleep and hoping not to kill myself with a fall.

As soon as I entered the airlock chamber, my ears were ringing and my hair was starting to rising as if a phantom was there with me. There was so much electrical charge in the air it was quite creepy and concerning. If the engine has malfunctioned it would be at least a month before control could send someone out here to repair it. It's bad enough they couldn't spare a crew. What I found was much scarier. It was as if the whole room whole room was a lightning storm as bolts shot out all across the ceiling and floor. I ran back to the room and grabbed one of the mechanics gloves. This glove allows the user to grab metal without conducting electricity, a dampener of sorts. I ran back to the room and ran towards the controls. I was determined to shut off the power..

ZAP!

Wow. Gosh do I feel groggy and uncomfortably wet. Did I release my bowels? Seriously uncomfortable.

It had been a couple of days and I looked around, heavily confused, and I covered my eyes blinded by the light. Revved up were the engines and controls but no sign of the freak light show. How long have I been out I wondered as I got my bearings and started to get myself up. I turned around and noticed something strange with the ship's power supply.

Now way before I was born, war had broken out all over the globe over lost resources and silly creationists ideologies. As my world's internal power supply started to fail we were in need of something that would carry us beyond the stars in search of new energy. What we created was far beyond our wildest dreams.

One of our youngest and brightest engineers had created a new power supply in her garage that had seemingly unlimited supply. Unfortunately after uploading the data for review to the Science Council, the unstable power source had exploded and caused a sort of negative energy pulse. The neighborhood was decimated along with everyone in the surrounding fifteen mile radius.

The island, no longer inhabitable, was closed off to the public and studied for years. As the Science Council prepared to collect the data from the field team they found something odd. None of their recording equipment was broadcasting and the energy ratings were off the chart.

Come to find out this girl had done the unthinkable. A freshmen high school student had created a new power supply in the form of floating galaxies contained inside globes. They were all floating throughout the island about 6 feet off the ground. It was an international breakthrough and a scavenger hunt all in one. Forty years later and here I am are staring at one of the supplies for the first time, face to face.

I walked towards it hesitantly. I had never seen the internal workings of one of these supplies and it was even more beautiful than I had imagined. The door to the power chamber lay on the ground (that's a story for another day. Something to do with spatial adaptation. The details are spotty.) and I stepped over it to get a closer look. As I stared into this rotating ball of floating stars I saw the universe look back at me and smile. It was so beautiful. It was as if I was staring into the soul of space around me. I had my own baby caged universe on board. Would that make me it's god? I chuckled at the thought.

I picked the door off the ground and closed it over the containment area. With my head still throbbing and a pinch in my eye, I headed to my Eco chamber for full biological repair. Stargazing and traveling can take a break for the present time.

4

Help.

It had been an uneventful journey so far. We were excited to be the first mission to space and we were even more pumped that we didn't die. Our ship, the Zheng Explorer, was no match for the Santa Maria and if we truly wanted to we could smoke them but we kept it professional and they kept up nicely. This was a landmark interplanetary effort after all and we still weren't sure what we were running into out here in the expanse of new space. While scientists back on Trall felt that they had mapped out the universe pretty carefully, you never know what you were going to run into.

We had sensed that we getting to the outer walls as the gravity had started to increase drastically. We had been told we would enter these coordinates a bit sooner but we noticed that as we got closer to the bright lights that time was slowing down, as crazy as that seems. It really defies all logic if one were to dwell but we are not dwellers, we are proud Diwali and we are known to take events as they happen. Minimal planning with maximum fun!

It's been known for quite some time now that as we sent out drones to the outer rims they had always experienced a bright light at the far ends of our galaxies. We weren't sure if it was malfunction though as we would lose the drone every time before they cut off transmission. The last three drones we sent were equipped with hyper thrusters as we imagined the drones were getting sucked into black holes. Now we are sure it is much more than that as we entered the grey zone. This is the zone between what is and what was and its blinding the crew as we pass through the gravitational field. Hold on everyone! We are going in!

5

Help us…

I awoke slowly in a bit of a haze in a shelter of some sort. The last thing I remember was being violently thrashed around the dark muddy waters and having my body tossed around like a children's toy. I must have smacked my head against something as my pain levels were through the roof and I could only see out of one eye for now. An older woman resembling our species is hunched over a steam generating device. I am really having a hard time seeing anything.

“Oh you’ve awoken!” she said. I can only assume it’s a she as she has a softer voice and fooders, it seems. I would love to answer but I seem to have lost my voice and even if I did try to speak I imagine the pain would be ridiculous. “Save your strength young one, your going to need it around here. Supplies is getting low and people are scared, attacks by the Pohatans seems to be increasing with frequency every day. With my Madam seemingly disappeared I don’t have much in the way of protection or food myself.” Just at that moment a knock came at the door and a shout.

“It’s time, Miss Anne. Open Up!”

She looked at me with despair. “ I tried the best I could to stall them but times are getting hard and I am only one person. I’m Sorry.”

The door flew open and two men with sharp items in their hands walked through, “We didn’t want to have to do this Miss Anne but it’s getting bad and we need to eat of we will all starve.”

“There has to be some other way. The Sturgeon..”

“We can’t get out there long enough before the damn injins attack! We are outmanned 30 to one and those savages are tearing us apart. We need her now. For all we know she could be a spy anyway with that French clothing she had on. Come on Stu, help me grab her."

WACK!