Life Off Earth

 Thank god he was off that ship. Forty years, trapped in the sleek metal hull hurtling through space at light speed. Sure he’d been asleep thirty-nine of those years but that wasn’t the point. Stretching his legs was nice, running around and rolling on the ground would be better. He peered out the window and looked onto the surface of RX9, the first planet for human colonization outside the solar system. And John Damon, a plumber’s son from Montana, would be the first to step onto it.

The ship rattled violently as he broke through the atmosphere and then everything went still. The danger was over, he’d made it. He checked the instruments and the readings were all correct. An expanse of water was rapidly approaching his ship. He took two deep breaths and sat back in his seat and was thrown around by the impact. he shuttle bobbed to the top of the water and he jumped out onto the raft that had inflated automatically. Looking up at the twin suns he took a moment to appreciate the beauty, it might be the last thing he ever saw. Not that he didn’t trust the science boys back on Earth, but they were making projections for a place awful far away. Then, the moment of truth. His hands unclasped the connectors on his neck and the pressure released with a sizzle and he pulled the helmet off and took the deepest breath he ever took. His lungs burned and he panicked but was still alive. A smile grew on his face, and for the next hour he didn’t move a muscle.

After a few hours of navigating he got the raft to land. The purple landmass had thrown him off at first, but eventually his eyes adjusted. It never felt natural, but became less jarring as he got closer. Something about how the-chlorophyll equivalent on this planet evolved. Based on their estimations he had nearly twelve hours of sunlight left, plenty of time to explore. So he picked a direction and walked.

He wasn’t looking for anything in particular, well that wasn’t true. His mission had no concrete objective, just to scout out the area, but he had a personal cause. Looking for life. They didn’t expect anything advanced on the planet, likely no animals bigger than the size of his hand, if they were visible at all. But he wasn’t going to give up hope. He walked for hours across the endless purple plains until in the distance he saw a hill, providing him a goal. If he could reach the top, he’d be ale to see for miles and get a better idea of what he was dealing with.

Halfway up his watch beeped. Time go back. But he was so close and if he hurried he’d be fine. He’s not a child, scared of the dark. So he continued up the hill and when he finally reached the top he looked over and his heart nearly burst from his chest in excitement. Not one hundred yards down the hill was a house. The only structure as far as his eye could see, but there was one. It was something out of the medieval era with the large stones and straw roof. Before he knew it he was at the door so he knocked and announced his presence. He laughed to himself, it’s not like anyone inside would understand him anyway. Once it was clear no one was inside he pushed it open gently and let himself in.

The inside was sparse with no technology to speak of. There weren’t even candles lit, all the light was streaming in from a window on the far side. Squinting, he leaned forward and recognized the outline of a table, then a chair, and a figure in the chair. It looked human, but was just a silhouette and was facing away from him. He cleared his throat but there was no response. He crept forward until he was right behind it and tried again. Nothing. His hand rested on the things shoulder but it felt still and stiff.

He turned the body around and looked at it and staring back at him was a corpse. His corpse. Falling backwards he slid into the corner and looked at it in horror. Then it blinked. It stood up and shuffled towards him without making a sound. He wanted to move but couldn’t, it was like his body and brain had been disconnected. When it was over him the mouth opened wide, then wider than should be possible. There was nothing in its mouth besides the blackest black he had ever seen. So deep it looked like you could fall in and never hit the bottom. He heard a scream but didn’t know which him did it.