Twin Earth

PART 2 - Mutual Survival - Chapter 23

We orbited the new earth like planet as if we were dreaming. Neither of us speaking or making any attempt to log data. We simply stared, floating in our tiny craft, lost in this new reality.

"Where are we?" Rachel finally whispered, more to herself than to me. "Did we transport somewhere?"

Coming to my senses I flicked on the computer in front of us, which had momentarily died in our transition and tried to make sense of our location.

"I don't understand," I mumbled in confusion. "This is just... weird. According to our navigation system we're still in our own solar system. The sun is behind us, even the Earth and the moon are just hours away."

"But how is that possible? Is this Earth? Has it... somehow changed since we left?" Rachel asked, turning to look at me opened mouthed.

"No, Earth is... where we left it. This? This is a whole new planet. Even with a few earthquakes and hurricanes, you can't suddenly rearrange the tectonic plates, put some oceans at the poles and by the looks of it completely swap the equator with a massive desert. Look at this thing."

Rachel turned to look at the planet again with a bewildered expression, most likely as lost in her thoughts as I was. The planet was like Earth and was about the same size, but it looked vastly different in a geographical sense. A massive desert covered the entire centre of the planet, running all the way around the equator, merging into what looked like endless jungles, mountains and rivers as you neared the poles. There was no ice or snow anywhere but instead two vast oceans and endless beaches encompassed the north and the south poles with the occasional island dotted inside them. It was breath-taking and surreal to see a planet so much like our own, yet so different.

"Why is it so bright though?" Rachel asked. "If we are still in our own back yard, then why is the sun so bright here?"

"I... don't know," I replied.

"Are there any signs of life? Are there any satellites orbiting this thing?"

A feeling of panic rose inside me. I hadn't considered alien life. I got nervous enough visiting my mother at Christmas, let alone meeting a whole new civilisation. I wasn't prepared for first contact. Trembling, I scanned for any sign of satellite communication orbiting the planet but was relieved to find nothing.

"There doesn't seem to be," I replied, showing Rachel the results. "But I'm having problems with the computer. I think it was damaged on our first encounter with the anomaly. I also can't start up the ion drive and our orbit is decaying. If we don't move now, we will be crash landing on this thing sooner rather than later."

"This must explain the electromagnetic waves the probe sent back, and the white blur on the photo," Rachel exclaimed. "Where is the probe now?"

"Good question. It's no longer sending us any data. Perhaps it was destroyed or crashed into this planet."

"Why doesn't this planet have a dark side? It's like it's constantly surrounded by day-light."

"I literally, can tell you nothing," I mumbled frustrated, attempting to start up the engines again.

"No wonder the photo was over-exposed."

"Did you not hear me? We need to make a decision now," I shouted.

"I mean it looks beautiful, but... it's so strange."

"Rachel, are you listening to me?" I shouted, whacking her on the shoulder. "If we don't do something, like right now, this planet is going to look at lot less beautiful when we're crashing towards it in the next few minutes."

"Ow," Rachel grunted, slapping me back. "You don't have to hit me."

"Then pay attention. We need to land this thing and make a decision quickly as to where. I don't know what you're thinking, but I don't particularly feel like landing in the middle of that desert, do you?"

As the penny finally dropped, Rachel's expression changed from awe to panic and she immediately began to scan the planet for a suitable landing position.

"I may be able to use what's left of our sails to slow us down and guide us somewhere, but I can't use them for long. As soon as we enter the atmosphere they'll rip apart and hopefully not take us with it," I announced.

"Okay, okay," Rachel wheezed. "The ring of desert gives way to oceans and jungles all the way up to the pole, but who knows what we'll find down there! Can't we just use the planet's gravity to sling shot us back home? We need to tell Trevor about this place."

"And risk floating on to who knows where? We don't even know if we can get back home. We may have to leave the same way we came in and I can't see any anomalies anywhere now. According to the computer the Earth is where it should be, right behind us, but... well, can you see it?"

"Maybe all this light is preventing us from seeing it," Rachel blurted.

"No, I think we should try and land, and then we should try and contact Trevor, somehow."

"But we could be stuck here for ever!"

"Do you have a better idea?" I snapped as a warning bleep began to fill the craft.

Realising she didn't, Rachel sighed and returned to scanning the planet.

"Should we try for one of the islands?"

"Anything is better than a hot desert."

"Is the air breathable though?"

"I guess we'll find out," I replied, switching on the sails and cringing at the sound of already heavily damaged metal.

"Wait!"

"What is it?" I replied, frantically. "I've just opened the sails! We've got about two minutes before we hit the atmosphere."

"There's... a city."

"A what?"

"I swear, there's a city, down there, look!"

I leaned over and squinted to see where Rachel was looking and gawped in amazement. Even from this far up you could clearly make out a vast network of structures running for hundreds of miles along the edge of the jungle where it met the ocean in the north. Yanking myself around, I quickly scanned the South Pole for similar structures, and although there were clearings within the trees, there didn't seem to be any sign of life. Looking back to the north again it was hard to argue that it wasn't indeed a city of some kind.

"Then that's where we'll land," I mumbled, pulling the craft towards it and praying it would hold together long enough.