Sector 51

Part 3: Unexpected Rescue

That's it. I give up, too many EVA's and too much time wasted on trying to fix the Core Drive. If I had the resources I would be stress eating like crazy right now, but I'm just going to sit and wait for NASA to come cruising along, in other news. I entered the gravitational pull of a binary star system. I know where I am now, Proxima Centauri or Alpha Centauri, however I'm sure it's Proxima. the star is radiating red. So NASA will have an easier time finding me. even if it's my dead body. I'm slowly accepting the fact I might die, but it's a risk I mentally prepared for when I joined the Astronaut Corps. I swear, I've checked over the system logs. And I should stop. I have an hour of backup power left. All things aside, it's not so bad sitting alone in space with plants and books. My personal favorite is The Martian, an ancient book about a guy named Mark Watney who got stuck on Mars. Get on my level Mark Watney, I'm stranded in interstellar space.

I'm comfortable with the sleeping bag now too, I did something to the heater fiddling with the Core Drive, so now it's not working as efficiently. The average cabin heat went down 2 degrees. Which makes a slight difference. I spent most of my time in the command seat looking outside. NASA wanted me to be a floating observatory so they supplied me with a telescope for astro-imaging. There's not much of a difference compared to stargazing on earth. however I am a light-year closer to everything, I wonder if I could point the telescope back at earth and see everything. Days are lonely and hard now. EVA's do a number on your body. So does Zero-gravity. I hadn't been in space much before the Valiant mission and I could feel my blood resting inside my head, NASA could've placed a gravity wheel onto the Valiant but I was on a budget-tight mission. Congress wanted to go big immediately but NASA advised a test first, I'm the test. And now, the victim of a tragic accident that will surely kill me, will it kill me? I don't know.

I was sitting in my sleeping bag. Reading a copy of 'Space Travel throughout the decades.' A NASA published book detailing the Golden, Bronze and Platinum ages of space travel. We were currently in the platinum age of space travel, a rebirth of the industry thanks to renewed public interest after NASA astoundingly landed on Mars in 2040, I was amazed by the primitive technologies they used for space travel. Yet, another day was passing by me as I slowly moved towards Proxima Centauri. Sleep and reading were my staple activities. Sleeping conserves energy and makes me feel better about my situation by not being in my situation, reading sharpens the mind and lets you enjoy everything the eerie silence that is interstellar space has to offer. another day, another opportunity to get some good old rest and forget everything.

Suddenly there was a light pouring through the Valiant's window. They found me, I moved towards the command seat staring at the triangular ship in front of me it had two massive tanks of fuel on the bottom hull and had at least three levels for people to work, sleep, and live in. I was slowly moving in to some sort of cargo bay lined with metallic crates and large chambers. I put on my pressure suit, if anything went wrong in repressurization I'd be ready for it.

I yelled at the top of my lungs.

"Thanks for coming to get me!"

It was highly unlikely anyone would've heard me but yelling at the top of my lungs to other people was exactly what I needed right now

I couldn't see the figures in the window, the light efficiently blocked my vision. I leaned back into the command seat and I took a deep breath, I needed to look as composed as possible for the crew that came so far to get me.

When I finally entered the cargo bay the outer door shut and everything was dark. No reading right now, I was waiting for the cargo bay lights to turn on and see a squad of space suit adorned crew members opening the Valiant hatch. Grabbing my arm and floating back into the cabin of the ship. Then removing their helmets and saying to me

"Stephen Damien I'm Commander John Doe are you all right?"

But nobody came. The only noise I heard was my uncomfortable, anxious fidgeting on the command seat, an hour passed and I began to consider
opening the hatch myself, floating into the crew cabin loudly proclaiming "I survived!" But that. Went directly against NASA protocol and I'd immediately get into some deep trouble .

Another hour felt like a million of them and I was beginning to believe I was dreaming. After all I was asleep, The room was getting hotter and I was sweating intensely within the pressure suit, I removed the helmet. I got out of the seat and opened the food storage. I pulled out a tortilla and freeze-dried jerky. This was my staple diet, jerky provided most of my calories and nutrients, the tortilla gave me starch, which by now was a very bland taste. Back on Earth I enjoyed the occasional burrito, but this isn't a burrito and I'm not on Earth.

The ship flew into hyperspace, I could feel G-Forces pushing onto my chest as I looked around, this hyperspace travel was smoother, comfortable actually. So naturally, I leaned back and enjoyed the comfortable command seat while we quietly sped back towards the solar system and subsequently Earth. I closed my eyes, finally.

The ship landed with a powerful thud. I looked around, there was dust floating through the cracks of the large cargo bay door. Suddenly, something started to open the door and four humanoid figures marched through the door three of them sported heavy silver armour of some sorts, I opened the hatch, and ran towards them.

I collapsed, the air burnt my lungs. I was going to die if they didn't do something.

I gasped for air and held my hand out towards them. One placed a large spherical glass helmet on top of me and I took a deep breath. moving upwards there was a shock to my neck I fell back to the ground,

Jumping up effortlessly I swung a punch at them, wherever I was there was lower gravity, I hit one that was wearing a deep purple vest, he fell towards the ground as another shock was administered into my neck, I fell backwards and squinted. They were a turquoise blue with two appendages above their mouths. I wasn't home, I was somewhere different.