Tevun-Krus #39 - Lost World

Father Neptune - A Short Story by @ChristopherArmstron8

Part 1

David was ready, more ready than he had ever been in his entire life. Since he was a little boy he had wanted to be a deep space explorer and discover the wonders of places untouched by man. Earth was a tiresome place to live and with the death of his mother there was no one left here that he really cared about. Those of his high school class who were still alive were either here on Earth or had left for Mars. Neither planet was all that appealing to him as both were still undergoing reconstruction from the two centuries of warfare between them.

No he wanted to go to the far edges of the solar system, perhaps to Neptune or Pluto. Some place where there was much to be discovered and no one would bother him. Maybe it was just a dream but he was still going to try and today was the beginning of it.

"Space Explorer you are cleared for take off in.."

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2

1

Feeling a rush of adrenaline he pushed both buttons at once and felt the resounding shock as the thrusters activated and catapulted him into the air. Flying was a wonderful experience and he had enjoyed it every time his training had allowed him to practice with the simulator, but this was something else. No matter how good the simulator had been, all of it felt like a show compared to how he felt as he watched the clouds draw near as the ship hurtled toward space as mock four speed.

Before he knew it he was in and out of the cloud layer, hurtling towards the thin upper band of the atmosphere. Normally someone would worry about being this high above the cloud but his ship had numerous ways of obtaining oxygen along with a tank of compressed oxygen that would last him ten years. Besides once he got into space he would do into a cryo pod and wait until his ship alerted him that they were near the edge of the solar system.

Part 2

"What the..." he exclaimed. Moments ago he had been peacefully asleep in the cryo pod. Something had triggered his ship to wake him out of cryo, but he could not decide what it was. On top of that his ship was being pulled in towards Neptune even though he had not told it too. Something had overridden his controls and all he could do was watch as he ship sped towards the icy planet.

No lights flashed as his ship bounced through the atmosphere and plunged thought clouds? He was nor much of an astronomer, but there were no clouds on this planet. Neptune was an ice planet that had below freezing temperatures and not a speck of life on it. Its atmosphere was ammonia and methane and hydrogen, which would suffocate any life that he could think of.

His life was going to end here on this miserable planet. There was no way that he would be able to get his ship back into the atmosphere once it crashed into whatever lay beneath them. Whatever was below them turned out to be water, a great sopping ocean of water that should have been frozen solid. The impact jostled him but with the way that the ship had been designed it was more like an annoying speed bump than anything painful.

Once the ship hit the water he made the decision to get out as it sat on the surface for just enough time for him to get out. Shore was only a hundred yards away and by the time he got there and dragged himself onto the shore, his body was showing signs of exhaustion. Wanting to see if it was still there he turned to look at where he had come. All that he could see was blue water and the gentle movements of the waves.