Dan & Phil Oneshots

Light Years Away (Part 1)

(Dan's POV)

Sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you really are. - Felix Baumgartner

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Journal Entry: 18 October 3009 (Day 2,037)

Ran ship diagnostics tests: .Overheating engine (manual repairs needed)

                                                        .Food supply holding steady

                                                        .Oxygen levels stable

                                                        .Toilet clogged...again

Coordinates: 31,627,572 X, 490,999,738 Y, 274 Z

Observations: .Asteroid belt sighted, will try to maneuver around

                              .Passed by a galaxy shaped like a rubber duck

                              .Still in contact with BAI (British Aeronautical Industry)

                              .Destination has been sighted

ETA: 1 Day

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Gosh darn it," I muttered as the engine sparked, causing me to flinch and scoot back a bit. It wasn't the first time on this trip it had decided to overheat, but I was pretty sure it would be the last. It had taken me over 5 years to come this far, and I wasn't about to let some malfunctioning engine stop me. I sat back on my heels and took a breath before sticking my arm back in and reconnecting the cooling pipes. Immediately, the faint alarm that was going off inside my spacecraft vanished. Feeling accomplished, I shut the hatch and floated back to the airlock.

I took off my suit and brushed my sweaty curls off of my forehead. Fixing an overheating engine wasn't my forte. I rewarded myself with a glass of water and a chocolate bar before running to the storage closet and grabbing the plunger. I won't go into much detail on that...

After completing my tasks, I flopped down in the lounge chair that sat by a porthole. The asteroid field was a bit away from me still, so I had time to relax before going back to the controls. Did I mention that I was the only one on the ship?

Yea, it had been pretty lonely...Sitting up there...Only the voices in my head to comfort me... Anyway, I was pretty busy keeping the ship in check, that and I brought a portable DVD player. Unlimited hours of the entire series of Friends! Plus, I had to check in with BAI at least once a day. That was maybe one of the parts of my day I looked forward to the most. Just that little bit of human contact.

My family wasn't too thrilled on me going on this mission. For one thing, it was scheduled to be over 5 years in space. Plenty could go wrong in that time. Secondly, I was going to be the ambassador of Earth and introduce us to an alien world. More than plenty could go wrong. I've had to tell them over and over again that I would be fine and that I would be back. Not soon, but I'd be back.

Hopefully.

I gazed out among the stars, seeing hundreds and thousands of worlds floating by before my eyes. I had always dreamed of being in space as a kid, and there I was. I didn't think it would be this boring after a while, but hey, take what you can get.

I stood up and stretched before going over to the controls. ETA was now 22 hours, so I figured I'd shift my course so that I wouldn't run into the asteroids and rest up before my close-encounter with aliens. For the first time this trip, I was actually starting to feel nervous.