Ink Splatters - Contest Entries & Random Ideas

Not Alone

The mission was a fail. They were wrong.

I look out the small window on my travel pod. A barren world, void of life. I should still be on Earth. But the atmosphere has gone completely. There's no air. No nothing.

Now my pod has to refuel for 30 minutes, my time if I want to try and go back. The experts said time energy is everywhere so the pod can refuel itself.

I kick at the wall. My pod is 8x8 feet, enough room for the computer and a chair and some walking room. I have no food. The scientists said I wouldn't need any provisions because I was supposed to be back in 2 minutes my time. One year their time.

For kicks, I check my position in space. I nearly pass out when I see where I am.

The Stromland Galaxy. There's nothing there but harsh planets ranging from extreme heat to extreme cold. We haven't sent astronauts here in generations. It just wasn't worth it. There was no point. No resources. No life.

Whatever happened with the pod, hopefully, I can reverse it and get back to Earth in my time.

As I wait to refuel, I pull out pictures of my wife and children. I smile at the holographic image on a loop of my darling daughter taking her first steps. For me, just one week ago. My wife laughs at the holo-cam, trying for some reason to shield her gorgeous face. She finally relents at the end of the loop and smiles.

Clang, clang. My head shoots up. Clang, clang. My heart is thundering. It's physically impossible for anything to live here. Everything in our experiments burned up in a matter of milliseconds. Clang, clang.

I look out the window. There's nothing. Then suddenly, a hand covers the window, thin and long. I jump back. The fingers trace around the seal of the window then stops. It pushes its finger through the seal. Into my pod. I back away as far as I can. I step on something and it crackles. The picture of my oldest son.

As the creature's other fingers make its way into the pod, I stare into the holo-cam for my final message.

***

When Dr. Hendricks did not return, the World's leading scientists knew something must have happened. After many months of research, they learned how to track an object through time and space. A year and one day after Dr. Hendricks started his journey, they found the pod in the Stromland Galaxy. And what they found horrified them. Dr. Hendricks mangled body and thin footprints treading to and away from the pod.

They found the last recorded message of Dr. Hendricks. Dated the day before.

"It's not safe here," he whispered. "Something's coming into my pod. To the scientists, this mission was a failure. To my family, I love you with all my heart." He blew them a kiss before getting ripped away from the holo-cam.