Aquaertus

Chapter Two - Welcome to Aquaertus

All I can see is pitch black. My eyes are closed. I feel my head and my body ache as I lay on the cold metal of the escape pod's floor. I must have passed out due to the force of the escape pod launching off of the USS Pertempto.

I open my eyes and see light filtering through the small porthole-like window on the escape pod. I must have landed on Aquaertus, because I can feel the pod bobbing as if it's on water.

Aquaertus is a planet completely covered in water, at least to Earth's knowledge. The planet hasn't been thoroughly explored yet. The previous expedition to this galaxy was only to briefly scan the planets, just to confirm there were no threats before further research was conducted. Apparently, they didn't look hard enough.

Almost nothing is known about the planets in this galaxy. What I do know is that there are seven: Ustrainus, Saxugo, Glaebilis, Aquaertus, Aciculum, Gæxime, and Gelusidus, in that order from the sun. I know absolutely nothing about the planets other than Aquaertus, because it was my job to study this planet and this planet alone. I know little about Aquaertus anyways, because I was supposed to study it once I arrived. All I know is that it's probably completely aqueous, hence the name Aquaertus, which is a combination of the Latin words for "water" and "unexplored."

There were ships sent to the other planets as well, with the same intentions as mine: research the planet to see if it's suitable for human life. Earth is overpopulated, burned out, and not super suitable for human life anymore. It pisses me off how poorly previous generations treated Earth. Now, we have to go to other galaxies to find a home, and look where that got us.

I wonder what happened to the other ships. I hope I'm not the only one that survived.

I know nothing about ocean survival, thanks to Bradley. The bastard was too confident, believing that the trip to Aquaertus would go so smoothly that we didn't need any backup plan. Hopefully, he had the decency to provide some sort of survival guide or supplies in the escape pods. If not, I'm doomed.

I slowly stand up. My head spins and all I can see is colorful spots for a few minutes, but I recover. I look around the tiny pod to see if there's something of use.

The pod is made of some sort of light metal. The shape is like a gumdrop, so the pod is cylindrical but gets smaller towards the top. It's extremely plain looking, almost like the white rooms in the insane asylums in the movies. I'll probably go crazy in here.

I feel something in my hand and I'm startled for a second. I realize it must've been whatever Lou gave me before she sent me off. I look down into my hand and I see a sterling silver bangle. Lou always wore this bangle - it was her 5th anniversary gift from her husband. The inside was engraved, saying, "Never stop looking up. Love, Angelo." I put the bangle on my wrist for safekeeping. It fits perfectly.

I know Lou almost definitely didn't make it. A part of me hopes that somehow she survived, but I have to accept that I'll never see her again. I shouldn't think about that now, though; I have to focus on survival. If I die, Lou sacrificed her life for nothing. I have to do it for her.

I continue to look around the pod. There's the window, a small cushioned seat, a ladder leading to an escape hatch on the ceiling, a boxy black device attached to the wall, and a storage compartment. I open the compartment and see a few freeze-dried meals, water bottles, a small first aid kit, and, thankfully, an ocean survival guide. It's not much, but if I ration, I should be able to make it last a week, and although the guide is intended for survival on Earth, it's better than nothing.

Time to get reading.