"...I knew Hibble as a child. He was always the quiet sort. You would always see him outside, observing the pebbles, the stones and the dirt. He always had his eyes on the ground. In later life, he was always in the lab, observing rocks, or in the field, gathering rocks to observe. Rocks were his life. Rocks were his friends. I was probably the only living being he confided anything to. I'm sorry to see him go down so soon after I became his lab partner, but at least he went down in the name of science. He lived surrounded with rocks, and he died surrounded by rock. He may not have made many friends, but he was a great scientist..."
- Dr. Fume, Department of Geology
It was the worst day of Dr. Hibble's life. He had just found out that his cancer, which he had been fighting for sixteen years, that he thought he had recovered from, had become terminal. He was given five months. That wouldn't be enough to finish his life's work, the as yet unstable Spelunker, a ship that would take him to the core of the earth, in order to study what had driven him his whole life: rocks.
The Spelunker was supposed to take him down safely, and return him to the surface safely. So far, all the ship would theoretically do was send him down, and stay there, slowly burning up in the extreme heat of the inner core. Even the amazing thermal shell of his highly advanced ship would not protect him from the 9,806 degree heat. It would take him months, years maybe, to discover another substance that would protect him.
But he didn't have years. Now that cancer had sealed his demise, he needed to finish his life's work now. He would have to accept the fate of himself, and the ship. There, in the small time it took to make the walk from the cancer center's door to his small car, he had decided. He was going down in that ship. Soon. Very soon.
Thank you so much for making it so far. A new part should be coming out soon. If you have any feedback or suggestions, feel free to comment below. This is for a science assignment, so it may not be too good as a story itself, but I'm trying. See you soon!
YOU ARE READING
Going Down
Science FictionHe dedicated his life to science. Lived in his lab. Geology was the only thing that ever understood him. So when he found out his cancer was terminal, he decided to choose his way of going down. He would go down in the name of science.
