Expedition Dipuma

Chapter 1: Emma Dipuma

Inhale, exhale. I get out of the hibernation chamber with a stretch and a yawn. "Good morning captain." said Nightingale, the spaceship's AI voice. As I traveled over to the command deck one of my crew members, Marie came out of the kitchen. "Emma, would you like something to eat?" She asked. "As long as I don't have to eat the space refried beans," I said sarcastically. It's pretty much all that we have been eating for the past two weeks and I'm almost sick of it. She tossed me a can as I sat down, "You know that this is all that we have, right? Well, other than our weeks worth in our travel bags." "Yeah, I know." I pop open the can and reach for my spoon as she tosses one to Brookie, who catches it.
I turn to the front of the ship to watch the stars as I eat, listening to my friends chatter. Suddenly, I see a star that seems to be getting bigger as we travel. I set my can down, I lean forward, and use the command center to zoom in. "Girls, look at this!" I said excitedly. They gather around me and Stephanie speaks up. "Is that the planet that we have been looking for?!" "It is!" I say as I sit back in my chair, "Buckle up, girls. We're going in."
"Hold on, this will be a bumpy ride!" the ship rattled around as we entered the atmosphere.There's a blizzard with winds wild enough to be considered a category five hurricane storm. I took manual control so that I can land safely. Once we landed, we got our suits on and headed outside."Do you think that Nightingale will stay?!" Julia shouted over the wind. "It will be fine for the night!" I shouted back as I looked around."Look there's a cave! Let's sleep there for tonight!"
We get inside the cave letting out a sigh. "Can someone start a fire?" I ask. Cayleigh gets out a box of matches and strikes one. There's a small blue flame but it's enough to be a flame, so she tosses it amongst the logs. "Well, the air is breathable." Marie said as she took her helmet off. "Girl, you're crazy!" Stephane chuckled. "Yeah, well, how else were we supposed to test the air?" Marie responded. "Well, when I struck the match, it had a flame, Right?" Cayleigh said. Marie nodded. "There ya go." Each of us got our stuff in order in our own spaces and got comfortable. "What's this?" Brookie wondered as she found a large hole covered with a stone. She cautiously opened it and peeked inside. "Say there's a tunnel here!" She exclaimed as we gathered around and looked down. It's a tunnel that goes way down into the planet.(Imagine it like a slide.) Down, down it goes,but there seems to be a soft light at the end. "So, should we go down?" asks Myah. "Sure, I can go first." Marie said as she crept toward the hole. "Be careful." Steph said hesitantly, with concern in her voice. She entered the tunnel and slid right down. "AAAHHH! Careful girls, it's slippery!" We heard her say as she slid down. One by one the girls went down, with me going last. Or so I thought. There was someone else behind me, and with bare feet?
"Chutte!" Marie shouted. At first I thought that something bad must have happened but then I realized that we needed to open our parachutes. Once I reached the end of the tunnel, I pulled on the cord to open my parachute, and now I see why. After leaving the tunnel, it's a thirty foot drop until we reach the tallest mountain. The landscape was absolutely stunning. It's almost like a Christmas tree threw up in a bowl. With light enough to see, but not like the sunshine we have on Earth. There seemed to be every kind of habitat shoved into a jawbreaker shape (maybe even like a geode): A gap at the top that lets in light; holes in the "sky", just like the tunnel that we went down; a luscious forest; beautiful, large gardens; and in the middle of it all, is a huge crystal clear castle. I feel like it misewell be Disney World.
Suddenly, I felt something snag on my parachute. I looked up and I saw a huge hand (about twice the size of mine) holding on to the cords that are holding me in the air. "Hey!" I shouted. "What are you doing?!" I fought and kicked to see if it would let me go, but no luck. I started to glide forward and farther away from my crew. "Wait! I have friends who need me back there!" But it was too late, we were too far away. Then this strange light was coming at me. It looks like a firefly,in a way, except I know that it isn't. Besides it has too big of a body to be a firefly. The light flies, bumps into my face, and I instantly feel asleep.