The Space Mission

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say…

•••

Jacob remembered it all so clearly.

It was supposed to be a trip to Mars for NASA’s laboratory.

He remembered training every day of his life to go to space.

He remembered the excitement he felt when he learned that he was going to Mars.

He remembered stepping off the spaceship with his crewmates and onto that red dirt.

He remembered speaking to every single scientist there, and learning about the projects that NASA was working on.

He remembered his crewmates being given a box.

He remembered being told to take the box to Earth, and that NASA told the scientists that NASA wanted it on Earth laboratories to be tested.

The box looked just so innocuous.

How did it all go so wrong?

•••

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space.

There was no noise in space.

There wasn’t supposed to be noise in space.

That sentiment was quickly changed for Jacob when he heard his crewmate’s scream through the radio in his space suit.

“Veronica? What happened?” Jacob asked, heart racing. Not again. He’s not going to lose another crewmate on this space trip from Hell.

No answer.

Jacob held his breath, listening for any indication that she was okay. Eyes scanning the room, out the hall. A step towards the hall.

Hall? More like a tunnel.

Wide eyes stared ahead at the end. It was a white wall, with a sharp right turn at the end.

One step. Two steps. Three steps. Four steps. Five steps. Six steps.

He was at the end of the tunnel. He turned his body towards the right, forcing himself to move.

One step. Two steps. Three steps. Four steps. Five steps. Six steps.

Six crewmates. Five crewmates. Four crewmates. Three crewmates. Two crewmates.

Veronica’s corpse.

One crewmate.

Blood spilled on the ground.

Jacob’s eyes were glued to Veronica.

At least, what was left of her.

Her limbs were covered in blood. From what, he couldn’t tell. Her stomach was covered in blood, and the gashes in her stomach were so deep that he could see her internal organs through them. Her face didn’t resemble Veronica anymore.

Jacob tore his eyes away from Veronica. He could not bear to look at her anymore.

It was supposed to be a simple trip to NASA’s laboratory on Mars.

It wasn’t supposed to end up like this.

Jacob quickly exited the room. He shuffled through each room, careful not to draw attention to himself.

Attention from what? He didn’t want to know.

He ended up in the “mission room” as he liked to call it.

There was a table with six chairs, a screen, and a window outside.

Papers scattered all over the table.

A certain box was on top of it all.

Pulling a chair out, he did his best to ignore the empty chairs.

He stared at that box.

That fucking box.

The tape that sealed it was cut open neatly, as if someone opened it with a box cutter.

He couldn’t tell if one of his crewmates opened it, or something inside it opened it.

He didn’t know what was in that box.

None of the scientists told them what was in that box.

He didn’t know if it was a creature, a virus, or something much worse.

Jacob pulled the box closer. Hesitantly, he gripped the flaps on the box.

Did he really want to know what was inside?

He wasn’t sure if he’d even find anything in there. The box was light as a feather.

He stood up from the chair, almost knocking the chair over in the process. He sprinted out of the room. He stopped at the captain’s room.

Opening the door and locking it once he stepped inside, he rushed towards the screen. With tears in his eyes, he called up NASA headquarters.