Unknown Planet

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. Mary was a lone passenger on an escape pod. Her only companion was an artificial intelligence called Alisson. Mary was crying as she had just watched her husband and son parish on the ship she had barely escaped from. It was one of the ships that were deployed from Earth a long time ago in an attempt to preserve the human race. Mary was a third-generation descendant of one of the original passengers. The ship was destroyed by a rogue asteroid. Mary gazed out of the single window of the escape pod and screamed.

“You should get some sleep,” said Allison.

Mary laid down on the one bed in the pod and closed her eyes. She soon awoke to the sound of Allison’s voice.

“What’s happening?” asked Mary.

“I’m not sure, it seems as though we are being pulled into the orbit of an unknown planet.”

Mary watched the planet approaching through the window.

“It appears to be habitable, but I don’t have a good feeling about whatever is down there,” said Allison.

The pod landed on the surface of a forested area. It looked like Earth if Earth was charred. The trees were all bare and black. The door of the pod opened, and Mary stepped out into this new world. The first thing she noticed was that it was cold. The air felt heavy and rank. The sky above her was very unfamiliar. She could see two moons – one much larger than the other. The pod was rendered useless as it had completed its mission. She was now on her own completely. Mary didn’t know where to go, but she felt as though she was being called. There was a path that started up ahead that led into the trees. She walked towards it without thinking. She was surprised at how confident she felt. Before long the dusty road turned into metal plates. Soon she stood at the mouth of some kind of futuristic cave. It looked to be made out of some kind of metal that was lined with fluorescent beams that stretched along the walls endlessly. Her shoes clanged against the metal floor as she walked into the cave. She noticed that there were tunnels on either side of the main cave. It was like a never-ending maze. She heard a small scuttle behind her. It looked like someone was hiding in one of the tunnels.

“Hello?” she called out.

She noticed that her voice sounded weak and strained. She saw a small face peek out from the corner. It was a very familiar face, but it was not very human. The eyes were very bright and large. They were a color that she had never seen before.

“Don’t be scared,” she said.

The figure disappeared behind the corner once again and Mary followed it. She followed it down many winding, metal hallways. The figure was very quick, and she could barely keep up with it. She followed it around one final corner into a dead end. The figure turned around, and she could see it for the first time. In a flash, she remembered where she had seen it before. She had a dream many years ago that she was taken by some unknown entities out of her bed. They had shown her a child that had the very same eyes – they had told her it was her son. At the time she thought it was just some strange dream. Could this be her son?

“We have brought you here for a reason,” they had said in unison. “He has grown to the age where he can understand where he came from.”

She looked at the hybrid child and couldn’t help but feel love for him. It really was her son. She felt it to be true. Her own human son had perished along with her husband on the ship. This was her only family on this unknown planet. She almost started crying again.

“Everything will be OK,” she said. “I will keep you safe.”

She wiped the tears from her eyes as she kneeled before her son.

“It is no coincidence that you are here Mary,” said a voice in her head.

She recognized them instantly.

“We couldn’t let you die.”

“What do you want from me?” she thought.

“There is no time to explain,” they said. “You will come with us to the other side.”

All of a sudden a portal appeared in place of the dead end. Her son reached out his hand to her and she took it – following him through the portal.