A Celestial Odyssey of Tragic History

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. However, I swear that I can. In truth, its more than that; its more terrifyingly real. For as long as I can remember, every night that I went to sleep, I was taken somewhere into the far reaches of space. Everything was the opposite from what was supposed to be for astronauts, I was warm and could breathe as if I was the surface of any viable planet! This fact first startled me at such a young age, but I quickly got accustomed to it when I realized that I was going to fine, but still.

Looking around, constellations that I don’t recognize surround me. Beautiful stars of white, blue, and strangely purple are glistening all around me like dazzling gemstones in the otherwise vast black sky. I also noted three moons nearby, gravitating towards an empty space. Before I could ponder why moons could orbit emptiness, I heard a soft, yet mournful voice. The voice sounds oddly familiar to me and as it grows louder, I realize that the voice is singing and that the pitch is growing higher in the process. Shortly after, the voice became a blood-chilling scream that could shatter glass across the galaxy.

As the scream continued, in the vacuum of space, I was transported to utter devastation of collapsed, charred buildings. The sky was opaque with smoke and the air was filled with a metal taste and…despair? Panic? Terror fills me as the scream grows even louder, shaking my body and piercing my ears and soul with agony. There is a bright, brilliant blue flash of light and everything fades to black and extreme cold. So cold, as if I had been frozen for millennia and it hurts.

Dawn crested over the horizon of the eastern half of the planet JP-5721EA. Watching it from the Scientific Study Space Station – Deltexa has always been fascinating. The clear atmosphere openly displays the planet-wide jungle habitat below. The atmosphere of this planet is akin to early historical Earth, the air quality being much better than before the 1900’s industrial revolution. It was the 5,721st like this to be discovered hence, the label it has. While watching, these gigantic bird-like creatures start soaring in the thinnest layer of the atmosphere, leaving behind them a trail of glistening ‘stardust’. I smile and float away, ready to take a few sensor readings for the day.

I always felt home in space and being at the station is as close as can get. I have always longed for space, despite the dream of the woman screaming and the ruins for all these years. Being stuck on the ground always annoyed me and I always found peace looking at the stars every night, and sometimes, I swear that I hear stars calling out to me back then. It took a long time and effort of learning new topics, studying day-in and day-out, growing up and working hard. I also had to face the negative criticisms of being a poor girl from an outpost and from a farm, that I would not be able to get anywhere because of those factors. Even my adoptive parents told me that, the parents that raised me since they found me as a baby, and I considered as my only family. Even they discouraged me, but I still made it to where I am today. I am here, among the stars, I am home. Am I?

Since I have been on the station, the dream has been changing more and more as time passes. I can tell that the scream is filled with agony and sorrow. I can also see her anguished, mournful appear in the darkened sky now, too. Her dark hair of violets, blues, and black was laden with stars, stretching across the sky. Her moonstone eyes rained down diamonds upon her pearlescent skin. Upon her head was a crown of simple design adorned with small stars, three medium gemstones, and one large gemstone near the top. She looked so familiar to me, and it hurt me that I could not place her. Somehow, I felt safe seeing her and I felt even closer to home being in her presence. Was this person, and the place that I have been seeing all this time my family and my home? I have the feeling a clue will be found on the planet below us today. Drone scans yesterday uncovered an ancient site that appear to be a temple complex with a village attached to it. The team is going down to the surface today to investigate further. What is going to come from this?