Before the Darkness Comes

Chapter 1: Not Knowing

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. I can see these words written on the blackboard at my school, just as if I was still sitting there listening to my teacher drone on and on. These words begin to reverberate in my mind as I watch my ship, now engulfed in flames, drifting further and further away. The broken pieces floating away from the ship gave way to stars glimmering in the distant background. As my body rotated while floating away, my eyes fell to the orange and blue world that appeared to be slowly moving toward me.

“I need air”, I screamed with every fiber of my being… but I was unable to even hear my voice; so, once again I screamed a second time. I could feel my heartbeat racing and the throbbing of my pulsating heart all over my entire body. The cold was overwhelming, my thoughts could not focus on anything. I could see the planet below looming closer and closer. The icy chill of space coursed through my veins as the blood slowly cooled my entire body. “This protective nano-suit will only provide shielding for a very limited time” I thought.

Time shifts in intensity based upon perspective, from being awakened to this moment felt like an eternity of aching and cold without any ability to take breaths, however, the elapsed time must only have been a few seconds. Another attempt of screaming, “HEL-P”, I could barely hear the final consonant of the word and began to shout, “I’m falling!” with the finally audible sound I could also attempt to breathe in the frozen, lifeless, odorless air. I cough and gasped hoping for anything in this limited region of viable air, but nothing. Now holding my breath again the statement of falling begins to ring back into my mind… that I am falling toward the planet below.

Time is now brought to the forefront of my thoughts as only a few seconds remain until I begin to fully re-enter the atmosphere. I can feel my heart leaping from my chest, my heartrate is made worse by the lack of oxygen in my blood, and my mind flashes a quick memory of the last moments on my ship, as I was expelled from the ship and why it was in flames. Suddenly, my mind seemed to uncontrollably begin to look even further back, recalling my childhood, watching as my mother was taken from me, dragged away by... I then flashed to another memory of graduating and a man, that I called Wugan, tenderly hugging me and telling me that he was very proud of what I had become.

Another sudden flash reminds me of the instructions given by a woman saying that my suit is equipped with multiple features including a beacon and operational assistant. I remember that I had not turned the suit on as I was ejected from the ship, and press my left hand onto the button in the middle of my chest. I see the green light begin to glow, a voice is heard, “Hello, Tunari, possible collision detected in approximately 47 seconds. Alter angle of descent minus 33 degrees for optimal collision aversion in 10 seconds”.

Still holding my breath, I immediately raise my arms and arch my back stretching out as far as I can. The change is too slow my suit is limiting my flexibility, I have to fight against my suit. The voice assistant speaks again, collision aversion activating in 3 seconds, alter angle of descent minus 16 degrees. I strain against the strength of the suit, putting all of my energy into arching as far as possible. I can see my speed accelerating toward the planet below.

A loud rumble begins to become audible…

I awaken to the sounds of air and water flowing all around, like a storm lapping at the waves of an ocean. I slowly stand up and see that I was laying on what appears to be a soft rock, suspended between two trees. At further inspection the trees seem to be more like poles, not trees, as I begin to focus on my surroundings a bit more.

The voice is heard again, “Tunari, you became unresponsive to commands for 28 hours and 36 minutes. Welcome back.”

“Thank you”, I say under my breath, still unsure if I should be speaking to a, whatever this thing is. The voice states, “my pleasure as always, do you have any functions for me to perform?”

“Where am I, may I ask?”

“You are currently outside of our navigational zones, you are on a bearing of 215 from sector 7 plus 7.4 parsecs.”

“I can’t be… here, I was on the other side…” cutting myself off as I struggle with fully comprehending the magnitude of the information. I stand motionless with my eyes gazing in the distance.

“Something is moving on that rock”, almost whispering to myself, I immediately crouch down and head for cover, not knowing where I am or what could be out there.

While scouring the area for anything to assist me, I notice a faint, almost undetectable pillar of dark blueish smoke off in the distance. The terrain obscures the source of the smoke, has my ship also landed on the planet? Is this something else, natives maybe that could either be friendly to me or not?

Scanning the immediate environment for any clues or weapons, my eyes stop, my gaze fixated on the trees that look more like poles than plant organisms, and they don’t quite seem to fit in to the landscape. Have I already made contact with a native while I was unconscious?

I begin to notice the area around me growing darker, shadows were falling very long onto the ground. “I must locate some shelter prior to the darkness”, I speak aloud, not really knowing why. The voice answers, “There appears to be a hollow opening, possibly a cave, 300 meters bearing 36 degrees. Would you like me to scan for heat signatures?”

I wasn’t really certain I wanted to know what was really out there, would it open more terrifying questions than I already have? “Yes, please scan in the direction of the cave.”

“No heat signatures present in that direction”, the voice claims, I only worry about every other direction now. I must make my way to the cave and prepare to secure my immediate area before the darkness comes.