The planet at the end of the solar system

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. Still, I screamed anyway as my ship hurtled towards that purple, alien planet. My final resting place. My tomb.

As I sped toward my inevitable demise, I tried everything I could to prevent my crash landing. Everything they had taught me in the book, everything I had learned in my meticulous training. But it was not to be. I would die here and now upon this strange, unfamilar terrain.

But something happened as I raced towards my doom. As I entered the planet's atmosphere my ship slowed, the peculiar, otherworldly flora broke its fall and we landed on an unknown bed of flowers I'd never seen before. I blinked twice. I wasn't dead. Fate, it seemed, had other plans in store for me.

I unbuckled myself and opened the hatch. It came off with a mighty groan. As smoke surrounded me, I emerged from my mettalic prison and stepped onto solid ground. I looked up at the stars. How in God's name had I survived that fall?

Suddenly unfamiliar cries came from all directions and I glimpsed a great many creatures I'd never seen before. Some looked like mammals but had extra eyes. Others resembled reptiles but had strange faces when you examined them closely. Birds with extra wings screeched and fled at the mere sight of me. And then suddenly it was all over as soon as it had begun. I was alone again.

I went back to check my ship. In perfect condition except for the fact that I was out of gas. Where in the hell would I find gas on an alien planet?

I had no clue, but I had to try. I couldn't just sit around waiting for something to come along. I had no idea where I was. I had to at least take in my surroundings.

But I decided to play it safe anyway so I grabbed a flare from under my seat. I struck it quickly and held it above my head. If any other space explorers traveled out this way, they would see it. Just in case the worst would happen to me, I had prepared for it.

But I also had my laser gun with me, in case worse came to worse.

Once I was done, I threw the flare aside and began my trek through the otherworldly, neon forest I now found myself in. While purple on the outside, this planet had all manner of luminous, fluorescent plantlife on the inside. There were what looked like purple palm trees, yes, and strange, pink plants that resembled coral. But there were also orange succulents and green and yellow tentacles that swayed in the wind. Some of the plants stuck to my spacesuit and others even looked like they were breathing, of all things! But still it was all neon. All radiant.

Finally I left the fluorescent forest behind and reached a clearing. There were a great many unknown creatures again across in this vast, valley but this time I could get a good look at them. They didn't seem to be skittish like all the others and rightly so. I was in their domain.

The reptile creatures with the strange faces varied in size. Some were over thirty feet. Others were about half my size. They reminded me more of dinosaurs than reptiles, with long necks and multiple legs. One that was about fifty feet towered over all others. I feared I might be crushed but it simply stepped over me and continued into the valley.

The mammals with the extra eyes certainly had fur and long tails. One even let me get up close and pet it. They more closely resembled Possums and Lemurs than anything otherworldly. I gave it one of my vacuum sealed crackers and pushed on.

The birds with the multiple wings creeped me out. They mimicked whatever I said but when I walked away, they started speaking in this strange, alien language. I had no idea what they were saying but suddenly it hit me. I'd seen the flora and fauna of this strange new world. But I hadn't met the inhabitants yet...

I crossed a field of blue grass and rolling hills and ended up at the foot of a vast, impenetrable mountain. It seemed to reach for the heavens. There was no way I was climbing that! But I saw there was a small passageway, hidden from view but big enough to squeeze through. And I wasn't sure if it was just me, but I could feel a faint rumbling beneath my feet. Was it coming from inside? I gripped my ray gun tightly and headed in.

The cave was dark, dank and wet. I was glad I hadn't taken off my helmet yet because I didn't know what their water would do to me. Whether I drank it or otherwise. Despite the cramped entrance, the cave spread out for miles. It was vast and I heard my own footsteps echoing through the endless darkness. It was responsive. So responsive that I secretly hoped those footsteps were mine and not someone else's. I took a deep breath and kept going. I passed an underground lake and the water swirled menacingly. Something started glowing beneath the waves and I picked up the pace.

I could see a faint light up ahead. Could feel the rumbling getting stronger. And was that...voices I could hear? It sounded like a low chorus of male vocals.

I finally reached the light and now I was in what looked like a stone ampitheatre. There was no other way to describe it! There were stone benches that circled around the room but the hall itself was gigantic. It seemed to be built into the very mountain itself. I imagined it was a colossal undertaking.

Something walked forward into the light and I ducked down low. I couldn't be seen yet. I had no idea what these planet's inhabitants were like.

It was tall. Probably 6ft. It had cold, black eyes. No nose or hair to speak of. And it wore a strange black gown that covered it's feet but became angular around it's head. Or was part of it. I did not know.

Something snarled near me and my heart almost stopped. But then I realised it hadn't seen me yet. There were about six or seven others that looked the exact same standing around the ampitheatre. They were greeting the one in the centre in their own peculiar way.

The first one stopped them. And then it spoke. The sounds coming out of it's mouth were some of the strangest I'd ever heard. I didn't understand a word of it. It was guttural, like it was speaking from it's throat. Certainly an alien language if I'd ever heard one.

I still couldn't see anything. Only the strange being in the centre. It looked like there was an ancient, fallen building behind him? And above that, perhaps a drawing or cave painting of a large creature with tentacles? I couldn't really make it out. So I finally turned my night vision mode on with the help of my visor.

One of the creatures was staring back at me inches away from my face. I screamed and ran for my life. Out of that room, out of that cave. I don't remember much of what happened. I just remember hands reaching for me and guttural screaming following me out of the ampitheatre.

And I remember looking back and the one that had addressed the crowd was just watching me. With a cold, emotionless expression. I will never forget those cold, black eyes.

I made it through the impossibly skinny entrance and multiple hands reached out for me. It was a disturbing sight. Just gnashing teeth and hands reaching through every gap imaginable but none of them could get through. Did they belong in there? I didn't know. But I wasn't waiting to find out.

I ran back across the blue grass and the rolling hills. I raced across that vast valley with all those strange, unknown animals and the one that ate my crackers. I fled through the neon forest, back to my ship that had no gas. And to my surprise, someone was already there.

It was a woman. Her spaceship was similar to mine. She had her helmet removed and her long, brown hair was flowing in the wind. Had she even checked the planet's atmosphere properly?

We locked eyes and she smiled. She removed the tube connecting my spaceship to hers and gave me a wave. Then she took off and her ship returned to orbit.

I wasn't wasting any time and did the same. I threw my gun on the passenger seat and checked the display. Almost half a tank! That would be more than enough to make it back to the next civilised planet.

As my own ship took off, my mind began to race. What was in that cave? What was this strange planet that I had happened to stumble across at the edge of our known system? I needed to report to mission control and they would undoubtedly send people back for reconnaissance. But it wouldn't be me. If there's one thing I'd learnt, it was not to delve too deep into uncharted waters or alien worlds. Lest, we find something too horrific we couldn't explain.

I engaged the hyper drive and my ship left behind that awful, purple planet for good. I now breathe easy in the knowledge that someone else will solve this particular mystery!

-Captain's Voicelog, Day 365, Space Lieutenent Axel Northstar