Sol 5111 A voice awakens me to darkness. Terrifying darkness. The voice is concerned. Concerned about my well-being. Who am I? Who is the voice? Whoever it is must be a friend. Why else would they be worried? Yes, they must be a friend. It is a kind voice. But what is it worried about? Why is it dark? It must be a storm. Yes, it must be a storm. I am cold. So very cold. The voice tells me to check my heater. Vaguely, I can make out my old, weathered body. There’s the heater, but it’s broken. The air is cold. This cold… it makes me feel tired. I want to sleep. I want the voice to tell…

Two years ago my family and I left Earth on an experimental mission. Our big, blue marble was experiencing extensive gravitational insufficiency. Numerous renowned researchers and the most intelligent scientists from several countries had developed a spacecraft in order to test their semblance of an artificial gravity. A massive lottery was designed to choose pioneer passengers. Every address throughout the world was placed into a database. lmagine my surprise when the Weltraum clan was selected. I was going to be the first teenager ever to zoom past stars and other planets. I had never been much on astronomy or little green men or galaxies beyond our reach. I had never even watched Star Wars or Star Trek. My brother though,…

Sol 5111 A voice awakens me to darkness. Terrifying darkness. The voice is concerned. Concerned about my well-being. Who am I? Who is the voice? Whoever it is must be a friend. Why else would they be worried? Yes, they must be a friend. It is a kind voice. But what is it worried about? Why is it dark? It must be a storm. Yes, it must be a storm. I am cold. So very cold. The voice tells me to check my heater. Vaguely, I can make out my old, weathered body. There’s the heater, but it’s broken. The air is cold. This cold… it makes me feel tired. I want to sleep. I want the voice to tell…

Two years ago my family and I left Earth on an experimental mission. Our big, blue marble was experiencing extensive gravitational insufficiency. Numerous renowned researchers and the most intelligent scientists from several countries had developed a spacecraft in order to test their semblance of an artificial gravity. A massive lottery was designed to choose pioneer passengers. Every address throughout the world was placed into a database. lmagine my surprise when the Weltraum clan was selected. I was going to be the first teenager ever to zoom past stars and other planets. I had never been much on astronomy or little green men or galaxies beyond our reach. I had never even watched Star Wars or Star Trek. My brother though,…

Two years ago my family and I left Earth on an experimental mission. Our big, blue marble was experiencing extensive gravitational insufficiency. Numerous renowned researchers and the most intelligent scientists from several countries had developed a spacecraft in order to test their semblance of an artificial gravity. A massive lottery was designed to choose pioneer passengers. Every address throughout the world was placed into a database. lmagine my surprise when the Weltraum clan was selected. I was going to be the first teenager ever to zoom past stars and other planets. I had never been much on astronomy or little green men or galaxies beyond our reach. I had never even watched Star Wars or Star Trek. My brother though,…

Sol 5111 A voice awakens me to darkness. Terrifying darkness. The voice is concerned. Concerned about my well-being. Who am I? Who is the voice? Whoever it is must be a friend. Why else would they be worried? Yes, they must be a friend. It is a kind voice. But what is it worried about? Why is it dark? It must be a storm. Yes, it must be a storm. I am cold. So very cold. The voice tells me to check my heater. Vaguely, I can make out my old, weathered body. There’s the heater, but it’s broken. The air is cold. This cold… it makes me feel tired. I want to sleep. I want the voice to tell…