Somewhere else...

Tired, and distracted, Jack finally laid down in his bed.

Thoughts of his family drifted through his head. After some time, he rolled over and turned on the light in the top of his bunk. He reached for a picture of his wife, Michelle, and daughter, Mary, that was stuck on the roof of his bunk near his head.

She was smiling while she held their daughter close. She’d given him this picture just as he was leaving. That he wasn't in it was a reminder of what he had given up for three years. He'd been at a training camp when the picture was taken. He'd tried to get a day of leave, but with the mission's launch date rapidly approaching, he hadn't been able to. Michelle and Mary had gone to the photographer without him.

Michelle had wanted him to have a more recent picture to take with him. It was a nice gesture, but his absence in the frame caused an ache in his heart.

He couldn’t stop looking at it, wishing the journey over.

Finally, gratefully, he slipped into sleep.

Somewhere, he heard the soft sound of whispers. He couldn't make out what they were saying. It was in a language he didn't recognise, but it seemed almost harmonious.

He opened his eyes as he realized a light was shining on him.

Jack was no longer in his room.

He sat up slowly.

Around him, in all directions, stretched a thatch patterned black surface. It extended for a hundred meters before vanishing into a grey fog.

He placed his hands on the cold ground and stood up.

‘Hello?’

The mists swallowed up his voice, strangling off any echo.

There was no reply.

He began to walk.

‘Hello.’

The voice came out of the mists. He spun around, the sound seemed to have come from everywhere at once.

Jack stopped in his tracks.

‘Hello?’

‘Hello,’ came the reply.

‘Who’s there?’ Jack asked, his mouth dry.

A figure stepped out of the mists.

A tightness gripped his chest as he saw the form of his wife, Michelle, holding their child and stepping towards him.

‘Why do you miss me?’ she asked, in a cold voice that made him shiver.

‘I don’t know. I thought I’d be strong enough to do this for us. But I miss you. I love you of course.’

‘Why do you love me?’

‘Why? You’re the mother of our child, you were brave enough when I said I’d have to go so Mary could have a future. You’ve always been so strong. But now I feel like I’m not strong enough for us. I’m dragging my feet, but there’s nothing to be done except hold on.’

‘Why hold on?’ she asked,

A bitter laugh escaped his lips, ‘Because if I don’t, I’ll never see you again. Who’d want that?’

‘Why see me again?’

‘Because I love you! I miss you. I miss holding you close. I miss hearing you breathing at night. I miss the smell of your hair, the sound of your laugh. This ship is full of noise, but they’re all mechanical and harsh. I thought I liked it, and I did at first. Space is amazing, but it turns out I’m no explorer. I haven’t got the heart for it,’ he paused and looked at his feet, ‘I left it with you.’

He looked up, and she was gone.

His heart ached in the agony of despair.

***

Later...

When Jack Simons got into the lift to head to the bridge, he found Hugh in there too.

‘Morning Hugh, where you headed?’

‘Sensor station on the bridge was giving off weird readings all night, they want to make sure it’s not a technical glitch,’ Hugh looked over at Jack, ‘And you don’t look so good pal.’

‘I had some bad dreams last night.’

‘Rough night then?’

‘Yeah.’

‘What were they about?’

‘My wife.’

‘No wonder you seem rough. Bad dreams about your family. You going to be good for your shift?’

‘I'm professional enough it won't affect me.'

‘Don’t let Captain Preston see. She only wants the sharpest on the bridge right now.’ Jack nodded.

The door to the lift opened, and the two stepped onto the bridge. Hugh went to the terminal he there to check, and Jack went to the Helm.

The helmsmen on duty got up and let Jack sit down.

‘Thank you, Louis,' Jack said.

‘Have a good shift Jack.’

Jack looked at the display screen after he keyed in on his console. The dark world beneath them still loomed on the screen. It didn't look any different form the last time, and yet Jack felt something had changed. Its dark surface seemed like the pupil of some enormous eye, gazing up at the tiny ship above it.

Captain Preston entered the bridge, from the briefing room at the back. She was normally first on the bridge during her shift change. Professor Li, the lead researcher on this mission, trailed close behind her, looking dishevelled. They went over to where Hugh was working. 

The bridge was quiet and their voices carried over the silence.

‘Ensign Lake, what’s the status of the Sensors?’ Captain Preston asked.

‘Not sure yet Captain, Chief Laz sent me up to run a diagnostic on the console itself. She was up all night checking the software. Everything was checking out on our end. There’s really only two things left, either the sensors are working fine, and the readings are accurate, or it’s a software glitch. She’s got me up here to run the sensors through their paces while she checks the results down in engineering.’

‘I see. So the hardware isn’t malfunctioning?’ Professor Li asked.

‘No, sir. Though the chief suggested we could launch a probe to the surface as a calibration test. If the sensors can pick up the probe and its transmissions with accuracy, then we know for sure nothing is up.'

‘Captain, we’ve wanted to mount an expedition to the surface anyway, we could kill two birds with one stone if we take the probe down with us,’ Professor Li offered.

‘Hmmm… Well, we have seen nothing dangerous from the planet. I'll allow it. Go get a team together.'

‘Yes, Captain.'

Jack heard the professor leave the bridge. A set of footsteps came closer to him, and then he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up into the face of Captain Preston. 

‘Can you fly a shuttle for me?’

Jack nodded, ‘I take it I’m going down there?’

‘I want you to make sure they get down there and back again safe.’

‘Will I be in charge?’

‘No, Professor Li will be in charge, but you will have authority to abort the mission if you

feel it necessary.’

‘She won’t like that,’ Jack commented.

‘She’s not flying the shuttle,’ Captain Preston replied.