You lift your hands from the button panel at your fingertips, ice cold sweat trickling from your brow, space has never felt so frigid to you, emerging from cryostasis has nothing on this.
“Tightbeam Message sent.” The soulless voice drawls over the speaker system.
The Rust Deserts of Mars, Temperate Clouds of Venus, Waters of Ganymede, Frigid Tundras of Europa…. These are among the many destinations that your colleagues were dispatched to with the mission of establishing life throughout the Galaxy, your destination is CV-391.
Or at least, was. You drop your head into your hands hopelessly, closing your eyes, hoping that when you open them you are back on Earth with the wife and kids.
First, you cursed your luck, then you cursed the caste system installed on Earth that designated you a B-class human, then you cursed yourself for being one mark from making the grade that could have sent you anywhere but this godforsaken place. Now you don’t know what to do. Pray?
“You are two Earthweeks from exoplanet Cee Vee Three Nine One" the voice drawls emotionlessly again, "do you need a reminder of your pre-landing tasks?”
You raise your head to gaze out of the cockpit window whilst your hand reaches to your side, one more time to literally affirm the gravity of the situation…
Darkness, darker than any darkness you had ever encountered, it feels almost as if it is pulling your dreams and essence in, as well as all data possible into its depths, a black hole, death incarnate, little red orbs distributed across your visor, as stars do on the devil’s night, it is the blood of your family, as they slumbered unaware, you entered your code as the authority of this ship, removed your Enforcer’s Magnum and put a single bullet in all of their heads, arguably a far better end than what awaits you. There is no star here, no exoplanets, no life, no fuel to return and if even if there was, there would be no escaping this gravity. All the geniuses on Earth calculated and formulated and this is the best they could come up with?
You raise the gun one last time to your head and hear that hollow click of an empty clip a final time. Reality affirmed.
AUT2M:
open.spotify.com/artist/1y1kgm958cxXSvDKon9N78?si=RI0oHzCSSySEPmQkCHLYhg
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CV_002
released November 6, 2020
Cover: AUT2M
Concept: AUT2M
Album description: Iona Dream