There was a cold determination in her eyes that I admired. I gulped, trying to fortify myself with some of whatever she had. Theresa sat up straighter at the question, and Kat stopped rubbing the back of her head, leaning forward. I licked my lips, mouth suddenly incredibly dry.
“Unbeknownst to the public, Earth has a large space program, much more advanced than what you see on TV with rockets and moon-landings. We have been searching for energy and materials to sustain life on Earth, and have been also searching for planets to eventually host human colonies.”
A collective gasp ran through the crowd, and Colonel Jackson raised his hand for silence, continuing.
“We have discovered numerous new energy sources and resources we need to study further. One of these is a compound we have called IX189, on a planet we have called P14256ABX.”
“That isn’t, like, Mars or something, right?” I said, stomach sinking. Were we going to be flung out of our entire galaxy? I’ve never even been outside of North America.
“This planet exists in a small galaxy we have named the Ophis Cluster.”
“Ophis... That sounds like the Greek word for serpent,” I whispered. My thoughts were confirmed when suddenly the blank silver wall behind the colonel lit up, an image being projected on its smooth surface. A hushed silence fell over the room as we stared at a star system none of us had ever seen before, the planets and glittering spray of stars swirling, snakelike, across the screen. The image suddenly shifted, showing a large brownish-looking planet with a ring of what looked to be asteroid chunks, or some other kind of space rocks, surrounding it like the rings of Saturn.
“This is P14256ABX. Our radar technology has picked up a massive energy source on this planet, the compound we have labelled IX189. The problem is that we can’t just go down and get it. This planet is inhabited by a primitive, warlike species that we have yet to establish contact with. We have not yet been down to the surface of the planet, but have orbited it for some time, collecting data. Now that we’ve collected enough data, our orbiting vessel has left to move on to other projects, and our mission can begin.”
Another image flashed on the screen, this one blurry and difficult to make out. I realized with a small cry it was a photo of one of the planet’s inhabitants, an honest-to-goodness real life alien. Another round of gasps ran through the room, and someone burst into tears.
Holy fucking fuck. I’d always assumed that with a universe as wide an unknown as ours that there would be life out there somewhere. I just never thought that I’d get a chance to come face to face with it, even as a grainy photo like this.
“For fuck’s sake,” Kat said, squinting and leaning forward as far as she could across the table. “Is this some conspiracy UFO type shit? They couldn’t get a better photo?”
She wasn’t wrong. The photo looked like one of the Loch Ness Monster, or Big Foot. I couldn’t make out any distinct features on the creature at all, only that it seemed to be bipedal, standing tall on two legs. Or was it three? Before I could look closer, the image vanished, replaced with an image of desert.
“From what we’ve gathered the atmosphere on the planet is similar to our own, with slightly less oxygen. Similar to high altitude climates on Earth. It shouldn’t cause too much of a problem for any of you unless you’re vigorously exercising. We’ve examined your medical records and you all should be fit for such an environment.”
Hold the phone. Why did it matter to us what the atmosphere was like? Why did we need to know about the aliens down there? Unless they were planning to...
“Oh my God,” Theresa said, her face going pale under her tan. “They’re gonna drop us down there. They’re literally gonna drop us on the surface of an alien planet.”
“No, no way,” I shot back quickly, goosebumps breaking out over my skin. That made no sense. At all. “I’m a PhD candidate in the linguistics department. Don’t you need tons of training to become an astronaut?”
Theresa’s voice fell to a broken whisper.
“Honey, I’m a vet tech. I sure as hell shouldn’t be here.”
Kat shook her head, and then Melanie turned her dark eyes on us, her face looking resigned.
“Linguistics PhD sounds an awful lot like someone to be an alien translator. And vet tech – well, someone to make conclusions about the local wildlife, I guess? Didn’t he say there’s a botanist around here somewhere?”
“Um, no,” I interjected. “My area of research is translation in pop culture, specifically the creation of subtitles for popular films and TV shows. I literally watch anime for research. That’s going to do fuck-all on an alien planet. I assure you.”
Melanie just shrugged and turned back to the front of the room. Yeah, yeah, I get it, you don’t make the rules. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, it seemed more and more likely that she was right.
The screen at the front had darkened back to a blank metal slate. I blinked at it, unbelieving. That’s it? That’s all we’re gonna get?
“It will take approximately two weeks to reach P14256ABX. During that time, you will receive more thorough instructions on the mission and your duties.”
“Our duties?” Kat snarled, jumping up again. Chapman stepped towards her, but Colonel Jackson held up a hand. “My only duty is to get away from you and this whole clusterfuck.”
I stood, too, in solidarity, as did Theresa and Melanie. No way was I going to get sucked into some interstellar alien translation job without my consent. I had school to think about, students, a life to get back to. Others were standing now, grumbling, their voices getting louder. Kat continued, grinning at the sight of all the angry women getting out of their chairs.
“See? We don’t want to and you can’t make us. You may have been able to toss us into vans and get us here, but there’s no fucking way you’re getting us off this planet.”
Colonel Jackson’s face remained impassive. The entire room was standing now, waiting for him to make a move. He said nothing, instead pulling a small black object out of his pocket and aiming at the wall that had been a screen a moment before. He pushed a button, and the entire wall seemed to disappear, shimmering out of existence right before our eyes. And what we saw sent me falling back into my chair with a strangled huff, my chest tightening as my knees gave out.
It was earth. The size of a marble, and getting smaller every second, swallowed up by black on all sides as it got further away. No. As we got further away. Kat’s mouth fell open, and more girls started to cry.
“I’m afraid, Katerina,” the Colonel said, his voice like ice, “that that ship has already sailed.”
AS SOON AS THE PRESENTATION ended, we were all trundled back into our rooms, escorted by soldiers every step of the way. Although at that point, none of us had much fight left, even Kat. After seeing our planet, the only thing we’d ever known disappear before our eyes... Well... It had kind of stopped any chance of escape in its tracks.
Theresa and Kat climbed the ladders to the top bunks, and Melanie and I collapsed into the bottom ones. There was silence for a moment, as we all contemplated just what on Earth – or what in wherever we were now – was going on. But it wasn’t long before Kat spoke up, her voice dripping with venom.
“I don’t buy this for a fucking second.”
“Don’t buy what? You think they’re lyin’? You think we’re still on Earth somewhere?” The note of hope in Theresa’s voice from the bunk above me almost broke my heart.
“No, I think that part is real,” Melanie interjected, and I nodded. Every instinct was telling me that we were no longer anywhere close to home.
