Planet B Page #4

After hundreds of years in space, the Gaia's mission to find a New Earth won't last much longer.

• Science fiction

								


BUFFET: Who’s gonna put on the suit? Do we even have anything ready?

WALTON: The engineering department keeps a couple on hand. They’re very old. It would be a recon mission only. Go out, with tethers on, make sure to go as far out as possible, just to get a visual on the engine from the outside, then right back in. No work can be done in those suits.
[sigh]
We have a couple of short-range radios, we’ll use those to communicate.

PAGE: Walton, what do you expect to find out there? What do you think, if you had to guess, is happening to us?

WALTON: I don’t know. But one way or another, our time aboard the Gaia is coming to an end. We’re at critical failure levels with most systems on the ship, working with the last of the last of the rusted old parts. Whatever this is, it could be… some way to survive off the ship.

[static, shuffling, crosstalk]

BUFFET: Who’s gonna put on the suit?

[end transcription]






Investigative Data, Firsthand Recording, Short wave radio- date 08012456-18:02
Transcribed Recording

[static, click]

WALTON: On the side?

BUFFET: Yeah. Is it glowing blue? Over.

WALTON: It is. Okay. Looks good. Recording feature is on.

[static, heavy breathing]

PAGE: You have to say ‘over’ when you’re done talking, Noah. Over.

WALTON: Oh, sorry. Uh, over.

PAGE: Great. We’re going to open the airlock now. Remember, Eve, you are just going on a mission to report. Nothing more. Don’t touch anything. It’s just me and Noah in the engineering lab here. We’ll be monitoring your vitals and telling you when to come back in. It’s just us, so don’t be afraid to say whatever you want. Eve, you need to just tell us what is happening. We opened up the window of the lab, we should be able to see you once you’re out. Over.

BUFFET: Roger that. Damn, this suit is heavy. I can barely move. Over.

[grinding, mechanical noises, beeping, air rushing]

WALTON: Doors are open. Over.

[breathing]

PAGE: Monitoring your heartbeat. Getting nervous, Eve? Over.

[breathing, static]

BUFFET: Yeah. First steps. What was the… one small step for man, one giant leap for… ahh, I can’t remember. Over.

WALTON: Mankind. Over.

BUFFET: That’s right. Mankind. Over.

[breathing, static]

WALTON: What’s happening out there, Eve? Over.

BUFFET: I- I don’t… it’s so weird. I’m still heavy. I’m still… I can still barely lift my legs. Over.

PAGE: Ship’s records indicate a ladder to your left. Then you should be able to walk along the gangway on the surface of the top of the ship, get out to the edge, and turn around. Over.

BUFFET: I see the ladder. Climbing now. I thought… I thought I’d float. Over.

[heavy breathing, static, unintelligible]

WALTON: Okay, we can see you, Eve. You’re almost to the gangway. There’s a railing you can grab onto. Over.

BUFFET: The ship looks so much smaller from here. Different from the plans…. Walking now… damn, this suit is still so heavy. I’m [panting, heavy breathing, static] I’m pulling through. Better not die out here or I’m gonna be a real struggle to pull back in. [panting] 
I’m reaching the end… of the gangway… I can see the edge of the ship now. Ready to report findings. Turning around. Over.

WALTON:  How do the stars look? Over.

BUFFET: Like… 

[unintelligible, static, heavy breathing]

PAGE: Buffet, come in. Buffet, respond. Over.

BUFFET: They’re… they’re…

[unintelligible, sobbing, heavy breathing]

WALTON: Buffet, come in. Eve! What is it! Eve, tell us what you see. Over!

BUFFET: They’re not stars.

PAGE: Buffet, we need more details. Over.

BUFFET: They’re not stars. They’re coming from a point. [gasping, heavy breathing] It’s… it’s above the ship. It’s like it’s a big… [sobbing, unintelligible]

PAGE: Buffet! Calm down. Deep breaths. We need your objective report. We need data. Over.

BUFFET: Yes, Captain. [static, breathing] Sorry. I… sorry. [breathing] I see a… like a bright light, sort of casting all these rays of light around. That’s the stars. I think. And I’m… I’m still heavy. It doesn’t seem like normal space. It seems like… 

WALTON: Eve, tell us what you see. Over.

BUFFET: Captain, can I ask you a question? Over.

PAGE: Anything, Buffet. Over.

[static, breathing]

BUFFET: Why did our ancestors get onboard the Gaia? Over.

[static, shuffling]

PAGE: I… [stammering] Old Earth wasn’t sustainable. It was a… nuclear wasteland riddled with microplastics. It… our ancestors got humanity off of a dying rock. There was no… no future on Planet A, so we went hunting for Planet B. You… you know that, Eve. Over.

BUFFET: Any other explanation? Any at all? That’s the history I know…. You don’t have some… secret alternative version? Over.

PAGE: No, I don’t… it’s… Eve, my only big secret was that Earth hasn’t responded. But given what state Earth was in when we launched, I didn’t think it was so surprising. Why… why that question, now? Eve, what do you see? Over.

BUFFET: What did the other people do? Captain, what about the people our ancestors left behind? What happened to them? Over.

PAGE: I… I don’t know. No one knows. It was centuries ago. Earth Command was in a bunker somewhere. I think the people of Earth…

BUFFET: They all died? All but the bunker people?

WALTON: Buffet, what’s going on? Over.

BUFFET: Why doesn’t Earth Command respond?

[static, heavy breathing]

WALTON: Eve, what are you doing? Over.

[static crackle, rustling, latches clicking]

WALTON: Eve! No! Stop! Eve, no! Think about your daughter!

PAGE: Buffet! Buffet, stop! Buffet! Eve! You have a family, Eve! Don’t do it! Your daughter! Stop! Put the helmet back on!

[unintelligible, screaming, crosstalk]

PAGE: —whatever she saw, can’t be bad enough–

WALTON: —f*ck, f*ck, no, she’s doing it, no—

PAGE: —-what have I done, she was so young—-

WALTON: — what did she see??

[unintelligible, crosstalk, yelling]

PAGE: Noah.

[crosstalk, yelling]

PAGE: No, look! Noah, look!

WALTON: I don’t want to look! I don’t want to see her head… cracked open like…

PAGE: It’s not. She’s not. She’s… fine.

[crosstalk, beeping]

PAGE: Come in, Buffet. Come in, Buffet. Can you still hear us? Over. Over.

BUFFET: I can hear you. I can just hold up the helmet to my ear. I can see you. [laughing hysterically, sobbing] Noah looks white as a ghost. Don’t faint. Over.

PAGE: Buffet, this is your Captain. I demand to know what prompted you to remove your helmet. How are you–

BUFFET: Look. Can you see this?

[static crackle, gasping]

PAGE: Buffet, how are you doing that? Over.

BUFFET: It’s just light. I’ve got a star in my hand. Now it’s on my chest. Now it's in my eyes. It’s not real, Captain. It’s not real. It’s like a projector. Over.

[static, breathing heavily]

PAGE: It’s like… it’s like a projector? Like for classrooms? You’re standing in a beam of light. Like a projection? It looks like a star, Buffet. Is that… what you saw?

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