text: We were earth’s First Fleet, sent to colonise the closest habitable planet in our galaxy. Unmanned probes were sent first, followed by landing drones. However, we would be the first humans to set foot on a planet outside of our solar system. In amongst a fleet full of scientists, pilots, engineers and soldiers I stood alone ... as the entertainer. I was a pianist for the military band and had volunteered to join this expedition not out of a sense of duty or a craving for adventure. I had volunteered simply because there was nothing left for me on earth. I didn’t have many friends at all in this fleet with nearly everyone belonging to some team in one way or another. No, I stood alone. “Get up,” the drunkards would say to me, “Play us something.” Our first few hours escaping earth’s orbit was one of hopeful sadness. We knew that we had left everyone we loved behind. But this was to be a grand adventure, the greatest adventure in human history. I sat at the piano and looked out at the audience. Many were happy, drinking and having a laugh. But some were melancholy, preferring to be alone with their thoughts. My fingers began to work across the keys. I opened with a D minor, settling into an easy flowing melody. The 5th would be the natural progression giving the piece an ethereal feel. I flattened out the 6th note in the melody, finally confirming my use of the Dorian scale. The sadness in the piece could be now be felt as I moved onto another minor chord, in this instance an E minor. From here there could be only one place to move. I hit the G major chord, bringing the progression to its victorious climax. Finally I returned home to the D minor, quietly ending the piece as our fleet moved its way further from our stellar home. \*\*\* We landed on our new planet two weeks ago. That is approximately three and half weeks in earth time. This world we have named, unimaginatively in my opinion, Eden. Erroneously too as it turns out, for this world is not the earth analogue that the scientists had predicted. The temperature is significantly colder than expected considering its atmospheric composition and distance from the sun. The ground, as a consequence, is unfriendly to agriculture but for a few root vegetables. The storms are much more frequent than we had expected and although our habitations have so far remained stable we have had to reinforce them with the precious few materials we have. However, despite these hardships, the mood is one of optimism and the pioneering spirit of the great days of exploration has been reborn. The engineers tirelessly work on our buildings, the scientists eagerly survey our environment and the former soldiers have now reinvented themselves as our farmers and labourers. Each evening I play to the tired and overworked settlers. The boisterousness of the crowd is infectious and seeps through into my playing. I play an A major chord shifting next to a B major over A. Ah yes, that raised 4th removes the major scale mask revealing the Lydian scale underneath. I alternate between these two chords playing an uplifting melody over the top. However, the Lydian scale is harmonically unstable and simply cannot sustain an entire piece. I move over to the E major scale, somewhat rescuing the piece and adding a grandeur and joy to the music. The audience barely acknowledge me as my piano blends seamlessly with everyone’s merrymaking. \*\*\* Last season’s harvest has once again failed. The agony of starvation has now become a very real proposition as the news of food shortages is announced to the settlers. The response is silence as this possibility has already entered all of our minds during the last months. The storms, the unceasing relentless storms, have rendered long term colonisation impossible. This reality was one that we were all aware of when we left earth. However to face it is a much different thing entirely. The last messages to earth were sent although it will be many years before they will receive it. Finally, protocol Roanoke was implemented. We gathered inside our last undamaged habitation, most of us very weak from hunger, and listened as another storm ravaged our settlement. Slowly the oxygen was released as we waited for our eternal slumber on this alien planet. The captain asked me to play one last time, “As they did as the Titanic sank.” I didn’t know what he was referring to but I dutifully sat at my piano and began to play. My heart was sinking as I looked at the slumped people in front of me. Some were still breathing, steady and purposeful. I began my final piece by playing an F minor chord, slowly arpeggiating the notes up and down. I moved from the 5th to the flat 6th, down to the 4th and then to the 2nd. Finally I played the flat 3rd before returning to the F minor. The Aeolian mode, the most fitting scale for our current predicament. I continued to play as all breathing and movement stopped. The dead planet we found was a dead planet once more. I slumped onto my piano, the sound of dissonant notes echoing throughout our tomb. The final notes ever heard on Eden.