<i>Space. The vastness of the universe, which despite the advances in technology, is still far beyond what anyone could possibly imagine. Each time we think we have even the slightest idea of how big it is, it turns out we have still yet to even scratch the surface of it. Ten or so planets in a solar system, millions of solar systems in a galaxy and as far as we know, googols of zillions of trillions of billions of galaxies in what may not even be the only universe in existence. If anyone ever figured out how big the whole of creation was, their head would probably implode from the realization of how insignificant everything they know really is. Even in this day in time, the planet Earth dead now for hundreds of years, when the laws of physics as we understood them have been crushed and redesigned numerous times, we still can't even fathom the random number of possibilities that to us may seem impossible.<br/>
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For the people on the ship Hope, this has become the doctrine. Their ancestors had long ago learned not to label any theory as impossible, as improbable as one may seem. Even the ones who built Hope had no idea what those on the ship would encounter. They weren't expected to reach Eartia-E701C for over six hundred years, but in a pleasant turn of events, the solar sails became supercharged when the ship passed just a few billion kilometers from a pulsar. When the immense energy from the small star's X-rays hit the sails, it pushed them faster than they ever thought they'd go, cutting the journey in half. They even discovered forms of life on planets they passed that everyone was sure couldn't possibly support any kind of life, like the freezing planetoid Kuper-G11B, whose atmospheric temperatures never exceeded minus five hundred degrees, they spotted strange flying creatures the size of whales when they looked through the telescopes.<br/>
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Long ago we learned that Earth wasn't the only planet to support life, and they knew we wouldn't be alone on the planet of Eartia. The probes orbiting the planet could only tell us so much, and the one that went down to the surface landed in water, so aside from a few species of sea life, the crew had no idea what other forms of life to expect. And to the crew, that was both the scary part, and the most exciting part.</i><br/>__________________________________________________ ____________________________<br/><br/>Captain Scott McAnders, the leader of the crew on the ship, had a huge grin on his face as the planet Eartia became larger and larger in his sight. But despite the grin, he was nervous to the point where the slightest noise made him jump. They had been slowing down for weeks now, the aft solar sails open at full spread and the front ones closed, but he still worried about going in too fast.  As he gazed out, a look of worried anticipation in his eyes, the door to the main bridge opened and he gave a start, almost jumping into the air as he turned around to see Lieutenant Misha Gvostanski, a young looking woman of Russian descent who despite being almost fifty looked closer to her mid twenties. Scott sighed as he ran a hand through his bright red hair before speaking. "Geez, Misha. Don't be scaring me like that," he said in a light Irish accent. Over the years, with people from various nationalities living together, accents had all but vanished. But there were still a few, like Scott, who still managed to carry a little twinge of their heretical accents.<br/><br/>Misha smiled, holding in a laugh. "You called me up here, remember," she responded, her amusement evident in her tone.<br/><br/>"Since when did you start deciding to come when I ask ye too?" Scott scowled, but it was forced and his heart wasn't in it, so finally he chuckled himself. "Well, I guess I can't blame ya. You ready to take the helm?"<br/><br/>Misha suddenly looked a little nervous, but excited at the same time. She had been practicing on the simulator almost everyday for the past fifteen years to prepare for what was about to happen. But even with that, she still worried something might go wrong. This was the real thing, now. Not just some computer screen in front of a vibrating, dancing chair. Finally, she let out a sigh. "I have been waiting for this almost my whole life. Of course I'm ready."<br/><br/>Scott chuckled again. "You aren't scared, are ye," he said with a grin.<br/><br/>Misha shot him a scowl that made him blink. "Of course I'm not scared, you fiery-haired buffoon," she said as she took a seat at the helm. She then stared at the controls and swallowed. "I'm bloody terrified to my damn boots."<br/><br/>Scott laughed as he shook his head, glad that he wasn't alone in that, before turning on the ship's com to address the crew. "Alright everyone, get to your stations. We're doin' it for real this time! Retract solar sails.....now!" The ship noticeably slowed as the solar sails folded and retracted into the ship. As they approached the planet, the ship shook as the Eartia's gravity took its hold. "Reverse main thrusters fifty percent, revert power from all non-essential compartments. Increase thruster output ten percent per kilometer then prepare to bring back up thrusters online. Misha?"<br/><br/>"Velocity has decreased by ten percent, hull integrity is still at full," Misha said, her voice a little shaky, perhaps from the shaking of the ship. "Estimated five minutes til atmospheric contact. We're going to fast, we need to decrease speed by another sixty percent before we reach the exosphere or we risk tearing the hull apart."<br/><br/>Scott nodded then turned to the bridge engineering officer. "Well?" was all he said. The man pondered for just a brief moment before calling down to engineering. "Revert all fuel from the life support generators to thrusters, move all nonessential personnel to Hydroponics. Have the landing crew dawn air masks."<br/><br/>"Bring thrusters to absolute maximum," the captain said into the com. "Bring Back up thruster online and run them at seventy five percent." As they entered the atmosphere, the ship started shaking violently. "Misha?"<br/><br/>"Hull integrity at eighty nine percent," she yelled out. "Adjusting trajectory and increasing latitude to compensate. We need slow down more before we can deploy the chutes."<br/><br/>"Okay," Scott yelled as he scratched his head. "Alright, I'm disengaging the probes! We can search for them later!" After releasing the remaining probes, which weighed a few tons each, the ship slowed at little more. "Misha?"<br/><br/>The woman actually smiled. "I think that did it, captain!" She actually giggled! "Turn back up thrusters to full and we should be able to deploy chutes in under a minute!"<br/><br/>Scott almost cheered. "Alright! Back up thrusters to full!" Once they were slow enough and the violent shaking started to subside, he ordered to deploy the chutes. "Okay, bring thrusters to ten percent, how are we looking Misha?"<br/><br/>"Looking good, Scott," she said with wide eyes. "Looking wonderful. Look! Land! I am landing there! Right there! Next to that...um...water...thing. Lake!"<br/><br/>Scott was speechless as he looked out. But after a few moments of bliss, he finally regained his composure. "Alright, take us down. Thrusters to fifty percent. Landing crew, job well done. James, you lucky bastard, get out there and take a step."<br/><br/>Doctor James Williams cheered as he sprinted from Hydroponics and ran to the closest exit, radio and other instruments in hand. "I'm on my way! On my way on my way on my way!" The twenty seven year old felt like a child now. It was like everyone had a birthday on Christmas and he got to open all the presents and play with them first before sharing them with the others. That was the only way he could explain it.<br/><br/>As he reached the exit, his air mask still on his face, he pulled the latch and the first door opened. Once through, it closed behind him. Then when the second door opened, a rush of cool air flowed through, knocking him back a few steps against the other door. He then fell on his bottom as the gravity yanked him down. "Ahh!" he grunted, his bones and muscles suddenly aching. After taking a few breaths to compose himself, he finally took the mask off. He suddenly started coughing, able to only take a few short gasps of air between coughs. "Gack!" he managed to sputter before forcing himself to take a deep breath.<br/><br/>After a few minutes of hacking and coughing, he finally picked up the radio. "I...Ohhh...I...I'm...out...side. Brea-huhhh. Breathing...diff...icult...but...manageable!" He tried to stand up, but only got about half way before having to sit back down. He then decided to get on his knees and crawl out. When he finally reached the ground, he reached out and touched it as if making sure it was real and not a dream. The ground was moist and cool to the touch, but firm. "Hard...ugh. Hard to walk. Hahah. I...am crawling like...a baby." Though he was still coughing a good deal, his breathing seemed to ease a little. "Humidity is...ahem...at 87.6%, temperature...ack! is at 43.4 Fah...Frick! Fahrenheit. Wind speeds at...mmm...approximately seven and...a half KPH." He coughed a few more times to ease the tingling in his throat. "But it's safe to...ahem...come out. Just don't bring any, um, heavy equipment out and when you breath, force yourself to take a few...deep breaths and it gets a little better."<br/><br/>As he crawled towards the lake, he came upon a tree with low limbs. He drops the bag of equipment and grabbed on to a branch and slowly pulled himself up and propped himself up against the tree. His legs ached. "It's hard to walk, but if you can prop yourself up against something, the ship perhaps, standing should help everyone adjust a little. Of course yall know me, I'm a wimp. So you'll probably have a better time at it than my lazy ass." He chuckled. "Come on out, yall. Once you get past all the coughing and wheezing, it actually smells great out here. I'm going to go check the water."<br/><br/>After puting away the radio, he squatted down a little and picked up his bag before taking a few steps. He walked with his legs half bent as he tried to exercise his muscles, but after a few yards he went back to crawling. When he finally reached the water and tested it, he smiled and brought the radio back out. "Water is good. Sodium levels are well within tolerable levels and no hostile organisms." He then scooped his hand down and took a drink. "Oh god, this is the best water I ever had," he said to himself before continuing to drink from the lake.