The planet is drifting in weightless eternity. Its oxygen rich environment is nearly earth like in every aspect. Even its appearance is a green jewel in a colorless black void. It offers a breathtaking view unlike anything in a thousand light years. Despite this, the world is so mundane that it's currently neither colonized nor catalogued. But for the people in orbit, it offered a beautiful view that would be ultimately fatal if not for the plexiglass window. Despite having the planet filling the the observation window, the man looking out could barely see it. The badge on the man's burgundy polo says: David Lynch, the proprietor of the expedition.
This man had a nearly chiseled jaw that made him seem almost like a model if not for his numerous other imperfections. For example the perfection of his jaw is ruined by the slightly crookedness of it. The man's piercing ice blue eyes couldn't be seen because they were glassy and cloudy. They were also contrasted by his sunken cheeks and the deep rings around them. At this moment his hands are pressed against the glass.
David muses about how at one point the thought of finding a earth like planet seemed laughable. He had no problems seeing the humor in that. Realizing he'd been keeping the bridge crew waiting while he sated his contemplation, he turns his undivided attention towards them. Leaving the view for all but the gods to see, he flips a switch for the internal coms.
"It's recorded that one of my oldest relatives saw bright lights in the sky. He was a soldier in the civil war who fought at Gettysburg. At the peak of the fighting and the violence, his brigade wiped out very early, the survivors no longer fighting for honor or their homes. But for simple survival itself. He claimed he saw an angel, heaven opened up to him; that he must've died at that battle.
Though his belief were forgotten because many believed him to be suffering survivors guilt. About six or so generations later, another one of my ancestors was studying ancient artifacts discovered in Mesopotamia ruins. Archaeologist concluded that they couldn't have been constructed with the current technology level. At least unless the Sumerians had microchips and circuitry. This mystery lead one of my ancestors on a journey that would span the globe from the heads of eastern Island to the pyramids of Giza. He eventually discovered something and wrote to his colleague in oxford. There was a plan to meet up. But then he disappeared.
We've always been on the cutting edge of the question of why. I mean why are we hear? Why is life possible?" David's comment is met with blank stares and silence. "I see my audience isn't one to spout philosophy."
A balding man with a thin wirey mustache slaps the chest of the man nearest to him. "We're just a bunch cargo monkeys." The man next to him, a tall broad chested gentlemen with a blunted face looks annoyed at the guester, but at least agrees with sentiment.
"I certainty want to know," David says turning around and extending his arms in a grandiose gesture. He was about to put on a spectacle that he was known for. "So close to knowing the truth. Now I'm staring at those alien who visited us when man first walked upright."
"All I see is rocks, it looks like a hell hole." It's spoken by a young crew member named Trinity. He had no idea if that was her real name. She obviously spent far to much time working out. But on the long journey between planets there isn't much to do. She had lost all of her curves and was starting to get a man's frame. The manly appearance is made worse by her hastily cropped hair. With the room being a chilling 59 degrees, it's a mystery how she is sitting in a white tank top and short shorts. But she isn't the only odd person in the room nor the strangest of the group.
No, that was the young hispanic woman Nicole Brennan. He could see her in the back of the room, large deeply set eyes half covered up by her hair. The rest of her body is obscured in shadow. He had notice the thrumming of her pencil against the desk in one long continuous motion. Her outfit consists of a black leather jacket, dark purple T-shirt, and knee high cross stitch boots running up to meet a plaid skirt. David couldn't possibly think anyone could be more bizarrely dressed for the occasion.
Behind them is a hologram being projected onto a thin sheet of glass, no more than a inch across. Images of the planet craggy, barren surface flip across in rapid succession.
"You have to see past that Trinity."
"That was six hundred years ago. What are you doing chasing Ghost stories," ask Nicole? She had been sitting silently except for that damn thrumming. The woman's comments were not well received nor were the tone of voice she took with him.
"I don't like your attitude. But despite my grievances, your not alone in that view. Much of my own family forgot about it's history. Growing up my father had no time for these stories, treating them as little more than my family's ghost stories. But there is proof. "
