Eventually, everyone was unloaded from the pod and we set off in the direction of the neighboring landing site. We were unsure of what pod number it was, but were anxious to find out which team would be tagging along with us to the rendezvous point marked with a green dot.
Beginning our walk toward the pod, Spencer let out a holler. “I am so tired of this stupid helmet fogging up! It’s terrible! This suit is huge and hard to walk in. I’m done!” He began to take off his helmet as the entire team screamed for him to stop. Once the helmet was removed, he stared at all of us for an extended time. “You’re all idiots.”
We all looked back and forth at each other, until everyone slowly started to remove their helmets. Laying our MACE suits in an organized pile, and lining the helmets next to them, we stepped back and took a look. Somehow the moment made it all feel real, and we carried on. It was a surreal vision to see the team walking on a wild, alien planet in stark white, skin-tight jumpsuits.
The pod was about a two-hour walk from ours in the direction of the rendezvous point. We hopped over creeks, sank into the mud, and laughed the entire way. We were the only noise around. There were no animals or birds on Circadia, so every sound seemed individual.
Approaching the white pod, we quickly noticed no one had opened the hatch yet. A sense of dread welled inside my chest. What if something happened to them? Surely they weren’t too scared to open the hatch. There was no numbering on the pod, so it was anyone’s best guess who the pod belonged to. Pacing around the craft slowly, the entire team made assessments about what to do next.
“Can someone lift me so I can open the hatch?” Jane asked. Looking around the group, she pointed at Smith and me. “You two, give me a lift, would ya?”
Positioning ourselves in front of the pod like cheerleaders, Jane stepped into Smith’s and my hands and we hoisted her up. Grabbing onto the railing above, her feet gently lifted from our grasp. The sound of the hatch creaked and moaned as she yanked on the door repeatedly, until it busted open.
We waited for Jane to say something. For someone to say anything, but there was only silence. “Hello?” she called, looking down into the pod.
Squuuueeeeaallllllll! The sound of the hundred little pigs’ excitement from the hollow pod gave Jane a jolt of fear and she screamed, falling off of the pod. Loud grunts and hoofsteps could be heard from inside the pod now.
Garrett couldn’t control his laughter as the rest of us ran to Jane’s aid.
“Are you okay?”, “Is she going to be alright?”, “Are you hurt?” everyone asked at once.
Jane sat up from the dirt, and began laughing—hysterically. She was laughing so hard she began to cry. “I can’t believe we found the pigs!” she yelled in excitement.
“Did it look like they all made it okay?” asked Spencer.
“Yeah, they sound pretty healthy to me! I’m no expert or anything, but they sound pretty good,” Jane replied. Visibly exhausted from the fear and the fall, she huffed some deep breaths and laid back down on the ground.
“Well, we can’t exactly help those teammates to the rendezvous site, can we?” asked Smith.
“We'll come back for them once I have my supplies from the landing site. It’ll take some time, though. They have an automatic watering system and feed bucket in there, so they'll be fine,” Spencer said. “They have fresh air now, too,” he added, smiling.
“Well, let’s leave the squealers here then and go meet up with everyone,” said Garrett, motioning in the direction of the landing site.
Walking behind Garrett, we all took the opportunity to take in the landscape. The surrounding area was flat with scattered fields and bunches of trees. To the west, we could see mountains rising in the far distance. To the east, rolling hills. It seemed we were in a valley. Every direction was a uniquely different view.
The purple trees mixed with the flower weed and it was gorgeous against the mountains in the distance. Creeks ran with clear, cool water. The breeze carried with it the sweet smell of berries and pollen—not pollution like back home. I couldn’t help but feel I was right where I always should have been. The need to change the world, to make a difference, was not possible back home. Here, that was the only option, and it was liberating.
We walked along a path that had never been traveled before, never set foot on by man, for two hours. When we finally reached the rendezvous site, it was miraculous. The craft that had crash-landed on the planet was much larger than ours. We were the first ones to arrive.
The whole team paced around the spacecraft cautiously. We had not seen this back at the dorms in New Zealand, so it must have been launched from somewhere else. Everything was top-secret for most of the program, so we didn’t know what was happening any more than the next person did. Upon further inspection, we noticed there was Japanese writing inscribed on some of the handles and doorways.
The craft was a large cylinder lying flat on its side. It rose high into the air, about two stories tall even in its horizontal position. It was about ninety feet long, and sealed. The burn marks on the side of the craft were indicative it was not built with the same quality as ours was. The network must have scrimped and saved money on the supply hull. We were lucky everything had survived the trip.
“I see you found our supplies.” Idris spoke from behind us. The sight of the
