The Necessary Frontier

I climb the hard aluminum stairs with as much conviction as I can muster. People around me jeer and cry things out that seem to bounce off my ears. "You can’t do it!" "It's a suicide mission!" "Why are you doing this?!" I raise myself higher, step by step. Until I stand facing The sleek metal bulk of the spaceship. As I sink into the soft leathery seat. Wrapping myself in various belts and buckles designed to keep me from not dying, I freeze. For the first time I'm having second thoughts. Why AM I doing this?

When I first volunteered to go on this mission I didn't realize I was the only one to sign up. I thought surely someone else would get the part. But when I received that cursed letter in the mail, the hope on all of those people's faces was too much to throw away. the weight of the world on my shoulders. 

With a hiss, the ship’s doors begin to close around me, snapping shut with a finalizing click. I'm starting to sweat, between the many layers of my under tested spacesuit and the realization of the predicament I've just forced myself into. A bright screen switches on in front of me, blinding me with white light. Our national anthem plays quietly as a female voice speaks calmly to me through speakers placed by my head. 

“Welcome volunteer to the explorer mission. This is the first trip one of our citizens has made into space. Your job is to find a new planet for our citizens to settle due to overpopulation. Good luck, explorer.” The voice dips down to something colder, more robotic. “5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Lifting off”

I am thrown back into the seat, suddenly grateful for all of the cushioning in the chair behind me. The sky right outside the window shield bleeds into dark and empty space I didn't know existed. A shadowy expanse stretching out forever. The steady flow of stars lulls me to a dreamless slumber.

I wake to blaring alarms and red lights, and I have no idea how much time has passed. The woman's voice returns to my ears, she has been recorded in a frantic state, to add more urgency to the message she brings. 

“Engine down! Engine down!” She cries, “Requires immediate repairs!” A helmet is fasted around my head by a claw above, and I attach a cord to a ring around my waist. I crawl out of a hatch in the roof of the craft and soon I am floating away, the cord taught. My limbs flail aimlessly, trying to get a grip on the lack of air around me. 

I hear a faint click and a hiss from inside my suit. And suddenly I can breathe again. Cursing the fact that my life lies in the hands of prototype untested technology, I crawl back down the rope and wrap my cord around a pole sticking from the side of the ship. Hoping it's enough to keep me from floating away from my destination, I attempt to swim towards the fizzling engine. Bright red sparks leap from its surface. I flinch, wondering if my suit will protect me from their burning touch.

I slide back a panel, nestled on the ship’s plating, remembering my brief training, I reach for a red box and pull out a soldering gun and some pliers. I work slowly and carefully on the ship's wound.  I imagine myself as a doctor, bandaging cuts, sewing gashes back together with the utmost care. But I am not a mechanic, and I have no idea what I am doing. Probably doing more harm than good, I attempt to fuse together separated wires, and melt torn metal back into one seamless sheet. When I try to burn away my sloppy seam I warp the metal plates with my fires. 

I slam down a fist in anger and the momentum sends me flying, my cord is pulled out of its original socket and I am extremely thankful that I tied it on the bar earlier. When I've made it back to the ship full of cushy chairs and other strange machines that could kill me in an instant, I drop to my knees on a dressing pad and allow the robotic claw to remove my helmet. From across the room, the woman’s voice speaks again.

“Engine power restored, resuming course”

When the last drop of adrenaline has seeped out of me, and my body stops shaking, I become aware of myself again, along with the excruciating pain on my arm. As I raise my sleeve to my eyes, I can see a patch of my suit, starting to melt into my skin. I just barely hold back the urge to scream, the sight of it is so much worse than how it feels. I must have dropped the soldering iron on myself when I messed up, that’s the only way something like this could have happened. Panting, I raise myself from the floor and drag myself to the first aid table. 

After that I don't know how much time passes, Probably weeks, maybe months. In that time my life follows the boring routine of changing bandages, reading boring instruction manuals, and eating dried gruel I found in a crate inside the ship’s storage closet. As I work to shove the cold clumps of supposed food down my throat, the female voice comes alive inside the main control panel, commanding me again since I don't know how long. 

As I approach the control panel, I realize the voice isn't talking to me, but telling itself instructions as it analyzes each planet we pass by. Each one a blur of color and gas. I am enamored by each one, but based on the computer’s observations, there is a fault with every one. Too cold, too hot, toxic air, too much pressure, not enough pressure. The random factors have to line up just right to sustain us, and none of these planets will do. 

I turn on my heel with the intent of finishing my horrible dinner, when the ship jerks to a stop. The sudden loss in momentum throws me off balance. My leg catches on a stray crate, and I am tossed across the room. Clinging to a support pole, I drag myself right side up again. I stumble closer to the control panel. The woman is talking so fast I can't understand her. With each check, each confirmation, her voice grows more hopeful. I dash as quickly as I can to the window, still dazed. A green and blue planet, similar to my home world, spins slowly and peacefully as fluffy white clouds drift lazily above its surface. 

 I gaze down at the brightly colored surface enamored by its simple beauty. A panel opens beside me and inside is a new space suit. I quickly pull it on and board a travel pod attached to the back of my ship. I have to check the surface of the planet to confirm habitability. 

It’s a quick ride to the surface, and I touch down in some kind of forest. The trees are taller than anything I've ever seen, with a beautiful reddish bark. I can only stand in awe, taking in this beautiful planet. 

“What’s this place called?” I ask my suit’s earpiece, forgetting for a moment that it is not a living thing. To my surprise, it answers anyway. 

“Earth, in residence of the milky way galaxy. Mainly populated by the Human species” It recites. 

“Wonderful.” I smile, “Call the capital, this will be our new home.”