The Mission

Looking through the enormous telescope, brought the stars up close and felt more intimate to Braelynn than just staring up at them from the roof of her home. It wasn’t long now. Her life was changing in massive waves lately. She’d been selected from birth for this destiny and she was not one to shirk her responsibilities and try to escape it as others had before. Her family raved over her bravery in the face of adversity and her adventurous spirit.  

Brae puttered around the observatory for a while before retiring to her room for the night to go over the briefing for her mission. Food was splayed over a table just inside her room with a wide variety of her favorites. She chuckled to herself as she thought to herself that this may be her last meal. Shaking her head to dispel the thought, she picked at several of her favorites, especially the fruits and sweets. Settling into her favorite chair to reread the briefing, she sank deep into the material and was comforted by the warmth of the padding. She’d read the report so many times that she knew it word for word, so she just held the tablet in her hands as she let her head fall back onto the headrest of the chair. She was exhausted. Sleep rushed in to envelope her in an embrace of escape for at least a little while before reality would be crashing down upon her again.

Bright and early the next morning as the sun was peeking above the horizon, casting a deep purple hue over the mountains, Braelynn was fully dressed in her flight suit carrying her helmet as she entered the space capsule attached to the giant rocket to propel it out of the atmosphere and into space. As she strapped herself in, she was glad she’d said her farewells to her few friends and relatives yesterday. She knew they were watching, but she wanted to stay focused on her mission today. Stowing away the tablet with all the vital information in a cubby and securing it, she focused on her training and slowed her breathing as she’d been taught in her training.  

As the low rumble of the engines began to shake the entire vessel, she made sure everything within reach was secured and then held her head back against her seat to enjoy the ride. Vibrations from the thrust of the engines echoed through her causing her to focus on her teeth not chattering. Out the window, she watched as the land disappeared and the clouds sped past. Soon, the light started to dim as she entered into the inky darkness of space. Interior dimmed lights activated causing her to blink several times to adjust so she could read the controls. Everything was working perfectly and the automated course was set and she was well on her way.

This was going to be a long trip and the more she could sleep through it, the better, she thought. Relaxing her neck and resting her head against the seat back, she did one final glance at the controls. Satisfied with what she saw, she closed her eyes and adjusted her breathing into the technique to go into her trance-like state. The last sound she heard was the enormous rocket disengaging to propel her even farther into space with her onboard engines.  

Loud beeps sounding around Braelynn pulled her out of her sleep and back into reality. As she struggled to reacquaint herself with her surroundings, she found that she’d finally reached the planet of her destination and it filled the window as she drew nearer. She saw water covering a lot of the planet. Masses of green and others of white broke up the massive bodies of blue. Checking the readings, she wanted to make sure that the planet was viable for her to land before entering the foreign atmosphere. As expected, it held carbon dioxide, oxygen, and a multiple of other gases.  

Smiling now that the mission could finally be implemented since she’d reached her destination, she worked several of the controls to calculate the safest entry point and angle trajectory. Once her course was laid in, she watched as the friction lit up the outside of the capsule and then to white puffy clouds hanging in a pale blue sky. It was amazing! As she neared the ocean, retro rockets ignited to slow her descent to an acceptable speed. With a loud splash and a jarring motion, the capsule landed into the water. Braelynn’s pulse started to race as she mentally brought up her list of landing protocols. Gathering her supplies in a waterproof bag, she placed one arm and her head through the strap so it was secured. After checking several of the monitors, she fiddled with several buttons and then watched as the escape hatch opened. Grabbing one last item off the wall near the opening, she jumped out into the warm, salty water.  

Once the object in her hand was under water, it activated filling with air into a life raft. As she looked behind her, she watched as the metal of the ship seemed to melt and sink below the waves. Sighing, hefted herself into the raft and removed her flight suit revealing a tank top and shorts. As she went to toss them to the other side of the raft, they ended up catching on the side of raft and ended up falling into the water with no hope of getting them back. It was very warm and she was extremely thankful the raft came with a tent-like screen to protect against the sun and the elements. Resigning herself to the only option she had, she settled in to wait.  

Tossed from side to side in choppy seas brought Braelynn fully awake quicker than even she had thought it could. As she sat upright, she took in the clear skies and glanced around for the cause of the rough water. Her heart lurched as she saw a large vessel floating on the water. It was slowly pulling up alongside her raft. A tall man over 6 foot tall wearing a hat leaned over the side.

“Ahoy!” he yelled. “Are you alright?” He managed to snag the lead rope from the raft and connect it to the railing so it wouldn’t float off.  

“I’m not sure,” she managed to slowly say, even though her accent was quite heavy.  

“Well, let’s get you up here and you can talk to the captain,” said the man. He tossed down a rope ladder and helped her up into the fishing boat.  

“What’s your name?” he asked as he escorted her to the top deck and the captain. She gave him a quizzical look but didn’t answer. He opted to let the captain deal with her and once she was at the top deck, he turned and went back to his work.

“I heard him ask your name, but you didn’t answer him,” said the captain.  

“That’s because I don’t have an answer,” she said. “I can’t seem to remember anything, even how I came to be here.”

“We were on our way back to port anyway due to an engine problem,” he said. “I can get you to the port authorities and they can help you with all that.”

“Thank you so much!” she said, relief washing over her features. “I’ll forever be in debt to you.”

“My pleasure, my dear,” he smiled. “I’m just glad we could help.”

It was several weeks later and Braelynn sat on the roof of the hospital enjoying a few minutes of freedom and solitude. Everything was going according to the mission itinerary. She was even slightly ahead of schedule. She hadn’t expected to be rescued by the boat for several more days at sea. She was in the process of getting a new identity through the United States government since she was found off the coast of Maine and they assumed that she was a citizen. They believed her amnesia was full and permanent. In their report, their belief is that she was on a small sailing vessel alone or with others when it sank and she was the only survivor. She was thankful that they had kept her rescue low key and that the press hadn’t caught wind of it a all.  

There weren’t many items in her bag that would be identifiable for her. She had a few items of clothes as well as a necklace. Her tablet had seemingly been waterlogged and wouldn’t even start up. She was thankful that it used her thumbprint to be able to activate since she’d be in an alien environment and didn’t know who would be hostile and who she could trust. She’d traveled so long and far in her trance-like state of hibernation. Her bloodline was one of explorers and the firstborns were always sent off to investigate a planet for the rest of their lifetime. The day of her birth, her planet was chosen and she learned all the information they could collect about it including languages and customs.  

Now, her mission began in full swing since she was being released the next day. A social worker was going to help her start her new life. She smiled and stretched out on the rooftop as she looked up. Stars twinkled at her as she hummed a native tune to herself as the excitement grew about what was next to come. Motion caught her eye as she saw a shooting star and she wondered if was another of her race headed to another planet on a mission of their own.

The end.

Kathryn McGinnis