Alone

Chapter 3: The Adventure Begins

Alicia POV

I can feel the warp drive slowly winding down and I'm beyond terrified to open my eyes. Slowly I begin to open them and before me is something I've never seen. Its beautiful and mesmerizing and a little terrifying.

It's definitely a planetary system and so far as I can count 4 sun's all different in color and 8 planets with different sizes, colors, makeups, and from the life signs detector on the ship it appears each planet has life. What kind of life I have yet to determine but from the layout of this system I don't believe anyone from my part of space has ever been here before.

The different suns are absolutely incredible, not only are they different colors but the sizes vary as well. The biggest sun is almost white and shines so brightly I can see that it's light hits the eighth planet just as well as the first planet. The next sun is only slightly smaller in size compared to the first but it shines a lovely shade of violet and it almost sparkles like it's covered in trillions upon trillions of violet diamonds. I'm absolutely blown away by its sparkling beauty, I don't want to look away but I must obtain as much information about this universe from my ship before I dare to explore any further.

The third sun is a little smaller but it glows green with pink swirls woven throughout, it has an ethereal feel almost as if angels could be dancing on the surface creating the pink swirls. The final sun is much smaller compared to the others, from further away you could even mistake it for just another star in the faraway galaxy but from here I can see how it shines on the first few planets giving them a little more light than the others. The tiny sun is a pale blue with darker blue tints on its poles. Although it's small it's beauty is still up there with the others, it's almost like a little nightlight glow that you might have in the corner of your bedroom but much more surreal and well, alien.

The planets are arranged from the smallest at the front, closest to the suns, to the very largest at the end of the solar system. The first planet is red and looks like it is on fire but from my initial scans there are areas of land but no water, just lava oceans. Although my scans say there is life it's only microbial and the environment is way to hostile for any humanoid civilization so I'm definitely not going there!

The second planet looks a little more hospitable and a little like earth. I check the scans and there is definitely an atmosphere and liquid water along with vegetation close to what you would see on earth. From here I'm unable to differentiate whether the life signs detector is only counting vegetation and possible animal life or if there maybe any kind of civilization, whether they might be completely alien or a possible humanoid race. I would have to land to discover anything more than just what my scans can tell me.

Before I decide to check the rest of the planets I decide to go into a low orbit around the second planet and see if I can get a closer look. I want to be cautious, so I flip on the cloaking device around my cruiser, with this device I'm completely invisible to anyone or anything on the surface.

As I begin my descent I start to notice the many differences on this planet compared to what I'm used to back on earth. At first, the vegetation is not green but it's purple! It is amazing! There are large trees and small trees, along with bushes and vines, similar to an earth jungle but PURPLE! The tops of the trees are a lighter violet compared to the darker it gets descending to the forest floor where a deep royal purple is seen. The leaves also seem to be different shapes I've never seen before, like stars and snowflakes, it's absolutely incredible and reminds me of CGI images of what earth was like when the dinosaurs still ruled it.

I decide to land and just walk around close to my cruiser for a bit. My ship lands in a small clearing and I keep the cloak on just in case I need to disappear quickly. I slowly walk out and into the alien world around me. The oxygen level is extremely high but not at toxic levels so I'm able to walk around freely without a suit.

I look up into the sky where I can see all 4 suns, shinging brightly but it's not too hot here at all. It feels like a summer day on earth, warm but comfortable. The atmosphere on this planet must be thick enough to block out all the UV rays but not too thick where it's suffocating.

This place is almost like a dream with the purple plants and fresh air. I walk a little further where I can hear water flowing, it must be a stream and I'm excited to explore some more.

I come to the stream and it's about 10 feet wide and looks like it cuts perfectly through the thick purple jungle. I decide not to chance it and use my hand scanner to test the water to make sure it's safe for me to touch it. The scanner beeps and alerts me that it's all clear. I decide to sit down on the soft grass, it's almost like a pillow and I look down into the water. It's very clear and I can see all the way to the bottom where there are different color rocks that look like jewels. I also begin to see little creatures swimming through the water almost like fish but some with extra fins and their scales shimmer like the rainbow.

I splash my hand in the water and the fish swim away and leave sparkly trails behind them, it's incredible. As I lay back on the soft grass and stare at the foreign sky, it's the first time in 23 days I feel calm. This place is beautiful and I could definitely relax here but that nagging feeling comes back and of course now I'm on edge. I try to relax and take slow deep breathes but then I hear a twig snap in the distance and I'm immediately on high alert. I get up as fast as I can and look around me and that's when I see someone. It looks like a man but he is trying to hide behind a tree, but no way buddy, I definitelysaw him! Before I get a good look at him, I start running back to where I left my ship. While I'm running I can hear him behind me so I push myself even faster until I see where I left my cruiser and jump and dive into the back hatch and disappear from his sight.

My heart is racing but I know he cannot see me anymore. He begins to emerge from the forest close to my ship and he's looking right at me but he can't see me...right?