Beyond Light

Vita Nova.

“Everyone’s aboard. We are ready to leave.”

“Aye aye, Commander,” the pilot of the fat Firefly announced, and the hatches at both sides began to seal themselves shut.

As John expected, Yui had already sent her report to Xi, and he had already traced an optimal landing zone on Vita Nova’s main continent —which Doctor Weiber decided to name as New Pangaea. No one could think about anything better, and as the name sounded appropriate for Earth’s distant twin, they went by it.

Their landing zone was located on a wide valley close to the place where the signals from the Eternity of Return originated. Xi scanned the zone and the scientist team observed it with their instruments, but there were no signs of any parts of the dreadnought nor any pods near it. Could it be that the interference was coming from underground? That was the only possible option, but they had to go there and confirm it.

The vehicular-railed airlock locked itself, and the bay hatch spread; the Firefly got ejected away from the bat-shaped Beyond Light and directed itself towards the gravity of the super-earth. The blue light of its atmosphere grew intenser through the windows as they descended; the ship got surrounded by beams of light like the brightest meteorite.

John looked at his team: Sargeant Major Derek Williams, who could not stop inspecting his nightingale support armor; a black, sleek design similar to the SolOps armor that the 4 of them were dressing, Doctor Heinrich Winslow, who John wanted to bring in case they had an emergency with the planetary conditions, and the URB Supervisor Katiya Ivanovich, who insisted to company him. ‘Work-related matters,’ was her explanation.

He approached. “Hey, here’s the leader of the puppies,” mocked Doctor Winslow, a dark grin on his face as he adjusted his IMR22 rifle —or the Umbrella— a long, simple design that resembled a folded parasol. His bald head full of tattoos down to his neck was visible from his visor. “What’s this mission about? That piece of malfunctioning software didn’t want to tell me more details.”

Puppies. That was what he liked to call Mike, Jeffrey, Yuri, Yui, and basically everyone younger than him. John was included, but him being the commanding officer excluded him from that list, or so it appeared.

“Medical Chief Heinrich Winslow,” LIBRA’s voice sounded through the speakers. “I’ve just checked my systems, and there’s nothing malfunctioning on me. I’m running at optimal conditions.”

John spoke before they continued their chitchat. “Listen up, everyone. Our mission is simple: We land on the surface of the planet, recon the area around, and look out for the place where the signals from the Eternity of Return are coming. Any doubts?”

“Something calm and simple. Sometimes, I begin to miss the action of my younger days,” said Derek, his helmet off from his greying blonde hair.

“Heck you say it, big guy,” said the Doctor. “Can we shoot some alien rabbits once down there?”

John rolled his eyes with a halved grin. He moved to Katiya, who was at the most distant corner writing on her hololap. Her helmet was off too, revealing her bob-cut blonde hair.

“I’ve heard you don’t have much experience with EVA and recon missions, so stay nearby me,” he said.

“I can take care of myself,” she cuttingly responded.

Bah. He offered his help gently and that was how she treated him. He got up, but she spoke again. “I’m a trained URB agent, Commander. Trust me that it isn't easy to reach the place of captain supervisor in our lines. I can hold my own.”

“...If you say so,” responded John.

The round glasses distributed around began to shine in white and red. “Orbital descension maneuvers on the march,” announced the Pilot. “Brace yourselves!”

The canny interiors of the firefly began to rumble and tremble, forcing John to take a seat and grab himself. Katiya and Derek put their helmets on. The temperature inside raised above the 40-celsius grades, but then the white dazzle on the windows faded away, and the heat descended again.

The panorama from the windows changed; the navy blue of the planet’s mesosphere blended with the stratosphere’s lighter aqua blue, and a few minutes later a light blue sky —lighter and fresher than Earth’s— appeared through the circular glasses.

“ETA for our designated landing zone in three minutes,” informed the Pilot. “Get ready.”

“So, are we already on another planet?” asked Doctor Heinrich Winslow, whistling at the windows. “Such a view we got here!”

Derek spoke. “Gonna say that when I was 18 years old and enlisting myself on Miranda I never thought that I’d end up one day on an outer planet thousands of light-years away. It’s good!”

The three minutes of descending passed, and the hovering engines of the TT-22 Firefly stopped blowing. John’s team got up from their seats and stood before the sided hatch door at the right. The mechanisms hissed, and the pistons shot white fume as it began to unlock.

“Good luck down there, sir,” said the Pilo. “I’ll be waiting here for when you’re ready.”

John felt anxious for the door to open. Back when he was younger and only had been on Earth and Titan, visiting another planet or moon always felt to him like visiting a new dimension; all trips felt long for him because he was always excited to arrive, and it was no different that time.

He perceived the hatch door to be spreading so slow and so fast at the same time, its pipes and valves releasing white steam. The period of trance ended, and white light dazzled on their faces when the mechanism finished unlocking and its parts began to spread.

Their visors automatically polarized to protect their vision, and when the dazzle from the binary stars returned to normal brightness, an Eden of vivid green and soft blue appeared before their eyes. Their visors returned to crystal clear color, and John did to his people the hand sign to follow.

They stepped outside. They were on a wide valley covered by a short, green grass layer that moved graciously by the mild wild. Blue and red fluffy balls were distributed across it, which also danced with the wind. Some kind of flowers, perhaps? John could swear there was some kind of yellow pollen fog levitating at the level of his boots.

The distant horizon ahead was covered by wide, nearly vertical mountains of concave, flat walls that made them look like ocean waves. Their flat tops neared the height of the scarce clouds in the sky, making them feel like little ants in Giantland. Was that geology even possible? red rocks made perfect stalagmites where the valley ended, like spiky traps made for giants.

Two shiny, yellowish-white balls illuminated from the clear skies: Hawking-616a and b. B looked smaller than the sun —similar to an overgrown dawn star, and A was about 1.5 the size the sun would be on Earth!

But the most stunning thing by far was three sets of disks on the horizon that shined in white and grey, extending from west to east, and up to where the eye could see. They looked easily 100 times bigger than the moon on Earth! Three balls hovered near them: Hawking-616e I, a replica of Neptune but much smaller; Hawking-616e III, the greenish-yellow ball which looked like a hybrid of Venus and Titan, and Hawking-616e II, the demonical, crimson lava world.

“So… Vita Nova,” whispered. “Give me a kick in the crotch to tell me this ain't no dream... Been a while since the last time I saw a natural landscape as pretty as this.”

“Aaaaagh…” Winslow raised his fist. “I really want to punch in the face right now those stupid teachers who told me I would never accomplish anything back on school. Useless bastards. Where are you now?”

“What fitting words for the first manned landing on an extrasolar system,” Katiya sarcastically remarked, but even her blue eyes glowed by the panorama before their eyes.

Lines of blue text began to appear on John’s visor, displaying useful characteristics of that environment: Temperature: 18 Celsius grades; Humidity: 40%; Ultraviolet-Index: 3…”

“Commander?” Doctor Weiber’s image appeared on his HUD. “Are you already on the surface of the planet?”

“Already here and good. Look, I’ll connect it to your cameras,” John sent a direct transmission to the Beyond Light of what his eyes were watching.

“Amazing,” said the Doctor. “Keep going on like that. Are our scientific drones operating already?”

“We’ll put them to work on short. And Doctor, is it safe to put our helmets off? Is this atmosphere not harmful to us?”

He asked, even though the answer was already on his HUD. It was nice weather, in all the extension of the world. Perfect temperatures, safe solar radiation levels, and that valley of puffy flowers and delicate grass gave the impression that it was filled with a seducing aroma.

“To reach a premature conclusion," responded Doctor Weiber. "yes, Commander, it is safe. However, I advise you to not unseal your suits. We know nothing about the biology of those plant lifeforms. They could be harmful or poisonous. It’s better if you don’t contaminate the environment until we learn more about it.”

“Alright, Doctor. Inform us of anything important you discover,” replied John. He looked at his team, who could not stop gazing at the landscape around like kids watching clowns give a spectacle.

"We made it," said Katiya. "we've answered what humanity has always asked itself."

"Are we alone in the universe?" followed John. "No. That's the answer. We are not alone."

He could not put into words that euphoric feeling that made his legs tremble and goosebumps flash through his spine. His mouth could not close itself and his eyes barely blinked. They did it! Ever since humanity began to involucrate itself with astronomy, the question about life was a common subject and wonder that preceded every person before them and still living up to that day.

And John had done it! He and his team just found by themselves that they weren't alone! They shared the galaxy with other living species. He had always wondered if aliens truly existed more so than the average person, and to think that it had to be himself and his people who found the final answer... He could swear that tears of happiness were about to flush and fall through his nightingale suit.

Nobody had said a word either; they were all absorbed by the alien wonderland they found themselves in. And they had just seen some beings of plantoid physiology. Could animals, or even an intelligent species inhabit that planet too? John was eager to discover.

He also understood why scientists had given Hawking-616e the nickname 'Vita Nova', or 'New Life' In Latin. They weren't wrong with it, after all!