There is nothing in the universe that can make you feel more alone then the sound of nothing. That is how Adrian felt being on the Calypso II for 3 years now. At one time, he really enjoyed it. Staring into the celestial unknown, allowing his mind to wonder about the mysteries of the universe. He remembered enjoying all the long talks with his team…when he had a team. His mission as captain of the Calypso II was to obtain samples from a distant planet, only 3 light years away from earth. It was estimated that this planet, called Esos, had an abundance of Rhodium, an element that was depleted from earth. Adrian and his team felt it was up to them to not only get more of this material, but to examine Esos as a habitable substitute for the people on earth. All the natural elements on earth were near depletion. Fresh water was scarce and the sun was barely visible by the naked eye. If more Rhodium is obtained by him and his team, ships can be made to send people to this more habitable planet. Adrian knew his mission could help save mankind.
His eyes started to fall as he felt a wave of sleep fall over him. He shook his head like a dog, waking himself up as he sat down at the controls, trying to navigate the best way he can with his sleep deprived mind. He thought of his wife and son at home, how he had to stay awake for them. His mind started to wonder again leading him into memories of his wife, Selena. He remembered looking at her body under the shear sheets, reminding him of smooth hills he has seen on the horizon as a boy. He loved watching her sleep, looking at her thin lips form a slight smile while dreaming. He always saw that same smile replicated with their son. He remembered lying next to her, feeling warm and comfort, falling asleep to the peaceful sound of her breathing.
“Wake Up!” he yelled to himself as he got out of his trance. He hit the buttons on the control panel, navigating out of the Esos system to a wormhole that he was able to find that would get him back to earth faster than light speed. He had to leave this spaceship that was now contaminated with evil and torture. He has not slept in 6 days, and if he does now, he will die.
He remembered his team starting out with 10 astronauts, the excitement they all released when they landed gracefully onto Esos. He was the first man to lay foot on this foreign land. He thought of other explores and the emotion they must have felt stepping on new land for the first time. Esos had the atmosphere of earth, trees, water, and the sun. He remembered looking at the sun for the first time, not realizing how bright it can be. He felt his eyes burn through the glass of his helmet, feeling warmth from the rays. He looked at the ground, seeing his foot print and smiled.
“Take a picture of that Sam!” he yelled to his crew member who stepped off with him. Sam took a picture of the first step on Esos. Lonnie came off the ship after them, using her equipment to analyze the atmosphere. She smiled and nodded as she looked at the results.
“The air here is equivalent to earth, the atmosphere is the same. It is almost like…home,” she said smiling. Adrian nodded.
“Ok, here I go,” he said softly and took off his helmet. He looked up again at the sun and smiled, breathing in for the first time in his life fresh air. Sam and Lonnie took off their helmets and felt the same explosion of natural joy from breathing fresh air. They all laughed and hugged each other as they walked around discovering Esos. They set up base camp and started to work through their mission, trying to find Rhodium and examining the bizarre new world. Things went well for a few days until one morning, one of his team members, William, was found dead in his bed. Lonnie came to examine the body, first noticing the eyes were jet black. She had the team take the body to a lab on the Calypso where she was able to do an autopsy, specifically looking at his head. When she opened up his skull, she found his brain was gone.
“It is like something just ate it away,” she said softly to Adrian. Adrian looked at the empty cavity and nodded.
“Everyone pack up camp. Our mission is in jeopardy. We cannot have any more crew members die. I want everyone to stay on the Calypso until we discover what it going on. As of right now, Esos is dangerous,” he said. That night everything was packed and the team stayed on the ship in space. The next morning, two more members were dead, with the same black eyes.
“What can be doing this?” asked Sam to Adrian. Adrian just starred at the bodies of the people he was responsible for, questioning everything they have done.
“Hey guys,” said Lonnie as she entered the room. “I have the reports back from William’s blood samples and I found something. I think he had a parasite,” she said softly.
“You mean, a bug is killing all of us?” asked Sam. Lonnie nodded.
“I am assuming that we must have come in contact with some kind of organism that enters your body and attacks your brain matter, but it only seems to do it when you sleep. I believe it happens when your body enters REM sleep. This gives the parasite the right environment to attack,” she said. Adrian saw the fear in her eyes.
“Get rid of the bodies now so that it does not spread. The mission is aborted due to some extraterrestrial activity. Make a trajectory for Earth,” said Adrian. The Calypso took off from Esos’s atmosphere and the remaining bodies were sent into space. Adrian started to work out a quicker path back home, using a worm hole as a possible faster route. As he worked on the course, more team members were dead each morning with black eyes. Soon, it was just Sam, Lonnie, and Adrian.
“We cannot sleep,” said Lonnie. “It has been three days. I do not know if I can make it,” she said, feeling fatigued.
“Is there anything we can do?” asked Sam. Lonnie shrugged.
“We just have to stay awake. Maybe when we get to earth, they can get us in the lab and try to attack the parasite during REM sleep. But we are all contaminated. We cannot let anyone else on this ship without protective equipment or they can get the parasite too,” Lonnie said, yawning. “This reminds me of a condition I read about in med school. It was called fatal familial insomnia, where a disease affects the brain, giving the individual insomnia,” she said.
“Ok, we do what we can to stay awake, all three of us,” said Adrian as they put their hands together. That was three days ago. Adrian found both of their body’s one at a time. He sent their remains into space and surrendered to the nothingness around him, feeling his eyes fall. He slapped his face.
“I will not let this get me,” he said out loud. He braced himself for the impact of the wormhole he found, thinking of this parasite. He was not going to let it win, he will see his wife and son again. As he exited out of the worm hole, he found earth. He smiled and contacted the space station.
“Houston? This is Adrian, captain of the Calypso II. Does anyone read me? Over.” he said. He heard no reply. “Houston? This is the Calypso, do you read me? Over.” Still no reply. Adrian sighed. He was going to make it to earth and get this thing out of him, this fatal familial parasite. He still could not get in touch with the space station to warn them of what was on board. He made the decision to land onto Earth anyway, he needed to get this thing out of him and sleep. He would just have to protect everyone around him. He put on his spacesuit to contaminate the parasite and prepared the ship for landing. As the ship entered the atmosphere, he closed his eyes feeling the heat around him. It reminded him of the warmth he felt with his wife. He pictured her one more time, feeling the impact of the rough atmosphere around him. He smiled as he thought of her, surrendering to the comfort that easily took over his whole body as he relaxed.
The Calypso landed in the water of the Gulf of Mexico. A fisherman found the ship floating hear by and steered towards it. He knew what ship this was. The whole planet knew of the Calypso. He went to the door of the floating vessel and opened it.
“Hello?” said the fisherman. There was no answer. He crawled in and saw the captain at the controls in his spacesuit. He turned the chair around only to see a foggy mask.
“Sir? Are you ok?” asked the fisherman as he took off the helmet. He looked straight into the black eyes of the captain. The fisherman tried to shake him awake, but couldn’t. The fisherman went back to his boat to radio the coast guard.
“Yeah, the calypso landed here in the water. The captain is dead, and there is something really weird with his eyes. We need a doctor or somebody out here now, over,” said the fisherman over the radio.
“We read you loud and clear, coming over right now, over,” said the coast guard. The fisherman nodded and laid back on his boat shaking his head, staring at a barely existent sun. The little warmth the sun gave him made him feel tired. He felt his eyes slowly fall and sleep take over. Little did he know, he too would have black eyes.