The Ancient One - Comet Hunter

The ship went deeper and deeper into the space beyond maps, beyond calculation. The coordinates from both the original calculations and those from the derelict ship seemed to say that thy were following the path the comet would soon take. They grew closer by the day and Plato stayed glued to the long-range scanners. However, as each day proved fruitless, even the optimistic Plato found himself starting to worry.
“Any sign of…anything?” Seeker said, yawning and coming onto the bridge.
“Just got up myself.” Plato admitted. “Going through the long-range scanners and not seeing a hell of a lot.”
“We got a space cloud.” Jet offered, looking back from the con. “But that is just about it.”
“Is it anything worthy of study at least?” Seeker asked. “Like a one of a kind space cloud that will make us famous?”
“Seems like just a bunch of dust casting bioluminescent light from a nearby star cluster.” Tanya explained. “It is literally nothing.”
“You want us to fly through it?” Jet asked. “Or go around.”
“Do you have a preference?” Plato asked, finding it hard to care about the question.”
“Being a pilot so deep out in space is kinda monotonous.” Jet replied. “Lots of hours of nothing, no discernable movement, just sitting in a chair and looking at numbers pick away. I suppose some space dust might be a nice change.”
“Do it then.” Plato said, leaning back in his chair and drinking a coffee.”
“Alright here we go.” Jet replied in an unenthusiastic tone. The ship passing into the cloud.

In the wasteland of what was once a major city a group of lightning fast hover racers streaked across the wasteland. They were neck and neck, all dodging around obstacles as they moved around, trying to maneuver around one another. Jet manipulated his controls, swerving fast and trying to get out in front of the pack. His racer was mostly custom, assembled from the hull of an old craft and put together with parts he mostly salvaged. It appeared as it had been hit and nearly crushed by other vehicles and was soon to come a lost relic of the wasteland, joining all the rest. However, there was at least one good race left in it and that was all Jet needed.

He had just battled with another racer in what was ended up being somewhat of a one on one duel but had been ambushed by his opponent’s allies. He was sandwiched in, the other racers trying to make sure that if someone was going to win…it was not the underdog. As good as Jet prided himself on being, his racer was not able to withstand that level of damage and he had to do something…and quickly! He looked back at the damage, and though it still ran he knew that it was very likely beyond fixing. Jet had to take a chance, he had to go to broke with all he had and win the race. As long as he could win all else was secondary.
He knew that up ahead was a turn, one so treacherous that it has claimed the life of no less than a dozen racers in the years previous. It was a hairpin turn around a dense part of the canyon and if you did not do it just right you risked wither hitting rocks that towered from the sand or you risked going over, plunging to the far-off canyon below. Racers could hover, but they could not fly.
Most racers chose to slow down for this turn, going down to reasonable speeds to make the turn and not risk too much danger. Jet could already feel the racers back off. As much as they wanted to fight with him, damage his racer and overtake him, they did not want to risk going through the turn with too much speed. Jet decided to do the opposite, he decided to speed up. He knew that with the speed that he would hit on the turn there would be fractions of a second to make decisions and any wrong ones would result in a rather spectacular death. However, if he did it, if he made the turn at that speed and did not die…he would be so far ahead that no one would be able to catch up.
Jet decided that the risk was worth it, if he lost this race it was over for him, no more racing, no pilot academy, nothing. He punched his controls, hoping that his luck held out as well as his reflexes. He hit the turn at the ludicrous speed, not allowing himself to doubt, dodging obstacles and banking into the turn. As he came around the corner he could feet the edge leading over to the drop-off, the hover field grasping at the bare minimum of area before going over the edge. On the brink of disaster, he made the turn, shooting out through the other side of the turn and launching at breakneck speed toward the finish line. Jet did not need to look back, he knew he had lost the rest of the pack and crossed the finish line in what he knew to be record time.
He stopped his racer and heard the cheers of the crowd around him. He searched for his family, wanting to see them, wanting to show them what he had accomplished. He saw them, up in the bleachers, leaving. He leapt out of the racer, running to them but they would not stop, they would not look at him. Jet was stopped by the race officials, he was to be congratulated…however it seemed his family…could not care less.

Tanya walked through the wasteland, alone but determined. Things were bad and getting worse. The blight had overtaken the area and there were few cities left. She had a lot of gear and her town had power…something she had managed to do herself. However, the magnetic wave device which gave them the power was starting to fail, the coupler that regulated the power was failing and the only hope was that she could find a replacement. There were old junkyards and part storage places but this was where the highest concentration of scavengers waited. They were like twisted desperate people, somehow changed by the blight. They liked the old stuff, using it as bait to lure the normal people into it to be fed upon or worse. It was one hell of a risk but she decided that she had to take it.
She knew that she could unlikely drive her truck into this place without getting unwanted eyes upon her, it’s old combustion engine louder than she needed it to be. As she approached she turned the engine off and to coast the truck into a rocky area so no one would easily find it and got out. She still had a lot of equipment and supplies in the truck and she would come back for it…if she survived. She set off on foot toward the place, she was unarmed, using her technology and wit to fight and survive, now she would have to rely on her instincts and cunning.

After close to an hour, and as the sun set along the ragged horizon she got to the edge of the concrete graveyard. Beyond she saw grand piles of parts and pieces and could hear the inhuman howls and growls of the denizens within. She put her hands on her hips, taking a deep breath to ready her nerves before she went. This was not going to be easy and she knew it.

She made it past several mutant patrol parties, they were somewhat humanoid but with extra limbs and horrifying mutations. She knew that some had a semblance of rational thought but most were no more than animals, hunting in packs and craving human flesh. Tanya was perfectly human, and something about the unaltered and unchanged attracted them. The mutants had been getting worse year by year, though savage they proved an affinity for working together. That was something the remaining humans appeared unable to do, fighting amongst themselves and betraying one another for what was left…something she learned hours earlier.

Another party of ravenous mutants went by, Tanya ducked into the body of an old car to hide. As they went by she heard their sniffs and grunts as if they sensed someone was around. Its skin was reptilian and it had an elongated misshapen head. Tanya held her breath, knowing that it was her best chance in this situation. Soon enough, the mutants moved on, searching further for what it had sensed and as soon as it was out of sight Tanya moved on deeper into the junkyard.

She realized that she had gotten lucky, it seemed that most of the mutants were away on hunting missions. Though this did not bode well for people in the surrounding areas it meant that there were very few mutants in the junk graveyard and she might just pull off her search. She had unprecedented time and ability to search and saw many things that were of great value. However, she had a job to do and a task to focus on. She had to go deeper, she had to find something that was worthless to the mutants but further in than any scavenger before her would have been able to get to. She wandered deeper and deeper, knowing that if stuff went wrong she would never be able to run her way out. She did not know why she was taking such a risk but given the circumstances she had little recourse not to. That was when she saw it, a garage, seemingly untouched by chaos and calamity. If there was to be something here for her it would have to be there!

Tanya carefully infiltrated the garage warehouse, sliding in a gap in the door and looking beyond. It was not well lit inside and she dared not take out a match or create more light to see. She waited for her eyes to adjust and made it further and further into the place. There was all manner of cars, all intact, untouched by the harsh world that awaited them beyond the safety of the garage.

As she walked in farther she saw it, waiting miraculously among so many other components. It was a power coupling, seemingly unused. It was black with a silver trim and it was just the part she was looking for. Should she be able to get it back to her wave emitter it would work better, stronger and go on for years.

As she went to take a step toward it she was halted in her tracks as a spotlight came on and lighting her up.

“Halt intruder.” A strange guttural voice demanded. “Who dares to come into my domain and steal from me.”

Tanya shielded her eyes, straining to adjust to the sudden bright light. “I am Tanya and I have come to claim this part for the protection of the people of my town!”

“Have you now?” The voice asked. “You come into mutant territory and would make some sort of demand.”

“I have to!” Tanya stated. “My wave emitter is the only think protecting the unchanged people!”

The hidden figure laughed. “You may have made a better and stronger one but it is that same technology that did all of this. It was one like it that caused all of this, changed us…and yours will soon start to do the same.

“That’s impossible!” Tanya replied in shock. “My technology is going to make this world better!”

“I am one of the men who built one of the crude wave emitters…one not as powerful as your own.” The figure replied. “Do you want to see the truth?”

“What do you mean?” Tanya asked.

“Take a look.” The figure repaid as he started to come into view. He was definitely a mutant; his skin was orangish and bloated but he looked mostly human. However, he was on what looked like a crane and much of his body was replaced with machines. As he moved closer he smiled at Tanya. “Behold…because this is your future!”
“No, that’s impossible!” Tanya said, shielding her eyes and shitting it from the truth.

Seeker say in the chair on the bridge of his ship, he knew that this would be a haul to end his career. This was a mission long in the works and it was soon about to start paying off. He looked around the bridge but found it empty. There was no one in the con seat, no one at ops, the ship was functioning but there was no one there.

“Why has everyone abandoned their posts?” Seeker asked, leaving the bridge and walking down the long corridor. “We have so much to do and it is not a time to take a break.”

Seeker reached engineering, also finding it empty and devoid of life or activity. It was like the ship was suddenly abandoned.

“This is not funny.” Seeker replied. “We need to all get back to our stations.”

“We can’t do that.” A slim man said, as he entered the room. “The mission is over.”

“Pinson?” Seeker asked, confused. “Where is everyone?”

“Gone.” Pinson replied. “All gone.”

“But we are almost done the expedition.” Seeker asked. “Why would they abandon it?”

Pinson looked back at Seeker, his eyes expressionless, his skin growing pale. “They did not abandon it.”

“Then, where are they?” Seeker demanded. “We need to get back to work.”

“You don’t understand.” Pinson replied, his lips growing blue, his eyes become sunken. “They are dead.”

“Dead?” Seeker asked. “Who? How?”

“They all are dead.” Pinson replied. “The entire crew.”

Seeker ran though the ship, where before he found nothing he was now greeted by rot and death. Every station had a crewmember and they were all dead. As he went through the ship he found more and more corpses, each one more decomposed than the last until getting to the bridge which was more of a graveyard than a command center.

Seeker looked around, trying to reconcile what he was seeing as the power started to fluctuate. The ship itself was dying, soon to become a corpse like the rest. Seeker sat, closing his eyes as tbe power went out, leaving everything dark.

Plato was in a spacesuit, strapped into a flight pack and leaving the port of the ship behind him. H moved toward the comet, the treasure of his dreams. He was so close, all of his sacrifice and hard work about to be fulfilled. He was laden with all manner of equipment to study, document and harvest the mazing secrets of the comet. He reached the surface, tethering in and setting down equipment.

“Preparing to scan.” Plato said over the con. “I want to know the components of this comet…all of them.”

“Stand by.” Tanya said over the con. “Coming in now. Components are carbon, crystal, silica.”

“And?” Plato asked. “What is inside?”

“Nothing.” Tanya replied. “Those are the only components all the way through.”

“That’s impossible.” Plato replied. “There has to be more.”

“There isn’t.” Tanya replied. “It appears, despite its trajectory and mystique…it is just a big hunk of space rock.”

“No!” Plato replied. “We have come so far, there has to be more.”

“I am sorry.” Tanya replied. “I know how badly you wanted this to be the treasure you dreamed of, but it is worthless. All of the time, all of the effort…your life up to this point…has all been wasted.”
Plato fell to his knees on the comet and smashed his fits into the rock. He knew this could not be real, it could not be true. He was so certain of the comet, all of the evidence, it could not be real. That idea permeated, the idea that it was not real. What he saw and heard ahead of him was so real but he knew it was not, his conviction flew in the face of what he was presented with and he knew it wasn’t right.
“This isn’t real.” Plato replied. “None of it.”

“Quite impressive.” A voice replied. Plato found himself back on the bridge of his ship, all of his crew sitting there, staring forward in dazes. They were still in the cloud, the ship dead in space, surrounded and alone. Near the view screen was a strange featureless form. “Never has one seen though my façade so easily. Your entire crew is trapped in visions of their greatest achievments tainted in failure but you could not be convinced.”

“My conviction I my strongest asset.” Plato said as he stared at the strange man. “I have lived my entire live with people telling me that my pursuits were worthless, I said no to them and I say no to you.”

“Rather impressive.” The mysterious being replied. “I have never seen someone the likes of you and it makes me wonder if you are worth sparing.”

“Sparing?” Plato asked. “Just who…or what are you?’

“I am an entity as old as the stars, one that has grown curious to the beings that traverse space. I travel alone and test them, marveling on the frailty of their minds and resolves…until you.”

“What happens to those who fail your test?” Plato asked.

“Inferior life cannot be tolerated.” The creature replied. “I had begun to feel as if all life like your species was not worthy of existing.”
“Some are at odds with themselves.” Plato admitted. “Some are lost in the routine and contribute toward the stagnation of life. However, there are some, like me that want more. To challenge the very boundaries of life for no greater reason to see if they can.”

“There are more…” The creature asked. “Like you?”

“Not nearly enough.” Plato replied. “But those of us that dream and succeed in our challenges inspire others. I myself was inspired by a great explorer who died before my birth and his risk to discover new systems. From him I realized that I could do anything I set my mind to, I just had to work hard enough.”

“Then I will spare you.” The creature replied. “If for no other reason than to see if you are right, whether your actions can indeed inspire others.”

“Thank you.” Plato replied, and without warning the cloud dissipated, leaving the ship free and the crew slowly awakening. They all looked around in confusion, then at Plato as if he had answers. “You all have been part of a test…you were shown the worst of your capabilities…we have been given a second chance…one that we cannot afford to lose. We will succeed in our mission and the future beyond will be brighter than anyone can imagine.”