The 400 #SciFriday

The End of a Journey

   A rough jolt had shaken the structure of the ships as they pulled to a rough halt. Ali felt sick as people lurched in their seats, then breathed sighs of relief, their breath heating the temperature in the atmosphere. It was over.

***

   Another painful, excruciating Earth-week had gone by slower than she had intended. No one slept, and when they did it was on the shoulders of those beside each other. No gravity was underneath them, so they had to be confined to their seats or else they'd float off to the top of the ceiling where large fans spun slowly above their heads. They were only allowed to get up and use the restroom which was all the way at the end of the large living area.

Diseases were spread, but luckily didn't last long after medical teams exterminated the illnesses. None of them touched Ali, except for an odd fever that lasted twenty four hours. Quil was there to comfort her, but his lifeless touch wasn't enough to bring down the temperature of her body.

As Jupiter came closer and closer, the days began to become harder and harder. Stars were the only thing anyone ever saw, and soon after they became quite boring. The grimy place and moldy corners made the air stuffy and hard to breathe in. Ali longed for fresh air...even if it was Earth's poisoned dust. She would do anything to breathe in the scent of a warm, spring morning after a rainy night, with crushed pine needles mixed in. To feel the sun on her back and the chill of the lingering dark hours as the dawn arises on a golden horizon.

They felt like tourists at a science museum as the Captain and his Pilot pointed out certain constellations and star clusters, explaining each and every detail to them as they tried to pay attention. Ali was still shaken by the daunting, deranged faces she saw as they made the transition from regular speed to warp. Wide, open mouths which uttered bone-shattering screams, and the black eyes which were like windows to hell itself. Beat-O had also survived the jump, but he was much quieter than usual, which worried her.

As frightening as it were, Ali kept calm, but inside she was squirming to be off that ship.

***

The giant gas planet was but a speck in the sky as George watched it creep up on them, growing larger and larger like a fetus inside a mother's womb. The helium and hydrogen filled spheroid rotated rapidly on its axis, welcoming those into the faint, planetary system. The sixty-seven moons were popping up on the radar, and George felt victory begin to surface as the bulging equator was at last visible.

"Sir, the magnetosphere is producing solar winds at our direction, I would be cautious about the bow shock; it could throw us off course." He nodded at Jack, who was monitoring the screens which lit up his handsome face like a flashlight.

The giant, celestial body covered the entire half of the view screen, it's clouds and storms twisting as repetitive flashes of bright, electrical charges could be detected by the human eye. The Captain was hypnotized by the sight, unable to move or make another order.

"How will we get around it without being drawn into the gravitational pull?" He asked, finally finding his voice, but his throat felt constricted, making the question crack at the end.

"We can try to go to warp four, but our engines might not hold out after that last burst. Only a little fraction of power has been retrieved." George acknowledged the warning, and sat back in his chair, admiring something he dared not tell anyone.

"I'm surprised it's still here, Captain." Jack said, almost incisively.

"And it's as beautiful as I remembered it. I didn't think it would survive that solar flare." He replied as Jack hummed in response. The Captain propped his feet up on one of the panels, relaxing as he took in every detail of the gorgeous planet.