Prologue: End of an Era

March 16th, 2028 International Space Station I.S.S

  Sitting a little over 200 miles over above Earth drifting at a speed of 18,000 miles an hour Jefferson Abbot prepared to catch a much slower object floating gently past. “Third twinkie acquired, commencing deconstruction of material” Jefferson spoke to the air believing he was the only one present and drawling out his vowels much more than normal. A chuckle erupted from the hallway entering the deck causing him to turn just in time for the twinkie to slap gently against his chin, he quickly opened his mouth taking a bite before making eye contact with the intruder and finishing the thing in one more bite. After a small chuckle and a very awkward pause “did you say third Commander?” the stone-faced stare was more than she could handle Asami burst out laughing wiping a tear from her eye as she took her seat. “And what was with that accent, please tell me that’s how an old cowboy like you was able to romance Mrs. Abbot?”

Smirking at her Jefferson drawled “It were these here boot spurs that won her heart” placing his boots on his desk.

Jefferson was born and raised in the Midwest and even on the station you could tell, long silver hair flowed out of a black cowboy hat and his clothes could have been from an old western. All Jefferson was missing were his boot spurs he still remembers when Command said it would damage the ship and frequently reminds Asami of the indignancy. Asami on the other hand wore the standard I.S.S uniform her jet-black hair in a bun and glasses glittering. Being the youngest crewmember on board and from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Asami strives to present herself as professional and always complete her work, but despite being incredibly skilled she’ll be the first to laugh or make a quip. Jet black hair tied into a high bun, delicate facial features with sharp piecing green eyes, she looked stunning. Her looks always had her trying to act more serious than she was but she felt at home with the entire crew.

Shooting Asami a glare that could pull wrappers off he shot back nonchalantly “oh Asami…I thought I was alone sorry I must have just looked right over you. You really should get a booster seat that would make you more professional” Hiding a smile he checked the desk mirror making sure there wasn’t any twinkie on his face.

Smiling herself Asami tossed a book under her spinning around “Happy now gramps, extra four inches of height.”

He was happy, Jefferson had the best crew yet and wish he could keep them for each rotation. Asami was the youngest he still couldn’t believe someone of her talent was only 24, looking over he saw her still on the book being 5’3” she didn’t need it but was going to sit on it all day just for kicks. Asami was short but Jefferson had to admit she packed a punch he still remembered how much she outpaced him in the gym every day. Hard to believe after only two more years or one rotation he would retire. 40 long years at NASA was coming to an end. Thinking of his beautiful wife Rebecca and his family at his Texas ranch Jefferson’s heart ached but he knew soon enough he would be back to them, so he smiled and looked out the window. Pushing those thoughts away he checked the time “30 minutes early again? You could sleep in like the rest of the crew half of them are not ever even on time.”

Beaming Asami looked up from the monitor and replied “I love my work! I’d come in earlier but if I don’t get enough sleep I’m about as productive as a turtle.”

Jefferson shot another firm glare at the girl “I’ll have you know turtles are very productive, they just get a bad rep. My Winston is almost 60 years old now and he’s still active.”

Flabbergasted Asami just went back to her job monitoring satellite’s and looking for anything in orbit that didn’t belong. Enjoying the companionable silence, she continued her important but monotonous work going through her daily checklist while getting in the zone and finishing in just 5 hours with some more light ribbing once the rest of the crew came on deck. Asami always caught herself dreaming she’d be the first to contact an alien race, everyday once she finished her work she would spend the rest of her time star gazing. She knew something more had to be out there that’s what drove her to space that overwhelming feeling that humans and the Earth were too perfect to be random. Thinking about different galaxies far away and all the creatures that could be out there Asami kept up her dogged search.

  A gentle shake to her shoulder brought her from the trance she fell into.

“Asami pack it up, its been 12 hours go get some rest the stars aren’t going to go anywhere.” Jefferson said warmly.

Yawning she slowly rose to her feet and stretched out some of the stiffness. As she was about to do another quick stretch the entire station shook knocking her flat. Not even a second later alarms blared throwing the emergency lights on and dousing the deck in red flashing lights. Another shake and the gravity dampeners kicked fully on lifting both in the air.

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“Asami suit up grab mine and strap in, let’s figure out what the hell just happened!” Jefferson said without the slightest trace of any accent.

“Yes Captain!” Asami quickly tethered herself to a line and reached an emergency overhead grabbing her suit and quickly putting it on before reaching for Jefferson’s and heading back to her station. Halfway down the line the loudspeakers blared out a pre-recorded warning “All crew code yellow suits on and report to deck, I repeat…” The message kept repeating as Asami tossed Jefferson his suit and strapped herself into her desk. Quickly pulling up her displays she couldn’t understand what she was seeing, where minutes ago the solar system was clear now it looked like someone spilled a bucket of paint and it was dripping toward Earth. Every astrological object was in its exact position, but the red color of foreign objects drenched the display.

Doing some quick calculations Asami looked to Jefferson “Sir I have what appears to be unknown foreign objects quickly approaching our position, estimated time to contact 2 minutes 18 seconds.”

Looking grim he asked, “what the hell is it how many are we talking about and what size?”

Face now pale but determined Asami said “unknown, it looks like the entire system is blanketed by something, but every astronomical object remains stationary.”

Just then the doors opened letting Leon, Charles, and Feng glide in and strap themselves into their respective stations. Checking the logs Jefferson saw Kim just reached the backup up control and escape pod. “All systems are green in engineering” Feng shouted after a moment.

“Communications are sending not receiving and I can’t guarantee how long we can get something out” Charles added.

Leon asked weakly “what can I do to help?”

“It’s okay Leon you’re the medic prepare a go kit and standby you’ll be the only one who can help if something happens more than these tremors.” Jefferson said reassuringly.

“Captain 1 minute 20 seconds left until impact” Asami spoke loud and clear.

“Impact?” Leon all but screamed “what do you mean…”

“Enough! Focus, Leon get the kit! Asami update me on any changes. Feng engage propulsion systems and get us headed out of its path just try can buy us time even if only seconds. Charles full report and copy the last log Asami saved and send it to all HQ’s we can contact. Prepare to send a follow-up if our systems stay online” Jefferson ordered.

The stations communication lit up and toned out a beep before “Captain this is Kim what are your orders?”

Thinking for three of the few seconds he had Jefferson palmed to response key “Kim…evacuate. Immediately. Communications appear to be on keep a line with HQ the entire time as you make an approach.”

“Okay Captain. It’s been an honor, meet you on the ground…”

“Captain 32 seconds, we should have visual confirmation in 3…2…1.” Asami gasped not understanding what she was witnessing. Rapidly approaching looked like a tsunami of softly glowing neon blue stars rolling over each other like some of the most violent waves she had ever seen.

“What in the world…Everyone to the escape pods now!” Jefferson yelled after only taking a second to consider. Staying behind he put the thrusters in full reverse and brought up comms to see if he could get a message out. To his luck comms were operational. He flipped on loudspeaker and a line to HQ “This is Jefferson Abbot of the I.S.S we are evacuating due to numerous unknown objects quickly approaching, objects appear to be bright blue and of unknown size. Signal lost with all satellites objects have passed. Crew good luck and god spe…”

Asami heard Jeffersons voice cut off just and she hit the eject button in her pod. A second passed before she was rocketed out toward Earth’s orbit. Bringing up the on board landing system she looked to see where she would be landing. Next she brought up her own communications to make a report but before she could the wave hit. All electronics shut off sending the pod into what should be absolute darkness instead the bright blue glow of what looked to be amorphous flowers. Not understanding what she was seeing Asami watched the ever-changing objects some passed right through the pod, others lingered twirling as if caught in some cosmic wind before blowing on past. It took her a moment to look at herself, she was horrified to see the blue flowers go right into her suit. Feeling light headed she took a calming breath. “Okay calm down, just amorphous space flowers pollinating your body” letting out a grim chuckle she got serious. Training didn’t go to waste in situations like these. Checking the pod over all systems and electronics were off. The pod should land itself and the chutes can be deployed manually she just had to “Got it!” she cheered to herself finding the manual chute. That taken care of she just had to wait, looking around more the blue flowers seemed to be thinning. Not wanting to be in the dark she cracked glow sticks to light the pod. Three minutes and forty-two seconds Asami noted mentally as the blue completely faded out. She remembered in training pods should reach the surface in 7-10 minutes Looking out the window it looked as if she was just hitting the Exosphere. Probably five minutes she estimated as she looked out her pods window. It was as she hit the Thermosphere that she started to feel lightheaded again and then she began to feel nauseous. Weird she thought, she shouldn’t feel sick but it intensified and she began to feel weaker and weaker. Fighting to stay on her feet so she could watch the window and determine where in the Atmosphere she was Asami began to lose consciousness. Struggling to stay awake she pinched herself through the suit as hard as she could manage. Gaining some energy from the act she tied a bungee around her waist to the chute pull in case she didn’t make it. Looking out the window with the last of her energy she saw clouds and knew she was at least in the Mesosphere. She tried to pull the chute but didn’t have the strength, making sure the bungee was hooked tight she sat down pulling the chute and losing consciousness.