Stuck...

Prologue

                        Chapters

Prologue
Chapter I: Stuck
Chapter II: Graham Young
Chapter III: The Conflict and Separation
Chapter IV: The Explanation
Chapter V: The 60 Kilometer Stretch
Chapter VI: Detrimental Health
Chapter VII: Celeste Wong
Chapter VIII: Destroyed
Chapter IX: An Unexpecting Revelation
Chapter X: Michael Forrest
Epilogue

Before we begin this story, I would just like to thank all who decided to begin this Sci-Fi Mystery of mine. It is the first of its kind (From my perspective). I applied all the knowledge I had from reading Sci-Fi novels and watching movies, so please bare with me.

I am Lapis Lazuli. I appreciate all my readers and their thoughts on my work. I would like to interact with all of you.

Now, about the book. The story follows four astronauts who have travelled to the Andromeda Galaxy in search for a new, habitable world. The story takes place in 3218. It is way into the future, and you could imagine the advancements humanity has made. However, the consequences thereof resonate on the Earth.

The perspective of this story varies from person to person, however there is only one main character. I will let the mystery of this story and the drama unravel itself within your mind.

Anywoogle... That is all I had to say. I hope you enjoy.

Stay frosty.

Prologue

At first it didn't seem so bad, to be honest. It was possibly the greatest discovery of the human civilization. We were four on the ship that fateful day. It was Graham Young, Celeste Wong, Jennifer Cross and I, Michael Forrest. NASA had launched its first galactic exploration operation. We have come a long way from lunar and planetary exploration. After all, it was the year 3218.

"Mike! We found something! I can't believe it! Wow! It's so beautiful." Jennifer said. Quite ecstatic, she was. It was odd coming from someone like her. She wasn't one for excitement... or even conversations. But, once you got to know her, she was quite talkative.

"Six months in that hunk-of-junk finally paid off, huh? It is kinda attracting. A lot of plant-life. My scanner doesn't show any signs of sentient life on this planet. You guys wanna explore?" Celeste said as she took off her helmet. She was a recluse, so it was kind of expected from her. She was the opposite of Jennifer. Extroverted, outgoing, friendly, and playful. Basically, every guy's dream girl.

She was right. There were no signs of sentient life anywhere. The entire place seemed like a jungle. It just seemed safe. But still, something felt off about it. Call me a pessimist, but it seemed too perfect... too good to be true.

"Fine. We can explore for a while, but take some weapons, just in case. You never know. The jump could have affected the gadgets like it did the transmissions." Graham said. He was an uptight, straight-forward type of guy. He was the cautious type and the leader of our little team.

And so, we returned into the ship and changed into our exploration outfits. Loaded our guns and sharpened our knifes. They were regular military jumpsuits with the obvious bulletproof vests and utility belts.

"Time to go, guys! We're burning daylight here!" Graham shouted, summoning us all together like the Power Rangers or something. We went down into the trenches. All of us seemed overjoyed at the fact that we had found a habitable planet in the Andromeda Galaxy, but deep down, we all were kind of cautious and scared. Nothing verified the absence of sentient creatures on this planet.

To clarify why we are here and how we got here, it requires a bit of explaining, I guess. Well, you see... it all started roughly three years ago, when six members joined The Extra-Galactic Travel Program. Why NASA created this program or division, was because of the Earth's deteriorating habitability. The Earth began rejecting the increase of human population. Hurricanes, tornadoes, plagues, diseases, and volcanic eruptions. The human populace grew from six to seven, all the way to thirty-eight billion.

In short... the Earth has become UNINHABITABLE.

So, six of us, the four that have been introduced and two more, Samantha Collins and Chris Benedict, joined the program. The only six out of thirty-eight billion. Unfortunately, Samantha and Chris bailed out on the mission two months prior. Hence, the four of us took part. We were called 'the only hope of humanity'. 'The one's who would give humanity a new world'. We were really hyped up.

And so we set off, and with wormhole technology being what it is in the 33rd Century, we made the jump in about six months. Now, you are all caught up. We made it to the 23rd planet in one of the Andromeda Galaxy's solar systems and have, till further notice, named it Planet Alpha.

As we chopped down the enormous purple leaves in our path, making our way through the jungle that is Planet Alpha, a conversation began that led to my decrease in popularity... like a high school kid.

"Hey! You guys alright back there?" Celeste asked as she and Graham marched out in front, leading the two of us as we followed. And yes, they are a couple if you are wondering. In hindsight, we should have seen it coming. They have always been oddly chummy with each other ever since we met and their personas just match each other's, you know?

"Yeah! We're good." Both Jennifer and I shouted as they were a few meters ahead of us.

"Isn't it great, Mike? We finally found a place for humanity to live on again and triumph. I swear I've never been more excited in my life." Jennifer began rambling beside me as I sighed. The glow within her eyes almost immediately dimmed as she turned her attention to my face.

"What's with that sigh?" She asked. It appears she was ready to rip my head off. I sort of moved away from her, keeping my distance just in case of an attack.

"Well, it's just that humanity could not even sustain the Earth for very long and all that would be happening is more colonization. Granted, our scanners haven't found any sentient beings on this planet, but that doesn't rule out the possibility. Not to mention the fact that we would not even be able to move all of humanity to this location. Not even the US Government has those type of resources. In short, we would just be delaying the inevitable."

"You're a real party pooper, you know that?" She scoffed angrily as she began walking faster. I sighed in disappointment. You see, I have this problem of not having a filter or knowing when to shut my mouth. Jennifer then went up to Graham and Celeste and spoke silently amongst themselves.

Then, seconds later Graham approached me. He was probably going to give me a speech about hoping for the best and not doubting the capabilities of humanity.

"Hey, Michael. Is it true what you said about this mission being a hopeless case?" He asked me whilst obviously knowing the answer to said question.

"I didn't say it was hopeless. I said it was delaying the inevitable."

"Well, can't you just have a little more faith in our race? We strive to survive and have always overcome the worst. What makes this any different? It might take a few years to get all of us here, but that doesn't mean that it is impossible. You get what I'm saying?" He lectured me.

I already knew the entire speech, but my mom always said that I must keep people happy. Unhealthy, if you ask me.

'I'm a realist and that type of thinking doesn't really work for me' is what I wanted to say, but for the sake of peace I responded with...

"Copy, Captain"

"Alright, so we're good, I guess. Any who, I think it's time we got back to the ship and get some sleep. Guys! We're heading back now!" He said as the girls turned back. I nodded and fake smiled my way out of trouble as we headed back.

Prologue Ends