Trapped

Prologue

They said Delta Seven was doomed to fail, right from the very start.

The series of missions, started in 2032, had an objective to explore a planet far outside the solar system, approximately 700 light-years away. 6 years were spent developing a space shuttle that could travel fast enough to get the astronauts to their destination in a reasonable amount of time. With the fastest technology NASA could produce, it would still take 16 years, so it was decided that the crew would be put in a hibernation-like state for the majority of their journey.

But, starting in 2038 with Delta One, the missions were disastrous. Missions one, three, and four were canceled only days before their scheduled launch. Mission two blew up on the launch pad. Mission five had a successful launch, but a day in, the hull of the ship splintered, leaving the crew to slowly suffocate in the vacuum of space.

Mission six was successful... Until NASA lost contact with the shuttle. The six crew members were never heard from again.

In 2078, after the Delta Six  'incident', the world was absolutely sure that the American space program would ditch the Delta  project. And it did seem that way. Until a year later, when it was announced that a seventh Delta mission would be launched the following year.

Rumors and speculation had flew around before, saying all sorts of things about Delta missions, but they had calmed down somewhat. But now they flew even faster and thicker.  Some theorists said that the missions weren't actually happening, but were set up by NASA to gain more money from the government. Others claimed that the missions were cursed, haunted by a vengeful ghost. All claims were dismissed by NASA.

Even NASA didn't know what they were really  up against. No one did. If they did, the Delta missions would have been terminated, and never, ever, ever, brought up again.

But no one knew, and so, on March 29, 2080, six astronauts boarded the Delta Seven rocket. They would stay awake for two weeks, to make sure everything was as it should, then they would be put in hibernation for the duration of their trip.

Norbert Church. Ezekiel Daubaey. Christopher Fuller. Elliot Russell. Steph Waters. Graciela Marina.

God help them all.