PROXIMA b

For one year, our radio telescopes picked up broadcasts transmitted from another world. A world 4.3 light-years away. Our linguists deciphered their language. And our scientists found a way of getting us there. My partner and I trained, extensively, for the twenty-year mission. We were ready to go.

After arriving and orbiting the planet, debris struck and damaged our ship. Descending, we crash-land in a desert.

In and out of consciousness, I heard a cacophony of machinery and voices. And one loud voice, saying, “Clean this up, leave nothing and take these two, to Area 51!”