Invaders From Space

The ship had been braking with full thrust for four months. It shuddered violently under the constant force of the massive main engine. Deep down in the giant vessel, it was dark and cold. No life support systems were active; not counting the small nutrient feeds and trickle currents hooked into the cold storage bio-shells. There, in spite of the noise and vibrations, the crew of the USS Outer Reach spent their time in near-death sleep.

They had been in transit for fifteen years. The sudden appearance of an artificial moon orbiting Pluto had put a fire under a long suffering space program back on Earth. Suddenly, every new movie and book gave life to the idea of invaders from outer space.

Earth could not, would not let that happen. The Outer Reach was Earth’s attempt to shoot from the hip; get something out there quickly and then follow-up with some firepower, once it’s developed.

The best minds in the world designed and built the ship in less than five years. It wasn’t perfect, but it seemed to be performing well as it neared the end of its voyage.

Eventually, Neptune came into play and the massive engines cut out making the ship suddenly and perfectly quiet. The gravity well did its job reaching out and arcing the vessel in a hundred-gee course alteration. With Neptune in its rear view mirror, the ship slid silently through space towards Pluto.

The alien ship drifted into view as it completed another orbit of the small asteroid/planet. The captain was looking at the 3D view screen at the front of his bridge.

“What it is number one?” he asked.

“I’m not sure sir. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

The small symbols on the side of the alien ship said USS Outer Reach.

Word count 300