The Chronicles of Monster Planet - стр. 4

After several years of heated debate, the scientists selected it from a rather long list of candidates. The list included about three hundred planets in our galaxy, the Milky Way. Some of them were rejected due to qualitative characteristics, others – due to their remoteness. Our spiral galaxy is about one hundred thousand light years or zero point six quintillion miles in diameter. Can you imagine that? I can't. The Solar System is closer to the edge of the galaxy, at a distance of two-thirds of its radius from the center. That being said, the closest star is four light years from the Sun, while the farthest systems are about eighty or ninety thousand light years away.

The concentration of stars, and likewise, of planets, is higher in the center of the galaxy – for instance, in the Sagittarius constellation. If we could explore planet after planet, like in science fiction novels, we would fly there. But in reality, we could only fly along the route from point A to point B. Moreover, the crew was in a suspended animation state during the flight, so it was the automatic systems of the ship that controlled everything. The flight plan was as follows: the ship takes off from Earth via a launch vehicle. The Pullman-Anderson drive is activated in orbit, sending the ship along its course toward the stars. The ship then enters the orbit of the orange dwarf planet and detaches the housing and research modules. These modules descend to the surface with astronauts on board. In a month or less, at our command, the Hope was supposed to take a reverse course and bring the research data and information we had transmitted from the surface back to Earth. In any case, we, the Hope crew, would not live long enough to see the second ship. In addition, the chance that the ship would safely reach the planet and return back was significantly lower than the chance of the planet being similar to Earth.

Memories and thoughts raced through my mind, then turned into fragmentary colored spots, and I fell asleep without even realizing it.

I woke to the sound of an opening door and rubbed my eyes. Sheila, who had not bothered to knock, was standing at the doorstep.

“It's time,” she said, and walked on.

I put on my shoes, splashed some cold water on my face and went out to the corridor. Everyone was already there. Apart from the expected fatigue, their faces showed discontent. We, astronauts, have never been treated this way. I stole a glance at Werner, it seemed that this whole time not only had he been standing in the same spot, but he’d also remained completely motionless.

“Follow me,” Sheila Hill commanded rather than asked.

We followed her in single file. I looked back and saw Werner trailing us like a shadow. This time we reached the door of a large freight elevator. There were twenty buttons on the elevator panel, the first floor button at the top. This means that we are underground, I concluded. Perhaps a military base? But why would they drag us here? I didn't notice which button Dr. Hill pressed. My attention was focused on my own face in the elevator mirror – it was as gloomy as the other crew members', with black circles under the eyes. I caught Werner's gaze in the mirror.