RIP Story : May 29th, 2024

Signs of Civilization

The scans from across the galaxy hadn’t been wrong. The fingerprints of life found in the atmosphere were visible on the surface. The space hoppers were the first to visit this region of the galaxy and they were starting with the most likely location for life to exist. Hoppers in other regions of the galaxy reported life on the smaller scale, but no evidence yet of civilization on any other planets. Thie planet below didn’t have visible lights on the dark side, but the green of photosynthetic life was visible from space. The planet’s surface gave nothing away, but the space junk told a different story. The Hoppers found an orbital level that kept them away from the worst of the space junk.

Looking at the scanner, all three hoppers were confused. “Where did all this junk come from?” one of them said out loud.

They agreed that civilization was once on this planet, but there would be a story to tell on the surface.

The Surface

The Hoppers made it to the surface. Procedure was to stay suits on until the probes they released ran a complete air analysis. It would take two cycles, so the Hoppers set up their initial science stations then spent the twelve hours of oxygen exploring before they had to get back to the main orbital ship.

They had landed in a lightly wooded area with rolling hills and a few rocky peaks jutting out of the ground. A riding craft would have been great here, but they were limited to foot travel. The gravity felt similar to home, and the trees, a more brilliant green color compared to home, moved in the wind the same way it happened in their part of the galaxy.

Along with the trees, smaller critters showed themselves as the Hoppers explored. On their home planet, small critters like these would have instantly run. Here, all of the critters looked, waited, then assessed in their own way if the Hoppers were a threat.

“I’m looking forward to hearing this without these helmets on,” one of the Hoppers said.

“Look there, Buildings!” one of the Hoppers called out.

It was a fair distance across the plain, but it was clearly a set of buildings. They made their way across the open plain and found a running creek bed coming from a grove the trees growing next to one of the high peaks. “Get a sample and add it to the analyzer when we get back.”

Return to Orbit

The Hoppers added notes to the log as they ascended toward their orbital home.

-small animal life active amount the trees and flowing water on the surface

-buildings show past existence of being lived in my larger creatures

-signs of decayed furniture and food storage in collection of buildings

-water source found to be clean, added to analyzer

-12-hour scans show surface clear for regular activity without suits

“Hey, I have a floater withing viewing range, want to take a look?” one of the Hoppers said.

They waited to get back to the main orbital ship to add the last of their notes. -space junk observed. Marks identified as N-A-S-A & E-S-A.

Thanks for reading, see you tomorrow.

EPILOGUE: These are fun when the story jumps out right away. I have to be aware that not everything needs to be “a reveal” I feel like I default to that kind of storytelling.