Gianluca

Day 3, November 12th, Orion deep space station, Pluto, 2143

It's been three days since my ship, the Voyager XVII left deep space station Orion. I start my
1250 day voyage alone and the only human life until Mars dwindles into obscurity from the long,
wide mirror of the command port of my spaceship. I am excited at the thought of finally being
home, but I am not looking forward to the long journey ahead. The little lights of Orion space
station are fading, and the craters on the barren surface of Pluto are becoming indistinguishable
from the rest of the cold, dark surface. I pace the deck of my ship, brand new, the latest
technology, at least from five years ago when this ship launched from Jupiter, Florida to
thunderous applause and a heros send-off. Five years. Five years in deep space, exploring the
unknown, every moment something could go wrong, and it could be your last.

Day 8, deep space, 2143

Pluto, its barren gray surface, and the small, white array of buildings on its surface have all
become too far to see well, a distant memory. I have to focus on the long journey through deep
space ahead of me. I stare at the vast emptiness ahead of me through my large cockpit window,
and the distant dot of the sun millions of miles away.

Day 56, Orbit of neptune, deep space, 2143

From the ships gym, I can see Neptune. The light of the ever distant sun reflects on its Ocean
blue surface. Its the first planet like structure I have seen since departing from deep space
station Orion. The darkness has been overwhelming and the only source of light until the sun
and Neptune became visible has been the lights inside of the white interior of my ship. I keep
myself entertained by watching movies and reading, and staring out into the vast emptiness of
space, and thinking of all the unknown that we havent discovered yet. There arent any humans
for millions of miles, I am in the final frontier, the edge of the known.

Day 234, Outskirts of Kuiper belt, deep space 2143

Just passed the Kuiper belt. It was one of the more haunting experiences in my life, and the
most dangerous. Autopilot malfunctioned, and I had to pilot the ship through hundreds of miles
of jagged rocks, the remnants of a distant mass. I have been noticing some odd things occurring
in the ship. The autopilot had malfunctioned, but when I went down to the control room, the
panel looked annihilated, as if it was ripped out. The large, rectangular, metallic panel was lying
on the floor with three slash marks piercing it. I took me about two weeks to patch it up, and
things went back to normal.

Day 461, Reaching Saturn, Deep space, 2144

There was a leak in the lower hull of the ship. I had to put on my full space gear, halt the ship,
and leave the comfort of the inside of the ship to fix it. I left from the lower exhaust port, and tied
the kevlar rope to the reel, so I would be tethered to the ship if something went wrong. Leaving
the comfort of the warm interior of the Voyager was one of the hardest things I had done since
the start of the voyage. I took one step out of the exhaust port and immediately felt the
sensation of floating aimlessly through the void of space. I could see Saturn from here. It was so
small that i could cover it with my thumb but it was the first planet I had seen in hundreds of
days. I could also see the sun from my point in space. It was tiny, but I could feel its immense
heat radiate through my suit, despite the frigid cold of space. I made my way to the breach, and
saw what looked like scratch marks. It looked as if something, or someone clawed the hull of the
ship. I examined the marks carefully, but I could not make out any distinct clues as to how the
hull was breached.

Day 492, Reaching Saturn, deep space 2144

Nights are getting restless. Every day is a day closer to Earth, and I cannot wait until I can get
home. I hear things at night, scraping, clawing, and what sounds like breathing. I have gone to
look for the source of the noises many times, but I havent seen anything. I have paced the dark
halls of my ship in search of the origin of the noise, ready for answers, or at least a clue, but for
now I will just have to settle for nothing.

Day 533, Saturn, deep space, 2144

The noises have stopped, and everything has gone back to normal. I look out of the panel like
window of my ship, and see the immense mass that is Saturn. Each one of the rocks in its rings
could crush my ship at any time. It feels less lonely with the company of Saturn, and the hope
that I am almost halfway done with my voyage. Soon I will be on Mars, and then Earth.

Day 549, Saturn, deep space, 2144

I was wrong. I hear noises at night, worse than before. I havent had good sleep in days, and
have spent so much time looking for it. It, the source of the noise, the breathing, growling,
scraping, creeping. It is alive, I am not alone on this ship.

Day 560, Deep space, 2144

There is something else aboard this vessel. I have searched every inch of the ship ten times
over, and have seen no evidence, but I know it's there. Maybe it is all in my head? No. No, I
know what I heard, and what I heard is a moving, living, breathing thing. Any minute it could
creep up and kill me. I cant stay in one place too long. Most days I pace the ship restlessly with
my machine gun in hope of hunting it down. Am I hunting it? Or is it hunting me?

Day 562
I am close to passing Jupiter. Its immense gas surface covers all of my horizon to the right. I
must make it to Mars. I must survive. ONly freedom from this hell will save me. My way home
has become my prison. There are more and more malfunctions occurring on my ship. Everytime
it breaks something and I fix it, another thing is broken. The scrape marks are becoming more
and more frequent. They line the walls of the lower decks of my ship. The books and movies
have all been destroyed, and now all I can do is wait for the inevitable. The inevitable, I wait for
it. I am ready to face it. I must make it home.

Day 565
Mars is three weeks away. Its red surface has come into vision and in a few days I will be able
to see the small human colony at the space base. I am overcome with joy, but I know it will not
last. The restless nights are taking a toll. The door to my room stays locked all night, and I hear
a soft tapping on it at night. Tap tap...tap taptap tap.. And then it is over. I sleep with my
gun under my pillow and at night. During the day, I stare out of the large window at the
emptiness, with one red globe moving ever closer.

Day 566
I am going to die here. I was pacing the deck of my ship when suddenly all of the lights went
out. I heard it, and saw its outline. It was at least eight feet tall, standing on two legs, with a long
tail, and two red, piercing eyes staring right at me. I ran into my room as fast as I could and
barricaded the door. A second later it started banging on the door, creating a fist like dent. It is a
monster, more terrifying than anything I could have ever imagined. I dont have much time left,
but there is still something I can do. I can't let this ship make it to Mars, or else the Mars colony
will be extinguished. I have my machine gun, and I know I can pierce a hole through the cockpit
window if i shoot it long enough. It is a longshot, but it is the only chance I have. This will be my
last entry.
Signing out, Day 566 of voyage back to earth, Voyager XVII