To The Other Side

P1

The dark forms of stars lit up the deep blackness like distant fireflies. Jupiter was directly overhead, its bright yellow sun casting a glow across the seemingly empty space.

The starship hummed softly, its lights dimmed to protect the crew’s vision.

“Captain, do you think that we are far enough?

Greer stood up and glanced out of the cave they had been exploring. They were deep below the surface and it had been a couple of hours since they had arrived.

Greer looked over at the busy members of his team and sighed.

“No, not yet. We need to search even further. A new planet will reveal itself to us when its time is right.

His answer was met by silence as everyone on his team continued their tasks. He was not expected to answer to anyone, but they did appreciate him answering their questions.

“This planet is full of a lot of interesting things, Captain. I’m not sure what exactly we’re looking for.

“We are looking for the most interesting thing on this planet, Commander. It is our mission objective. Remember, the discovery will come when we’ve passed over it, or when its time is right, Greer said.

“Yes, sir.

Greer turned and peered over the edge of the cave. He was glad to be away from his team. He had never been so deeply worried in his life. He had heard of strange things on other planets, but Mars had always been considered a barren wasteland; its existence had been a mystery.

As he stood there, he wondered what it could be. Had they been finding strange things here that nothing was coming to their attention?

He was startled when he heard the sound of a voice.

“I think that I’ve found something.

Greer snapped out of his thoughts and looked over toward the closest member of his team. Whoever found something first would be the one to set the course of the rest of their lives. Greer took a deep breath and walked in the direction of the voice.

“What is it?

The young new member of the team was standing directly before what appeared to be an opening in the cave wall. He stepped forward until he was only a few inches from the edge of the false opening. Greer looked at him and waited.

“It looks like a smaller cave…it’s almost like a door.”

Greer pushed passed the young member of his team and pushed the so called door.

“It’s not a door, Commander. It’s an opening leading to an unknown place. It’s something that we can’t just walk through.

“But, isn’t it worth it to see what’s on the other side?

“We don’t know the dangers on the other side. We can’t be certain what lies on the other side.

“I think that you should push forward, Greer. We’ve been here almost two weeks. What’s the hold up?

Greer shook his head as he looked over at the young commander. He knew that the man was right. This time was supposed to be used to explore and discover what was on the other side of the door they were facing. But, he knew that there was more to the door.

The sounds of rocks and earth closing in on them had already alerted the crew to their room. Greer pushed on the door, and the display of light from the planet lit up the interior of the cave.

“Keep moving, he said.

Greer walked past the other members of his team and pushed the door the rest of the way open. As he entered the new room, he could see an opening far down in the back of the cave. As he turned to the others, he felt a strange presence wash over him. It was like the comforting familiarity of a room he had known for most of his life. Greer felt like he had been there before, but he could not remember it.

“It’s a very familiar feeling. Greer, do you remember this?

A young woman asked.

He shook his head as he turned to face his team. “I think that we should find out what’s on the other side of this door.

“But, it could be dangerous.

“So what, we die then?

Greer felt suppressed anger bubble through him. He had been expecting to find other life on another planet, but he was shocked by what he was finding right now.

As he looked over to the attention focused on him, he could feel a growing pressure on his throat. What was it? He needed to get back to the team and ask them what they had found. He took a step back from the door and turned from the curious people that had gathered behind him.

“Let’s go, people.

As Greer took the first step, a sound came from directly behind him. It was a sound like thousands of metal doors slamming open, but the sound was definitely strange. He looked over his shoulder and saw a second troop of foot soldiers approaching from behind the other people. They were long, humanoid in shape.

Greer felt fear take over every part of his body. “We have to go back. There’s a long troop of soldiers coming from behind us. We don’t have a chance if we stay here.

“But what about the alien life forms that we’ve been searching for, Captain?

“Let’s just go. We’ll focus on that instead. The commanding officer has spoken. Now move, he said.

As they turned to leave, a familiar sound echoed, “Come on out.

Greer looked back toward the voice and saw the doorway growing larger and smaller. Before he could look up at the source of the voice, the ground beneath his feet shook and the walls in front of him shot forth. He was thrown down the tunnel, his back slamming into the walls as he fell.

The crew slammed into the back of Greer, dazed and confused. As they fell, they saw that the walls behind them had grown and shaped as if they were actually alive. They had taken on a semblance of a man and woman. He was dressed in a solid gold suit that was a dark color. She had white hair that was flowing out from a small battle helmet. Her outfit was full of gold points and steps covering almost everything on her body.

As he fell, Greer had no idea what was the capacity of his throat. He was gasping for air as he crushed his passes against rocks and portions of the ground that were loose, loosened by their fall.

“This way, he heard from his peripheral. “I know why they are here. Look at them over there.

Greer gained his balance and looked over to see the alien life forms in the room with them. They were small, like children, and each was animated by a different color of light. The ones that were dressed in red were emerging from a hidden door on the cave walls. “Keep moving,” he called to the other members of his team.

He followed behind them as they began to follow the ones in red. As they came to the far right side of the cave, there was another sealed door.

These ones were in orange. “I don’t think that this open one is right,” the young commander said.

“No, stay behind me.

Greer knocked on the door and said, “It’s an ambush.

Red beings began to appear behind the orange beings and the crew. Greer pushed out with his fist and held onto the wrist of two of the red beings. Then, he turned and threw them toward the orange ones. As he backpedaled down the passage, the others followed behind him. He was about to turn back to see if everyone was still behind them, but he felt a hand on his shoulder.