Another Place, Another Time (Short Story)
Aurelion Sol's short story and biography made me think about whether he'd had access to other civilizations across the universe, and whether we'd be one of them. So I typed up a little first draft and wondered what you all thought about it.
I put in a few Easter eggs related to dragons for fun, as well.
Another Place, Another Time
January 28, 2036
"What a way to spend Chinese New Year." I murmured to Armstrong, staring out the front window of the Andromeda, watching as the bright streak of light in the distance slowly drew closer and closer.
She didn't answer, eyes fixated on the comet in front of us. There was no name for it yet; this particular comet had been a baffling mystery to historians and astronomers alike for as long as anyone could remember. It seemed to follow no proper orbital path through the Solar System, appearing and departing again with an almost complete disregard for the laws of gravity. Its appearance throughout history had been sparse, but unmistakable; all confirmed records of comet sightings, from the time of the Mayans through the fall of the Roman empire, had detailed the brilliant blue streak running through its center, and seeing it in reality was nothing short of breathtaking. Finally, after all the marveling at these brilliant objects in the night sky, humanity would finally be able to approach one of these celestial wanderers in person for the first time.
"Houston, this is Andromeda, we are now nearing our objective."
"Roger that, Andromeda. Your approach vector looks good. Proceed with velocity synchronization."
The Andromeda program had been hastily pushed through NASA after the comet once more appeared in the Solar System, streaking towards Earth on what seemed like the closest any comet had ever come in recorded history. Manufactured on Earth and assembled in orbit close to the ISS, the Andromeda was crammed full of sensors and sampling equipment, and seated two. After less than a week since liftoff, Armstrong and I would be the closest humans had ever come to the core of one of these celestial beauties.
"Roger, Houston. Initiating burn."
The view shifted abruptly as the thrusters adjusted our course, slowly bringing us alongside the sublimating chunk of ice and dust. We knew those at Mission Control were holding their breaths.
"Houston, this is Andromeda. Burn complete, we are now flying in parallel the comet."
Distant cheers, tinny and muffled over the radio.
"Roger that, Andromeda. proceed with descent."
Blinding whiteness filled the windows as the Andromeda descended into the coma of the comet. Something wasn't right.
"Uh, Houston, we're getting higher than normal temperature readings on the sensors."
"How high are we talking?"
"Well, it looks like we've been magically transported to a summer day in Hawaii."
Chuckles from the control room as they decided what our next course of action should be. I peered out the window as the core of the comet came into view. The heat shields of the Andromeda would be able to resist atmospheric reentry temperatures, of course, but nobody had expected temperatures anywhere near that here in the cold darkness of space. A crater loomed up in front of us as we drew slowly closer to the nucleus.
And then it OPENED.
Armstrong yelled an expletive and looked frantically between me and the window.
"Tell me you saw that. Tell me you just saw that crater open."
"Y-yeah, and it looks an awful lot like an eyeball staring back at us..."
A massive fissure opened in the comet, the rock and debris splitting like huge craggy teeth, a fine mist like breath erupting all along it as a low rumble reverberated through the Andromeda.
"Andromeda, this is Mission Control. We're getting irregular readings from sensors all across the board. What's happening up there?! Andromeda? Andromeda, this is Mission Control! do you read?"
After a few good seconds of staring, I managed to shakily reach across to depress the comms button.
"Yeah...we read you. Houston, you're never going to be believe this..."