Science Fiction Story

It’s a terrible feeling, coming out of stasis. (Anastrophe 1)(Contraction 2) This was the first thought on Jack’s mind as he coughed up the preservative fluid that had been filling his lungs for the last 10 years. Jack is the captain of the Kratos, Earth’s first craft built to expand human life outside of the solar system. (Protagonist 3)(Point of view: Third Person 4)(Genre: Science Fiction 5) The vessel is capable of reaching a significant percentage of the speed of light, but not fast enough for the crew to avoid having to undergo suspended animation to save supplies on the trip to their new system. (Setting 6).  “I should have read that briefing more carefully, I never would have agreed to this if I knew how terrible waking up would feel.” Jack complained as he climbed out of his pod. (Reading 7) “Quit your whining, you’re one the first humans who will get to see a world beyond our own solar system, and all you can do is complain. Besides, we’re here for the long haul so you don’t have to worry about going back in.” remarked Katherine, the ship’s lead engineer. “Thanks for the pep talk, but I’ll celebrate when we actually make it to the surface alive replied Jack.” (Sarcasm 8) “Well if we made it this far, then I’m sure the ship can hand a little high speed atmospheric entry.” (Antecedent-Consequent Relationship 9)(Understatement 10) I guess there’s only one way to find out. All hands to the landing vehicle!” shouted Jack. (Synecdoche 11) With that the crew prepared to make history and turned their attention towards the new big blue marble growing in front of their ship. (Metaphor 12)(Image 13) The ship shot through the atmosphere of the planet like a meteor, and shook so hard it seemed to be on the verge of flying apart.(Simile 14)(Analogy15) But, for all the evidence(16) to the contrary, the ship was ready for it and the crew safely crashed(Oxymoron 17) into one of the planet’s vast oceans. Before long the ship was able to navigate to the coast. The crew opened the doors of their vessel and look out upon the red hills of the planet’s terrain. “If we wanted to see red dirt Mars would’ve been a lot easier, but I suppose a proper oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere is nice.” Quipped Jack as the team began unloaded the equipment that would build the foundations of humanity’s first interstellar colony. (Meiosis 18) There was an atmosphere (19) of wonder and excitement amongst the crew as the initial preparations were made, that is until it was time to survey the surrounding area. Jack approached Katherine and said “I just finished the seismic scans of the area and there is something I think you need to see.” “If there’s a fault line around here our equipment should be ready, so what’s the problem?” asked Katherine. Jack replied “No, this is much more serious. Take a look at these patterns in the ground beneath us. What does that look like to you?” Katherine paused for a moment, “It’s almost like a network of roads buried in the ground.” Jack’s brow furrowed as he told Katherine” It doesn’t just look like roads, there is evidence of asphalt here and we sure as hell didn’t bring any with us. We were not the first intelligent species here.” (Simple Sentence 20)