//
After waking up in a lab after what seemed like a days hard work with a bunch of math and chemistry I looked around. Saw these scribbles on the wall left over the years of what seemed like my attempt to figure out a way to make a stable cold fusion engine. I walked outside the lab and looked outside these glass walls to watch the sunrise. Had plenty of sleep so I didn't really feel tired.
Next thing I know I was daydreaming, kind of like reminiscing the past.
I knew it to be when I was 24 when I was selected as a scientist for a group expedition to collect field samples. Group of 12, one other guy was my age, rest were seasoned scientists in their 40-60s, but we were all equally excited.
6month later we reach expedition grounds, previous group of 12 scientists handed us the place and ended their 6month term. We settled right in and got to work on sending samples back in small metal carriers.
Very excited to be there and have people I admire on the team.
6 month later we were getting ready to go back and, packing things up. Kind of sad we had to leave soon.
As we waited for our trip back NASA sends us a message saying WWIII started as a nuclear war, sending pickup.
/Fast forwarded flashback one year
No message, no pick up.
We suspect that at the time of war if a carrier was launched the likelihood of it being shot out of the sky for fear of it being tactical nuclear ICBM is high. It should have only taken 6 month to get here anyway.
We still keep sending packages of samples back and try to re-establish communication, but no luck.
Something within the next 6 month the other scientist in his 20s killed himself from anxiety. We sent his body inside one of the carriers out into space, but not directed to earth.
We started to attempt building some kind of spacecraft with the materials we had, we needed a fusion engine if we wanted any hope of getting back. We were mostly chemists and material physicists, not exactly constructional engineers or astrophysicists.
/Fast forwarded 20 years
Our leader died of old age at around 80. Our attempt to get back degraded into something of a time killer and we figured that there might not be a civilization to get back to anyway.
/Fast forwarded 10 more years
I remembered sending the last body out into space. Not a huge surprise, the years caught up, but we had a good time. Not particularly sad since it was bound to happen but it I can't help but wonder what I am going to do now.
The sun is above horizon now, slightly.
I walked back to the lab and continue to work on the problems on the wall. Then I paused and looked at the digital clock in the room. I realized that it has been 60 years. I am probably near my time limit. For 30 years I tried to build the fusion engine alone but I was unable to finish the calculation to check for method of stabilization. Regrettable.
I decided to take a short nap and maybe get back to working on it afterwards.
Now I am having this dream where I woke up in a bed in an apartment in United States.
//
Needless to say I was pretty confused for a few seconds after I woke up since I felt like I've experienced the 30 years in the lab + flash backs. For a second or two I couldn't tell which life I lived and the feeling of solitude stuck a little longer.
Not mentioned in the synopsis was that there was a side project to build a telescoping station there since there are less atmospheric and thermo interference for photon based telescopes there.
I started mapping out every detail of the dream I could remember. Like the lab being white when I turn on the light, size of the bed, equations on the wall, atmosphere density, temperature and faces. I wish I could have known what happened so I wouldn't be so frustrated with this galactic cliff hanger. Even if that was the end.
Sunrise on Pluto is pretty. Atmosphere is thin, you could see all the stars around you even with the sun up.