“I knew you’d be up to the task,” Director Sullivan said with a slight smile. “Now, please make your way to Hangar 13 for the pre-mission briefing. You’ll be departing at 06:00 tomorrow morning, so there isn’t a moment to spare.”

  The metallic clink of John’s steps rang out in rhythm as he approached the end of the corridor. In front of him was a large steel door with a holographic display that read “HANGAR 13”. He approached the door, and placed his thumb on the fingerprint scanner.

  “Access granted,” a robotic voice confirmed, and the doors slid open. Inside was a vast chamber, mostly empty except for the shadowy silhouette of a large passenger spacecraft looming in the back. Several mechanics were surrounding the vessel, making last minute adjustments. The sound of clinking metal and wrenching echoed through the expanse. In the front of the room was a small meeting area, with rows of chairs lined up around a podium.

  Most of the seats were already full, but John managed to squeeze into an open chair towards the back. Looking around, he saw a few familiar faces, but he had never spoken to any of his new shipmates before. He typically preferred to keep to himself, and only interacted with people when his job required it.

  “You’re John Barrett, right?” a voice said. John turned to his right to see a bright-eyed young man, no older than twenty-five. He had unkempt blonde hair, and a warm grin on his face.

  “That’s me,” John said.

  “I’m Brett Turner,” the young man replied, extending his hand. John took it, and gave it a firm shake.

  “I was brought in from our headquarters on the Mars colony,” he continued. “I’ll be working under you on this assignment, so if there’s anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” John replied, offering a smile back.

  “See that redhead over there?” Brett said, pointing to a young woman at the front of the group. “That’s my wife, Sarah. She’s an engineer, and she’ll be working alongside us on this mission. How cool is that?”

  Before John could reply, the room fell silent. The metal doors creaked open and in strode four men, walking in unison and wearing gray multi-camo uniforms. Leading the group was a middle aged man, who walked confidently up to the podium. He removed his cap, revealing close-cropped gray hair, and icy blue eyes. He gripped the sides of the podium with his well-muscled forearms before he began to speak.

  “Hello everyone, I am Lieutenant Mark Steele of the Colonial Marines. The Weyland-Yutani corporation has put me in charge of your safety and security for the duration of this assignment, so I ask that you listen carefully to what I have to say.”

  ’The security for our trip will be Colonial Marines? I thought this planet was supposed to be safe…” John thought to himself. The lieutenant continued speaking, halting John’s train of thought.

  “As you know, we’ll be traveling across an uncharted planet known as Osiris III to find the wreckage of one of our freighters- The Sultana. The company had important assets on that ship, as well as key personnel, so it’s vital we find its location, salvage what we can, and rescue the survivors.

  We’ll be traveling there in the passenger ship you see behind me, known as the Zephyr. Osiris III is in another galaxy, over 6 million miles away from this station, so the Zephyr has been outfitted with cryo-sleep pods for each one of you. As you know, cryo-pods allow us to facilitate interstellar travel by putting our bodies in a suspended state of stasis. Otherwise we’d be dead long before we reach our destination. But don’t worry- it’ll be just like taking a nap and waking up at our destination, nothing to worry about.

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  Our initial scans of the planet indicate a habitable atmosphere, with no hostile lifeforms, so you might assume it’ll be a rather safe journey. However, that doesn’t mean we can afford to be careless. Anything can happen on a mission like this, and we must always be vigilant. The most important thing you can do to guarantee your safety is to always hear and obey orders from myself and my marines. Anything we tell you to do will be for your own safety. Now, let me introduce my men. Private Chapman, step forward.”

  The marine who stepped forward was tall and wiry, with pale skin and a buzzed head. A pair of thick glasses rested on his crooked nose.

  “Sir!” He called out in a clear voice.

  Lieutenant Steele nodded to him, and he stepped back once again.

  “Private Reyes!”

  Another marine stepped forward, this one shorter than the first, with a high-and-tight military haircut, and a neat mustache above his lip. He had a lean, athletic build- like a boxer.

  “Sir!” Private Reyes sounded off.

  The lieutenant acknowledged him, and Reyes stepped back.

  “And finally we have Sergeant Jones, my second in command.”

  Sergeant Jones stepped forward, hands clasped behind his back. He was a huge man, with a goatee, a bald head, and various tattoos cris-crossing his brown skin. He was quite tall, but his most intimidating feature was his arms, which looked as thick as tree trunks, and just as strong.

  “Sir!” He bellowed, the sound echoing throughout the hangar.

  Lieutenant Steele nodded to him before continuing to speak.

  “These men will protect you with their lives, so please show them the proper respect! As I stated before, our only job is to see everyone returned home safely. Now, I will brief you all on the mission’s details.”

  The lieutenant clicked a remote, and Osiris III appeared on a nearby holo-deck.

  “According to our intel, the wreckage of the Sultana is nestled against a mountain deep within the planet’s largest forest.”

  The hologram image zoomed in and panned over to an icon of the downed ship surrounded by trees and rocks.

  “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to land our craft in this area due to the tree cover. Our closest option is here, about 150 kilometers south. There’s a beach with enough space for us to put the Zephyr down. The only problem is, we’ll have to cross large swaths of wilderness to reach our target, mostly comprised of forests, swamps, and rivers.

  Lucky for us, the corporation has outfitted our expedition with state-of-the-art amphibious vehicles, known as Hellbenders. Our fleet totals four Hellbenders, each piloted by a marine, and transporting a crew of five. This way we can reach the site in safety and comfort, and make our extractions efficiently.

  This is a simple mission ladies and gentlemen, let’s not overcomplicate things. We’ll land on the beach, depart in our Hellbenders, arrive at the crash site within 3 days, extract what we came for, and get the hell off planet. Easy as pie. Oh and lastly- never, ever, go off on your own, or lose sight of the group. If you need to relieve yourself, bring a buddy. I’m not joking. The interior of the Hellbenders are pretty spartan, so we’ll be using the bathroom outside, and sleeping in tents at night. I hope you all enjoy camping,” he grinned, before turning back towards the group and clasping his hands together.

  “That’s all I have for you folks, so I’ll see everyone here at 05:00 here tomorrow morning. Dismissed!”

  After the Lieutenant finished, the crew began slowly standing up and filtering out of the hangar. The young man next to John stood up, and stretched.

  “It was great meeting you, John. I’ll see you tomorrow morning!” he said.

  “You too…” John trailed off. ‘What was his name? Brant? Britt?’

  John’s attempt to remember the man’s name was fruitless. He settled on an awkward smile as Brant or Britt turned and strode away. The young man’s red-headed wife was waiting for him by the door, and smiled when he approached. They clasped their hands together and strode out of the hangar.

  ‘Seems like a nice kid,’ John thought to himself.

  He headed out of the hangar, and back through the maze of hallways towards his chamber. As he lay in bed, more emotions than he would’ve normally allowed flooded through his mind. He was usually better at remaining on autopilot, feeling nothing, but tonight was different. It was mostly excitement, but with a tinge of fear, and even some guilt. John always thought when he left Perseus IV again it would be with Alexandra, after he had worked out the duration of his contract.

  “It’s time to let her go.”

  The director’s words echoed through his head as John finally drifted off to sleep.