Well, I’ve caught whatever crud is going on, so this is definitely going to be on the shorter time, and I will keep everyone in the loop as to whether or not I am able to keep up this tradition.
Please leave your feedback, I would really appreciate it, and your own responses to the prompt. If you like what you are reading here, check out my other writing exercises and my books!
Prompt: Write the first communication sent back to Earth after humans land on Mars.
Genre: Science Fiction
Source: 20 creative writing prompts that you can do in 10 minutes |
Time Spent: 60 minutes
Word Count: 1197
Prompt: Write the first communication sent back to Earth after humans land on Mars.
Mars calling Earth, Mars to Earth,
Ares XI Shuttle has touched down. Repeat, we have touched down. We landed within a kilometer of the base previous automated missions have setup. Markov and Nguyen are getting the rover deployed and checked out for the short trip. Gatwa, Symes, Bellweather, and Sanchez are doing checks to make sure everything is good with the shuttle after the landing, Palma is making sure that Ares XI Main is in a stable orbit, Langley and Kurai are getting the first round of supplies together to go with us. It is quite a sight, I must admit, being on a different planet than Earth. even having been stationed at Lunar Base IV for nearly a year has not prepared me for this. We will transmit again once we reach Mars Station I.
Commander Grace Sukai, ending transmission.
Mars calling Earth, Mars to Earth,
The whole crew appreciated your messages of well wishes! We have reached Mars Station I. Initial inspection indicates some environmental wear and tear, and one of the Hab Modules had its seals damaged, it will take some time to clean up, but the available redundancies from when the base was setup will more than make up for that. Stranger, perhaps, is that there some dishes sitting on tables as if they had been used, a bowl in the sink that has what looks like the remains of food in it, and the Station is lower than it should be on the preserved foods that was sent with it. Can we get a confirmation on how many Food Packs were actually sent? It wouldn’t be the first time that supplies that were actually sent did not match how many were supposed to be sent. We are continuing to inventory and inspect the base. We will report back with anything else worth noting.
Commander Grace Sukai, ending transmission.
Mars to Earth! Mars to Earth!
Received your official count on food stores sent to setup Mars Station I. 20 fewer units were sent than planned, but we have done a full inventory and there are 83 units missing. Our inspections have turned up other oddities, supplies used, evidence of beds being slept in and clothing worn, and various items worn in a way that Markov and Bellweather swear could only be the result of manual use. Palmer and Kurai have checked the logs of the construction robots, and they indicate everything setup as planned and all material accounted for and untouched. I am having them run a diagnostic to see if there is anything wrong. Langley and I found that the security monitoring suite has a detailed record, and not evidence of usage, for the first three months after the Station was setup, but the drive information is missing for the last year, but suddenly the recordings return starting approximately ten minutes after we touched down. I am having Langley and Nguyen check the equipment. I know this sounds insane, and I may have a conversation with Dr. Gatwa that I am even thinking about it, but is there any record of another mission coming to Mars? A private venture, perhaps? I am going to keep looking around.
Commander Grace Sukai, ending transmission
Earth, this is Mars calling. Earth to Mars
I appreciate you humoring me, but it is somehow less reassuring to know that there is no record or evidence of any mission, or any kind, coming to Mars before us. I am told that it seems that the record over the last year were manually deleted, although the log is missing as to how. A safe has been found and I have Sanchez working on getting it open, to see if anything has been put in it to explain what is going on. I am dispatching most of the crew back to the shuttle to collect the rest of our supplies. Only myself, Dr. Gatwa, and Kurai has remained behind. There is a sense of unease and confusion in the air. I appreciate the there are now thousands of people all over Earth working to figure out what is going on. Any information that can be uncovered or provide would be appreciate, and we will do the same.
Commander Grace Sukai, ending transmission.
Earth. . .Earth this is Mars,
I managed to get the safe opened and inside were a series of hand-written notes. . .in what I am confident is my handwriting. It am working on getting it transcribed into a transmission. It references being trapped on Mars and having no choice to survive. I can be no clearer than that as the writing is unclear and Dr. Gatwa says that there are signs that the writer was in deep emotional distress and or mental compromise. Have I been here before? Is this some kind of elaborate prank? Wait, I am getting a warning the shuttle is lifting off. . .
Earth, this is Commander Grace Sukai,
At last, the moment I have been waiting for has arrived and I am returning to Earth after more than a year alone. I am sorry that the shuttle engines killed most of my crew, I miss them terribly, but I fear what will happen if what I saw the day I arrived on this miserable, dusty planet doesn’t occur. I witnessed their deaths as I ran toward the shuttle and did not understand for some months that I would be the cause. There is something wrong on Mars, and it is beginning to wake up and I do not know what the consequences for earth or humanity, or anything else will be once it does. The shuttle lifting off shifted the sands enough to reveal a cave, within which was a strange glowing. . .something, I am unclear what type of tool or device it was. Once I reached within a few feet of it, it began to spin rapidly, let out a burst of light, and it was gone by the time I came to my senses. It took me some time to realize that I was now a little more than a year in the past. Gatwa and Kurai never followed me, and in my long exploration, and hiding from our satellites, I found other strange marking and objects, clearly fashioned to a purpose. The longer I stayed, the more evidence I found of there being. . .something beneath the surface. I feared to go and look but whatever it is seemed to be becoming more and more active. I imagine you probably don’t believe me, I certainly wouldn’t. I know I’ll have psychological evaluations, medical screenings, and maybe even an arrest for murder waiting for me, but please, please for my sake, for the sake of my crew, and perhaps even for humanities sake, please look at the evidence I managed to record of everything I am talking about. I would also like to extend condolences to the families of my entire crew. Once I reach Ares XI Main, I will begin my journey back to earth, and answer any questions you have once you receive this transmissions and the included documentation and evidence.
Commander Grace Sukai, ending transmission and glad to be coming home.
Okay, sick or not, this took longer than I intended, but another story that I got into, and I am never sorry about getting focused on writing and being creative.
Hope you enjoyed and that you are having a wonderful day and get to do, or experience, something creative.
– Jon
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