Atmosphere

Written for https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/category/what-do-you-see/

Is that a living world beyond the horizon? A new planet and a chance to start again? Their tiny pod drifted over a barren waste covered with nothing but single cell forms. It was like its own moon, keeping the surface connected to its counterparts.

‘Is it the one?’ Stevena said.

‘Hope so. I’ll send a probe into their atmosphere.’

A small metal sphere left their ship. He kept watching the screen, knowing there wasn’t enough fuel to reach another system. Twenty-one percent oxygen, and seventy-eight percent nitrogen. A minute amount of carbon dioxide would still be safe.

‘Yes, we shall travel to the top. Although we will mask our form. We do not know whether this planet holds intelligence that understands aliens. Their signal was weak, and we couldn’t communicate properly with them.’

‘The air is perfect. We can do this and perhaps help the creatures thrive. There are tides here too. All they are required to do is harness its power.’

As the craft shifted from the void into the heat of the outer layer, a new hope beckoned.

They were safe.