Monster Fog

A team of scientists explore a nebula and learn that it is too late to make it back out. But can they save others?

     "What is that?" asked captain and lead researcher John Smith.

     A cumulus cloud of what appeared to be orange gas and dust lay just ahead of them on the bridge's viewer screen.  Unlike most nebula it was slowly but discernibly roiling and expanding.

     "That is our destination," replied navigator Neana Cook with a surreptitious combing of her hair with one hand.  "Ships have been going missing in this area and that is the only thing out here."

     "Can we get a spectrum on that stuff?" asked Smith.

     "Yeah, its...complex organic compounds with some acids mixed in.  Our ship's hull could withstand it for a few hours but then we'd have to leave in a hurry.  We can't get a full scan until we enter it."

     "Let's ease in a bit--not far--just enough to get a good scan."  Captain Smith sat back down in his seat and looked expectantly at the growing cloud.  Everyone else on the bridge was just as curious and looked ahead with anticipation.  There was utter silence as they finally entered the nebula.

     Orange swirls enveloped the ship on the viewer and other bridge monitors.  Then...Smith noticed congealment, then forms, then detailed visions of...Earth, playing with the dog he grew up with in the field near his family's house.  But he was not just watching; he was reliving the play as though he was just 12 years old once again.  Smith was enthralled.  He barely noticed navigator Cook: "Oh Nathanial," she called out longingly. Other personnel on the bridge were murmuring to themselves, each intensely aware of some personal vision that they were seeing in the gas and dust.

 

             *                               *                              *

     Cook's aide Jensen was diligently working on an amino acid salad mixture in the ship's galley.   Vaguely, he was aware of some commotion occurring among his coworkers but he did not let this usurp his attention.       

     Meal time arrived. It was then that he discovered that places had not been set, nor was there an entre on the table.  What was going on?

     He noticed the cook at the far end of the galley.  He had not moved for some time.  He just kept standing there, looking out a portal window.

    Now Jensen was naturally cautious. He may have only been a cook's aide but he had been around the galaxy and knew there was some weird stuff out there--and some of it was no good. 

    "Greg,"  he called.  "Greg!"

    It was apparent that Greg was mesmerized, which meant that he better not look at what was causing the cook his dysfunction. 

    Jensen wondered about the rest of the crew.  He went to the nearest computer interface and called up a view of the bridge, careful to block out visibility of any viewers there.  He saw the captain and the rest of the crew standing at their posts, bewitched just like Greg.

    It was then that Jensen knew what he had to do.  He formulated his plan and then executed it.

              *                              *                            *

    

    "It appears to be a short range probe from another research vessel, much like ours," reported the navigator.

    Captain Johnson thought a moment.  "Could it have come from that bubbling nebula?" he wondered out loud.

    "The trajectory is right," the navigator responded.

    "Then let's pick it up and look at it."

    They proceeded to pull the object in with a tractor beam and then transport it to a research station on the ship. 

    When they analyzed it they found nothing particularly interesting about the probe except it evidently had stored data in its banks. The captain was very curious about the data.  "Feed it to us," he commanded.

    The bridge's viewer crackled then displayed a nervous looking young human in some sort of food prep apparel.  The man was talking emphatically into the camera: "Our ship is about to disintegrate.  This is a warning that the nebula near Cassiopeia produces some sort of visual stimulation that causes people to be entranced.  Whatever you do don't enter it and don't view the gas--it's monster fog!"  The image flicker out.

     "I guess we now know where we aren't going," commented the navigator.

     "On the contrary," responded the captain, "We're going in."

     "But what about the warning?"

     "We are explorers.  That is what we do, explore.  We'll just disengage our viewers and tell the crew to avoid looking out the portals."  He picked up a mic from his command chair.  "Crew, this is Captain Johnson.  Under no circumstances are you to look out into space in any manor until I give the say so. Out."  Then he spoke to the bridge's crew: "Now lets analyze this thing with our instruments."

      A young off-duty laborer lay next to his cabin's portal, looking at the nebula.  What was in there he wondered.  He had been around the galaxy and seen some things--some weird stuff, some of it not so good.  He decided it wasn't going to keep him from another interesting experience.

                                      THE END

    

Reviews

[E Chadwick]

This sucked me in! I absolutely love the premise. It's very similar to a story I wrote. The only issue I can find is a few grammar errors here and there. Very well done!