Homecoming

     Raylin strapped herself into the small pod and gave a nervous thumbs-up to the crewmen who secured the airlock to the craft. They returned the gesture and headed back to the transfer chamber. As soon as the secondary airlock was secured, the cabin lights flickered to life and somewhere, there was a hiss and cool air flowed across her nervous face.

     “Raylin, are you alright?” Jack asked over the intercom.

     “I’m okay, Jack. Just a little nervous is all.”

     “I understand. Just remember that the last two unmanned pods we sent, made it to the surface intact. You’ll be fine.” Raylin just nodded and closed her eyes. She had to trust that the engineers had done their jobs right. All she could do now was wait and think.

     Mankind had always gazed curiously out of the portholes onto the vibrant blue-green globe that occupied their otherwise black sky. For generations they admired its beauty and speculated what secrets it held. They had forgotten that they were Earth-born and this orbiting station was the only world they ever knew as home. They had dedicated what resources they could to studying earth but were not able to learn much. They built probes and sent them to Earth and the first few burned up in the atmosphere. The last two had included heat shielding and survived to the surface but for unknown reasons, failed before any data could be transmitted back. Now it was a human’s turn. Her mobility and supplies would give her a better chance of data collection but she also went with the knowledge that she would never return.

     The pod shuddered and blasted away from the station. Raylin opened her eyes wide and watched the station slowly shrink away. I’m the farthest away from home than anyone has ever been, she thought erroneously. The pod drifted for hours before finally breaching the atmosphere. It shook violently and Raylin cried out. Just when she thought she was going to die, the chute opened and the pod eased its descent. Raylin opened her eyes but did not move until the pod had forced its way through the trees and settled in the soft earth of the forest floor. Raylin secured her pressure suit, strapped on her pack, and kicked at the pod door until it opened. She stepped outside.

     When she woke up, she panicked. Her hands flung up to her face and found the protective helmet was missing.

     “I can’t breathe,” she screamed, but realized almost immediately that this was not true. She could breathe just fine. “Where am I? What happened?” she said to no one in particular, and was shocked to receive an answer.

     “You are on Earth.” It was a deep voice that set waves of fear coursing through her body. The hair on the back of her neck stood up in a primal way she had never experienced. It was the kind of fear prey animals experience right before they are pounced upon and consumed or had their limbs torn from their bodies.

She turned towards the voice and before her stood a creature she hadn’t even seen in her worst nightmares.

     “Who are you?” she said nervously.

     “We are apes. You are human. 500 years ago, your kind gave us the gift of knowledge and speech. But then you tried to enslave us. You continued to destroy this world and our kind. We waged war. You lost. We spared your lives and banished you from this world. You have now broken this treaty. Any human who sets foot on our world will pay with their lives. Yours will be the first.”