The Young Adventure Team

Chapter 3

2005-11-01T03:03:00.000-07:00

Pt. 2

"There is nothing left of me here, I am Francis, goodnight." Francis plummeted from a high perch, far too high to survive, and yet there he stood, three hundred feet from where he started, standing on his own two feet without a scratch. This did not come as too much of a surprise to Francis however, as he had not eaten or drank a single thing in four days, and was not hungry in the slightest, and only drank to parch his ever drying mouth.

"I'm never going to die am I?" Francis blankly asked.
"No" something answered.
"Aren't I glad you've finally decided to talk to me" Francis scoffed out loud. He finally decided to speak his mind a few years ago as he remembered there was no one there to call him insane.

"Having a good time in there? Killing everyone on earth, and letting me roam the earth with no purpose and no end?" He shouted with pure fury, but with doubt, as when one does when speaking to inanimate objects. No one answered, as he thought would be the case, but Francis felt as if someone was eerily smiling from some shadow at him. Smiling at a puppet that was created for something Francis could never comprehend. Was he a shell for an incubating host, or simply a vessel for some force that Francis could only call a demon?

Soon, Francis realized that there was no voices in his head, as in there was no one speaking. Instead, apparently there were just pictures running through his head, mostly memories flashing though his brain to get a point across. When the mysterious being finally informed Francis of his inevitable immortality, there were no actual words, just a flood of pictures and memories, reliving times and images of nothing stopping and nothing being stopped.

Francis was now breaking every moment that he could remember in his life frame by frame. Laughing and crying through the haziness of his childhood, watching and reliving as a passive observer. Francis began seeing himself as a god that was watching his followers from a holy perspective. Nothing but endless amounts of time to relive every memory, as there were no new memories to make, just wandering a plagued earth.

Time and time had passed, Francis began to replay new scenarios in his head. New frame by frame recaps of his entire life, representing what he wished had happened, and not what actually had. Soon, after endless time dreaming of this new life he had created, with thousands of stories and new plot twists, Francis had begun to forget what was real and what was imagined.

"Was I really a boy genius who was chosen for a space expedition?" his mind began to panic.
"Was my father a quantum physicist who taught me all I knew? Or was I just a child prodigy who father sold all of his possessions to send me to the best schools, only to be rewarded vastly by the fame and fortune of my discoveries and trip to outer space?" The answers in his head had been completely blurred, and there was nothing that he could reference.
"Is this truly madness?" He asked himself, or at least he thought he asked himself.

Francis was troubled and began wondering to himself why he did not warn everyone that they were all going to die. He replayed every moment in his head after he had gotten the "virus". Warning the public, this was no help at all, as he had infected the atmosphere upon his arrival to Earth. He thought to warn his crew so they could work on a cure for the disease that had killed everyone on earth, before they even arrived back home. However none of the dreams and prayers of Francis could ever turn out with the outcome positive. All the dreams ended with Francis waking in a cold sweat, still surrounded by an empty earth.

"I need some air" Francis spoke for the first time in an immeasurable amount of time. So he walked out of the house he had been staying in, even though he did not need a bed, or sleep at all, but still clinging to things he thought would keep him human, and he saw what he had thought he had lost forever.

"Change" Francis muttered. The street was much different than when he last left his house.
"This is not how I left it" He finally piped up a little louder, as if he thought someone could hear him, an invisible someone who he assumed changed the street.

Instead of pandemonium in the streets, from when the press had leaked that the entire Young Adventure Team had died of a mysterious illness, as well as every scientist around them. He saw nothing but a life that had once been, and then stopped. Suddenly stopped without warning. Had his dream of warning his crew mates changed the present? Did the disease leak out without anyone knowing? Did everyone just go about their day until the disease strangled the life out of all of them?

Could it be that Francis could now control time? Could he use his thoughts to alter the events that had taken place uncounted years ago? He rushed back into his room to gather his thoughts.

"Could this be? Have I changed the past, or have I just forgotten the past?" He shouted, half at the "voice" in his head, and half at himself. Francis began thinking about what would've happened to the world had he told everyone on the ship about the disease years before they even arrived on earth. This created a new scenario that had the Young Adventure Team's craft orbiting the earth while a cure was being created for the disease. One by one, the team died, and eventually crashed the space ship. The crash caused Francis's disease to spread across the world, creating pandemonium and violence across the world.

He stepped out and found the entire neighborhood in complete shambles. Much worse than the original scenario, he had thought. However, Francis began to doubt his memories, as they seemingly could be altered at any time.

Francis thought up a plan, a plan that would save the world from tragedy, but in turn create one for the entire crew, and his family. Francis lied down and began to think of what had happened the day that he was "infected" by the virus. He remembered floating through outer space, as if he was kelp suspended in the sea, waiting for a whale to eat it up. He remembered the exact document he was studying, and exactly what the dusty mass had looked like when the shipped floated through.

Then Francis began to remember things that hadn't originally being there. He remembered a gun in his hand, loaded with bullets. He remembered looking back on all of his fondest memories with his friends, and the adventure team. The best times of his entire life. Then he remembered writing a short note to his friends and family, and pulling the trigger. Francis remembered ending his own life, and then there was nothing.

---

"Francis Edwards, was our dear friend and comrade during this mission and he will be wonderfully missed by everyone here. May he find his true calling in the next life" Were the last words said by the Pale man before the ashes of Francis were left to drift in the vast void of space.......

Chapter 3

2005-06-21T12:00:00.000-06:00

Pt. 1

2715 AD:

"Dear diary, today marks the 10th anniversary of the expedition into space, and things are going well. " Wrote a plain young man, into his plain diary, sitting in a mostly plain room. "Ten years is a really long time, I'm 26 now, but it seems like I have barely lived. No highschool, no dating, no parties, just boring old ship routines and boring learning 'school' sessions." The still boyish man wrote, reminiscing about a childhood he never really had.

"I still get sick sometimes, and whenever I do, I get the strange dreams." He was referring to an incident that occurred seven years ago which now made him terribly ill from time to time. "I didn't really write about it when it happened, but the ship passed through some very strange floating mass of dust and gas, and ever since then, I get terrible headache, a fever and bad dreams about ever one on the ship." The young man began quivering just thinking about the terrible headaches that caused him to pass out and have wonderfully realistic and terrifying visions about his shipmates, and the world he left behind upon the arrival of the ship after the 40 year mission was over.

"My dreams always start off the same way, when the ship gets back to earth, everyone in the crew dies except for me. The scientist back on earth don't know what to believe and that there was a disease that I was possibly immune to. Soon, everyone doing tests, or that had any contact with the ship's crew died. Then their families, then soon the entire continent of North America. Finally, there is no one alive except for myself." The young man began to slowly sob as he thought about how his dreams had started as blurry visions and had increased in to full-color nightmares of epic proportions.

The young man shifted gears and began writing about some menial anecdote that had taken place in the mess hall, taking some of the fear out of his mind. He stopped crying and had actually begun smiling while he was writing about how one of his crew mates had sprayed a beverage out their nose. Suddenly without notice, a shrill beep came from overhead and a prerecorded robotic voice prompted "Lunch will now be served in mess hall 1".

"Looks like I have to go now diary" The young man wrote as if talking to someone in casual conversation. "That's all I've got for now, so I guess I'll sign off" He wound down the diary entry and ended it as if he had written a letter to himself. "Yours truly, Francis J. Steinbreck"

-30 years later-

Everyone was dead. Everyone in the entire world had been killed by an unknown disease, except Francis J. Steinbreck. The now middle aged man was walking down the street in a Chicago suburb, hardly recognizing what he was seeing around him. The poor and panicked had died right in the streets, littering the roads and sidewalks, filling the park he had walked his dog in as a child.

"This is my fault, I'm the one who killed everyone on earth. Billions upon billions of people have been killed. All because of me, me and this stupid disease." Francis bellowed into the sky. "I don't deserve to continue living, while the stench of death lingers in my nose around every single corner. I must meet my maker and end my own life." Madness had begun to take place, and Francis could no longer just think, he had to announce all of his thoughts.

Soon, a strange voice began to chuckle and conspire in Francis's head. Snickers and giggles in some strange language that Francis was beginning to understand. This drove Francis further into madness, as Francis had learned that he did not have a disease at all, and that the voice in his head had not come from dementia.

Chapter 2

2005-05-17T00:00:00.000-06:00

Pt. 2

"Pregnant" was the only word heard when Maria's physical had been finished. The pale man just sat and looked at the results.

"I am shocked and upset with you Ms. Star" scolded the pale man, whose face seemed only colder and paler in the strange examining room lights. "They wouldn't let me administer birth control to teenagers, they said it would be a bad idea, but now look what is going to happen." he continued.

"I never meant for this to happen" sobbed Maria Star, the oldest of the girls on the mission. "This never should of happened, I lost my head, my life is ruined". She was bawling now, getting more and more upset as the idea of giving birth sunk in on her.

"Silence Maria, everything will be fine." The man snapped back, the cold confidence in his voice hushed the sobbing girl. "We have enough life support now that Francis is dead, we can support another crew member. Plus, we could use another helping hand around here." he followed.

"Can I break the news to the other crew members?" asked Maria. The tears in her eyes were done pouring, and just sat in suspension on her cheek. Waiting to either drip off, or be wiped away. She opened her mouth slightly to say something, but couldn't muster the might.

"I assume you want the father to know before everyone else. That will be fine, as long as I don't have to say anything to anyone. I am a scientist, not a guidance councilor." The pale man had guessed correctly, Maria thought about the names they'd call her, the whispers in the mess hall, the utter shock and disbelief of everyone on the ship.

The pale man made a note in his paperwork and simply left the cool examining room. Maria simply cried, not that she was sad she was going to be a mother, but about raising a child in this terrible black abyss, when she was nothing but a child herself.

About a half an hour later, Maria had gained her composure and decided to tell the father of her child. She was going to call him out of his quarters and just tell him without any delay. That was the plan of course, plans of this nature rarely go through as intended.

"I love you" blasted out of Maria's mouth the moment she was confronted with the face that had been lingering in her mind for the past three months. He was shocked and looked dumbfounded. "Do you remember that night we had, together after Francis died?" was all she could ask to break the silence.

"Of course, what's wrong? Are you pregnant?" He had seen enough teenage mellow dramas to know what was coming next. Although the scene in front of him was playing out like a bad TV show, he could see an opaque layer of glass separating him from Maria, and it seemed that a commercial break was not far off.

"No, of course not. You worry too much Topher" She boldly lied. Shot down the blatantly obvious question without any hesitation. A moment of awkward silence came about and Topher waited for a response, with a half confused half worried look on his face. "Actually, that was a lie. I, I don't know why I said that. I am pregnant, very pregnant. Well I guess I'm no more pregnant than any other woman three months in." She was rambling.

"It's ok Maria. Everything is going to be alright" He comforted her, but he could not comfort himself. The truth was, that was a lie too. He was completely stupefied and could hardly comfort her with a clear conscience. However, he knew he had to be there for her, regardless of how bleak he thought the future was. He hugged her and shut his eyes tight. Trying to block out the fierce reality.

"It's a boy, apparently. At least that's what the tests said." She paused. "And I want to name him Chael... is that alright?" She meekly spoke, almost muffled by their intimate embrace.

"Perfect" he uttered, as tears of joy and fear drizzled into his mouth. It was the last either of them would speak for the rest of the night.

Chapter 2

2005-05-02T05:37:00.000-06:00

Part 1

"Francis Edwards, was our dear friend and comrade during this mission and he will be wonderfully missed by everyone here. May he find his true calling in the next life" Were the last words said by the Pale man before the ashes of Francis were left to drift in the vast void of space. Then there was silence upon the entire crew, someone then simply said:

"Amen" And everyone filed out of the meeting quarters to their personal area or to the lounge. A somber feeling of doubt and sadness was laid thick across the crew, like smog across a metropolitan sky.

"I can't believe Francis killed himself only 3 years after we left earth. It's like his death took a nail file to everyone's rawest nerve. Everyone is either on edge, or depressed." Mused a petite blonde girl, as she slowly walked into the lounge with a male crew member.

They sat at the closest sofa and both tried to relax. The couch was comfortable, that wasn't the problem. The problem was the death of one of their best friends and it was putting pressure on the already daunting mission.

"We've been through a lot in the past 3 years, and it has taken a toll on all of us." Replied the girl's male counter part. "Francis couldn't handle the situations and the homesick feeling, that is all" he added.

"Not to mention the claustrophobia, boredom and loneliness." added the girl. She kind of slouched her shoulders as she spoke, making it all too apparent she had felt the exact same way Francis did. "I thought about suicide too, a few times actually, but I was always more afraid of death than the mission ahead of us. That's what kept me alive".

The boy simply smiled wearily and said "I hate hearing you talk like that you know."
"I know, I hate it too" She replied "But it is so strange and confusing out here, it gets depressing. So cold, so emtpy, no soul at all, nothing but..." her rambling was caught mid sentence with a hasty kiss. A electric moment of melancholy wonderment was what the two needed. A purely human moment, when everything around them was cold and robotic.

A strange silence grew as the kisser's lips slowly parted and was only stunted by:
"I'm sorry" from the boy, who saw some inappropriateness in what he had just done. The apology did not receive a reply, just a reaction. The young girl grabbed her new found lover by the collar and resumed the kiss. This was received with shock from the boy, but wasn't met with any resistance.

The sloppy kissing of the sheltered young crew members, had reached a point of pure excitement, a new realm of feeling for the two. The young lady, aroused by this new discovery of human interaction, quickly fled the lounge. Exiting to her room, with the boy in tow, she shut the door behind her. Where they would stay for the remainder of the evening.

Chapter 1

2005-04-27T03:01:00.000-06:00

The Young Adventurers

2705 AD:

"I know it's hard young adventure team, but we must leave now. Good Byes are never easy" Said a pale man with a paler face.
"We need to keep our chins up, as what we are doing will forever change the face of the earth." He followed as he scanned the faces of seven of the youngest astronauts he had ever seen.

The Young adventure team had been compiled by the pale man, and he was sure that they could handle anything that the cosmos would throw at them. All they had to do was leave their school, their families, and their lives as they knew them for the abyss of outer-space.

"I know sir, but it is sad to think about how I may never see my mother again" spoke one of the three boys of the expedition. His voice was just confident enough to reveal that he knew what had to be done, but cowardly enough to show just how badly he wanted to stay on earth.

The young adventure team loaded into a board room filled with press and scientists. The sobbing glances of their parents and childhood friends was almost too much for them to bear, they all welled up with tears, as billions of people from across the world watched their tear covered eye reflect the flashes from the cameras of the press. The pale man, simply read a pre-written speech off a small screen in the podium he was standing behind. Like a cold robot, with business and the success of his mission solely computing in his brain.

Questions began to roll in about the mission. None of the team actually heard the questions or the answers. All they could do was stare into the eyes and the lenses of those watching them. One of the girls had begun to cry, so one of the other girls had to escort her off to the bathroom to regain her composure.

"We are leaving, and never coming back" Was the first thing to break the silence of sobs the crying girl had created.

"No, we will come back as soon as the mission has been completed and the earth has been saved. Everything will be fine" The collected girl rebutted, not truly believing what she had just said, but feeling a need to comfort the crying girl, she said what she felt was necessary. "Lets go back into the conference, you've stopped crying".

Within minutes of the press-conference, the team had began to suit up for the journey. All the goodbyes had been said, and there was nothing more to say, that wouldn't make leaving all the more agonizing.

"This way please, one after the other. Just as we have practiced, get onto the ship" The pale man directed as he loaded the seven youngster onto their spaceship. "This is the last we will step foot on the earth, nothing but looking towards the sky for us, nothing but our mission." was the last thing the pale man said as the last of the four girl and three boy crew boarded their space craft.

Eager anticipation for the launch of the craft would have made the minutes feel like hours, but these were not normal minutes. The crew spent their last minutes on earth flipping switches, powering up computers, and strapping themselves in for a space voyage. Ignition hit the engines and the crew of 7, and one pale man went forward towards the endless abyss of space.

"Team 7, you have safely exited earth's atmosphere and you are about to start your journey." Came a metallic voice through on of the communication channels
"Roger that ground control" followed the pale man, without any emotion, just cold repetition from simulation after simulation.
"Enjoy yourselves up there in the wonderful and endless beauty of outer-space, We will see all of you in 40 years."