I have changed a few components of this story. I’ve shared notes at the bottom.
Audio Record 2
Personal Record. System Date 71.13.5.
Preliminary telemetry taken from probes launched from Heaven before the incident indicated that, despite its extremely dense atmosphere, manifesting itself in perpetual all encompassing cloud cover, there is a possibility that a fragile ecosystem could be sustained [This was previously predicted by Planetary Astro-biologist William Hurst who suggested the idea in response to an inquiry regarding new discoveries of alien life within the system.]
Since Hecate’s arrival we were never ignorant to the idea that, like Enceladus and the moons of Jupiter, there was a possibility of microbial life without disregard to larger forms making its presence known in much the same manner presumed for that of rogue planets, as we know Hecate once was before it fell into orbit. Geothermal energy providing the necessary warmth for biological life could easily serve to expedite the life-cycle process in the abyss of space, the heavy atmosphere acting as a blanket to keep in the heat deemphasizing the necessity of sunlight. A feature, however, that may or may not be pertinent but nonetheless noteworthy that was previously unknown of XT501, is that it is tidal locked with our Sun. There is absolutely no reason this should be the case other than uncanny coincidence. This is unprecedented.
[long pause]
There was…an anomalous sensor reading that, up until now, has never occurred. One of which Bailey brought to my attention merely minutes before I exited Heaven. It suggested that amidst its heavy nitrogen infused atmosphere—there are pockets of oxygen gases near the surface. This is evidence of plant life. And, be it unlikely, it suggest the possibility that large mammalian life could be sustained for periods of time.
You know how I told you that I only have 45 minutes left? Well, you can see where I’m going with this. I don’t like it anymore than you do but right now it is my only hope. Be it bleak. I’m going to attempt a planet landing. I’ve only got about 30 minutes of oxygen left so I don’t have anything to lose. But first, I want to describe—for the record— the course of events leading up to now as I remember it. Don’t worry, I’ll still be able to breathe for another couple hours or so.
The last thing I remember I was engaging Heaven’s repair module shuttle to do some maintenance before leaving orbit. Bailey—God bless her—informed me of the pockets of gas near the surface, and then the aft thrusters red light flashed indicating a malfunction of some sort. We’d been having minor issues with it for a few days. Otherwise everything on heaven was functioning properly. It didn’t appear to be too serious but I wanted to be one hundred percent before extending the Specter-sail and initiating the ion thrusters for our trip home. I suited up and entered the repair module but something terrible must have happened.
As soon as I locked in and closed the hatch Heaven shook violently. Hernandez came over the com. “Commander!” was all I heard before it went static and then I saw Bailey through my window bounce off of the SRE’s exterior hull. For the life of me I don’t know what it could have been. I just saw… a flash of purple. Than I was out. The next thing I remember after that was opening my eyes and seeing Heaven’s exterior with a hole blown through her. I can see her right now in the distance. She’s a derelict craft, unsalvageable. But she may not be a complete loss. If the door to the bunks in Heaven were closed I couldn’t convince myself to go through with this plan of mine. Hernandez and Bailey might be on the other side of it. But that door is blown out. There is no doubt. They are in the vacuum of space. I don’t see how they could have survived. Neither one of them had a suit on the last I recall. I’m only alive because I was repairing Heaven. I’m sorry.
Notes: I’ve been struggling with a few main components of the story. Due to conflicts of mind I have decided to change the previously determined state of Hecate from a newly discovered extra-Kuiperbelt dwarf planet beyond the orbit of Pluto to a rogue-planet that has fallen into orbit much closer than its previous state. In fact, for the time being, I am intending for it to have fallen into orbit something of 90 degrees off the plane of the ecliptic at about 5 AU from the Sun. Essentially, it is orbiting, for lack of better words, vertically as opposed to horizontally around the Sun as the other planets are.
Also, it has, from the timeframe of the story (which I haven’s specified) been safely orbiting through the path of Jupiter for nearly eight years. Commander Dalton’s mission was to gain more information so a plan could be established, as within the next one hundred years their orbits would no longer be expedient for the safety of the system, especially Earth. You’ll understand why I needed to make this change as the story continues.