Reaching Pluto

In 1976, the Soviet Union started yet another attempt to reach a space frontier before the United States. The project was kept in total secrecy, and no information was made available until now. The rocket, which was built using part of the remanent technology and crew of the last failed Mars program, was called Tizhonov 1. It was designed to house cosmonauts in relative comfort during the long journey. With the intense working on the project, it was ready to be launched in July 21, 1978.

In the two years that passed between the start and the end of the building of the rocket, the government made countless tests to pick the perfect 6 person crew to board it. What started as 200 people ended, after physical and psychological tests, in only 12, which were placed in mostly empty rooms with no sounds and only artificial lights. The last 6 to leave would be the ones that would board the Tizhonov 1. After this endurance test, which lasted 7 months, the 6 cosmonauts were picked; 4 men (Vladmir, Aleksei, Petrov and an unknown fourth) and 2 women (Elmira and an unknown second). None of their surnames is known, since, much like the unknown male and female cosmonaut names, this info has been blacked out on the only surviving copy of the documents.

In the early hours of November 06, 1978, the Tizhonov 1 was launched. No one of the national or international press was informed about this; the Soviet Union wanted to keep it a secret so there wouldn't be any embarassment for the government in case things went wrong yet again. Much to their surprise, the rocket not only launched without any issues, but it traveled much faster than what was anticipated by the scientists of the Soviet space program. According to all calculations, the flight would take, approximately, 11 years to be complete, but at the new, unexpected speed the rocket was reaching, scientists estimated it would take only 8 years to reach the destination.

During these 8 years, contact was made in an hourly basis with the cosmonauts to see how they were doing in there. They openly rejoiced when they were told how much faster the rocket would reach Pluto, as, although they'd passed the endurance test, they were afraid of getting too bored with the long wait. Nothing out of ordinary happened for a very long time, until around the second half of the seventh year.

The unknown male and the unknown female cosmonauts reported to the station that they were having strange nightmares, ones they never had before in their lives. Though the scientists asked them about it, they didn't provide further details, saying they were probably just lacking enough sleep with the anxiety of getting so near the destination. They still, however, complained about said nightmares for a few weeks, seeming more and more frustrated with them, until... nothing. The data has been expunged, and all attempts to discover what happened to them have proven futile. Whatever may have happened to them, however, seems to be much better than what happened to the remaining four.

When the rocket landed in Pluto, in December 25, 1986 there was a huge celebration in the Soviet headquarters. The cosmonauts reported they had landed safely, and that they would go for a walk on the soil of the then ninth planet. This is where things turn grim, although, per usual, many details are missing, and we only know the things we do because one of the soviet scientists, somehow, managed to save from destruction his copy of the recording of the events that unfolded on the only day the cosmonauts spent in Pluto. What follows are translations of the transcript from the surviving audio tape.

VLADMIR: We are finally here. Despite the thermometer saying it is -203 degrees right now, our space suits are keeping us remarkably warm in this cold little planet. Cheers for the Soviet Union, comrades!

ALEKSEI, PETROV AND ELMIRA: Cheers!

ELMIRA: The pressure is very low in here. It is so low, our tools cannot even measure it. Either that, or they have broken. But I am more inclined to believe the first option. Are we supposed to wait in the rocket first to get adjusted to the pressure?

Dead air follows.

ELMIRA: Understood. In this case, we will procceed with the mission. Petrov, could you open the door for us?

PETROV: Yes. Just a moment.

Footsteps, and then the sound of the door being opened, are heard.

ALEKSEI: Perfect. Let us not waste a moment.

''Cheers are heard again as the cosmonauts herd to the exit. After a few moments of dead air, communication picks back up.''

VLADMIR: This is not at all what we expected to see here.

''Vladmir's voice is tense. Dead air follows.''

ELMIRA: How exactly are we supposed to describe this? It is not like anything we have ever seen. It seems like... There are things similar to huge television screens everywhere. They show things that were gone long before television even existed, and they also show things that probably will exist long after the presumable end of television. There -

Dead air follows.

PETROV, ALEKSEI AND VLADMIR: Right.

 Dead air follows.

ELMIRA: There are no people or living creatures in sight. There are things similar to our street lights, but what emanates from them is not light, but darkness.

''Sounds of footsteps follow for well over a minute. When voices are heard again, they are even more tense than before.''

PETROV: If you could witness what we are witnessing here! You would go insane!

ALEKSEI: And we probably are already!

''Dead air follows. Suddenly a metallic drone is heard. The sound of a gunshot follows it.''

PETROV, ALEKSEI AND VLADMIR: [garbled collective mumbling]

ELMIRA: Comrades, calm down. Getting so worked up over this will only make matters worse.

VLADMIR: How can we calm down? We were not meant to see what we just saw!

ELMIRA: Yes, but -

Dead air follows.

ELMIRA: Imagine a child whose skin was like the one of a lizard. Whose eyes were inexistent, and through whose eye sockets you could see their brains. Who had a mouth full of very sharp teeth. Imagine all of this and more things we cannot even think of describing.

Dead air follows.

VLADMIR: It would be too dangerous. That thing is probably venomous.

Dead air follows.

VLADMIR: We do not want to take this risk.

Dead air follows.

VLADMIR: Stop making this request!

Dead air follows.

VLADMIR: Fine! Fine! If you want your heroes to risk their entire lives, then we will gladly take it to Earth!

ALEKSEI: Do we even have room in the rocket to house such thing?

PETROV: We do, but it was reserved for other things from planet Pluto, not just for a trophy.

Dead air follows.

PETROV: Apologies.

''Another metallic drone is heard. What follows are screams from the four cosmonauts, then gunshots.''

ELMIRA: RUN!

'' Rushed footsteps are heard. Behind them, the metallic drone is heard getting louder and louder until finally catching up with the footsteps. The screams get louder and more incoherent. Gunshots are heard.''

 Vladmir is heard screaming, then gargling, then nothing more is heard from him.

 After a few moments, Petrov apparently trips on something, and, after a thump, is heard gasping before becoming silent as well.

 Aleksei screams curse words for the entire remaining time his voice is heard before a loud, violent slash is heard, followed by small thumps.

'' Elmira continues to fire the gun even after the last of her colleagues perishes. Eventually she reaches the inside of the rocket and slams the door. She's crying.''

ELMIRA: THEY ARE ALL DEAD! DEAD! THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN BE DONE ANYMORE!

Dead air follows for a few moments.

ELMIRA: Vladmir... He was... Then the creature... Tentacles... Blood sucking appendages... Then Petrov... He tried... We tried... But... Foot... Claws... Stomp... Stop... Aleksei... Cut... Slash... The thing... It is not... We will never... Our families... They all... We will never... Properly buried... We...

At this point, the tape cuts to static.

The scientists and officials on Earth were completely baffled. Trying to restore contact with the cosmonauts proved futile. There were plans to send a second rocket to Pluto to try and see what happened to the cosmonauts, but the project was delayed and eventually cancelled due to the ongoing crisis on the Soviet Union. When the Union dissolved and each country became independent, almost all of the information about this mission was long gone. The fates of Elmira, Vladmir, Aleksei, Petrov and the unknown cosmonauts are still a mystery.