Pierce the Spaceman Pierce tightened the buckle on his moon belt. He had never seen the fogs of Planet Zarzoo so thick and the high gravity was weighing down his space boots. Pierce’s mission was simple: he was to dive through the sludge pits of Zarzoo and gather Zennon crystals to power the space colony’s defense shields. It seemed simple enough to Pierce, but he had not anticipated a high gravity day and the acid rain was burning through his spacesuit.

As Pierce walked over the toxic sand dunes of the planet Zarzoo, he saw the two golden suns setting. It would now get much colder. Pierce turned on the thermal warming power in his spacesuit as he approached the sludge pits. He checked his oxygen tanks and the levels were green. Pierce thought to himself: It’s time to dive through some sludge, and then he dove into the radioactive green goo of the sludge pits.

Pierce felt that diving to the bottom of the sludge pits was easier than usual. Perhaps it’s because of the high gravity, he reflected as he kicked his way toward the shinny Zennon crystals spread along the floor of the pits. He gathered the space crystals and stuffed them into his space pouch, he felt the slithering tentacle of a Toxopus as it disconnected his air supply from respirator. Toxic fluid poured into the air containers, making them useless. “Beast!” Pierce shouted, taking in the last clean breath from the ruptured air tank.

He vaporized the monster with one blast of his raygun as he began frantically scrambling for the surface. Clawing and pulling, Pierce fought for air, but the high gravity and the thick sludge made escape seem impossible. As Pierce’s reality faded out, angels carried him.

Pierce sat in a white chair on a white cloud, surrounded by white lights. A voice from all around spoke softly but strongly to him: “Pierce, it is not your time.” Pierce felt peace. “You must bring the Zennon crystals to the space colony.” the voice went on, “If you do not, the defense shields will fall and all will perish.” Pierce recognized the importance of his mission but he did not know how to escape the sludge pits without oxygen, yet alone the high gravity of planet Zarzoo. “Pierce, the Zennon crystals have power,” were the last words Pierce heard before he returned to his oxygen deprived body.

Pierce was fading in and out of consciousness when he noticed tiny air bubbles seeping out of one of the Zennon crystals. Apparently, he had grazed one of the crystals with his raygun when he was vaporizing the Toxopus. Pierce put the cracked Zennon crystal to his mouth and drew a breath of oxygen from it. His head stopped throbbing. He took another breath from the crystal and his heart beat slowed. Pierce breathed a sigh of relief as he climbed out of the sludge pit.

Marching through the thick fogs of Zarzoo, Pierce held on to the Zennon crystals. He knew that they would power the defense shields for the space colony and prevent an alien attack. When Pierce got back to his spaceship, he thankfully powered up the oxygen generator and set the navigation system for his home planet. Then he turned the key to his spaceship, but it wouldn’t start. The engine kept barking, but it wouldn’t turn over. Pierce smacked the spaceship on its dashboard and it started. Pierce breathed another sigh of relief. Throwing the Zennon crystals in the back seat, Pierce flew the ship from the high gravity of planet Zarzoo. He loosened a notch on his space belt and waited for the space boosters to hit full power. Everything would be okay.

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