On Earth

The space craft landed safely and it was surrounded by other astronauts.
The door opened and Jake walked out. He had a serious look on his face and he was still traumatised.

"Congratulations astronauts. You have successfully completed your task. Our satellite now works perfectly." The boss, Mr Roger said as he clapped his hands.

He walked towards Jake and gave him a hug.

"I never thought that you'll be able to do it without your captain." Mr Roger continued and then he stepped back.

Mr Roger himself was their captain.

Jake didn't dare to reply.

"Where are the others?" Mr Roger asked.

Jake stared blankly at his boss.

"Adam! Laticia!" Mr Roger called out  but, no response.

"Jake. Where are they?" He asked again, but this time, with worry.

"Sir. They...they have been...cap...captured.." Jake stammered.

"What? Be precise Jake." Mr Roger ordered.

Jake's eyes teared up.

"I'm sorry sir!" He bursted out.

The whole crew started to talk at the same time. They were all Jake's friends.
They all approached Jake and started to ask him questions.

"SHUT UP!" Mr Roger exclaimed.

"Back to work all of you!" He ordered and they all dispersed their way out.

"Jake. Come with me." Mr Roger said as he started to walk towards his office. Jake followed him.

In the boss's office, Jake sat down and drank some water.

"Okay Jake. Now, tell me everything."

"The crystal planet." Jake stated.

"The one on which you land? What happened there?" Mr Roger asked.

"Sir. We stepped out of the craft and visited the place. I was scared to go any further so I went back into the shuttle. Adam and Laticia were too excited and they decided to visit it more. They were picking up crystals from that planet. Suddenly..." Jake narrated but then stopped.

Fear took over him again. His hands started to shiver. Thinking about those aliens made him sick.

"Then what?" Jake!" Mr Roger shook him up.

"I... I heard... screams. When I looked out I saw an alien." Jake said.

"Alien?" Mr Roger said as he stood up.

Jake's hands were now cold.

"Yes sir. I swear I saw it with my eyes. It was fully made of crystals. It had in his hand the siblings." Jake said.

"Didn't you help them?" Mr Roger asked.

"I tried sir, but, there was not only one. Many came out from nowhere. They were giants. I was scared. I didn't know what to do, so, I fled from there." Jake said as he bowed his head down.

A tear fell from his eyes.

"We need to help them." Mr Roger said.

"I don't know if they are still alive." Jake said in a weak voice.

"Jake! We have to go there. We should check that planet. Even if the siblings have been killed, we must find out more about the aliens. They can be dangerous to us." Mr Roger said.

"Yes sir. I've went on the space many times. but I've never seen that planet before." Jake answered.

"How did it look like?" Mr Roger asked.

"Just like a ball of crystal. When we landed there, we were walking on crystals." Jake answered.

"Before landing, didn't you notice that their were living beings there?" Mr Roger questioned.

"No sir the planet was absolutely deserted." Jake replied.

"How do they look like?" Mr Roger asked again.

"They have the same body structure as humans. The only difference is that they were taller and bigger in size, and they had no skin. They are of crystals. They are brittle. I hit one of them with a hammer and it's shoulder broke to pieces." Jake said.

Mr Roger said nothing. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

"Another remark sir." Jake said, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Yes." Mr Roger said.

"There's something fascinating about them. They kept on changing colour." Jake said.

"What? What are those? We need one in our laboratory." Mr  Roger said.

"But sir, it is a great risk. They are not humans. They can kill us anytime." Jake said.

"That's our job Jake. We should do this. We have a nation to protect. If you want, you can go for vacation." Mr Roger said.

"No sir. I want to try to save my friends. I can't live with this guilt that I left my friends in danger and ran back home." Jake said.

"You didn't leave them Jake. Imagine what would happened if you stayed there too. How would we find out where you guys were? How would we know about the aliens and that planet? I'm proud of you Jake." Mr Roger said and tapped Jake in his back.

"Come on, we shouldn't waste time." Mr Roger said as he walked to the control room. Roger followed him.

"What is your plan sir?" Jake asked.

"We must trace that planet. Where did you see it?" Mr Roger asked back.

"As we were returning from the satellite. About....a few kilometres away from the satellite." Jake said.

"This means the planet is not that far from earth. Wait a second. Why didn't you notice it when you were going to the satellite?" Mr Roger asked as he raised his eyebrows.

"I don't know sir. It was not there when we were going. Or maybe, because we were going with a higher speed. While returning the speed of the shuttle was not that fast." Jake explained.

"Possible." Mr Roger said.

While talking, they both reached in the control room. A man was sitting in front of a lot of screens. He had a personal monitor in front of his eyes. He was typing something.

"Check whether there is any kind of planet between the earth and our satellite." Mr Roger told him.

The man shifted to another monitor and started the tracing process. A few seconds later he turned back to his boss.

"There is no planet sir." He said.

"What? Check again." Jake said.

The man started to type on his keyboard again. The screen showed the satellite and some rocks, but not the crystal planet.

"No. Nothing." The man confirmed.

"Jake. Is this a joke?" Mr Roger asked. He sounded furious.

"Sir. Please believe me. It was there. We went there." Jake explained.