"Five, Four, Three, Two, One, BLAST OFF!" 

I watched as the space ship sped away into the dark abyss speckled with starlight. Everyone in the room cheered as the rocket gradually grew smaller and smaller until it was completely hidden from sight. We were finally finished.

For years, the top scientists of Jupiter had been working hard to develop a new, energy saving fuel. King Skeovib - King of Jupiter - had "banished" them to the moon Amalthea, which was mainly used for scientific discoveries. They were not allowed to leave under any circumstances until this fuel was completed. The fuel was needed to help with the war on Neptune. It would boost the power of a rocket ship, helping it to arrive at its destination faster. This new rocket fuel could be a game-changer in the war. After two years of research and experimentation, our scientists perfected the fuel, which would be used immediately to help with the war efforts.  

Although I was also sent to Amalthea because of the rocket fuel experiment, I am by no means a top scientist. I work for Galaxy Intelligence - Jupiter's secret service organization. I was brought to Amalthea in order to guard the laboratory, meaning that any rocket that got within a 50 mile radius of Amalthea had to be disabled. 

Our Colonel glamorized the mission, when they first were looking for recruits, and unfortunately I bought into it. For two years I did nothing but stare at the sky watching for rockets. Nothing else. Just stare. The only excitement was when the occasional projectile happened to venture too close to our work base. If any rocket looked suspicious, we disabled it and sent it away from the planet. Then we were right back to staring at the sky.  Additionally, King Skeovib wanted as few people involved in the project as possible, so there were only two shifts, each being twelve hours long.

That's why we all gazed at the completed rocket, some scientists with tears pouring down their cheeks. I only watched the rocket for a few seconds, before settling near the celebratory food tables. Yes, it was impressive, but the feeling of relief was overwhelming. Now, I could collect that enormous paycheck that kept me going all those months- 1,000 moles of crystallized Ammonia. But the best part of it all was that each employee would receive a three months vacation, with pay. I was looking forward to that holiday in Thebes that I had planned half-way into our mission, or as I would call it the appalling commission of monotony.

About a half an hour after blast off, Colonel Snight entered the room.

"Hello everyone. We have some important news," he announced in an official manner. "The blast off was a success. The mission has officially been completed. King Skeovib has received the fuel and has given you all permission to leave. Thank you for your dedication to your planet and King. You will be leaving 6 o'clock in the morning." Everyone in the room erupted into thunderous applause. When it had died down, he finished with, "Get a good nights rest and enjoy your extended vacation."

After many hours of flying, I finally reached the mainland. A hover car drove me from the rocket port to the city in Jupiter where I lived. The hover car drove up to my apartment, and I leaped out. I raced to my front door while the hover car sped away. Excitedly, I opened the front door and stepped into my front hallway. I set down my bags and flopped onto the nearest couch. As I closed my eyes, exhaustion permeated every muscle in my body. I could feel myself spiraling into a deep sleep.

Riiiiinnnngggg!! I jumped off the couch, startled. I grumpily answered the phone.

"Hello, Telchurak. This is the Johsin speaking. We need you to be at headquarters in one hour - 3 o'clock sharp," the voice commanded. A loud click punctuated those words. I fell back onto the couch, and sighed in frustration. Why are they calling me in when I just got a three month vacation?  There was no use arguing, though. I could lose my job if I didn't. Slowly, I got up and got ready to go to headquarters. 

I entered the meeting room at GI headquarters with five minutes to spare. There were three other people in the room, other than Johsin, and all were seated. As soon as I took a seat at the long, glass table, Johsin began.

"Welcome back, Telchurak," he greeted. "It's been a couple years since we've seen you." 

I forced a smile. "Yes, it's been a very long time. There are many people that I need to catch up on stuff with. I was planning on doing that during my upcoming vacation," I hinted.

Johsin smiled. "Yes, I'm sure that will be very nice once you get back." I shifted in my seat, dreading what that could mean.

"What do you mean by 'get back'?" I questioned suspiciously. Johsin motioned to a man in a dark suit sitting next to him.

"We need you to run a little errand for us," the dark suit man spoke. I looked at Johsin.

"But....but... I just finished my mission. I have faithfully guarded our labs day and night for the past two years! Why am I already being assigned to another?" I could feel my blood begin to boil.

"It's not really a mission," Johsin replied calmly. "Think of it as tying up some loose ends for us." 

There was a pause in the room. I finally asked, "What do you need me to do?"

The man in the dark suit grinned mischievously. "We need you to deliver something for us. We need you go to Neptune."

"Why?" I asked.

"To deliver something," he answered. 

"What do I need to deliver to Neptune," I asked, getting annoyed. "Can you just tell me the whole plan?"

Johsin sighed. "Only if you are 100% with us. This is a top secret mission, so we're only going to explain this to the person that will carry out the mission. Are you our man, Telchurak, or should we find someone else." 

I was just about to say 'No way am I going to give up my vacation for another mission', but then the mysterious man cut me off.

"Just remember," the man in the black suit said, "The reward for completing the mission is 2,000 moles of Ammonia and a six month vacation with pay after you return from the mission." 

I thought their offer over a few seconds. "OK, I'll do it."

Anything is worth a six month vacation.

Johsin smiled. "Good." He nodded to the man in the dark suit. "This is Clyderk. He is the King's personal assistant. He will be assisting us during this mission." Clyderk stuck out his hand, and I shook it. Then, Johsin began the briefing. "As you know, we have been fighting a war with Neptune for the past four years. In order to facilitate flying to and from the planets, we developed an energy saving fuel. It is ten times more powerful than anything ever created in the galaxy. However, we were able to develop this fuel within six months of starting the project." 

My jaw dropped.  "Then why was I stuck on Amalthea for so long?!"

"Because we decided to start a new experiment under the guise of being apart of the energy saving fuel project," Johsin explained. "We wanted it to be as top secret as possible since we were creating a new type of weapon."

I leaned in. "What type of weapon?"

"It is a cross between a black widow spider and a boa constrictor," Clyderk said.

"Exactly," Johsin said, unfazed by the interruptions. "Now, since we have been fighting a war for the past four years, we are running low on our weapons and rockets. If this war goes on much longer, we could possibly lose. We have to end the war as soon as possible. So you are going to deliver a message to the King of Neptune and tell him that King Skeovib demands his unconditional surrender to us. You can see that there will be severe consequences if they do not."

"What consequences?"

"Well, we do have a new weapon thanks to our scientists," Clyderk answered sinisterly.

A chill ran down my spine. "So unconditional surrender or death."

"Yes,  any questions?" I shook my head no. "Good. You will leave tomorrow at 7 o'clock. Pack enough for three days. Then you will return and get six months off from work."

"Yes Sir." I turned to leave. 

"Oh, and Telchurak," Johsin called as I was exiting the room. I stopped and turned to face him. "I hope you understand the importance of this mission. If Neptune wins, it is over." I nodded.

I tossed and turned that night; the mission haunting me. Either the people of Neptune surrender themselves to Jupiter, who would enslave the innocent civilians of Neptune, or they could refuse and all be ruthlessly murdered by this new hybrid creature. It felt wrong to kill millions of innocent people simply due to one person's decision to keep fighting in a war. Eventually, I fell asleep, but in the morning I was utterly exhausted. The past two years, I had gotten little sleep, and last night I probably only slept four hours. Nevertheless, I got out of bed, packed my stuff, and headed to GI headquarters. My rocket ship was ready and waiting, and as soon as I boarded it took off for Neptune.

The trip took an entire twenty-four hours, so I was able to catch up on a lot of sleep. Finally, for the first time in two years, I slept a full fourteen hours. I have never been so thankful for autopilot in my entire life. The rest of the time I caught up on the news. Normally, I am not interested in keeping up with all the political scandals and depressing war stories. However, that all changes when you've been cut off from society for two years. I arrived early the next morning at the Imperial Space Port on Neptune. I looked out the window and saw three men in blue suits. I donned the specially issued clothing from GI, which contained special material which could withstand the extremely cold temperatures of Neptune's atmosphere. After I had finished putting on the special pants, boots, jacket, gloves, and mask, I exited the spaceship. 

"Welcome to Neptune," one of the men greeted without enthusiasm. They led me to a blue hover car, which transported me to the royal palace. I was then escorted to the royal chambers of King Poimar and his royal court. 

As I walked through the halls of the palace, I rehearsed what I was supposed to say. The more time passed, the more nervous I became. Finally, we arrived at the throne room. 

The room was very crowded and bustling with conversations. I immediately felt embarrassed standing there in the casual clothes that GI had provided me with since everyone in the room was dressed in immaculate clothing. Women wore dresses covered in precious gemstones, and the men wore perfectly tailored black suits. However, the King looked more spectacular than anyone in the room. His robe looked like it was made of pure gold that had been spun into threads and weaved into clothing. He had a crown of pure gold as well, with sapphires and diamonds studding the rim of it. He held a diamond scepter in his hand, which had been expertly crafted to mimic ice crystals.

"Silence," King Poimar bellowed, and the conversations ceased. "What does your planet want?"

"King Skeovib has demanded that you sign this agreement pledging your unconditional surrender to our country," I recited. Johsin had given me a piece of paper with everything I was supposed to tell the King. I memorized everything on the paper word for word to ensure that I didn't miss something.

The King chuckled a little. "Really? And why would we do that?" he asked, almost like I had told him a joke.

"Because there will be consequences if you don't," I replied, trying not to show how stupid I felt. Of all the things they could have me say, why would they pick 'there will be consequences?'

The King laughed. "Oh really? Your King actually believes that they can harm our army?"

I nodded somberly. I wished that I could warn him about the hybrid animal that would ravage their country if they refused.

"Do you have the terms of surrender with you?" The King asked. I nodded and handed the paper to a guard, who then handed it to the King. King Poimar read it over. "We are doing fine in the war. There is no need for such an extreme surrender of giving ourselves into the full control of King Skeovib. Even if we weren't doing well in the war, we would never surrender on those terms," the King declared. Everyone began cheering. King Poimar looked at me."It's a shame you had to come all this way, but we refuse to surrender." 

I nodded. "I will tell our King. Thank you for your time." I bowed, and the three men in blue suits escorted me out of the room and back to the spaceship. I got onto the spaceship and left for Jupiter.

Once again, I slept for twelve hours. I also started planning my vacation. I made a reservation on Thebes for two months. Man, did I need it too.

I finally arrived the next day. Immediately, I was taken to Johsin's office. Johsin and Clyderk were standing at the table, both looking calm and collected considering the outcomes.

"He said no?" Johsin asked as soon as I entered the room.

I sat down. "Yup. He feels that it is unnecessary to surrender."

Clyderk and Johsin sat down. "Well," Johsin began. "It looks like we'll have to drop the hybrid on them."

Clyderk nodded. "Yes. It's kind of sad, but they did not surrender," he said, sounding slightly sarcastic. Then, he looked me dead in the eye. "You leave at midnight."

"What?" I exclaimed. My heart started racing. There's no way that I'm the one to release the weapon on Neptune. 

"Did we forget to tell you that?" Johsin said like he was trying to humor me. 

"You promised me a six month vacation," I said, my anger building.

"Yes, once you finish the mission," Johsin said calmly. "The last part to the mission is dropping the creatures on the planet of Neptune. As soon as you do that, you complete the mission and get your vacation."

I was livid. I wanted to scream. I wanted flip over the table. I wanted.... to keep my job. I slunk back in my seat.

"Fine," I snapped through gritted teeth.

It was 2 o'clock in the morning. But even though it was late, I couldn't sleep. Instead, I paced the control room of the ship, stewing over my lost vacation. I was furious. How dare he force me to travel all the way back to Neptune? And to perform such a horrible massacre.

Why did he make me go there in the first place? I thought. King Skeovib could have easily sent a message over the space wires. I stared into space. The more I thought about it, the more things didn't seem to add up. Why couldn't I even hint about the fate that would befall Neptune's entire population?

I glanced worriedly behind me - toward where the hybrid creature was kept. I began to think of Johsin. He had seemed more sinister than usual - like he was hatching some plot. I mean technically he was hatching a plot - a plot that would wipe out the entire population of Neptune. 

I suddenly realized that I didn't want to do it. I couldn't do it. There was no reason why so many should die. Even if they did send another rocket with the hybrids to Neptune, I couldn't live knowing that I helped kill off a planet.

Before I could change my mind I started setting up the escape pod on the rear of the ship. Then, I walked over to the control panel. After scanning the buttons, I found the one that I was looking for. It was the one that was 'for emergencies only.' I placed my hand over the giant red button and took in a deep breath. Gently, I pushed down the button, then ran to the escape pod. I could hear the seconds counting down. 

"Four. Three. Two." I pressed the eject button on the pod, and it instantly shot away from the rocket.

I watched as the rocket exploded.

Hopefully I had made the right decision.