Prompt: Goodbye, mission control. Thanks for trying.

The Aries-XVIII shuttle careened through the atmosphere. The sirens wailed and beeped. The earth spun in and out of view through the small window.

Venn felt dizzy. The test launch of this exact model had gone smooth and beautifully. So naturally, as always, Venn had volunteered. He was living to regret that choice.

"Aries report," Kayel's voice filled Venn's headset. "Did that work?"

Venn could barely respond. "N-no." He could feel the G forces pushing on his body. He gasped. "No. Unless theres some fancy technology reboot you can do from down there to fix this, I'm going down."

Silence. For almost a full minute, Venn could almost hear the buzzing of voices in mission control. Black spots started to appear in the corners of his vision. "Kayel, do you copy?"

Kayel's voice crackled to life. He sounded strained. "Yeah. I copy. We have nothing."

Venn leaned his head back in his chair. He watched the earth out the window. He could see squares of farm fields now. "Looks like NASA will need to reimburse a farmer or two," he said, impressed that his voice was casual. "You sure there's nothing you can do?"

Silence for a painful minute. "No. Nothing. I'm sorry, Venn."

Venn cursed quietly. He knew there was a live feed from a camera somewhere in the shuttle, but hadn't bothered to ask where. He wished he had. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an ornate silver pocketwatch. He watched the hands tick for several seconds.

The gentle ticking of the pocketwatch calmed him. He closed his eyes and tightened his grip on the watch. The seconds seemed to last hours as he plummeted. Mere seconds before the shuttle slammed into the ground with an explosion of metal, fire, and dirt, Venn's final words filled the mission control room.

"Goodbye mission control... thanks for trying."

319 words