My feet land on the rock and I struggle to keep balance. “Move forward.” I instruct my recruit. “But stay behind me.”

We walk, slowly, making our way across the planet. I step foot into something wet and immediately back out. “There’s water.” I say.

“That’s a good thing, right?”

I look back and nod, then we keep walking forward. I stop when reaching an abnormal hole in the center. I look down into it and it stretches so far down that I can’t see where it ends. “Stay put.” I instruct.

“Sir, are you sure?”

I take a deep breath. “Tie the rope around my waist and hold onto it tight.”

“I’ll go in, sir.” The recruit says. “I’m much smaller. We can’t risk you getting trapped.”

I shake my head. “I’m going in.”

“It’s too risky.”

“This entire mission is ‘too risky’. I’m just doing my job.”

He grabs the rope from off the belt and starts to knot it around his waist.

“Recruit? That was an order. Untie the rope, now.”

“It’s knotted.”

I go over to him and attempt to untie it but it doesn’t budge. “Were you a boys scout?” I ask.

“For five years.” He answers, and I can hear the pride in his voice. “My father made me tie knots every night before bed.”

“You’ll go in and look for anything worth noting. If you encounter danger and need to be pulled out, grab rope and pull on it.” I demonstrate. “I’ll pull you out.”

“Yes, sir.”

The two of us walk back over to the hole and I watch as he climbs in. My heart rate begins to accelerate. “And, recruit?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Stay stellar.”

He looks up at me. “Sir?”

I don’t respond. He looks back down and continues climbing. I hold onto the rope so tight that I think it’s fusing with my gloves. I keep looking down until he’s out of sight. Then, the only thing I can do is keep calm. I’ll pull him out, I remind myself.

I’m not sure how much time has passed before he calls out, “Sir!”

I start to pull him out.

“No, sir, you have to come down here and see this!”

“Recruit! What do you see?!”

“Come down here!”

“There’ll be no way for us to get out!”

“Tie the rope to a rock!”

I hesitate but ultimately, I tightly knot the rope around a rock just a few feet away, testing it multiple times because I’m no boys scout. When I’m sure it’s secure enough, I climb down the hole, using the rope as my guide. It leads me to the recruit.

“What is it?” I ask.

He moves to the side, revealing an entire world of gemstones. There’s a river flowing down a path and plants growing on the sides of it and the walls. The water is the clearest I’ve ever seen. “It’s beautiful.” I whisper.

“Sir, do we report it? This could change everything.”

I stay silent.

“This is exactly what we need.”

“No, we’ll leave this out.” I say.

“But—“

“We’ll go back and tell them that this planet is out. We found mold or something…”

“We can’t do that. It’s wrong.”

“Do you know what’s wrong, recruit? The world was ruined by inconsiderate assholes and now we have to pay the price! That’s not fair. This is a fresh start for us—a beautiful—“

I’m cut off by cracking and crumbling. The rock above us begins to fall. “Recruit!” I push him out of the way, the rock falling and covering me.

“Sir! Grab my hand!” He tries digging through the rocks but they won’t budge. I can hear him yelling but can’t make out the words. I feel myself sinking—my lungs collapsing. I think that I am going to die until there’s a hole.

The recruit’s hand reaches inside and he pulls me out, my suit being ripped and torn. I can hardly breath. I look over to him and his helmet is off. I realize what he used to break the rocks.

“Sir—“ He starts.

“Don’t you talk!” I shout, quickly removing my helmet without thinking.

“Sir!”

I give him the helmet but he declines, leaving me no choice but to force it on him.

“You’ll die.” He says.

The air fills my nose. “So I will.” I say, for some reason, allowing the air into my mouth as well.

The recruit unties the knotted rope around his waist and ties it around mine. “Just stay calm. I’ll get us back to the ship.” He says, dragging me to the exit.

“There’s no use.” I utter.

“Stop talking!”

I drift in and out of consciousness. The next time I open my eyes, we’ve made it out of the hole. He unties the rope and tries to pick me up.

“Recruit,” I say. “what’s your name?”

“My name?” He asks, his voice tinged with sadness. “Oliver.”

I smile. “Oliver?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Stay stellar.” My eyes close.

“Sir?”

I don’t respond. He grabs my hand and squeezes it tightly. My life fades away and I’m unable to get it back.