BushB1213

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Hank was always interested in space and the supernatural as a kid. No one ever knew he would take it this far. It started when he was 8 years old, when they learned about the expeditions of the first astronauts in America and how they traveled to the moon and eventually to all the other planets that they had known about. His parents were very supportive, like most parents are of their child’s hobby; they bought him space toys, moon rocks, his own astronaut kit, and even took him on a trip to another planet, not uncommon but highly expensive.=====

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In high school he joined his school’s NASA club, adopting the old space program’s name and was the clubs leading researcher. He went to a space school on a scholarship for his diligent work and even presented some new ideas to the older professors.=====

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He joined the IASA, the International Aeronautics and Space Administration. The name had changed because the people of the world had learned how to work together so there was only one space exploration administration in the world. He went into training and after 5 years went on his first expedition, an early start to his career. Everyone went to all the normal trips, the moon and all the planets. However this trip had been special, they had only recently started exploring the Sun and Hank was on only the third trip there to take samples and tests. Most of the others on the trip had been veterans, invited back to help out after their retirement.=====

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Most of his bosses and elders had been very jealous of this, so they schemed and decided to put him on an independent study to research the galaxies. They had never planned for him to take it this far either.=====

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Throughout this project, he slowly slipped away from the rest of humanity, losing all contact with his parents until he found out they had died. This upset only spurred on his vigorous research. He was in the IASA building at all hours, researching different life forms and the possibility of an Earth-like planet in another galaxy. At night he was in the observatory, developing new telescopes that could see farther out into space than ever before.=====

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After he thought he had a general idea of where this life form could be he sent out a satellite to take pictures. When he received the data, he saw extraordinary things. Everyone else had ignored him, believing he had left the company years ago, so they weren't interested in his supposed find. His elders were worried he was actually coming onto something, and they disliked the ruckus Hank was making in the work space They built him a spaceship with the latest technology and only hours before he left, they set a time the engines would go out and they cut off his line to talk to them.=====

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Hank left excited and his research had left him secluded from the other astronauts, so the fact he was travelling alone was only the smallest thought in the back of his brain. He traveled at nearly light speed for a year and one day he noticed the engine was acting up and his ship felt slower and sluggish. He had not tried to contact home base; he knew they hadn't really appreciated him. So when his engine eventually stopped and he began floating, his try with the radio had been his first. Hank tried every single known IASA frequency, all with nothing at the other end. He knew how stress could affect a person so he decided to rest for a few days and began rationing his food supplies to make the most out of however long he lasted.=====

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Hank began to reflect on his life. He had never thought about what he had come to before. Hank had no family, no wife, no children, his biggest achievement was this expedition. He began to cry, but he stopped himself and convinced himself that something good would come of this expedition; whether it be respect from his co workers, retirement and the chance to have a life, or making an entirely new life out of this. Hank pushed himself on.=====

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He set up a cable to go out to the engines and although he knew the problem could not be permanently fixed, he had a solution. He fixed it so that, at his control, the engines would spurt at slightly slower than light speed for about a minute at a time. He looked at his maps and knew they weren't entirely accurate considering they had been made from trillions of miles away, he decided that he would head in the direction of the planet and could navigate from there.=====

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He spurted about 5 times in a row and then gave the engines a break for 20 minutes and continued this for a few hours. After about 2 weeks of this on a off of the engines he saw a small speck in the distance. And it grew larger and larger, it was a galaxy nearly identical to his own. There were nine planets and the sun was the center, he took one last look at his pictures and picked out the right planet. Hank floated as close to it as he could without having to use his engines, he then blew them out as fast as they could manage for as long as they could manage and he entered the atmosphere.=====

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Amazingly, he fell into the water but he passed out from the force. He woke up thinking it was all a dream, that he was still at the IASA building working a long night. He looked around and he saw the small confines of his ship and realized he was actually on this new planet. Alive and breathing. He turned on the boat rowers and at the first land he hit he put on his suit and went exploring. He measured the temperature, air pressure, and amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air. Everything resembled Earth and all indicators pointed toward safety, that he could walk around and be safe. But he wasn't just ready.=====

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He came up to a town, bustling with noise and traffic and boasting tall skyscrapers with hovercars traveling up to the very tops. He couldn't see any people but he was confident they might resemble humans, and from what he could tell they seemed friendly, however they were years off the technology of the day. The buildings were still made of metal and still needed a foundation to keep standing, from what Hank could tell the hovercars were still running on some sort of gas and everything was very noisy.=====

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He took off his suit so he would blend in better and hid his hovercraft and began to walk around. What he found were a people almost identical to humans, there were only slight differences that only performing an autopsy could distinguish. As he studied them more he found out that only the lowest people walked on the ground, he decided to rent one of their loud hovercars and flew to the very top, figuring he could find someone of importance to talk to. And he did.=====

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This man happened to be the head of their Space Exploration program and he welcomed Hank like they had known each other for years. They spoke different languages but these new people had a way of teaching their language in seconds, he could speak and listen fluently. The man noticed he had been studying them for some time and was waiting for him to arrive, and at this very time one of their astronauts was on an expedition to Earth.. Hank told him how his co workers did not believe he could find them and they had purposely blew out his engines so he couldn't make it back home.=====

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The man understood his distress and got his workers to get to work on building him a new ship. They told each other of how life was on their separate planets and they formed a great bond. The man took him on tours to their Sun, the moon and all their different planets, Hank taking pictures and recording data all the way.=====

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The man introduced Hank to his daughter who has approximately the same age as Hank and they became friends in an instant. Hank stayed on the planet for 10 years and recorded all his experiences. His ship took about 9 years to finish and he was soon about to leave. He made sure that he could get into contact with these people, especially his friend. She had cried when Hank was leaving, he couldn't make a promise that he could make it back anytime soon, but he did promise that no matter all the attention and begging, he would never give up their location, they didn't want tourists on their planet, and the man promised the same of his astronaut. He made it back in about half the time and his coworkers could not believe their eyes.=====

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He showed the photos and shared the data he gathered, he told them of the nearly identical peoples, but he kept his promise. Hank would not give up the location despite the threats. He kept true to his friend and for this his coworkers resented him even more. After 4 years he decided he'd enough of their endless ridicule and decided he would surprise his friends by coming back to the planet.=====