Journal Entry 1

We’ve been here for four hours and chief wants us to start our journals right away. We have discovered a planet that can sustain life similar to ours and we have been on a spaceship for a full year. They had us in sleep chambers for months at a time, waking us up only for testing and to eat. The days on this planet take around 72 Earth hours. The platoon is setting up a dark tent for sleeping three times each “day”. Right now I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep for a while. Not until I’m used to the way things go around here. I have to go help with setting up camp.
~Dante Kai 1/1/01 or 3/7/11 Earth Time

Journal Entry 2

Today we started our search. We are looking for an indigenous species. We didn’t find anything, but this forest area is very large and very easy to hide in. In my last entry I forgot to clarify what the planet is called. We are calling it T.O.M. which stands for Torpid Opaque Marsh. The area is surrounded by marshy forests. Hopefully we will find something soon. This planet seems…. lonely.
~Dante Kai 1/1/01 or 3/9/11

Journal Entry 3

It’s the second “day” out here and it feels like it’s been a month. We still have no sightings of an indigenous species, but we have found some tracks and today we are going to follow them. I’m going to be leading the platoon on our search so I will be the first to witness anything. It would be really cool if I were the first human to ever see an extra terrestrial being. Let’s hope for the best.
~Dante Kai 1/2/01 or 3/11/11

Journal Entry 4

I am a historian! I was the first human to ever see an alien! We found the somewhat primate-like species in a really big tree. They have built their homes in the tree tops and rarely ever come down from the trees. The commander says we can interact with them in the next few days if everything goes right. They are furry like gorillas, and they use all their limbs to move around the trees, but they seem to have a very enhanced dialect. Their voices are similar to ours but from what I can hear they seem to have a clicking behind it all. It’s like they are using Morse code and talking at the same time. I can’t wait to interact with them.
~Dante Kai 1/2/01 or 3/12/11


Journal Entry 5

Last night I got to sleep outside because it was actually dark out. It is amazing how many stars are in the sky on this planet! It was marvelous! We woke up this morning at 06:00 and set off for the forest to study the aliens. The commander said that I get to name them because I discovered them. I’ve decided I want to call them Dantanians which will remind everyone of my name.

Once we arrived at their “home tree” we all started recording their actions. I have some great footage of the younger ones playing with each other. They seem to be playing very violently though. The playing looks a lot like they are training to kill other animals. I’ll report with more information tomorrow after another day of discovery!
~Dante Kai 1/3/01 or 3/13/11

Journal Entry 6

We looked around for another species today and found a smaller creature a lot like hyenas or wolves. They were all sleeping when we saw them so we decided to stay away and go study the Dantanians. We watched them as they all climbed around the trees looking on the ground for something. They seemed to be tracking another species of sorts by sniffing the air and moving in packs.

One of my friends has started to derive a set of words from their dialect but has figured nothing out. He is getting frustrated because he hasn’t seen a pattern in their talking yet.

The Dantanians seem to be used to us. They look at us like we are one of them now, although the other night I saw a pack on the ground near our camp. It looked like they were studying us as if we were the aliens. I guess we are aliens to them but we aren’t posing any threat whatsoever.
~Dante Kai 1/3/01 or 3/15/11

Journal Entry 7

This morning when I got up I felt like something had gone wrong. My hunch was right. Julian, a private in our platoon, slept outside last night. We can’t find him. We found where he left his cot, but he’s gone now and there are Dantanian tracks surrounding that area. I think they are hunting us now. I don’t feel very safe anymore. I’ve decided that I will sleep in the tents no matter what from now on. We are still going to research T.O.M. today, but I feel a lot safer staying with the platoon.
~Dante Kai 1/4/01 or 3/16/11

Journal Entry 8

We found what was left Julian’s body. They picked him clean; it was a very gruesome sight. I don’t feel too great knowing that I discovered the animals that killed him. I feel horrible. I want to go back home and never see this planet again.
~Dante Kai 1/4/01 or 3/17/11
Journal Entry 9

It’s official. We are going home. We have found the planet and we have decided that it is uninhabitable. The Indigenous species are carnivores and we pose a threat to their existence so we are leaving them to live in peace without us. We’re heading back to earth with one man lost. Mission failed.
~Dante Kai 1/5/01 or 3/20/11 Last Day on T.O.M.