The Disappearing Planet

Markus looked through the hatch of the cabin. The star that they had orbited for a few days had–inexplicably–grown a planet overnight. It was about half the size of Earth and its surface was covered by clouds.

The two explorers debated what to do. They had been looking for a planet with signs of life for more than 3 years. This planet was exactly what they were looking for. Svenia didn’t want to risk exploring the planet. Markus was tired.

In the morning Svenia put on an astronaut suit, climbed on a rocket and took off for the little planet. Marcus watched from the spaceship.

30 minutes later, after Svenia had landed, it happened. The planet disappeared in the blink of an eye. It simply evaporated. One moment it was there, the next it wasn’t. The planet was gone and with it so was Svenia.

After waiting for 3 days in orbit around the star, he contacted the base. Markus waited for the authorities to arrive. He knew they would never believe him. They would probably say that he resented the assignment after 3 years of traveling and having found nothing. They would say that he got tired and killed Svenia as a way to get back home.

Markus knew they would never believe how Svenia truly died, unless… Unless, he would tell them such a fantastic tale, that they would think the story to be true or him to be mad.