Sciophobia

a strong dislike or fear of shadows

Sciophobia symptoms include extreme anxiety and irrational panic at the sight of shadows.

https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/sciophobia

It’s hard to tell if you’re upside down in low g, especially if you have just regained consciousness. Fortuitously in this situation, all I had to do was look up: dirt. Okay. I was upside down.

I unfastened the safety belts of the crash couch. Making a soft landing on the cracked canopy, I kicked open the SRV door and hauled myself out.

Scrambling to my feet I gazed up trying to understand what I was looking at. A thin sliver of day light cut the sky in two, either side was shrouded in deep un-disclosing shadows. I appeared to be in some sort of trench that ran from horizon to horizon.

I had no memory of how I got here. Last thing I remember was heading out from the Luna following heat damage repairs and an awful soy based burrito from the cafeteria.

Flipping the SRV back onto its wheels was not a difficult task thanks to the planet’s gravity, or lack thereof. Jumping back inside I flicked the computer on to assess my situation. MYRIESLY EC-B C27-8793 4C, carbon rich atmosphere, basic rock and metal body, five bio signs. Tubus Compagibus and Tussock Propagito had already been sampled. Fuel levels were sitting at eighty nine percent, so I had not been here that long then. Well had not been driving about that long.

Hull capacity, two percent… A moment of realisation wobbled uneasily through my mind. I looked up at the crack of daylight, I think I can guess what happened.

With enough raw materials onboard I engaged the SRV’s self repair systems. I opened the coms panel to see if I could reach The Hiraeth to come pick me up. No dice, an error blinked incessantly “Target Out Of Range”. I doubted she would be out of range, it must have been the titanesque chasm walls surrounding me blocking the signal. I jumped out to take a look around while the Scarab repaired itself. I was either driving or walking out of this darkness.

To quote a 20th century doctor, it’s amazing how “life finds a way”. In the darkness I stumbled on Tussock samples, I presumed then that this crack in the planet must get some regular sunlight. With no obvious exit in sight, I headed back to the SRV to check on its repair progress. To get out of here I was going to have to pick a direction and hope for the best.

The drive was long and uncomfortable, even with the Scarab’s night vision enabled it was hard to avoid every rock, pot and ditch. It took close to an hour, but a triangle of light appeared on the horizon and was steadily getting larger, shapes started to form in the haze of light.

The configurations of interconnecting valleys started to take shape before me. The deep shaded walls corralling me fell way to reveal a small plateau. An impressive gas giant came into view, just basking there in the sky for all to see. Hanging just above the giant was a pinky purple nebula.

The plateau was itself surrounded by more, smaller gullies and trenches. Abandoning the SRV to get a better look, I propelled my self onto a high ridge. At once I could see why I had chosen to land and investigate this planet. The vista was stunning, the amber glow from the setting, or rising sun. I couldn’t quite tell as the only experience with day light I could remember was from that deep ravine where I came to. The light washed over every ripple in the purple stone and green mountains stood proud in the distance.

This planet would be a good candidate in my search for Hiraeth, maybe that is why I made a detour here. I will definitely have to add this place to my list, for now I will find a place to safely recall the ship.

Boarding, I changed into my flight suit and prepped the way points for the final leg. I would drop into Explorer’s Anchorage before making my stop at Sagittarius A*. Once the pre-flight checks were out of the way I set up the discman ready for our onward journey. I was about to hit the random button as usual when I remembered about the nylon zipped satchel I had in the hold.

Sitting back in the crash couch I examined the satchel, it was made of a cheap and rough interwoven nylon plastic. It was two toned, red on the top half and grey on the bottom with a back zipper running round the outside. I opened it up, inside were pages with little clear plastic pockets, each containing a compact disc. I had no idea what any of these were as I thumbed through the stack. Magnum, Kingdom of Madness, sounded appropriate.

I opened the discman to eject Bryn and staring me back from the clamshell was a silver disc with no image, just a hand written “Zep IV, Sticks”.

Curious, I closed the lid and hit play. This was without fail a change of pace to what we had been listening to. As The Hiraeth punched into witch space, the music bounced into life “Hey hey mama said the way you move”.

With it flashes of memory began, the SRV swerving and sliding, rings of dust and a flamboyant cloud.