[ WP ] You return from a mission exploring the far side of the moon . As you get closer to the blue planet ahead , you realize it is n't Earth .

*Beep. Beep. Beep. * 
 
 Amidst the infinite maw of the celestial expanse, littered with a thousand burning infernos beyond the furthest reaches of mankind's grasp, the *Orpheus* drifted. Thrusters pushed the shuttle forward through its slow prograde orbit above the blue sphere below. Through the window the glow of the atmosphere was visible, the white of clouds streaking across the vast ocean. 
 
 *Beep. Beep. Beep. * 
 
 A thick-gloved hand reached up above the window and hit a few switches. They clicked as the hand ran along the frame, before retreating back. The man shifted, his neon-orange spacesuit folding and wrinkling along his torso and his elbows. As he leaned back into the chair the oxygen tank on his back he smiled, the flickering of lights on the frame above the window a constant rhythm he lost himself in for a few moments. Re-entering Earth's atmosphere would have to wait for word from control, and in the meantime all he had to do was stay alive. 
 
 *Beep. Beep. Boop. * 
 
 Orfeo glanced down at the main control console, where the screens displayed various read-outs. Everything seemed nominal. The radiation levels were exactly as he had expected them to be, the path around the Earth below was right on course, and fuel levels were good. He grumbled under his breath as he leaned forward, eyes locked on the screen. Everything was fine, what was the machine alerting him about- 
 
 *Boop. * 
 
 He froze as he looked at the communications read out. `` What the hell do you mean there's no signal?'' He hit the computer console with the palm of his hand and the screen flickered for a bit, though the content did n't change. He turned his chair to the side and reached for a group of switches, only to flick them off and on. The communications channels remained empty though, and he looked out the windows once again. 
 
 He flicked a switch and the ship's beeping went back to its normal repetition, though there was still no signal. He could n't truly believe that his ship's communication system had gone offline, and it was n't reading that it was, but how could there be no signals in between the moon and Earth? He had accepted that he'd be out of range on the dark side of the moon, but now that he could see the Earth there was no reasonable explanation beyond a malfunction. 
 
 *Beep. Beep. Beep. * 
 
 In fact there were no signals at all; there were no satellites broadcasting anything near him, no radio broadcasts from the world below. He took hold of the *Orpheus'* controls and began to rotate it silently. The world below came into view more and more, yet there were no signals reaching Orfeo here. He had hoped that rotating the ship so that the antenna was more in range would have helped. 
 
 *Beep. Beep. Beep. * 
 
 He looked up at the blue sphere below, and for a moment he wondered what about it had caught his attention. The swirls of white above the surface wandered without aim, swirling into massive cyclones and storms that hid most of the planet below. 
 
 He looked for a coastline to see where he was floating above, though never saw one. His eyes widened as he stared at the ocean that filled this entire hemisphere, hidden beneath the clouds that littered the world. There was no continent for him to recognize below. His heartbeat quickened as he realized he was looking down at a world he did n't recognize. He stood up in a flash, only to smack his head against the roof of the cockpit. He groaned and rubbed the top of his head in discomfort, eyes closed. 
 
 `` Where the Hell am I?'' he muttered as he opened them again, hand on the back of his head as he looked at the world out the window. His boots stayed locked on the ground through magnets, though he could feel his guts seeming to rise as he looked at the endless ocean below. He swallowed as he watched it, truly and utterly alone as gravity slowly pulled him in. 
 
 He rubbed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair with a long sigh. What had happened was beyond him. How could he have come back to a world other than his own, there was nothing about it that was even remotely possible. Yet here he was, his orbit descending towards an alien world. 
 
 *Beep. Beep. Beep. * 
 
 His thoughts went to his fiance, the wedding he was supposed to have in a month. Of the future he could have, should have had. He would never see home again, his doom would be on this unearthly world among the stars, sharing the same moon as he did. 
 
 *Beep. * 
 
 He closed his eyes tightly, holding back the tears. 
 
 *Beep. * 
 
 He felt the shudder of re-entry. 
 
 *Beeeeeeeeep. *
