A large derelict spacecraft from the year 1957 returns to Earth, crashing down on Washington D.C. in the year 2301. The city is evacuated beforehand. General Craig looks into its origins by researching old records. The craft is named the Nautilis, weighing 1,750,000 tons. The government sent it during the Venusian War I, seeking the mineral Z-71, rare on Earth but discovered plentiful on Mercury. Major Samuel Carston led the expedition. He had been dishonorably discharged when the Nautilis never returned. Logs found in the wreckage show the ship made it to Mercury, landing in the temperate median zone between the hot and the cold sides of the planet. There, the ship was threatened by an enormous Venusian creature. To protect the Nautilis, Carston ordered them to take off, leaving behind some crew, and planned to return for them later. One of the men took off his helmet, but through a malfunction, the oxygen tanks were drained, leaving them only 36 hours of oxygen with their spacesuits. Drowsy from lack of oxygen, spaceman #4 tried to rouse Carston, to warn him of an oncoming meteor. Carston died from lack of oxygen. The meteor strikes the Nautilis, sending it careening off course. General Craig reads the report, convening a general court to reverse the decision on Carston, and posthumously promote Carston to Colonel. His family was to be notified that Carston died in honorably in 1957.
Description A large derelict spacecraft from the year 1957 returns to Earth, crashing down on Washington D.C. in the year 2301. The city is evacuated beforehand. General Craig looks into its origins by researching old records. The craft is named the Nautilis, weighing 1,750,000 tons. The government sent it during the Venusian War I, seeking the mineral Z-71, rare on Earth but discovered plentiful on Mercury. Major Samuel Carston led the expedition. He had been dishonorably discharged when the Nautilis never returned. Logs found in the wreckage show the ship made it to Mercury, landing in the temperate median zone between the hot and the cold sides of the planet. There, the ship was threatened by an enormous Venusian creature. To protect the Nautilis, Carston ordered them to take off, leaving behind some crew, and planned to return for them later. One of the men took off his helmet, but through a malfunction, the oxygen tanks were drained, leaving them only 36 hours of oxygen with their spacesuits. Drowsy from lack of oxygen, spaceman #4 tried to rouse Carston, to warn him of an oncoming meteor. Carston died from lack of oxygen. The meteor strikes the Nautilis, sending it careening off course. General Craig reads the report, convening a general court to reverse the decision on Carston, and posthumously promote Carston to Colonel. His family was to be notified that Carston died in honorably in 1957.
