Later. The landing was difficult, for the heat of the rocket-blast volatilized the frozen methane under me. As I let her settle, the ship dug a pit in the glacier and now she lies half buried in the yellowish ice.
I slept and fed myself and put on a pressure suit. Outside, the cold and the black sky pressed in on me, making me afraid. It is never dark here, for the planet fills the sky like a bloated yellow balloon. In the far distance, I can see a fault in the glacier, and the black rock of this moonlet shows through. I think there is silver in the rock. It streaks it in a pattern of filigree.
There is little here but the challenge of keeping alive. The cold depresses me and the giant in the sky fills me with vertigo. I shall go on.
Later. A giant ahead and a giant behind. The blackness of space is all around me, and I grow used to it. I sleep and eat little now and weightlessness is beginning to sicken me. I have come a long way.
The system ahead shows promise.
Later. I landed the ship on a wide plain. Rubble is everywhere. Perhaps this was once a moraine, but even the glacier is gone now. In the light of the sun I can see a rising fault like a palisade. Some low hills and a talus flank it. Bright colors are sparkling there. I think the cliff is thick with gem deposits.
Later. I do not like to leave this moonlet. It is small and friendly. The air is thin, but it makes the sky blue and not black and that makes me think of Earth. Perhaps I should be thinking of going back. The fuel is getting low and the air in the ship is fouling. It will take a long time to reach home.
Later. I will go on for a little while longer. I cannot help thinking that I will be the only one of my race to ever see these worlds. It is a godlike thought, but sad. At home there is nothing but hate and thoughts of killing. A great pity. The sky could be ours, if we were united.
Later. God have mercy on me! I have seen the face of doom! The great cratered plain that spread out below me was lined with ships. Great towering machines of war. We have waited too long, and now they have come!
I am a soldier. A bad one, but still a soldier, I know the look of an invasion base when I see one. This is what I have seen. I will take pictures. I must return and warn them at home. They have so little time to prepare.