Pierce the Spaceman Pierce tightened the buckle on his moon belt. He had never seen the fogs of Planet Zarzoo so thick and the high gravity was weighing down his space boots. Pierce’s mission was simple: he was to dive through the sludge pits of Zarzoo and gather Zennon crystals to power the space colony’s defense shields. It seemed simple enough to Pierce, but he had not anticipated a high gravity day and the acid rain was burning through his spacesuit. As Pierce walked over the toxic sand dunes of the planet Zarzoo, he saw the two golden suns setting. It would now get much colder. Pierce turned on the thermal warming power in his spacesuit as he approached the sludge pits. He checked his oxygen tanks and the levels were green. Pierce thought to himself: It’s time to dive through some sludge, and then he dove into the radioactive green goo of the sludge pits. Pierce felt that diving to the bottom of the sludge pits was easier than usual. Perhaps it’s because of the high gravity, he reflected as he kicked his way toward the shinny Zennon crystals spread along the floor of the pits. He gathered the space crystals and stuffed them into his space pouch, he felt the slithering tentacle of a Toxopus as it disconnected his air supply from respirator. Toxic fluid poured into the air containers, making them useless. “Beast!” Pierce shouted, taking in the last clean breath from the ruptured air tank. He vaporized the monster with one blast of his raygun as he began frantically scrambling for the surface. Clawing and pulling, Pierce fought for air, but the high gravity and the thick sludge made escape seem impossible. As Pierce’s reality faded out, angels carried him. Pierce sat in a white chair on a white cloud, surrounded by white lights. A voice from all around spoke softly but strongly to him: “Pierce, it is not your time.” Pierce felt peace. “You must bring the Zennon crystals to the space colony.” the voice went on, “If you do not, the defense shields will fall and all will perish.” Pierce recognized the importa