THE AFTERMATH
The ascent to the surface was quick. Perhaps too quick. The craft was irreparably damaged in the process, and some of the crew later described symptoms of something we would perhaps today diagnose as "earth craft-sickness": mild nausea and a slight headache.
All things considered, the expedition had been a rousing success. A majority of the men were still alive, and the science officers could report several new and exciting finds of great scientific importance. Among the most significant finds were the following:
- The Earth's interior consists largely of the same materials as found above, but proportionally less soil and more rock the farther down you look. The exact composition of the rocks was not examined in closer detail, and no samples were brought to the surface so as not to risk the return voyage by placing unnecessary strain on the engines and also not to risk overexertion in the science officers themselves.
- Lighting conditions are generally unfavourable inside the Earth, and increasingly so as you scale deeper. Future expeditions are therefore advised to bring battery-powered torches.
- Humans are unfit for prolonged stays too far below the surface, especially in conditions of lowered standards of hygiene and intra-group communication. The ratio of swearwords and hurtful remarks seems to increase at an alarming rate at negative altitudes.
- Life above ground is preferable on the whole. The professor tried to capture that sentiment in a poem titled "The Blue of the Sky". Listen to a musical rendition of the poem here.
