by J. Benjamin
“They were never going to live a normal life,” Ty reminded her. “And they will have two parents. You won’t be doing this alone.”
“I love you,” Val said.
“And I love you, Dr. Alessi.” They kissed again.
As they prepared to leave for the transport which would take them to Nairobi, the crowd broke into one united gasp. Val and Ty spun around.
At the hangar of the Ark, Edie Brenner and Alex Harper triumphantly faced the crowds. Next to the two humans stood Mandyur. By their side, two Angelics hovered along with protective bubbles covering their pointy faces from the atmosphere of Earth.
Nobody spoke. They simply watched, to take in the shock of what they were seeing with their own eyes. Then, as if erupting like a volcano, the crowds of people roared in triumphant cheers. People cried. A wave of horror and nihilism had swept the world after Saturn. Now a wave of something entirely different captured the hearts and minds of the people at the remote ghost town in the heart of Utah: hope.
For the first time in human history, known human history at least, life from another world walked on the hard, natural soil of what Carl Sagan once dubbed the Pale Blue Dot. Life as Earth knew it, would never, ever be the same again.
Epilogue
The Ark - Earth Orbit - April 20, 2083
“What a week,” Edie said, as she walked through the forest with Alex. “Glad that shit is finally over.” They passed towering alien trees of blue and purple. While there were hints of green, Edie assumed that the photosynthetic processes and light spectrum of their home world did not reflect green light as it did on Earth. The way in which the A’biran clung to such structures also confounded Edie.
“You said it,” Alex replied. “I can’t believe we were back on Earth. It’s been like, what. Three years? And last time they weren’t exactly upset to see us go.”
“And now they think we’re heroes. Ha!”
“I like it better up here,” Alex mentioned.
Edie agreed. Even if the Ark was a world limited by its city-sized dimensions, there was a near-natural beauty to the place. The forests, the creatures on it, and not to mention the comforts which the A’biran helped the humans achieve, made the place feel more like home than anywhere she had been since leaving Earth years before.
Then there was Alex, with whom Edie could cross the universe and back and never tire of. Since leaving the Universal Crescent, Edie felt more sure of herself and her destiny then at any time in her life. She had Alex to thank for that. And the man who left the Universal Crescent unsure of who he was, found his purpose too.
As they walked through the forest, several of the Angelics floated overhead.
“You know, we got ourselves, the A’biran, the Qalfrae, and those Angelics all on one ship. Pretty soon, we’re going to need a name for our group,” Alex explained. “Especially considering our newfound relevance.”
“It crossed my mind,” Edie said.
“What were you thinking? Fantastic four was one that I really like.”
“I’m quite sure its trademarked,” Edie laughed.
“Cosmic Collective!” Alex exclaimed, with his hands parting. “Sounds like something you could see in shining lights.”
“Too corny,” Edie said. “Actually, I have a name. Not sure you’ll like it.”
“And that is?”
“The Celestial Minds,” Edie replied. “Drives home the message of who the real brains are behind this new alliance. In this ark you probably have more brainpower than half the Milky Way.”
“Celestial Minds? I hate it,” Alex said.
“Really?”
“Sounds like a bad book title,” Alex quipped.
“Whatever,” Edie said. “I’m sticking with it.”
They held hands and walked back to the Hypernova they regularly parked by the meadow of the Qalfrae. Since arriving at the Ark, the A’biran made several modifications to ‘de-Yonapi’ the spacecraft. These days, it served more as a house for the humans than an exploration vehicle. They also took care to surgically remove the patches that Agamemnon had placed on their arms, which now seemed like a lifetime ago.
Mandyur was waiting for them outside the Hypernova with one of the other A’biran.
“Hey, what’s happening?” Edie greeted.
“Edie, Alex,” Mandyur acknowledged.
“Mandyur,” Alex said. “What’s new?”
“Since your arrival at the Ark, there is something we wanted to bring up. In the past few days, you both have done a lot for all the species aboard this Ark. You’ve helped us find new allies. You’ve given hope to the A’biran for a better future.”
“You did the same for us,” Edie said. “Thanks to you, we can actually walk on Earth again for the first time, and without fear of arrest. Humanity is probably still struggling with the whole alien ally thing, but they’ll come around.”
“Indeed. Well we wanted to extend our thank you by offering you both a gift.”
“A gift?” Edie questioned. “What kind of gift?”
“Our species possesses many technologies. We can jump through space. We can master fusion energy. We can construct entire colonies. We also have the ability to generate new life from human tissue or memories.”
“Generating new life?” Alex repeated. “That’s interesting. The Yonapi have a similar technology. That’s how they brought back so many humans. The ones who showed up through neural connections.”
“Believe it or not, it is a common technology among advanced species,” The other A’biran said.
“I see,” Edie said.
“Your necklace,” Mandyur pointed out. “We can reconstruct it.”
“Ugh,” Edie replied, visibly uncomfortable.
“Reconstruct it?” Alex wondered. “What is there to reconstruct? Edie. Didn’t you say the necklace was the last thing you had of Simon’s?”
“Ummmmm . . .”
“I see, you didn’t know,” Mandyur said, only compounding the already-awkward situation.
“Holy shit! Edie, is that what I think it is?” Alex reacted, pointing at her crystal necklace. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Well, because if I did, the crystal would have been destroyed by one of the other colonists, and after we left the Crescent, I didn’t know if it was even possible to resurrect,” Edie explained.
“But why didn’t you tell me?” Alex demanded. “It’s him for fuck sakes!”
“Because I didn’t want to get your hopes up, in case it was a lost cause. You would have been wondering ‘what if,’ and you would have pursued it relentlessly until it ate you alive. Believe me, I wanted to believe it was possible, but after a while, I gave up hope. It killed me to keep it a secret from you,” Edie explained.
“I can’t believe you did this,” Alex said. “Actually, I can believe it.”
“Please forgive me Alex,” Edie pleaded.
Alex paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. “I understand why you did it. I hate it, but I’ll get over it.”
“Thank you,” Edie said as she held Alex’s hands and looked into his eyes.
“Now hand the crystal to our friends here,” Alex said.
Simon was a mess. Everything seemed to work in a loop. The days were beginning to feel a little like Groundhog Day.
Something about it seemed off. Sure, it’s one thing to have routines, but this felt more like musical chairs. The world would go as usual. Then everything would stop. Then it would all start again, except with a new change. It was like one endless loop.
He never did quite see the warden, even though he had plenty of questions for him. For instance, where the Hell did the townsfolk go? It pained Simon to even think that, but it was the truth. There was something about all of it that felt . . . incomplete.
Simon walked along the river. Perhaps he’d catch another trout today. At least that was his hope. He cast his line, sitting at the river’s edge. The smells of bark and maple leaves were heightened by the downpour
from earlier that day. He could hear the crickets in the trees. He tried not to think too hard. That was always his biggest challenge.
The minutes went by and before he knew it, he was there for a good hour. It felt like an hour. Could have been longer. He wasn’t keeping track of time.
He dozed off but snapped out of it. The line started moving. Bite! He gripped the rod with both hands, to take control.
This one was a tough one, he quickly realized. It was bigger than previous catches. He tugged and toiled, but whatever was on the other side, wasn’t letting up. It couldn’t be any ordinary trout. Then again, he wasn’t exactly sure what river fish could exhibit such strength.
As Simon continued to fight, a scary thought crossed his mind. Not only was the fish incredibly strong, but it was beginning to tug him. He tried to let go of the rod, but it was stuck to his hands.
“This isn’t good,” he said. In one fell swoop, Simon felt himself yanked from his seat with a powerful force. He landed in the water head first.
Except it wasn’t actually a river at all. Come to think of it, he didn’t know what it was. Simon fell and fell. The depths of this strange pool seemed to have no end.
In a flash, he felt pain along his body unlike anything ever experienced. Except for being crushed to death at the Universal Crescent. Simon couldn’t believe it. He hadn’t remembered that ever happening. He didn’t remember going through a wormhole with Edie and Alex, and meeting aliens. Now it came back to him, clear as daylight.
The memories themselves were more painful than the cells in his body. The fish wasn’t real. The river wasn’t real. None of this was real. It was a construct. His body felt a strange recalibration. As if it was finding a new home . . .
Simon lay naked as a newborn in a circle of lights. His body burned and ached all over. He was bald. His eyelashes and eyebrows were gone.
As he opened his eyes, he thought he would go blind from the light. That’s because these eyes had never been used before. He tried his best to see what was happening.
“Simon,” a soft voice called out. “Simon it’s me.” He knew that voice. It was the last voice he heard before he died.
“Edie?” Simon replied. “Is that you?”
He forced his eyes open. Four blurry figures slowly came into focus. Two humans, and two unspeakable things that he had no vocabulary to describe. His vision corrected itself and he finally saw them, Edie, Alex, and two terrifying monsters.
Simon felt his heart-rate skyrocket. The walls were closing in again. He felt his breath shorten. In a moment of sheer panic, he screamed at the top of his lungs. He screamed so loudly, even the A’biran recoiled. He then fainted on the floor.
“What happened?” Alex asked.
“He is alive, but unconscious,” Mandyur said. “His mind is going through shock right now. He’s never experienced rebirth before.”
Alex turned to Edie. “What do we do? Do you think he’ll be able to handle being up here? To see us again? This Ark might be a lot for him to take in.”
“When we were at the Crescent, his wish was to return to Earth. So we will honor that,” Edie said.
“You sure? It could be quite an adjustment being back home,” Alex mentioned.
“Positive,” Edie assured him. “Because whatever he has to deal with on Earth, wouldn’t even begin to compare to where we’re going next.”
“And where is that?” Alex asked.
“To prepare for war.”
TO BE CONTINUED
Note from J. Benjamin
Thank you for reading The Celestial Minds. If you enjoyed this book, I hope you will consider leaving a positive review on the Amazon page. As an author, your feedback means a great deal to me and helps me reach new audiences.
About the Author
I’m a writer, obsessed with tech, and a resident of San Francisco. When not envisioning the next sci-fi epic, you’ll find me at the gym, drinking coffee, or searching for the best new taco joint. Aside from writing, I also enjoy guitar and constructing new inventions with a Raspberry Pi.
Feel free to drop me a line at [email protected].
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Also by J. Benjamin
And don’t forget to check out my other work…
A Spacetime Tale
https://www.amazon.com/Spacetime-Tale-J-Benjamin-ebook/dp/B081DYKD5W
After years spent studying alien life in the seas of Europa, Dr. Kiara Lacroix has become one of Earth’s foremost exobiology experts. Her research brings her to the attention of the Global Space Federation, which has a top-secret mission for her: an advanced alien civilization has been discovered in the depths of an icy planet five light-years from Earth, and Kiara is expected to join the crew making first contact.
Kiara has her hesitations, but as usual her scientific curiosity gets the better of her. She and her crew will be using experimental technology which establishes long-distance contact via a dream-reality beamed through a wormhole: the spacetime sequence. It’s even riskier than it sounds.
Of course, Kiara’s not the only one with hesitations about the GSF’s actions. And some of those people have the resources—and the access to GSF’s classified mission information—to do something about them.
