by S V Hurn
Patsup gasped, “Your ship . . . it’s alive! Its shape is extraordinary, and it undulates as if it were breathing space!”
“Yes, it is . . . we believe it converts energy from dark matter and other exotic matter it comes across. It keeps us safe and warm on the inside and protects us from hazards coming from space. It is also multidimensional. Henry was very proud of their ship and spoke as if he were its father. “Also, carbon dating revealed it to be as old as the universe itself.”
“Astonishing!” was all Patsup could muster.
Brenda finally pleaded, “Come into the lab, I have your tea steeping.”
They walked towards the rear of the ship and entered the main lab. Patsup tripped over his own feet, looking up in astonishment. “Oh my, what have you gotten into?”
Jobar cut Patsup off sharply. “What we discuss here is never to leave this ship!”
“Yes, I know.” Patsup whined, “You have already told me a dozen times in the last ten minutes.”
Jobar lost patience easily when it came to his brother. “Go sit down AND don’t interrupt!”
Magnus poured their tea and a cup for himself and stationed himself at the console. He switched dimensions of the scale of the holographic image floating over their heads and the planets all came into focus, hovering in a cluster surrounded by dust and gas. “Here are the thirteen rogue planets. By the looks of them, they consist of gas, water vapor and possible amino acids. Now when I shrink the image you can see where they are positioned amongst the stars in that area of space. We are familiar with this part of space because it is where we are from.”
Jobar pinched his chin with the look of utter confusion by the image that now hovered over his head. “My friends, I am at a loss for I don’t have an explanation for what my eyes are showing me here in this room. We know those planets and their location, but what troubles me is the surrounding space.”
The group looked at on another, bewildered. Henry spoke first. “I don’t get it Jobar, what are you talking about, what’s wrong with the space?”
Jobar and Coolie looked at each other and both shook their heads. Coolie said, “Well simply put, we have never seen any of the outlying stars that you have illustrated here.” Jobar continued, “Those stars are not supposed to be there.”
Everyone in the room wore foggy looks. Dorathy began to speak but hesitated while she struggled to find the right words. “Okay, give me a moment here. What you are saying is, you know where this nebula is and the planets within . . . but you are also saying, that everything else is . . . gone?”
Jobar, collecting his thoughts said, “Gone would indicate that they once existed. what I’m saying, but I’m no oracle, is that those stars that you have indicated have never existed.”
Coolie added, “We learned about the nebula as you call it in school.” He went on to recite, “It is the most distant place in the universe and shines in the night sky marking the edge of creation in the blackness of space. It stands alone like a beacon in the darkest of skies.”
Dorathy’s mind was racing, trying to make sense of it all. “Everything here in your space is teaming with life in relatively close proximity. The image that we got from the lost city is an accurate description of our space, the space from which we came . . . you are telling me that the same space around this nebula is . . . dark?”
“Yes”, Jobar said without hesitation. “I cannot explain it.” Jobar looked down at his feet, feeling as if he had aged decades over the last few hours and his heart sank. “My friends, I know where these planets are and, regardless of how their appearances differ from our world to your world, does not change the fact that they are on the other side of our known universe. And to complicate matters, they have been deemed restricted and completely off limits.”
Coolie added, “None of our ships are even capable of making a journey of that length . . . it would take forever!”
Henry was taken aback. “What do you mean restricted . . . by whom?”
Coolie sighed. “By the New Western Ordinance, eons ago . . . not that it mattered as no one could ever possibly make the journey there and back. We know it as Restricted Space due to our profession as deep space miners, but it was never an issue.”
Dorathy sat back in her chair, taking it all in. “Excuse me for stating the obvious, but this ship and my cryotube got us all here, so this ship can take us back.”
Henry cut her off. “I’m sorry Dora but they’re right, we were all frozen during the duration of the trip. You saw the condition of your cryotube, it looked like it had been out there for centuries. Time, the way we know it, just doesn’t exist here. The Illuminati came here ages ago to start their New World Order and a whole new civilization along with it. My guess is that they used the same technology to make the trip and were also frozen . . . they had to have been. These guys are deep space miners, they have reached the limits in their profession.”
Dorathy hung her head as tears formed. “I can’t even guess what significance there is to these thirteen planets. All I know is, if miners have crossed paths with the golden beam of the portal then someone is using it.”
As one, the group stared at Dorathy’s proclamation and looked at each other as their mental wheels began turning. Jobar spoke first. “Who would be using the portal and how could anyone have found it?”
Dorathy shook her head, her face streaked with tears. “Just a thought, but the Otherlings would be my guess.”
Patsup’s eyes were wide and alert. “Oh no, something tells me we are going to attempt a crazy pilgrimage to the edge of space through the dreaded dark matter!”
Dorathy’s eyes flashed, “What did you say?”
CHAPTER 42
Kore sat alone in her cold darkened home with only her thoughts to guide her. How many years had she contemplated the existence of their New Western Ordinance? The founding fathers were said to have come from some unknown place in space and with them they brought order to the cosmos. Wars among the races had ended, replaced with technological advancements; worlds had prospered. The proof of their origins she now held in her hand.
She looked at Nikko lying in his bed and whispered, “What secrets lie in that long forgotten, frozen rock?”
Nikko looked up at her and cocked his head to the side, ears perking up as she spoke. Her thoughts were racing through her mind. I need to find a way in, but how?
Finally, the call she had been waiting for came. As her communicator beeped, she hastily grabbed for it. “Yes, is this the director of antiquities? Yes . . . yes, I have something that you might find very interesting. I have had it in my possession for quite some time and no one else knows of it. Yes, tomorrow works. I will bring the item and my old log of images. I need not remind you the urgency of this matter and stress our confidentiality agreement. Do not cross me or you will pay for your mistake.”
The appointment was set, and she ended the call. Staring at the glowing embers flickering in the darkness, she thought about the mysteries hidden away. Why now, after so many millennia, do these strange travelers show themselves?
Kore fell asleep in her large, old crumpled chair, her legs tucked to the side, her heavy blanket over her ears. Nikko grabbed the iron rod and stoked the fire as he had watched his master do a thousand times before, and bathed in its warmth, he curled up in his bed. Tomorrow, he somehow knew, was going to be different from the rest. He had felt something change in his master that he had not seen before—he felt it was positive and even without the ability to verbalize, he somehow knew things were going to become a bit more interesting.
Morning came too quickly for Nikko. He lay in his bed with his thorny head down, his eyes following Kore’s every movement. “Get up, it’s time to eat your breakfast, my sweet little boy, we have a very full day and I don’t want you whining for food later.” Nikko stretched, and hopped out of his warm bed. He made his way to the table, dragging his blanket behind him. He dreaded mornings, as they were chilling to the bone, the air thin and dry a
t their high elevation. Kore’s old stone home was built like a fortress at the peak of a jagged mountain which was covered in snow most of the year. The thick fog would roll over the mountains and settle into the valley below covering everything with a cold damp drizzle. The skies above were grey and overcast, the sun barely rising over the peaks this time of year. It was a desolate harsh environment and only the hardiest of species managed to survive.
The dishes cleared, she grabbed her cloak, helped Nikko into his sweater, and the two climbed into her antigravity mobile. It was a small craft that seated two occupants, the driver in front and a passenger in the back with a small space in the rear for stowage. Nikko wished he had the ability to fly on his own, but he had been born with very small and malformed wings. Kore had acquired him from a keeper when his mother abandoned him as an infant. His savaged larger undomesticated species came from only one distant planet. Most systems had placed the planet under interdiction due to its indigenous crop of opioids.
Kore and Nikko sat in the dark, dingy office amidst the musty smell of old books that lay in heaps, covered in dust that had collected over the decades. The Director of Antiquities had held the position for quite some time. He was a man who preferred the old ways of doing things and regarded technology as a burden. He collected his books and artifacts and cataloged them in his journal, never finding the time to properly arrange them. Dim winter light struggled to shine through his fogged picture windows, making the dust motes floating through the air glimmer and casting long shadows over his cluttered desk. Prime Minister Kore Athanatos was not accustomed to waiting for anyone or anything, but she would make allowances this one time as she desperately needed answers to the mysteries she held in her possession.
The quiet, old curator pushed his way through his office door with his robust backside, arms laden with the stacks of folders and image books he had acquired from an abandoned underground storage locker that had lain untouched for years. “So sorry, Prime Minister, for my tardiness, but I had to spend most of the night digging through old files pertaining to your request. I do think you will be pleased with what I have found.”
Kore was not known in this sector for her patience or her tolerance but today was not the time to voice her opinion; she simply wanted answers and now after all her years of searching, she finally had a clue to the artifacts she had held for so many years. “Enough with your excuses. Please sit down so we can continue with our business without further delay.”
From the neck of her cloak she pulled a small crystal pyramid amulet that was hanging from a heavy chain made of an unknown metal. Inside the amulet was a red and dark glowing matter that had been preserved in a vacuumed environment for millennia. The curator’s eyes grew large at the artifact that was suspended on the chain she held. It was hypnotic as it swung by the chain—it was the missing link he had been searching for his entire career.
“My God, do you know what you possess?”
Kore studied the item she held. “If I knew, I would not be here waiting for you in this dirty dingy antiquated office. But please, enlighten me for the love of hell, because I have been searching for answers for many years and am at my wit’s end. So tell me before I have you taken off to the gallows!”
Kore pulled the chain over her head and handed the item to the curator as he adjusted the magnifying lens he had flipped down over one eye. “This substance is mystical and has given our scientists plenty to theorize about over the centuries. What you have is the substance that is believed to have created our universe, so you can only imagine its importance to . . . well, to be blunt, to all of mankind. This is truly the most remarkable archeological find since . . . well . . . since . . . a long while. This, my dear woman, is most likely the product of the Otherlings!”
Kore rolled her eyes. “Oh please, spare me from these ancient fairytales. I did not come all this way for you to tell me a bedtime story.”
The curator sighed and leaned back in his old leather chair. “Regardless of what you may think, I am telling you the importance of this discovery.” He held her artifact up as the light shone through the crystal relic casting a rainbow of colors in all directions, the substance within glowing red as the sunlight hit it.
“So, tell me, Prime Minister, how did you come to possess this capstone?”
“How I came to own this item is none of your business. What I want to know is what the meaning of it is.” Kore turned to lean down in order to remove her image book from her bag. She placed it down with a thump atop the dusty desk, causing a cloud to form. When she activated it, the holographic image appeared hovering, filling the dusty room with a hazy 3D image of the travelers’ ship. “So, tell me Doctor Hoffman, what do you make of this?”
Hoffman peered up at the image filling his small office. He sat there, ram rod straight in his seat, and was rendered speechless.
“Nothing?” she pressed, “You must have some idea of this ship’s origins.”
My God, woman, you are full of surprises,” he exclaimed as he smiled broadly in her direction. Kore was not accustomed to anyone ever smiling at her, especially of the male species and this made her feel vaguely uncomfortable.
In her most feminine voice, she begged, “Please, Dr. Hoffman, what do you know of this ship?”
Meanwhile Patsup thought as the words left his mouth and he looked at his older brother and Coolie, and spoke with alarm in his voice, “You cannot possibly be serious about this. Dark matter is where our religion states Hell and its residence exist; to cross over, one would have to have the blackest of hearts.” Coolie and Jobar rolled their eyes as they did not possess the patience for Patsup’s silly superstitious beliefs.
Jobar closed his eyes to clear his flailing mind. “My friends, regardless of what my narrow-minded brother believes the journey cannot be made, it is simply too far away.”
Dorathy shook her head in defiance. “We can’t just give up on this!” Pointing to Jobar, she said, “You both have been searching for the portal most of your life! I’m telling you it exists, the Otherlings and the other side exists, and we now have the proof that it exists. I’m betting the answers we all have been searching for are on those thirteen planets!” Dorathy sounded desperate. “There has got to be a way of traveling through your Dark Matter that makes time irrelevant in space travel; gravity slows time, dark matter has mass . . . we have to start thinking in unconventional ways. Assuming we are in a five-dimensional space, we have to stop thinking in four dimensional terms; there is so much more to it, we just have to stretch our imagination and find a way!”
The room fell silent as each of them reflected on the possibilities. Brenda got up and rubbed her neck. “Look everyone, I think she’s right . . . I’m not saying we have the answers or that we will ever find an answer, but she is right. We’ve spent several years out here getting to know the place but thinking in terms we are familiar with—we need to start thinking differently because the playing field has changed.”
Dimitri added, “The playing field was always different, we were just playing the wrong game.”
Henry sighed, “Well, hell, we’ve gotten this far, and things seem to present themselves when we least expect them, so let’s try and figure it out.”
Jobar stammered, “Before everyone gets excited about the possibilities, we have to address one more issue: that being my younger brother and his stupidity.” Patsup hung his head in embarrassment as Jobar continued, “My dear brother has brought you to the attention of Prime Minister Athanatos and that is why she was lurking just outside of the Lost City waiting for us. No doubt, she will attempt to determine the significance of the planet and try to gain access. It is rumored that she is a direct descendant of as we now know is your original New World Order and you, my friends, will have a much harder time gaining access to all nearby systems. Fear not though, we can find ways of eluding her.”
With all that they had been through, this seemed like a minor difficulty. Henry shrugged his shoulders, “Well, that’
s the least of our problems . . . and so what? If she gets suddenly interested in the Lost City, she’ll have a hell of a time gaining access to any of it. Even if she does, it won’t hold a hell of a lot of meaning. Sounds like it has the same degree of validity as the thirteen planets; they are there and everyone knows they’re there, but no one really seems to give a damn. To me, this plays in our favor, she’ll spend most of her time trying to find us and not trying to find the significance to us being here. All we have to do is avoid her . . . go under cover. Which brings us to our next problem—we are running low on supplies.”
Jobar scratched his head in thought. “Okay, I know of an undeveloped planet. Many have raided it for its natural resources without much of a fight from the indigenous people who live there. I doubt very much anyone would be looking for you there. It will be very easy to hide your identity since the natives are fully cloaked when outside. Its star’s radiation is far too intense and can be searing at times, but regardless food grows in abundance there. Anything else you might require I can get . . . it is the least we can do for you.”
“Henry stood, stretched his back and clapped his hands. “Okay people, let’s move like we have a purpose; everyone put a list together of what we need in supplies from your department. Hey Jobar, they take cash or credit there?”
Jobar squinted his brows together, “Sorry . . . what?”
Henry laughed, “Never mind.”
Dr. Hoffman gazed at the image floating over his head, while he searched for the right words. “This ship has had very little documentation attached to it. Whilst digging around I only found one article pertaining to a top-secret mission of pure scientific discovery that involved a small crew chosen from our direct ancestors. They were sent in a ship constructed of a biological material that had signs of intelligence. The ship and its crew were sent into a higher dimension for one purpose: to retrieve an individual who had the code to access our mysterious thirteen planets embedded in her DNA.”
