~ by David Glenn
I giggled as I floated outside of the space station. I still couldn’t believe that I had been chosen out of the hundreds of other students to be a part of Professor Anton Yeller’s space program. It was exciting to think about because if this station experiment worked, then not just Netokan, but the entire world of Harthyn would be one step closer to achieving space travel – the stuff of fiction up until now.
I was enjoying the sensation of weightlessness so much that I failed to pay attention to my surroundings. I grunted in unison with my partner when I collided with him.
“Clair, do you mind?! I’m trying to work on making the adjustments Yeller sent us out here to make.”
“Sorry, Jace. I’m just having fun,” I replied, concentrating on sending myself up to where I was supposed to be working.
I could hear him sigh over our comms. “Clair, I know you’re enjoying all of this, but I’m trying to take this seriously. If the radar is not fixed, we won’t be able to scan for a decent spot for the professor’s next build… and for the record, don’t call me Jace.”
“A station over the moon, Bruck.” I nodded as I opened the panel. Turning on my holo-screen, I looked over the instructions I had been given, and began following them. “Just think, Jason. We’re getting closer to developing a craft that can cruise through space. We’ll be able to find new planets to inhabit, and perhaps other life as well.”
“And pretty soon, as Dad keeps telling me, we’ll be having wars between planets,” Jason added.
“Professor Yeller says that this space program is a solution to end war. Different groups of people will be able to colonize different planets, and do as they want.”
“Yeah, but will it work?”
His question made me pause. ‘The Last War’, as the war against the country of Moruga had been termed, was supposed to end conflict forever, but there were rumors circulating that the spirit of defiance had only been kindled. Even though the government was claiming that the entire planet had been united at last, there were those who still insisted that different groups, different gangs even, were uniting. There had been three public facility attacks in the last month alone. They were getting bolder.
Shaking my head, I decided to change the subject. “On a more positive note, our involvement with Professor Yeller’s experiments will help to ensure our academic futures, and open many doors to possible careers.”
“Thanks for reminding me of who it was who sent me up here.”
His voice made me cringe. I hadn’t meant to touch a sensitive spot, but when I tried to tell him as much, I only heard static; he must’ve gone silent to me. I made the final few adjustments, heard a click, and saw some blue lights turn on.
“And done.” I smiled as I closed the panel and the space station whirred as the adjustments took hold. Pressing a finger against my helmet, I contacted the professor while my holo-screen turned off. “Professor. We’ve finished our task out here.”
“Good. Come back inside,” Professor Yeller said, his voice being heard by me and Jason alike because he could override the radio silence one of us may have put ourselves into.
Holding on to the side of the station, I waited for my cousin to come back up so we could get back inside together. He acknowledged me as he passed by, but didn’t stop. Frowning at him for that disrespect, I began to follow him, but I couldn’t stay mad. We had just helped complete the next step for Harthyn’s advancement. Future generations were going to remember this. Following my cousin, I thought there was no way the universe could destroy this moment.
I had no idea how wrong I was.
As we made our way to the entrance, the craziest thing happened. The space around us began to shake! Something that, by all the laws of science, should’ve been impossible was happening before us right now! Grabbing onto the side of the station, I clung to it like my life depended on it. Jason also grabbed a hold of the station, and I got a feeling his eyes were just as wide as mine were.
“A quake in space? That’s impossible!” he gasped over the comm feed.
“Well, it’s happening right now, cousin,” I told him as I did something I had never done before: I began to pray to Gri for a miracle. I’d never been religious, but I found myself making a promise that if we got out of this, I would start looking into faith.
“Emergency lockdown initiated.”
The automated words from the station made my blood freeze like the cold emptiness of space had entered my veins. Jason and I stole a quick glance at each other before we hurried to the entrance, but it was too late. Alarms were blaring and the only way we could get back into the station closed in front of us.
Fear took hold of me as I began to pound on the sealed door. “No! Let us in! We’re still out here! Professor Yeller? Santos? Anyone?”
“Communicators are down!” Jason said.
“Then how come we can still communicate?”
Neither of us had an answer for that question, but we didn’t have to worry about it for long. We both heard an earsplitting sound behind us, like a building was cracking and the world’s largest flag was being ripped apart at the same time. A powerful suction, more powerful than the weightlessness of space, pulled both of us away from the station. Screaming like I had never screamed before, I found myself staring at something I would never forget.
A large tear had opened up in front of us. It was as if the area between the station and the planet had been a fragile antique vase, and someone had just punched a hole in it. Now we were being sucked towards that hole. The two of us tried to resist, but there was nothing we could do but get sucked inside that tear in reality. One inside, I found myself blinded by a light that appeared to be hot and cold all at the same time, before gravity suddenly turned back on. That was enough to make my skip a beat, but what I saw next threatened to make it stop completely. We were no longer in space, but heading straight towards the ground! I screamed again as the green grass came speeding towards us. Then there was only pain, and blackness.
***
[Three Months Later…]
I sighed in relief, taking in the beautiful day. It was nice to be able to find a place just outside the city where I could relax and take in the beauty of the world. Jason was right next to me, as he had nothing better to do, but I didn’t mind. It was nice to spend this moment with my family. I just wish my parents could be here. They would love this world.
Yes, I said world. It didn’t take long, but it became obvious that we were no longer on Harthyn. We had crossed over into another world, just like in my books. According to our new friends, we were in a place called Radiant Garden. It didn’t look like it lived up to its name, but it was still being repaired from when enemies had conquered the city. I sometimes helped out in the restoration process, but it was hard without the automated equipment that did all of the heavy lifting back home.
I stopped my meditation as I heard footsteps approaching. Looking up – or behind, depending on your perspective – I saw Aerith standing over Jason and me. The Cetra, as she called herself, still had her brown hair braided with a pink ribbon in it, and her green eyes were full of warmth, like the land was smiling through them. She also had on a pink and white top that was tied around her neck via a string, and two different dresses as well. One dress was pink with a horizontal white stripe near the bottom, and the other was pure white and slightly longer than the first. She also was wearing a pair of boots.
“Oh hi, Aerith.” I smiled.
“And here you two are,” she said as she crouched down before us. “What are you doing out here?”
“Just enjoying the peace and quiet,” I said as Jason sat up. “It’s nice to be able to find a place away from the noises of the city – one of the advantages that this world has over Harthyn.”
“I take it you didn’t come out here just to check on us?” Jason was still as stern and serious as ever. He was wearing a red shirt he had gotten from the market, and a pair of jeans that now had a hole in them over his left knee. His brown hair had taken on a healthier appearance, and his blue eyes seemed better than I remembered.
The Cetra nodded, confirming his words. “Well, Cid just completed a successful test with Professor Yeller’s teleportation device,” she told us, as she changed her position so she was now sitting. “He’s making a few adjustments, but you two should be able to go home in a few hours.”
“A few hours?” Jason sat up at that. “Best news I’ve had these last three months!” With that he began to walk off back to the city.
Aerith watched him go before she noticed my reaction. “What’s the matter? Aren’t you glad to be going home?”
“I am,” I told her, faster than I intended. “It’s just…” How do I explain this? I felt like I was being torn in half. Part of me wanted to stay and see what this world had to offer, but I missed my parents so much. Being unable to speak with them for months had been torture. This world could never be Netokan, and for some reason, I was okay with that. “…I’ve grown to like it here.”
I waited for her to ask me how, but she didn’t. I looked up to see her waiting for me to continue, with more patience than I had seen from anyone back home. “Back home, books had gone out of existence. Everything is now read on the holo-screen, and people prefer that because of the interactive activities and motion pictures that come with them, but I never enjoyed that stuff. I enjoyed turning the pages of the older books because it felt like I was part of the story. Not having pictures allowed me to create landscapes, cities, and even the characters all in my mind. I would spend lots of my time in antique shops or online, trying to find books to read. Because of that, I got teased a lot by those who preferred to spend their time changing their DNA to match their idea of what was beautiful, gossiping about other people, or having fantasies of being the girlfriend of some actor or actress.”
“I don’t believe that’s the entire reason…” Aerith finally spoke.
Her words caused me to sigh. “You’re right. One other reason why I don’t want to go back is because this world has something Harthyn doesn’t – magic.”
“I heard you’ve been having a hard time learning it.”
I looked at the Cetra. “Yes, I’ve been struggling with it, but at the same time, I love it. Something about it just draws me in. It’s hard, but I feel a… something about myself when I’m pushing myself to get a spell right. It’s hard to describe.”
Before I could say any more, I noticed a girl picking flowers in the fields. As she came closer, she paused as if she was hesitant to ask me for some of the ones I was sitting next to. Smiling, I picked some of them and got up, moving over to the kid.
“Here you go.” I held them out to her, and she accepted them with a grin. Seeing that made my heart brighten up. I looked to find Aerith smiling at me.
“I think I understand. My people, the Cetra, gave up the luxuries of comfortable lives so we could be closer to the spirit of our world.” She reached out to a flower that was growing nearby. “Even amongst a field of flowers, I feel at peace with my choice because I can feel the life of the planet around me, and that makes me happy.”
Her words struck a chord within me. “Wow, that’s beautiful. Sometimes, when you talk about the Cetra, it makes me wish I could become one.”
“Thanks,” Aerith told me. “If you don’t feel ready to go home yet, we’ll speak with Professor Yeller. We’ll see if we can work it so you can stay here and learn more. We’ll even try to make it so your parents can use the teleportation device to come and visit you.”
That brightened my spirits. “You will? Thank you, Aerith! I would love it very much.”
For more fantastic articles from our latest magazine issue ‘Space’, please click on the below link:
F&F Fall 2019: Space