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Kairos

The Right Time

By Megan MathenyPublished 2 years ago 6 min read
1

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. That is what Rome had learned in class, and he hoped his teachers were right when he invited Thomas Almus to the star fields beyond Jovis.

They were rising from the edge of the Drop, where the floating city fell away, in the pod which his father used to deposit trash into space. Rome had flown with his dad since he could crane his neck over the dashboard, despite the prohibitions that people like Thomas’ father had made. But Thomas had never been outside the candy wrapper clouds of Jovis. As the city’s honeysuckle sky melted behind them, the big wide black of space opened to swallow them like a fly.

“Holy shit,” he heard Thomas say beside him. His friend’s knee was vibrating like a hummingbird wing, but his eyes feasted on the dark baptized in stars. Rome couldn’t blame him. He had grown accustomed to it, but the first time he saw space, or the star fields as they liked to call them, was burned in his brain like white hot iron.

“You’re telling me,” Rome heard himself agree, a robotic response. His voice seemed far away from him now. Quickly, he remembered himself. “Do you want to go outside?” he asked, before thinking, No, too soon. For a moment, he hoped Thomas would say no. That Thomas would even ask to turn back.

“Can we wait a second?” Thomas asked, abashed, and Rome relaxed. Do not forget yourself, he thought. “I want to soak it in,” Thomas explained, but Rome could tell that he was afraid of going out. Even Rome felt shaky with nerves when he did. His dad, who went out everyday, said it was impossible to brush off the anxiety completely. You’re a hairline crack from dying, he had said. Of course you’re nervous.

“Yeah, let’s just wait,” he agreed. Of course you’re nervous, Rome repeated to himself. He glanced at his friend, but tried to make it seem like he wasn’t looking. It was easy to see why Thomas, tall with honey brown eyes, did so well with the girls in class, especially since he was a Newcomer. Money and looks, a deadly combination, Rome thought.

“What’d you tell your parents?” Rome finally asked. His mouth felt dry, as if he’d swallowed sand. Thomas’ face split into a lopsided grin.

“I said I had to help you with history.” Normally this joke would piss him off, but now, Rome couldn’t help but laugh, and Thomas joined him. “I said I went to Livia’s house.” Livia, his girlfriend. Rome liked her, except for her strange, dry sense of humor. She was one of the least snobby Newcomers, likely because her family had barely made it on the hibernation list. They lapsed into silence again, this one easier than the last.

“Okay, I’m ready,” Thomas said, letting out a deep breath almost as if in defiance. They took turns in the back of the pod, changing into their space suits. Thomas emerged first, his suit fitted to his body like all the new models were, which made movement so much easier than Rome’s bulky, early edition. After Rome changed, he joked it made him look like a polar bear–something else they’d learned about in class. When he voiced this comparison to Thomas, his friend only laughed and said polar bears didn’t look anything like that.

These Newcomer jokes tonight, Rome thought. Guardians of all Old Earth knowledge, it would seem, despite the fact that no Newcomer alive had ever set foot on it. Newcomers were the elites on Old Earth, the few who could afford to hibernate when it became clear the planet could not hold human life anymore. They sent everyone else out to build the floating cities, a venture which took several hundred years, so that they could wake up to the job done with no time lost and no discomfort felt. That was more than three generations ago, but Newcomers still acted closer to Old Earth than anyone else, despite being just as far away, at the very edge of the solar system.

They hooked themselves up to the anchor in the holding room. Rome entered his dad’s keycode, and with a hiss, the doors opened like teeth releasing their prey. Thomas stepped back on instinct, as if that would guard him from the outer space that was waiting.

“Everything stupid I do is with you,” Thomas said breathlessly over the radio.

“Everything fun you do is with me,” Rome corrected, “And you’re welcome.” For a moment, they both hesitated. “Go on,” Rome reassured him. His insides felt like the sky before the first thunderclap. "See how you feel, take it slow if you have to. You’re anchored down.”

Thomas stepped out at first, but then with a sigh of defeat let the lack of gravity take over. In silence, he floated like a ghost out into the emptiness, as if he was a specter wandering the night. Rome followed, the lightness of his movement shocking him as it always did at first.

“I guess this is what my family missed out on for ages.” Rome’s ears were ringing, but he still snorted at Thomas’ comment. “They only dreamt of it, but it’s me finally getting to do it.”

“I guess you miss out on stuff when you take a nap and leave the work to everyone else,” he retorted, and looked sideways to see Thomas laughing, his honey brown eyes crinkled and his breath misting on the glass of his helmet.

Kairos is the ancient Greek word for the right time, the critical moment, and somehow, Rome’s body knew it before he did. His arms and hands just moved, like a pianist playing a chord practiced a thousand times. And he had practiced it a thousand times, or at least thought of it a thousand times. And really, what was the difference? They say you can learn the piano just by thinking about playing the keys.

Rome unlocked the helmet from Thomas’ suit. Thomas’ eyes opened in shock, then fear, then knowing. His mouth opened for words, but found no air. The black swallowed them all. Rome found himself shocked at how quickly it happened, and how easy it was. It is true, what the teachers said. You cannot hear a scream in the vacuum of space.

Far away, deeper still into the star fields, two eyes were watching one boy cast another into the big black sea. The eyes watched the dark tides catch the dead boy and carry him off to the ends of what was known, until he disappeared into what was not. They watched the live boy vanish back into his pod and fly back to the floating city. There I will go next, she thought. If only for a short time.

HorrorMysterySci FiYoung Adult
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  1. Compelling and original writing

    Creative use of language & vocab

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