NORA

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. But as Hym watched his planet collapse in on itself, a beautiful horizon of cataclysmic suicide, he could hear the screams of millions of his people as their final pleas to their gods were swallowed by the infinite abyss of space. Hundreds of civilizations sank. Cities were leveled to dust. Stories and memories maintained for thousands of years slipped away, meaningless against the eternal shadow.

Before the last hour, Terah had been a spectacular planet. Lush green landscapes and marvelous blue oceans wrapped the warm rock in a blanket of simple life and tranquility. It was spectacular, still. The destruction Hym held before his eyes as he paced along the foredeck of his interstellar superyacht — Purgatory — was slow and wonderful. The grandiose death of the planet plagued his eyes not with horror but instead with a brutal elegance. It was as though the world was eating itself, subjecting its impeccable mass to its own immense gravitational power. He could not look away. The core of the world sucked and pulled the surface in on itself, crumbling enormous mountains and draining vast oceans into nothing. Yet from where he stood, he could cover the sight with just the palm of his hand. Hym placed his graciously gloved fingers in front of his face, turning the worn green leather that wrapped his hand in a motion as though in an attempt to scoop the destruction into his grasp so he could cradle the rubble of Terah in his arms. He imagined, for a moment, that he may really be able to snatch the falling world in his clutches, but his perception deceived him. Beyond the image processing panels that allowed Purgatory to support an open deck in outer space, Terah was sinking into oblivion, and there was no stopping the ensuing extinction.

Hym moved leisurely across Purgatory’s deck, completely unaffected by the incredible chaos that was being unleashed on so many he knew. He wondered how those stranded on the planet may spend the final moments of their lives; would they run around in circles in a panicked frenzy, exerting their last stores of energy before they met their doom? Would they pull their loved ones close in a final embrace, as if forcing themselves to accept their fate? And what about Hym? He was, after all, hopeless to any effect of his brothers and sisters who were stranded on the surface. He, too, was stranded. Those on the world had had no warning. A terrible tremble before the collapse, perhaps, but all he could do now was watch as his homeworld imploded.

Feeling nauseous, and incapable of spectating any further as the world folded in on itself, Hym made his way back to the interior cabin, moving up to the bridge. He passed by esteemed guests and crewmembers on the way to his private captain’s lounge. Everyone on the superyacht had become transfixed by the massacre of their homeworld. All processes had been paused, drinking and gaming ceased, and no one spoke a singular word. The mouths of Hym’s passengers were staunch with aw as though they had been glued agape to the grand windows of the superyacht. The only thing Hym heard as he moved along the bridge's corridors was the rhythmic thumping of his feet colliding with the floor.

Hym reached his destination, approaching a round, arched door that spiraled open for him as soon as his signature was recognized. He made his way into the lounge, which was really more of a penthouse, and placed himself before the enormous paneled windows that gave him a masterful view of the calamity taking place. Realizing his mistake, and still sick from the sight, Hym turned and surrendered his body to the lavish, red, winding couch that claimed a fair portion of the floor space in his suite. He pulled off his gloves, laying them gently beside him, and set his head daintily in the fingers of his right hand and caressed his temples. He lightly squeezed his thumb and third finger in circles beside his eyes and breathed deeply, soothing his weary mind as the anxiety of his mission faded.

“Computer,” Hym spoke gently, glancing at Terah through the window of his captain's lounge.

Yes? the computer replied in a warm yet monotone voice.

“Are you seeing this?” Hym asked.

"Yes," the computer replied again. Though the voice was programmed into the ships systems, Hym detected a somber inflection in the complex circuitry, as if the ship itself was mourning the death of Terah. He wondered briefly if this bit of technology was displaying some semblance of emotion, or if the ship had simply analyzed the situation and attempted to produce a comforting response. Whatever it was, the ship's cheerless acknowledgment was misplaced in Hym’s mind.

“It’s . . . magnificent,” he said, raising his head to the sight before him and birthing a despicable smirk. “No one will ever understand what I went through to bring this vision to fruition, and they’ll never understand why.” The computer did not respond this time, maybe it really was depressed and neglecting Hym. “Never mind,” he continued, his voice brimming with savage passion as he rose from the couch. “Even your infinite knowledge wouldn’t be able to comprehend what’s happened today. The surviving people of Terah will forever remember New Kings Day as the day the world ended, and their new lives began. They will rejoice when they realize what they’ve been chosen for, and I will be immortalized as their new god.”

Nora grabbed hold of the safety bar just in time as Kayman spun and dove the ship with no doubt of an unnecessary twist. Nevertheless, Nora knew the criticality of the situation. Kayman was making time, because they were using all they had.

“We’re nearing the drop point!” Aerow shouted over the roar of the ship as she joined Nora in the hull from the cockpit hallway. “Kayman’s getting us close but the ship can’t take much more, we’ll have to leave soon.”

Nora was about to respond but her attempt was cut short by a thunderous explosion from outside the hull. The ship was knocked sideways, sending Nora and Aerow against the opposing wall and to the floor. Kayman’s ship — Meili — had absorbed a substantial number of beatings over the last few days. Despite this, she held together, unswayed in her contribution to Kayman’s commands. If Meili had a consciousness, she’d be the smartest, strongest one of the group.

“Dammit!” Aerow cursed, pushing herself up from the floor. Nora could feel the stress resonating from her female companion. The overall tension in the ship was even worse. Their mission was critical, no room or spare time for mistakes. Nora knew that everyone on board was risking their lives, no, everyone on board was spending their lives, and they knew it, too. She couldn’t imagine what they must be going through. The mission had to be completed. Less than a day ago, by a stroke of luck, they had been saved. Their team had stumbled upon the last remaining piece of hope, and they had bought themselves a second life, hopefully.

Nora still felt immense regret for their shortcomings. No more than one week earlier had she stumbled into Kayman, Aerow, Bear, and Spik. Kayman was a space pilot, or had been before being let go due to a situation no one could get him to talk about. Aerow was a quick, fierce fighter. A street gladiator that had been in the wrong place at the right time. Nora and Aerow had quite literally stumbled into one another, an accident that turned out to be for the better. Bear was Kayman’s right hand man, the co-pilot, the muscle. He had been with Kayman the first time Nora met them, and had prevented Nora from killing Kayman over hazardous introductions. Bear was quick to trust, a sentimental man with a heart as big as his biceps, and a thinker not quite as impressive. Spik was Kayman and Bear’s RT-DSL2 droid. His make was an older model, but he was far more versatile, and a much more freely creative thinker than the newer, blatantly robotic editions. Spik moved on one short, fat wheel. His hexagonal body contained four separate arms, among other surprises, and his oval head supported a vast storage of intelligence. Spik had been extremely helpful in locating and retrieving the key. His sacrifice to get the artifact to his crew would save hundreds of millions of lives. He would not be forgotten.

Not long after the five had met, they mistakenly discovered the plan to destroy Terah. With such little time, they had pulled their strengths together and had come so close to stopping the attack, but they ultimately fell short. An unforeseen incident had disrupted their crucial objective and set them back further than they could recover. Then by random, dumb luck, a new light was shown on them. They had found their answer: the key, a one time spendable do-over that had become their last hope, and they were spending it.

Nora had just regained her footing when Kayman whipped the ship around again. She slid along the floor, still on her feet, and saved herself from ramming face first into the hull wall. Normally Kayman’s erratic flying would be met with harsh berating from the crew, but not now, not with what was at stake.

Less than an hour ago the world had begun to collapse. A singularity contained in the core had been opened, and the expanding black hole would soon swallow everything around it. Terah's residents would try to escape the planet, but not many people owned space-faring vehicles. There wasn’t much of a need to. With no nearby inhabitable planets, the only places offworld to visit were luxury space casinos or hotels, or similar options on nearby moons. There were shuttles for those types of things. Starline Bus Corporations could escort the people with enough money wherever they desired to go outside of Terah’s atmosphere. Everyone else was stuck on the ground. Some could afford their own flying vehicles, but most only needed the appropriate air passes or access to sub-light stations to get from point A to point B. Because of this, the rich may escape if they pulled far enough away from Terah, but the vast majority of the millions inhabiting this humble world would perish. Nora was lucky to have found Kayman, who had his own spaceship from his time as a space core pilot, but they weren’t escaping, they were doing quite the opposite.

The rattling finally quieted down, and Nora felt the ship slow its speed and level out. A brief moment later, the two women in the hull were joined by Kayman and Bear.

“Alright,” Kayman said as he entered from the hall connecting the hull to the cockpit. “We’ve arrived.”

The four stood in silence for a moment, the terrible quakes outside the ship mute in contrast to their thoughts. Nora’s eyes danced between her companions' faces. They had come a long way together, and had a long way to go still.

“Thank you,” Nora said, finally breaking the silence. “Really, even if all of this is for nothing, it’s impossible to imagine my life before the last seven days, before you guys. I’ve gained more than friendships among you all, I’ve gained purpose within myself. Thank you.” Nora looked around at her friends. Tears were forming in Aerow’s eyes. It was hard to imagine such a powerful person crying, but nevertheless, there it was. Bear sniffled, and even Kayman seemed to be holding something back under his tough skin.

“Okay kid,” said Kayman. “Enough of that, we’re running out time.” As if he wasn’t convincing enough, the incredible crack of a tectonic plate snapping in two echoed throughout the ship, causing the members to recoil. “Meili doesn’t have a lot of fuel left, and she’s givin’ it everything she’s got to not get sucked in to that thing.”

Nora nodded, wiping away her own tears and forcing down the swelling emotions.

“Oh come’ere!” Bear cried as he scooped Nora up in his hefty arms. “I’m gonna miss you, little one, and you guys too.” Bear reached out to Aerow, inviting her into the group hug. He even managed to grab Kayman before he could escape and drag him into the huddle.

“We’ll see each other soon, don’t worry,” Nora said reassuringly. “We’ll make this right.”

“Damn right we will,” Aerow acknowledged.

Kayman pulled away from the group, breaking up the hug, “Yeah yeah, no one’s gonna see much of anybody if we don’t get movin’.”

“He’s right,” Aerow agreed. “It’s time to go.”

Nora nodded as Bear produced the syringe full of mysterious dark matter, a part of the key. Bear handed Nora the syringe, and she held it in her hands for a moment. She took a deep breath. Then without hesitation, stabbed the needle into her leg, injecting the impenetrable darkness into her body. She seethed through gritted teeth, though the pain was less than expected. I guess the worst is yet to come, she thought to herself. Tossing the used syringe aside, Nora imbibed one last moment among her friends. Decades had passed in the last week since she had met them. They had all become her family, her real family. Meili had become a better home to her than any she had ever known, and she was being forced to give it all up. What they were about to attempt was necessary, but there was no certainty that Nora would ever see her new family again. There was no promise that she would ever know a home so warm, but it didn’t matter, it had to go away.

“Bear,” Kayman spoke. “Would you like to do the honors?”

“Absolutely not,” Bear replied, shaking his hands in front of him.

“I’ll do it,” Aerow said, moving over to the hull ramp lever.

Nora took a big gulp of air, trembling slightly in her shoes.

“Ready?” Kayman asked.

“Do we have a choice?” Aerow replied, the forced chuckle and small amount of humor in the tone of her voice overwhelmed with anticipation. “This is gonna suck.”

Without another moment of hesitation, Aerow threw down the lever. The hull ramp had not descended even an inch before it was ripped off by the gravity of the forming black hole. It wasn’t a moment later that the crew of four was sucked out of the new opening, hurtled wildly out of the ship and towards the singularity. Meili didn’t last much longer as she was torn to pieces by the vacuum power of the black hole and joined the ensuing debris.

As Nora descended rapidly into the hole, she looked back out at the open space before her. Everything seemed so peaceful, so quiet. She saw a moon in the distance, and something glinted in the reflected sunlight near it. She allowed the brief moment of serenity to wash completely over her body before everything around her went dark.

A shallow breeze wafted in through her open window, and Nora woke, inhaling the fresh autumn air. She pulled her arms above her head, indulging herself in a stretch that reached every corner of her body. As she exhaled she flicked her eyes open, her vision greeting the warm light that had made itself comfortable inside her makeshift room. Today was a very special day for Nora, the beginning of an amazing week. It was her self-proclaimed birthday, just seven days before the worldwide celebration of New Kings Day, and everything was right in the world.