Through The Thickets of Space and Time

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say.

Would one want to hear a scream in the vacuum of space? It would be the only thing one could hear, nothing more, nothing less.

If one had the choice to switch off the radio rather than listen to the chilling screams of their doomed comrade, why not? Why put oneself through such torture if the outcome is inevitable? One lives and one dies, yet both have lost something more than special.

Pure agony at its finest moment; hope is fleeting away, you are utterly helpless; completely alone and lost in the abyss.

A mutual connection.

Two souls looking at one another for an answer only to find none, at least not the one one hopes to find. When one looks for love or death they never find it, it finds them.

As one soul searches for another, how can one help but wonder if the reason that the cosmos are causing these destinies to align, is none other than that of pure fate. Like a candle swaying in the wind it seems natural that these forces push, bond, and bend against and with each other until a balance is achieved. But what is this peace and balance we so dearly love without the chaos that ensues and precedes it? Can we say that some kind of disturbance or intrusion is needed for the preservation of life? But where does this alien idea come from? Is there a purpose or is it just, pure luck? Does fate …"

“Oh, Shut! UP!! SHUT UP!!! What in the WORLD are you TALKING ABOUT?!?!?!”

“I’m reading out of this book I found called, What is Space Safety for the Modern Adult.“

“Well stop! It sounds depressing, no one wants to hear that.”

“Well how do you know it won’t get better?”

“Trust me, I know books, they never get better, they just get longer as you get older.”

“Well, how many books have you read?”

“A lot.”

“Well, what's a lot?”

“12.”

“Twelve?!?!?”

“Yes, twelve.”

“How is twelve a lot?”

“Cuz it’s twelve more than I would have liked to have read, that's how.”

“How in the world, have you only read 12 books?”

“One for each grade of school you fool!”

“What? You kidding me, the comprehensive united notions testbook? Those are the “books” you’re talking about?”

“Yeah! See, you ‘member! They gave us that fat thing each year and as long as we finished it by the end of May then we moved on to the next grade!”

“Yeah…

I ‘member…

I ‘member you paying people to do it for you the last few years that's what I ‘member…”

“Well… yeah but I still had to read it out loud in class, so that counts.”

“Brother, you are something else. I love you.”

“I love you too Sister. So are you gonna put that down and make yourself useful cuz we need to start making our way back before Lucy runs out of air.”

“Eye captain, lead the way.“

We put our gear back on and swim towards the mouth of the cave, over the dark abyss and through the maze of broken stalactites, stalagmites, and pillars. This cave had been flooded recently, yet it’s the only way in and out of the observatory. We descend over a staircase carved into the rock, cross the threshold and resurface. Our boat awaits in the bay with the cabin sealed tight. Lucy and our gear tucked safely inside away from the noxious clouds snaking their way across the lake. As we board we notice a strange bird land and drop a rather peculiar object into the boat.

“My god!” My brother yells as he picks up the object and turns towards Lucy.

“Look Lucy! This bird just dropped a rather peculiar object into our boat!”

“Wuf!”

“What do you think it is Big Brother?”

“I don’t know, it looks like some kind of medallion or something”

“Wuf!”

“Wuf!”

“Almost like mom's old necklace huh…

…”

“…

Let's get back, we don’t have too much air left…”

Lucy whines and whimpers her way into the corner. There's an uneasiness amongst ourselves as we make our way back to shore. It's not like the usual nervousness one gets when having to go through the customs line at the travel terminals, no, it’s the kind of grief one seems to be burdened with when recollecting a tragic event. We haven’t really had a chance to talk about what happened with mom. Sometimes he opens up about it, sometimes. The elevator ride is a lot tighter and a lot more public than the boats we’re on, it looks like it’ll be awhile before we have a chance to really talk about it.

We’re approaching shore and the first travel terminal. From here we dock the boat, go through the airlocks, and drop the rental gear down the sanitizing chutes. Then it’s onto the loading bay where our equipment and findings get scanned and sanitized before boarding the space elevator.

You never know who you might meet at the elevator. It's a two hour trip and the pods fit up to six passengers so you’ll rarely be alone unless you pay a little extra, and by a little I mean a lot.

Traveling with us are two jolly looking folk, judging by the rosiness of their cheeks they seem to know where the good food is found. Lucy seems to have figured this out by the scents in the air. Travel permits are easily attained because statistically, most don't survive the trip, allowing the Company to keep the deposit. Most everyone who ventures to this part of Earth has a go-to spot they’re comfortable visiting because they know it's safe; or, they’re experienced scavengers and are willing and able to take the risk. Our comrades don’t dress like scavengers though, they must have an interesting story, they have a colony ticket so I’ll make sure to ask them on the second leg of the trip.

For now it looks like we're all just looking for rest. Lucy retreats to my brother's side and lays down, I can see he's pulled his hat over his eyes so it looks like nap time for now. I like to write in my journal while on the elevator and make up stories about my travel companions. The journal Dad brought me can record audio through the pen as well so I'll have to test that out from time to time. But for now this journal needs text and context. A good way to celebrate a successful scavenger hunt.

My brother and I like to go back to the observatory because it belonged to an ancient relative of ours who hoarded canned food, books, and board games. They called him crazy but when the reset happened he was one of the last ones to survive the Washout. Some say he died of loneliness but the official report says he suffered from dysentery then committed suicide. What's the difference right? He had documented and streamed his time there until the very end.

Since the prevailing governments were able to sustain communications throughout that era, periods like the reset, the Washout and the even less talked about Reformation Period, had been fully documented, it was a bloody time indeed. 200 years ago those files were deemed classified and then deleted in order to hide the horrors of the Reformation. But some documents survive offline and words travel far and wide throughout space and time. The old souls from that time used to tell tales. Hiding the documented footage only adds validity to the tales and the fact that something horrible had happened to humanity. Where we went from consumers to survivors, to scavengers.

No one really “knows” when the Reformation Period started, how long it lasted and when it ended. The prevailing governments claim we are in a “new golden age” where everyone is granted opportunity, but reality shows something different. Only a select few are given opportunity, and those that are given opportunity are friends of the Favored. The lottery determines which poor souls must go through the scrutinous vetting system that is the University. Many don’t make it, some say it's rigged, that the Favored do it for “charity” because they secretly don’t want people of a lower class into their inner circles. So they give the illusion of opportunity to keep people “happy”. A scavenger however, makes opportunities happen for themselves.

A well equipped and experienced scavenger can afford to live among the Favored in the Floyds of the Moon, they can afford "happiness." That's if they’re willing to get chipped though. The application process is virtual and you need to be chipped in order to access the site. That's why we remain as scavengers, sure it's risky but the rewards can be great and there is no price on a great adventure. Plus it's real, the Favored have access to the virtual world but that has no appeal to scavengers like my brother and I. We're already "happy."

The allure of scavenging travels far and wide throughout the empire. The fractured planet is rich with the core exposed. But the iron core has fused with the remnant dust of the Intruder and created a noxious gas that creeps steadily over the planet, or what's left of it, making the job quite dangerous. Thankfully it has ceded over the ages, some hope that the planet can be repaired but more time is needed. Until then Civilization on Earth is settled around the ancient ruins of New Seattle in Cascadia, the sky city of Barcelona, and atop the Sierra Madres in La Nueva Federación de México. There are military outposts hidden in the jungles of the Congo Nations, Siberia, and in the Himalayan mountains, but those places are off limits to civilians. Military citizens are in a world of their own. What was considered at the time the Southern Pacific is now an enormous crater the size of four moons. There is a floating mass centered within the crater where daring individuals explore the Ruins of Sydney and the first elevator.

Some say it was the elevator that caused it. The explosion that is. Others say it was a super weapon used by the invaders that went wrong. Anyone who knew surely died in the blast. The elevator was going to usher humanity into a new age but instead the tides turned and humanity was swallowed into darkness. The elevator failed, it collapsed; the shield broke and the Intruder prevailed. The reset was underway.

“What are you doing?” My brother asks as he stirs from his slumber.

“Writing in my journal, what’s it to ya?”

“Nothing, you just seem to be writing an awful lot that's all.”

“Well, first of all, “a lot”, by your definition isn’t that much, and second, it’s our first trip with Lucy to the outer rim so I want to document everything. What if we die and a hundred years from now someone finds our bodies? Wouldn’t it be nice for them to have a story to read? Plus I want to make sure Dad knows we did our best keeping her safe, he’d kill us if we let anything happen to her.”

“Wuf Wuf!!”

“Fair enough.” he turns and heads towards our companions with Lucy at his heels, all I hear is “Hi! My name is…” before I continue writing and his voice trails off. Where was I… ah yes…here we go.

The Civilization at the time was a schismatic one torn between the beliefs of one nation and the next. After the space colonies were built astrologers warned of an intruding star system that would turn the world on its head. No one believed in astrology during that time. No one, not until the earth started changing. Summers were hotter and winters were colder. The intruding star system had been affecting the orbit of Earth. It was the discovery at the observatory that led to the creation of an allied earth and space government. The government created a commission that would design and build a structure which would function as both a shield and weapon against the incoming threat. That is when the prevailing government gave the contract to the Company to build the elevator.

The elevator was intended to be more than just a tool for survival. It was supposed to be a bridge between old and new civilizations, but some had other agendas. There was jealousy, fear and greed plaguing the peoples minds. The elevator would bridge Earth's cities with the colonies. It would relieve the transit system. The fuel crisis was hitting its peak leaving those who cannot afford the fare feeling ostracized and angry. Most importantly it would power a shield that would prevent alien frequencies from transmitting through Earth's airspace making invader ships inoperable. But, the elevator failed after only three months of being in operation, the colonies fell to invasion and then the battle for Earth began.

The invaders came from the Intruder. The Intruder is a rogue planetary system controlled by translucent beings who scavenge the solar system in search of resources, namely precious metals, sustenance, and solar energy. After their original sun had died out they managed to pulverize one of their metallic moons and electrify the dust, using it to manipulate the magnetic field around their planetary system in order to steer the complex through the galaxy. From system to system and planet to planet the invaders used mind control devices and propaganda to fool their victims into signing false contracts with empty promises of power, wealth, and infamy. Their souls would be captured and harvested for food leaving behind an empty vessel programmed to either help harvest the planet's resources or recruit even more young and unsuspecting individuals who were just trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. Most human vessels on Earth were bioengineered to create a new race to serve the invaders. Some say that the Favored are the descendants of this new race of people.

The purpose of the Intruder was not necessarily to destroy but to create. To create a new way for a new life, a life not like our own where autonomy decides our fate but an already written life of servitude to “higher” forms of life. A galactic caste system if you will.

It makes one wonder, is it not natural for a being to want to have some type of power or control over their creations? Is it any different for an alien life form to breed humans for service or worship than it is for humans to breed animals as pets for companionship? Perhaps it would have been natural for us to succumb to that fate.

But we didn’t.

Once the invaders took control of the colonies the battles ensued and the war seemed lost. A new race of beings had taken control of most of Earth's resources and humans were in danger of becoming enslaved. The resistance was holed up underground, holed up deep in the jungles, low in the oceans and high in the mountains. The elevator had become a way of shipping captured refugees back and forth between Earth and the Intruder complex. The complex does not linger, it travels slowly and uses star systems for momentum. It revolves around a planet for a score of years or so, dragging it out of its orbit, eventually leaving it behind in the endless abyss of space until it finds a new orbit. Humanity must either hold its ground for 20 years against an advanced civilization that is hell bent on obliterating them or they must introduce some sort of catalyst to usher in the “removal” process. The crater proves the latter.

Enough was enough, living beings need to grow and in order to grow they need to push their boundaries. Humanity knew slavery and fear was not an option but they knew that a revolt had to be unified and executed precisely, for any reluctance a master receives from a slave is always met with harsh consequence. That consequence is intended to break morale, reducing the risk of rebellion. The key to a successful revolution is morale. A battle fought for the right reasons will leave a lasting impression despite the outcome. And with that impression the battle at the elevator had triggered the war for freedom once again, ending with the fatal expulsion of the Intruder complex from our solar system.

No one really knows what caused the explosion that jettisoned the Intruder away from Earth for it is that very explosion that caused the great Washout. Freedom was achieved, but was the cost too great? Some say the explosion killed 30% of humans, others say 50% as most of the colonies were obliterated and jettisoned into space as well. The Washout had eliminated 80% of remaining life on Earth and the developing noxious atmosphere would continue to be present for centuries to come.

Now, seven centuries later humanity has rebuilt itself into a galactic empire, the noxious gas has subsided into a creeping fog and the broken planet of Earth now boasts 4 space elevators and is considered a major trading port among interstellar travelers. The Intruder has receded into a stagnant wasteland of planets way beyond Pluto, hidden in the Oort Cloud. Some invaders survived but they are too far and too weak to worry about now.

Ah, our elevator is about to dock…

The elevators do not reach the colonies uninterrupted, they dock at the midway station where some can venture off on speedboats and explore the debris belt. Others can use the water closets or find a trip back. The mess hall serves as a great meeting and bartering place. They say you can pick up “contracts” at the saloon but that's for the older folks. Brother won’t stop talking about getting his “stripes”, You can’t get a “contract” until you’ve earned your “stripes.” I beg him not to go, I don't know why, I just get a bad feeling sometimes. He says it’s “fine”, that it's “just talk”, but still, that feeling…

We exit the pod and start making our way towards the mess hall in order to stretch our legs. I had been stuck in my journal for so long that I failed to notice my brother making friends with our travel companions.

“Sis! These are the Crownes! J and J.”

“Hello there! I'm Margaret!”

“Hello!” they say in unison.

“So you both go by J?”

“Yes!” again in unison.

“Ok then, great to meet you two!”

“Great to meet you too!” Again in unison.

“How do you tell which J I'm talking to?”

“Well we’d make fun of you if you were trying to talk to me while looking at her! Haha! I’m boy Jay and she’s my bae, Jae” said the boy.

“Hahahahaha! Well then fair enough, no more silly questions. How has your journey been? Were you able to find good food?”

We find an empty booth, set our snacks on the table and sit down.

“Yes, there's a place we frequently venture to. Up over a hill on the other side of the lake next to an old observatory is an orchard sitting too high for the gas to reach, so masks are virtually unneeded. The grass is green and the water is to die for.” Said the girl.

“Oh wow! Look at that! We have a canned food supply at that same observatory!” I tell them.

“I noticed the canned peaches! Would you trade for these freshly picked cherries?” said he.

“Cherries! Freshly Picked?!?! Brother, hand over the goddamn peaches.”

“Slow down there Sister I'm coming, and don’t be using the lord's name in vain.”

“You, the person who’s read only twelve books in life, believes in god? You’ve never read any of the ancient texts…”

“You don't need to read it to believe it, baby!” my brother heartily exclaims as he slams down a can of del montes best canned peaches.

“Oh my god…” the J’s and I say in unison as we wipe the ridiculousness off our brows.

“That's the spirit! Onward and Upward! What brings y’all to the colonies anyway it sounds like you have paradise waiting for you up on that hill.”

“Im taking Jae to meet my parents in the outer rim, we have a surprise for them”

“Ohh! Tying the knot eh! Congratulations!”

“Not quite but close! hahahaha!” Jay and Jae laugh comfortably, relieving any awkwardness in the group. They seem like a great couple, perhaps I can find my prince charming somewhere in the outer rim one day. That would be quite the surprise for Dad, hopefully he doesn't vaporize him with his work axe.

We make our way back to the pod to continue the ascent when there's an announcement over the PA system.

“Ladies and Gents! We’re experiencing a slight delay. Please stay seated and await further instructions.”

“Oh, must be more critters fooling around in the gearboxes, won’t be too long.” My brother reassures us it's nothing to worry about. He's usually right but for some reason an uneasy feeling is starting to creep up within my body.

“Holy cow what is that?!?!” Jay cries pointing at me.

Jae catches eye of the medallion-like object the bird had dropped on our boat. I had wrapped a thread around it and hung it around my neck while we were waiting for customs to clear the rest of our findings.

“Is that gold?” she asks.

“We don’t know what it is, this strange looking bird had dropped it in our boat as we were leaving the observatory.” I tell them. Boy Jay takes the medallion in his hands.

“Wuf!”

“Story has it that the invaders used gold-like medallions to control their ships. The etchings on this are none that I have ever seen, this might be a ship token.”

"Wuf Wuf!"

“Ship Token?! That's what we're calling it now?” I hassle him.

“You got a better name?”

We’re interrupted by another announcement.

“All transports for today have been CANCELLED. Please make your way to the mess hall and await further instructions.”

Cancelled? ALL transports? How peculiar, this is a first for us.

We make our way as Jay continues.

“They programmed these tokens to activate their fighter ships, after the great war, many ships and tokens were salvaged and used to recreate society in a new lens. The technology led to the building of sky cities and the redesign of the elevators. Many scavengers are still in search of these medallions but rumor has it the last ship left earth 300 years ago.”

“So how do we find out if this is indeed what you say it is if there are no ships to test it on?” I ask him.

“Aha!” shouts Jae

“Aha?” My brother questions with a confused look on his face.

“The museum!” she shouts.

"Wuf!"

“What? No! That thing is a relic, it's probably not even real!” I tell her.

“Well there's only one way to find out then?” she gestures. Jay, my brother and I now share the same confused look. We gaze at each other and know instantly what the other is thinking. “Oh well, Onward and Upward then.”

"Wuf Wuf!"

We make our way to the next platform where the museum is.

BANG! Theres a sudden loud crash which sends us flying across the exhibitions, the lights turn black, the gravity gives out and we’re floating...

“Ahhh!!”

“What's going on?!?!”

“There seems to be some kinda disaster going on thats what!!”

“Wuf Wuf!”

The alarms blare and the lights turn red, I can't make out the voices through the noise, there is a brief announcement.

“LADIES AND GENTS THERE HAS BEEN CRASH! GRAVITY WILL BE TURNED BACK ON IN ONE MINUTE! PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE ESCAPE PODS!”

“CRAP! The way we came has been blocked! Looks like that ship is our only hope now!”

“We better hurry! Let's get back down before gravity brings us down!”

Making our way to the platform we feel our weight come back to us, the alarms simmer down, and the lights have come back on. As I reach for the door I notice my book has fallen out, I look back and see Big Brother pick it up off the ground. He hands it to me.

“Why did you bring that stupid book anyway?”

“It's kinda funny and inspirational, listen to the end of this first chapter.”

“Does fate determine the outcome of your life, maybe, maybe not, but what can? P..."

“Sister! I don’t think now is the time to be reading!”

“Agreed!”

We cross the threshold and see that the chamber to the ship is accessed via a short retractable bridge over a large crevasse designed to deter unannounced visitors.

“What in the world is this mess?!?!” He says

“Oh wow!”says Jae.

“I know, it's nuts.” says Jay.

“It seems very…”

“…very dumb if you ask me!” My brother interrupts me. “Why in the world would anyone build this??”

“Either way we have to make our way across. Best to start looking for a way around, the gap is too big to jump. We can make our way through the vent…”

I'm interrupted again as another crash knocks us down, not as hard as the first but hard enough to cause a gas pipe to break and ignite filling the void under us with hot flames.

“Well ain't that a b…”

“I think I can jump over it!” yells Jay.

“No you can't!” Jae answers back.

“Yes I can, if I can just get to the other side and reach that lever, then we might be able to avoid the detour. I’m going for it!”

“Jack NO!” yells Jae

My brother catches my eye, we share the same expression which says… “...Jack?”

He leaps across the fire as Jae cries out to him. For a moment I could not believe what I’m seeing. As he soars across the treacherous crevasse we hold our breath, his right foot lands firmly, his left arm manages to grab the lever but his left foot slips off the ledge, as he’s slipping he yanks the lever hard with both arms releasing the platform safely catching him just in the nick of time…

…as he gets up and heads towards the next gate there's another crash, a clang is heard and all of a sudden a dozen or so rebars come falling down on top of us.

“Watch out!!”

I shut my eyes and duck, I can hear one, two, three metal rods hit the ground followed by a metallic crash and a loud agonizing scream.

“AAAAAAHHH!

AAAAAHHH, help me, help me!

HELP ME PLEASE!

OH MY GOD IT HURTS! IT HURTS SO MUCH!”

The sound is unbearable…the alarms, the lights, Jack lying impaled, drenched in blood and tears screaming for dear life…my god…the horror…

“HEEEELLPPP MEEEE PLEEEEEEAAAAASSSEEEE!!!!

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!”

The shrieks and cries are blood curling. I close my eyes and cannot watch, I can only hear him gasping for breath with each cry, the heat from the flames is burning...

“I DON'T WANT TO DIE, JILL PLEASE HELP ME, JILL PLEASE

JILL… JILL PLEASE

*cough*

Please

*cough*

*cough*

Hel..

*cough*

Help me

*gasp…

Jill…

Please…

Don't let me…

Don't let…

Don't let me…

…

…

…”

I open my eyes, the screams have faded, the gas pipes have been shut off. The light in his eye vanishes like a flame extinguished from a candle stick. One last breath is all you see, all you hear. It is this last breath that breaks the levees and sends the tears flooding down her face. There is nothing now, just the cold and the sound of sobbing. It was evident they weren't chipped either. The chip allows one to upload their soul onto the cloud until a vessel becomes available. Not the whole soul, just a part, enough to transfer most memories. My brother and I bend down to comfort Jill. She tells us she is pregnant with Jack’s baby, they were going to surprise his mom.

The door in front of us bursts open violently and a silhouette of a large man carrying a miner’s axe is making his way towards us, Lucy barks relentlessly. The man steps forward, Lucy stops barking and lunges, we’re still in shock and can't react to stop her. He must have been the cause of the crash, he must be here to steal the ship, He must be the one Dad warned us about. A man descended from the invaders. An old soul set on the destruction of the human race. What difference does it make now, we are doomed. We have lost all hope and are eagerly awaiting for this man to finish us off. I close my eyes and accept my fate when suddenly, a familiar voice calls out to us.

“Han, Margie, get up. We must move on. Through this dense thicket of darkness and despair we trek and venture into the unknown in search of that warm familiar light on the other side. It seems our journey has yet to begin. Tell me, do you two believe in god?”

“Yes”

“No”

He picks up his axe, fresh fluid still secreting from the blade's edge, swings it up onto his shoulder and proceeds to walk towards the light.

“Let me tell you a story” he says

He pulls out of his pocket something gold and shiny, mom's necklace. He waves it in front of the light and an invader starship appears right in front of us. Jill, Big Brother, Lucy and I follow him aboard. He turns to us, as the bay doors shut he begins…

“Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space…

… nobody…”