Chapter 10 “Out of the darkness”
The meeting broke up quickly. Joe and Stan were scurrying around trying to get out of there. Dr. Becker and Dr. Zanagar never really got a chance to ask Joe anything. Stan walked out of the room. Joe called in Omney telling him to get the ship ready for his trip to the homeworlds.
Dr. Becker walked over to Joe and poked his shoulder so hard he spun around startled. Knowing she finally had his attention she glared at him.
“We need to talk. I still don’t fully understand our roll in all this.”
Joe rubbed his shoulder with one hand as he held up the other. “Look, we need to hurry. Contact is sporadic with the homeworlds and we need to go while the window is open.”
Dr. Becker stood with her arms crossed like a statue, the anger etched on her face.
Joe sensed the entire Earth group was feeling like Dr. Becker. “I promise, we’ll have some time to talk on the ship, but right now we really have to go.”
Dr. Becker shook her head letting out a big sigh as Joe backed away.
Joe motioned to the group to gather around. “Who’ll go back to Earth and who’s coming with me?” Joe asked this like they were taking a trip to the store.
Tom was itching to get back and see his family but he knew the importance of this mission, he had to go to the homeworlds and gather more information.
Finally Steve spoke up, “I’ll go back and report on the situation.” Joe looked around but no one else spoke.
“OK, Onney will take you back. Someone should go with you so you can get back here if you want. You’re free to come and go if Stan’s okay with that.”
Sam spoke up, “I’ll go with him.”
Joe looked at Sam concerned, he didn’t know all the details but he did know Sam was abducted and kept here against his will. He thought about it for a moment and knew eventually those like Sam would return to Earth. He walked over to Sam and led him away from the group so he could take to him in private.
“Okay, fine. But you must realize that certain things need to be kept quiet for a while, we don’t want to start a panic on Earth.” Joe whispered to Sam as he kept looking over his shoulder to see if the others were listening.
Sam squinted his eyes in confusion. “What exactly are you talking about.”
Joe leaned in to Sam and mouthed. “Bodyfarming.”
Sam nodded unblinkingly. “Of course, I am not idiot you know.”
Joe breathed a sigh of relief hoping he could trust him, things were happening so fast he had little choice. “Just make sure Stan knows about it or you might not be able to get back here. I’ll talk to him before I leave, which should be in less than one hour.” Joe looked at his watch.
“Good luck Steve.” Joe and Steve shook hands. He motioned to the rest of the group to follow him and they headed toward the ship.
They walked briskly through a series of long corridors with Joe in the lead. An aide from the control room showed up and gave Joe a status update on the wormhole connection strength to the homeworlds. Contact was sporadic with the homeworlds but Joe shrugged it off and said he wasn’t too worried. He knew a few ways he could get around it.
Dr. Becker strained to hear the conversation. Although she wasn’t an expert, she knew a little about the theory. Wormholes are a “short-cut” between the fabric of space. It is the only way to travel across such vast distances quickly. Without wormholes it would take you decades to get to the homeworlds from Earth. Dr. Becker knew it only as a theory, the energy required was enormous.
Finally they made it to the landing dock and boarded the ship. As they entered the control room Dr. Becker paused, she expected something like the bridge on Star Trek’s Enterprise but the control room sat unremarkably plain and messy. She was almost disappointed at the sight of a large square room with two smaller rooms branching off to the sides. The place looked unfinished. In the smaller rooms tubes and wires ran haphazardly on the floor in no particular order. Pieces of equipment sat randomly about with large pipes sprouting out of the top. The main room had rows of tables on one side and a series of what looked like work benches on the other. Metal boxes were strewn about with thick wires randomly protruding out. The same strange globes they had seen in the control center on the Outpost were placed on the center of each bench, four in all. With no front window to look out of, it had an old mechanics shop feel and smelled like one to. Joe walked up to a bench and began making adjustments on the equipment. He peered into a globe while putting his hands on the sides. They felt the ship take off. The ride started out smooth but quickly grew bumpy. The ship vibrated and then there were some large jolts causing them to nearly fall down.
“Sorry about that, but we are in a real hurry. We need to get to the jump point fast.”
Dr. Becker held onto the bench as she made her way over to Joe, “What do you mean by jump point?”
Joe then began explaining as he kept working. “Gravity wells, either natural or manufactured where wormholes can form. There always needs to be a natural one because that is a known point where we can jump to. The gravity well near one of the homeworlds is always open unless it’s been purposely blocked, which is what I fear they might do. Of course there are ways around that, but it’s kind of risky.” Joe said this as he worked on the equipment. He kept looking back into the globe.
Dr. Becker looked at the bowling ball sized globe but could see nothing. It appeared to be made out of cloudy glass. She looked over at Joe and noticed that both his hands were on either side of the globe as if he were holding it. She did the same thing to the one in front of her. Upon grabbing it she felt a light rush of air and suddenly her head seemed to be inside. She could see all the projections in full circle. In front of her looked like the front window of the ship as information streamed on all sides. The globe turned in whatever direction she thought, right, left, up, down, her mind controlled it. She wanted to focus in on something and instantly it happened. It was too much, she could not control random thoughts and the globe started to move erratically. She let go and found herself taking a step back, almost falling down. She shook her head and tried to collect herself.
“What will happen if you go into a wormhole and the other end is blocked?” Tom held onto the bench as the ship vibrated with an occasional jolt here and there.
Joe responded with brief laughter. “You see the wormhole will only form with the other end open. We can sometimes artificially open one near a dense object, like a star, but it is not as accurate and we could be light years off. It is very dangerous and most of the time won’t work, but I know a trick.”
Dr. Zanagar listened intently to the entire conversation. “I don’t understand. If you can see the star why not just jump there?”
“Like I said, you need a very accurate location on where the star or gravity well is. When you look up at a star that is 100 light years away, you are seeing that star where it was 100 years ago, not now. You need to know where it is right now at this very moment. The planets and stars are all moving and it is impossible to predict exactly where they are right now. In order for the wormhole to form it needs to open at both ends, that’s why we have all these Outposts with gravity wells. Think of space as a giant ocean with all the planets and stars drifting around. It’s hard to predict exactly where they are.” Joe told them this as he worked.
Tom kept looking back and forth trying to understand the conversation. Being a big Star Wars fan, he couldn’t help himself. “Hey, why don’t you jump to light speed?”
“Don’t you mean warp speed?” Dr. Zanagar replied, a lifelong fan of all things Star Trek.
Joe looked over at both of them with disbelief, he shook his head and said, “Don’t say shit like that when we get there, OK? I’ve been telling them how intelligent you are so don’t embarrass me.”
“Dark matter and dark energy, if you fly through space at accelerated speeds you run into it. There are also other dense objects out there that will interfere with accelerated s
pace travel. Part of the Outposts function is to keep your system clear of all these objects that might harm you. Sorry guys but that kind of travel is only in the movies.” The ship began to vibrate more violently, it almost seemed like it would fall apart.
“Damn it.” Joe slammed his fist on the counter
“What?” yelled Dr. Becker, clutching onto one of the benches.
“The wormhole’s blocked. Son of a bitch! We’re going to have to use the sun at the other end. Sorry about this, but no time to put anyone to sleep.” Joe looked into the globe, and a brilliant flash of light blinded everyone. They instantly became dizzy and nauseated. The noise of the vibration kept getting louder.
Joe yelled to everyone, “Brace yourselves, here we go.”
They all fell to their knees fighting for consciousness. Tom passed out, falling to the floor like a rag doll as Dr. Zanagar curled up into the fetal position. Joe tried to remain conscience as he continued looking into the globe, grasping to it for dear life.
Dr. Becker clenched her stomach as the room rocked like a small boat on the high seas. The nausea intensified and then turned to pain. Another flash of light and as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. She lay still trying to recovering. It felt like the worse hangover of her life.
“Is everything alright?” Dr. Becker slowly got up clinging to the bench.
“Yeah, we’re okay. We should be there in about 30 minutes.” Joe rubbed his stomach. “I forgot how much I hated that.”
Steve went to find Alizia. In the short time they’d been together he had developed strong feelings for her. He wanted to protect her from the temptations on the Outpost. He had this naïve idea that he’d bring her to Earth and they would have a perfect life together. When he opened the door to her place and found her on the floor gazing unblinking into a pental box. Steve’s heart sank. She was completely unaware of his presence. Several reen inhalers were scattered about. He took a few steps toward her then threw up his arms. Shaking his head he spun around heading toward the door. His anger turned to pity then sadness. He shut the door and walked over to her. He wanted to slap the box out of her hands but he had an overwhelming desire to help her knowing she’d been through more than he could possibly imagine. If his life’s path had been the same as hers, he’d probably be sitting right where she was. Gently taking hold of the box, he pried it away from her.
She protested for a second but then came to her senses. Looking up at him in shame, her eyes began to water. “I thought you were just a dream.” Alizia whimpered.
“No, I’m real and I want to help you. Come on and let’s clean you up, we’re going to Earth.” Steve tossed the box aside then lightly pet the strands of hair away from her face.
Alizia looked puzzled, “Earth? How are we going to Earth? Why would they let me go to Earth after all this time?” She whisper almost to herself.
“Come on, there’s not much time to explain. I have to get back there. We’re going with Sam to Earth and the others are going to the homeworlds.” Steve headed into the bathroom. He kept looking around for a bag so she could pack.
“Wait, just wait a second. What the hell are you talking about?” She climbed onto the couch from the floor.
Steve walked over to her and sat down. Gently taking her hands he looked straight into her eyes and said, “We’re going to Earth. Now. Come on, we need to go.”
“You mean they are letting us go back?” She became frightened.
Steve interrupted her, “Look, contact has been made with Earth and I need to get back and report what I’ve experienced here on this Outpost. You’re coming with me. You can help me explain about the things that have happened here.”
“I don’t know if I could do that, I mean,” She covered her mouth with her hand, her face petrified.
“All you have to do is tell the truth.” Steve gently caressed her hair.
“Okay, okay. I’ll trust you on this.” She glanced around the room. “I guess anything has to be better than this place.” Getting up and heading for the shower her mind was still in a fog. The warm water soaked through her hair and down her body. Strange things were happening, she thought as her mind slowly cleared. These Earth people showing up, sporadic contact with the homeworlds. What’s going on? Her mind began to wander about the past, how things have changed, how she has changed.
She thought about the old times when large groups of freeformed humans would get together and talk about their pasts. Conversations and conspiracies would fill the room, all speculation of course. Everyone knew the facts, humans were a conglomerate of humanoid creatures, but engineered by who? No one knew. Often the subject would turn be on how humans were engineered. The two lobes in the brain meant two creatures were fused into one entity. Ideas would bounce back and forth, reason things out. Emotions were also intensified and for some people, impossible to control. With higher reasoning also came higher pain, anger and lust. All aspects that make up the human condition were intensified.
As she stared though the wall of the shower and into her past, she thought that horrible attack on this system so long ago. Could it be happening again? Those events changed everything. It made everyone on the homeworlds fear freeformed humans. A mystery surrounded the single lobed humanoid attackers. Could they have been one of the base creatures humans were made out of? Alizia gave up caring after her banishment, but the past has caught up to her.
After the attack Earth was re-seeded with freeformed humans. Most other planets with regular humans were tightly controlled. The humans placed on them were genetically modified to have their emotions dampened. All planets with freeformed humans ended up destroying themselves, except for Earth. Earth was the only one that had lasted, and mostly because they had been helped. Like helping an animal in a zoo survive. The amount of involvement varied throughout Earth’s history. At times the Outpost would get heavily involved while in others, they would only watch. Of course sometimes they would make things worse, much worse.
As Alizia stepped out of the shower she wondered about Earth. She’d always dreamt about it, and now it was finally coming true. It’d been a long time since she’d climbed a mountain or felt the wind upon her face. Her excitement grew and as she packed her bags.
“Are you sure you’ve got everything you need?”
“Yeah let’s go.”
They walked out the door and Alizia stopped to look back. She stared at what she had called home for the last several years. There were no good memories, just loneness and sorrow.
Steve noticed her hesitation, “Everything’s going to be fine.”
“It’s not that, it’s just this place. I thought I’d be stuck here for the rest of my life. Let’s get out of here.”
They made their way to the main building where they linked up with Sam and headed to where the ship would be launching. They went through a double set of doors and standing defiantly in the middle of the walkway was Stan, waiting for them. His arms were crossed and he had an angry look on his face.
“Going somewhere?” Stan inquired.
“Yeah, we’re headed to Earth,” Steve replied. Stan uncrossed his arms and sighed as he looked down.
“I did some checking on your new friends. I thought you looked familiar.” Stan gave Sam a forced smile.
Sam shrugged his shoulders.
“You were part of the radicals that went to the council and made a big fuss about changing the human race.” Stan laughed. “Well, I guess your dream is finally coming true. Change is coming, whether we like it or not.” Stan looked over at Steve. “I don’t think it’d be a good idea for them to go to Earth just yet.”
“What? Look, Joe said they could go.” Steve defiantly replied.
“Joe is not in control here, I run this place.”
Sam glared at Stan, “What the hell are you talking about? I was ripped away from Earth and now’s my chance to go home.”
A shouting match erupted between Stan and Sam, neither backing down.
Steve yelled for everyone to calm down. “Stan, we’re not disregarding your authority. You’re in control here and that’s final. I want to ask your permission for us to go to Earth.”
Stan glared at Steve and shook his head, “Look, I’m concerned about panic engulfing Earth. Chaos could spread throughout the planet like wildfire, we have to be very careful.”
“It has to happen sooner or later and it might as well be right now.” Sam flatly replied.
“We need to go there because humanity cannot survive in its current condition. I’ll go to Earth,” Sam stopped and raised his hand toward Stan. “I mean I’d like to go to Earth, with your permission of course, and help in the transition.” Sam had a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
“I want to help as well.” Alizia finally spoke up.
“I’m going to regret this, but fine. Okay.”
“I’ll make sure Joe gets to the homeworlds and then I’ll come to Earth.” Stan paused and scratched his head. “I’ll get you some communicators. We should stay in contact once I get into orbit around Earth.” Stan motioned for the group to follow him. They went into the docking bay where the ship was and Stan went over to a table with piles of equipment and cables haphazardly spread about. He grabbed some small hand held devices. “Here, these will work. Good luck with your journey and I’ll see you in a few days.”
Stan turned to Omney and told him to make sure they got safely to Earth. He didn’t even say goodbye to them, he just turned and left. Walking down the corridor he thought to himself, If this system is attacked, I will need to sever the link immediately. Stan paused rubbing his chin. If they find this Outpost, I will be forced to destroy this entire system.