The Chronicles of Aallandranon - Episode One - Ant-Lion (3 page)

“
It
was good to meet you, Doctor Tabith.
”
Janice smiled at him,
and then followed Elizabeth
’
s direction and entered
the Lock-up.

Elizabeth Newman grabbed Jonathan
’
s hand and tugged him
into motion.
“
Come
on.
”
She narrowed her hazel eyes to his as she led him to a
nearby corridor behind a tall stack of boxes. Everybody was either
busy working or getting ready for the coming event. She pulled him
into a vacant foreman
’
s office and began kissing him and running her
hands through his hair.

“
Do
you have time to help me, Doctor Tabith?
”
She whispered in his
ear as she unzipped her uniform.

“
I’
ve got all the time in
the universe,
”
said Jonathan as he pulled his lips to
hers.

3

Jonathan returned to the Bridge. Joyce and
Adams were on the first floor, prepared to give the order to launch
when ready.

“
Figured we
’
d wait for you before we launched into deep
space.
”
Captain Joyce said.

“
Resume the mission as scheduled.
”
Jonathan
said.

Joyce
nodded.
“
Take us out, Thompson.
”
Freighters, Falcons,
and Hawks flew alongside the ship, firing rockets into the empty
space above the Enigma: vessels from Pluto and Earth, giving the
crew of the Enigma a final send-off. Jonathan found an empty seat
and sat down.

“
Trillian, how
’
s everything look? You doing
okay?
”
Adams asked through the communicator cuff on his
wrist.

“
Doing fine, Sir: one-hundred and ten percent
efficiency.
”
Chance Trillian
’
s voice echoed from the
communicator.

Adams
found a seat at the back of the first floor of the ship.
“
We should clear the Kuiper Belt and Scattered Disc, and
enter the Oort Cloud in five hours.
”
Adams said into his communicator so
that everyone on the ship could hear him.

Beyond the front window of the Bridge, the Enigma waded
between the many floating shards of frozen gasses. A globe of space
cleared the area around the Enigma as floating space debris
intercepted the shield and either dissolved or deflected away. They
could see the light of Alpha Centauri as a tiny glimmer in the
distance. There were actually two suns, but from this position in
space they looked like one. They would be the
Enigma
’
s guiding light for the remainder of the
trip.

The
ship was on high alert throughout the next five hours. Watching the
Oort Cloud approach was incredible. A sea of comets floated across
their view
–
one that extended around the entirety of the solar system.
Each comet moved in perfect sync with the others, soaring on the
sun
’
s
outer heliosphere. The light reflecting off the comets shined on
the faces of everyone on the Bridge.

“
Thrusters to full power. Set coordinates,
Thompson.
”
Captain Joyce ordered.

“
Yes,
Sir.”
Ryan Thompson said,
looking from his terminal to the window above. It was simple
point-intersect algebra, which the computer of the ship projected
automatically so Ryan simply had to plug in the coordinates and
they would be able to slip between the mesh of comets streaking in
formation about the solar system.

“
How
are we looking, Sam?
”
Joyce asked through the
communicator.

“
Running cool.
”
He replied.
“
Give her all you need
to punch through and get us on our way.
”

“
Weapons at full support, prepared for any oncoming
projectiles.
”
George Freeman said.

“
Try
to avoid shooting anything unless we have no other
choice,
”
said Jonathan.
“
It could trigger a
massive chain reaction that would turn our
shields
–
and us
–
into dust. If it
’
s a big enough chain
reaction it could disrupt the entire solar
system.
”

“
Shield is fluctuating between ninety-eight and a hundred
percent.
”
Freeman said.

The Enigma moved between the giant, bright
comets with ease. Each comet whirred noiselessly within its
position in space. It was much simpler than Jonathan had
anticipated. Several men had supposedly passed through the Oort
Cloud, but few could have gone farther and lived to tell the
tale.

“
We
should be through the Oort Cloud in less than a five
days.
”
Jonathan said.
“
So long as
we
’
ve
got eyes everywhere for that time, we
’
ll be
fine.
”

The alert system went off overhead. The few
lights positioned over the room switched to red. It startled even
Jonathan, and he had designed the alert system himself.

“
The
system
’
s freaking out because of all the
projectiles.
”
Clara said.

“
We
’
re fine, but... I guess the ship
’
s
nervous.
”
Ryan Thompson concurred.

4

Later that evening, when Jonathan and
Elizabeth were at the bar in the cafeteria, Jonathan sat in silent
thought.

“
Hard to believe it
’
s really happening.
We
’
re
really here.
”
She said.

Jonathan nodded.

“
I
was so scared when I looked out,
”
continued Elizabeth.
“
With the Enigma
’
s core we could destroy the whole solar system on
a prayer that we might be able to find something more.
We
’
re
so greedy, human-beings.
”

“
To
deny it would be to deny who we are. Maybe it
won
’
t
be by one another
’
s hand that our species faces extinction, but by our
unrelenting curiosity.
”
He said, looking into his glass. He observed the
billions of atoms and molecules that comprised his drink, thinking
that in a way some form of life might exist. And if it did, did it
wonder what lay outside its world of understanding? Did it pray,
philosophize, and ponder the constructs of its prison so that it
may alter its destiny of
‘
here and
gone
’
;
the ruthless way that the universe seemed to exist throughout all
of its known being? Could anything ever survive this constant
reality, particularly the weak and ignorant race of
human-kind?
“
Is it even
necessary?
”
He asked aloud.

“
Is
what necessary?
”
Elizabeth asked. She downed the last of her drink and
caught the bartender
’
s eye. He came over and filled up her glass with
more whiskey.

“
Our
survival. What if this reality is just a test: a test of fortitude
and acceptance. People who can
’
t abide by this waste
away, life after life.
”

“
I’
m not following
you.
”

“
I
was just thinking about an interesting quantum theory an old
professor of mine used to talk about; unlimited universes, that
everything that
’
s happened and is happening has happened before and
will happen again. There are an unlimited number of
realities
–

“
I
remember. I was in Gordon
’
s class as
well.
”
Elizabeth smiled.

“
That
’
s right. He retired two years after you graduated,
right?
”
Jonathan asked.

She
nodded, rolling her eyes to her glass.
“
It
’
s cool when you hear about it, but it
’
s just words and ideas.
Maybe stuff does work like that on some other-dimensional level,
but we spent a lot of time theorizing in school.
”

“
I
suppose you
’
re right.
”

“
Do
you think anyone would mind if I moved my stuff into your room?
Yours has a window.
”
Elizabeth said.

“
I
think we could bend the rules a little.
”
Jonathan said, placing
his hand on her leg.
“
For all we know,
Earth could be destroyed and we might have to procreate for a new
planet.
”

“
Maybe you should procreate on your own.
”
Elizabeth smiled and
finished the last of her drink.

“
Well,
”
Jonathan got up from his seat,
“
I’
ve got to make a few rounds before I head to bed so
I
’
ll
meet you at my place in a little while.
”

“
Sounds good.
”
Elizabeth smiled at him. He left the cafeteria
and returned to Engineering.

5

“
I’
ll be back for you. I
promise.
”
Chance said to his girlfriend, Sarah Hoffman, over the
video communication screen in his office. Jonathan stood in the
doorway, listening. He needed to talk to Chance, but
didn
’
t
want to interrupt.

“
I understand.
It’
s our destiny to go
separate ways, Chance. You have to do this.
”
Sarah
replied.

“
You
’
ll wait for me... right?
”
Chance asked.

“
I... I don
’
t know if that
’s
practical.”
Sarah said,
inspiring a difficult silence.
“
Doctor Tabith is
behind you. You should probably see what he needs and
I
’
ll
talk to you later.
”
She closed the video call, leaving the black desktop
of his monitor.

“
Damn.”
Chance massaged his
brow.

“
It
’
s going to be okay.
”
Jonathan said with his hands laced
behind his back.

“
Yeah, says you. I gave up everything for this
mission.
”
Chance shook his head.

“
Is
that such a bad thing? Are you afraid of what
’
s going to happen to
you, of what
’
s going to happen to her?
”
Jonathan asked.
“
She
’
ll be fine. You
’
ll be fine.
”

“
I
just,
”
Chance paused,
“
can
’
t stand the idea of her being with someone
else.
”

Jonathan shrugged.
“
Was Sarah the first
girl you ever slept with?
”

Chance wrinkled his forehead.
“
No,
but
–