The Cloud

by Daniel Boshoff

  “Well, I know we don't really know anything about it,” Holly ventured. “We only know it exists because it isn't there.”

  “Thank you Miss Leppan. A very enlightening explanation. Anyone else?”

  Holly blushed and sank lower in her seat.

  “Don't worry,” Reyner said after a moment. “It was a trick question. Miss Leppan's answer actually summed it up pretty nicely. Dark matter is the name given to an intriguing substance that accounts for about twenty-seven percent of the total mass and energy in the universe. We have no way of seeing it, but we can measure it by studying its effects on what we can see. Or at least, that used to be the case.” Reyner's eyes shifted to the ceiling, where a holographic projector was mounted. “Would you take it from here, Ciso?”

  There was that name again...

  Seemingly from nowhere a mature woman's voice answered. “Certainly, Damien.”

  “Whoa, cool!” Kenji exclaimed, and Evelyn realized it was the projector who had spoken.

  “Good afternoon, everyone,” the voice continued, as the glass of the skylight above them darkened, dimming the room, and a projection of stars shimmering into existence above the table.

  “Ciso is OrbiCor's central computer system,” Reyner explained. “Her name is an acronym for what she is: a closed-circuit intelligent systems operator.”

  “Excuse me, Mr Reyner?” Clove asked, the brow above her green-rimmed glasses furrowed in wonder. “Is she an AI?”

  Reyner winked at her. “I'll let you decide that for yourself. Ciso, continue please.”

  The stars glimmering above the table began to whirl and expand as the projection zoomed in on a peculiar spherical object that glowed with a faint purple hue. Evelyn noticed a very familiar solar system containing eight planets near one side of the projection. Ciso's calm voice filled the room. “What you are looking at now is a concentration of dark matter unlike any found before – and yes, we can actually see it. A few years ago we at OrbiCor developed an ultra-high frequency electromagnetic imaging device that showed us a never before seen spectrum of space. It allowed us to look at dark matter and study it directly for the first time. Except we soon realized we weren't actually looking at it.” Ciso paused, and Evelyn reflected on how natural her voice sounded, how very human it seemed. She guessed Ciso probably was an AI. Reyner was well-known for his ground-breaking work in the field of artificial intelligence, after all.

  “For many years, a popular theory for why we couldn't see dark matter was that it was too dense to reflect visible radiation – like light – but it turned out the real reason was something far more exciting. We couldn't see it because, as Miss Leppan said, it wasn't there. Or rather, where there was wasn't there.” Ciso paused for effect. “Dark matter isn't actually matter at all; it's a collection of vacuum particles that lead to, for lack of a better term, another dimension.”

  A silence fell upon the interns as if the gravity of what Ciso had just said was preventing their tongues from lifting.

  “Thank you Ciso,” Reyner stepped forward. “Ciso was actually the one responsible for unlocking this incredible secret, and we've kept it a secret for a very good reason.” He pointed at the purple sphere in the hologram. “That concentration of D4 particles, as we now call them, was one of the first things we discovered when we began mapping the known universe with the UFEID, and we found that we could actually see right through it, into a small cone of Dimension Four. You won't believe what we found on the other side.” He looked around at their expectant faces.

  Matthew, the surly boy who had done nothing but glare at everyone since Evelyn's arrival, suddenly spoke up. “Can we get this over with?”

  Reyner looked at Matthew strangely. “Please bear with us Matthew, I'd like everyone here to have at least a basic understanding of what we're doing.”

  Evelyn got the distinct impression that Reyner's words to Matthew carried some significance that only the two of them understood, and as she sneaked a look him she wondered what their relationship was. Reyner continued and she turned her attention back to him, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Matthew's smoldering eyes were watching her.

  “On the other side of that D4 rift is a whole new universe,” Reyner said proudly, “and in that universe we have found a planet not so different from ours, a planet covered mostly in water, dotted with large land masses that show signs of plant life. Ladies and gentlemen,” he gestured at the purple sphere in the holograph, “this D4 Rift is the greatest discovery in the history of space exploration, yet only a very small handful people know about it. And now you do too. Consider it my welcoming gift to you all.”

  As Evelyn looked around at the looks of awe on the faces of her fellow interns she saw Matthew pinching the bridge of his nose as though he had a headache.

  “Naturally,” Reyner went on, “we at OrbiCor have made it our highest priority to get a manned mission through the rift and onto that planet, and I am quite confident we will achieve this goal very soon.”

  Evelyn couldn't take her eyes off Reyner's face. There was a strange look there, a kind of fervor and passion that was motivating and unsettling at the same time. Why was he telling them all this, she wondered, when he had kept it a secret from the entire world? Surely a bunch of high school kids weren't the best people with whom to entrust this kind of information? Or maybe he was planning to reveal it to the public soon anyway...

  Her thoughts were interrupted by Clove's voice. “Mr Reyner, if I may? According to this projection that Rift thingy is in the relative vicinity of our solar system. And, if I'm not mistaken, that's Alpha Centauri over there.” Evelyn followed her finger to a star some distance from the purple sphere. “At my best guess that puts the Rift about a light year away from Earth. There's no technology that could get a manned flight there in anything close to a human lifetime, is there?”

  Reyner nodded in acknowledgment before looking around at everyone with a knowing smile. “I'd like you all to follow me please, I have something else to show you.”

  The glass of the skylight cleared and the room lit up, dispelling the planetary holograph. Evelyn had questions she wanted to ask Damien Reyner. There were so many things she had just heard that didn't make sense but intrigued her beyond anything she'd ever learned. She hurried after the owner of OrbiCor as he left the room, catching up in the hallway.

  “Sorry, Mr Reyner?”

  “Yes, Evelyn?”

  She asked the question that was at the front of her mind, though she would later wonder why she asked that one when there were so many other more important ones she could have asked. “What have you named the planet? The one you found on the other side of the rift?”

  “We've called it Janus. It's an adage to the Roman god of new beginnings, for it is my hope that it will offer humanity a chance to start afresh.” He looked at her strangely. “Let us hope that we will treat Janus better than we have treated our poor Earth.”

  2

  Evelyn almost had to jog to keep up with Reyner's long strides as he led her and the others through the labyrinth of passageways and buildings that made up the OrbiCor Test and Development Facility. Some of the areas they passed through were quiet, others were noisy with the sound of machinery. Strangely, not a single other soul was to be seen anywhere.

  As they walked, Evelyn reflected on Reyner's presentation. OrbiCor had found extraterrestrial life – albeit in the form of plants. That was huge. That the extraterrestrial life in question was on a planet in another dimension on the other side of a dark matter rift a light-year from Earth was still something she was struggling to wrap her head around. She could only wonder at what else Reyner was going to show them.

  Reyner finally stopped outside a set of glass doors, through which the group could make out the interior of a massive hangar-like building with a vaulted ceiling at least four stories high. The floor of the building was strewn with bits of satellites and spacecraft that were still under construction. Evelyn's eyes fell on a large round st
ructure resembling an upside-down spinning top near the center of the hangar.

  “This is Hangar Three.” Reyner gestured through the glass doors once everyone had gathered round. “In here is where we build our prototype shuttles and satellites for testing before we hand the designs off to our production plant in Nevada. Do you see that one?” He pointed to the spinning-top thing that Evelyn now noticed had a decal spelling InDi on the side. “That is the ship that will take mankind through the Rift. The Inter-Dimensional Voyager, or InDi for short.” He smiled at them, and Evelyn noticed again that there was something off about his smile, as though he was covering up his true emotions … or hiding something. “Would you like to take a closer look? The engineers are all on their lunch break, we have the entire facility to ourselves.”

  “Hell yeah,” said Kenji.

  “I'd be fascinated,” Nelson added.

  Reyner placed his hand against a scanner beside the doors and they slid open – apparently not just anybody was allowed into Hanger Three. The air that rushed out of the pressurized hangar smelled of metal and paint. As they entered, Evelyn found the silence of the vast space a little eerie, especially because it looked and felt so busy. It was as though everyone who worked there had suddenly vanished into thin air, leaving their ghosts to hover around their unfinished work.

  As Reyner led them through the work area she wished he would walk a little more slowly so she could stop and examine the machine that resembled a robotic jellyfish, and the small, winged device built from entirely transparent materials, as well as the countless other extraordinary prototypes awaiting completion around the hangar. She felt like she could spend hours here, just looking at everything, and she wanted to save InDi for last.

  Reyner stopped in the shuttle's shadow, beside a wheeled ramp that led up to a small door in its side about three feet off the ground. Now that she was closer, Evelyn realized it was larger than she had previously thought. InDi rose nearly to the roof of the hangar, and it looked to be even broader at the base than it was high. The surface of the hull shimmered in the glare of the spotlights high above.

  Reyner turned to address them. “Shoes off, please, and don't touch anything inside the vessel.” With that he slipped out of his shoes and walked up the ramp.

  “Holy cow,” said Kenji excitedly. “D'you think he's gonna let us test drive this thing?”

  Matthew stepped onto the ramp and said softly. “Yeah. And it's going be the last thing you ever drive.” He disappeared into the vessel, leaving the others looking at each other in surprised confusion.

  “No clue what that's supposed to mean, but that guy seems a little...” Kenji shook his head from side to side, crossing his eyes.

  “Yeah,” Holly agreed. “He's been acting super strange since he got here.” She shrugged. “Anyway, let's go check out this so-called Inter-Dimensional Voyager.” She headed up the stairs.

  “I still don't get how they're planning to get this thing that far. A light-year is like what, six trillion miles?” Clove said.

  “Maybe some kind of constant acceleration drive,” Nelson suggested.

  “Yeah, maybe. I guess Reyner'll tell us.” Clove headed up the ramp.

  Evelyn hurried after the others.

  The interior of the shuttle seemed even more spacious than it had looked from the outside. It was divided into three sections: the large cabin they stood in occupied one half of the round space, with two smaller cabins each taking up one of the remaining quarters.

  Evelyn looked around at walls lined with white paneling and a few pieces of machinery rising out of the floor. Over to one side a high-tech computer interface was being installed. Loose cables lay everywhere.

  “Da-yum!” Kenji exclaimed. “It's so … spacey.”

  “Duh.” Holly rolled her eyes at him. “What were you expecting?”

  Reyner cleared his throat, getting their attention. “InDi is designed to meet all the needs of our astronauts, including a water purification system and enough food to last a year on the planet. When they land, this area can be used as a lab, from where the team can conduct their tests and studies of Janus' environment.” Reyner pointed to one of the smaller cabins. “That room there houses the central computer that controls InDi's systems as well as the nuclear generator and battery bank used for propulsion and later for on-planet power. InDi's entire exterior is coated in ultra-sensitive solar cells that can draw power from stars countless times further away than our sun.”

  Evelyn looked around in fascination. Reyner hadn't been kidding. He really was going to send people to Janus, and, by the looks of things, soon. She noticed similar amazement on the faces of the others, except for Matthew's. He had a faraway look in his eyes, like his mind was somewhere else entirely. It was strange, he almost looked like he was about to cry.

  “What's in that room, Mr Reyner?” Nelson was pointing at the final cabin.

  “Ah, that's the most important room of all. That is the storage room. Inside, aside from tools and equipment, is a cabinet that will be kept at a constant minus-eighteen degrees and will transport over ten thousand sperm samples from Earth to Janus to be used to inseminate our female astronauts once they have established themselves on the planet, and later to inseminate their children, ensuring that the gene pool does not become stagnant.”

  There was an awkward silence in the shuttle, as the implications of what Reyner had just said sank in.

  Holly asked the question on everyone's minds. “Why do you need to send … um … sperm on a science mission?”

  “This will not be a science mission.” Reyner turned away from them, fixing his eyes on the storage room. “The D4 rift is shrinking, closing. This ship is only designed for a one-way flight. Once it has passed through the Rift it will never return, and we will not be able to follow it.” He turned back to them. “InDi and its eight brave occupants are being sent not on a science mission, but on a mission to colonize Janus.” Reyner gestured to a ladder in one corner of the lab area that led up through a small trapdoor. “Would you like to see upstairs?” His obvious shift from the topic was disconcerting, and Evelyn felt suddenly tense. She glanced around at the others: there were eight interns in total ….

  Reyner went up the stairs first. None of the others seemed eager to ascend, and a thick silence had fallen over the group. Evelyn guessed they were all thinking about what Reyner had just told them. Was he really going to send people through the Rift with no hope of returning? Who would volunteer for a mission like that, she wondered. Was it even legal?

  After a moment Seren stepped onto the first rung of the ladder and looked back at them. “Are you guys coming?” she asked, and without waiting for a response continued up into the space above.

  With a glance around at the others Brenner shrugged and ascended after her. One-by-one they all followed, with Matthew coming up last.

  The interns stood now in the top section of the craft. The space here was a lot smaller than below due to InDi's conical shape, and Evelyn had to stoop to avoid bumping her head. This circular cabin was undivided, but a thick pillar ascended through the center, feeding various cables and tubes into an array of eight coffin-like structures arranged like the rays of a sun around it. Evelyn immediately began to feel claustrophobic in the stuffy space. She wanted to leave, but Reyner was talking.

  “This is where our astronauts will spend the journey. It is impractical to have them conscious and walking around, so we have designed these chambers that will contain a motorized nano-gel to suspend them during transit, protecting their bodies from the stress of high-speed travel and also exercising their muscles to keep them from degrading. The tubes you see will deliver food and waste to and from the occupants, circulating excess liquid through the on-board purification plant to be reused.” He smiled around at them, and lifted the lid of one of the coffin-like pods, revealing a padded interior studded with sensors. “So, who wants to try one out?” Reyner's effort at gaiety fell flat on the interns, who were too busy processi
ng everything he was telling them. No one stepped forward.

  “Evelyn?” Reyner's eyes fixed on her. “Why don't you try?”

  “Um, okay.” Evelyn didn't really want to. This part of the shuttle was creepy and she wanted to go back downstairs, but there was something in Reyner's voice that made it seem impossible for her to say no. She stepped forward and he gestured to a small step beside the pod. She stepped up and sat on the edge, swinging her legs up, before lowering herself in and lying back.

  “Comfy?” Reyner asked.

  “Yeah, actually, it's not bad.”

  “Good. Sleep well, Evelyn.”

  “Wha–?”

  Reyner closed the lid before the word was out of her mouth.

  Darkness. Evelyn wanted to panic, knew that she should, but instead she felt her eyes growing heavy, a strange force tugging her under.

  Right before her mind went black she heard a muffled shriek through the walls of the pod, then a loud thud as something struck it.

  After that she heard nothing.

  3

  Damien Reyner was tense. The deadline was one week away. That meant he would be launching today – another secret. Lately they had been getting harder to bear. Miles had been behaving nervously these past few weeks, and Reyner had been avoiding him. He felt sure his second-in-command was planning to try and stop him from going through with the mission, hence the secret launch ahead of schedule. The fact that Reyner was sending his godson on the mission was also a secret to Miles, who thought Matthew was studying in France.

  Soon it would all be over. The thought calmed him. The knowledge of his own impending end was, strangely, a comfort.

  Mai had been monitoring the interns for the past five weeks, making sure their bodies had all accepted the NAMs. Fortunately she had never met Miles' son, and was completely ignorant as to who she was working on. So far the NAM treatment had all gone smoothly, and Reyner had had the interns moved to the shuttle minutes ago while Mai was on her lunch break. Then he had programmed the eighth pod, the one containing his prodigy, to receive one final upload.