“Looks like our family’s grown.” Valkyrie smirked.
Seven said no words. He simply smiled and wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulder
“Hello! Hello! Do you read? Unauthorized alien vessel! Do you read?” A voice sounded from the ship’s com systems. Valkyrie immediately departed from the room back to the commander’s deck
“Yes, we read loud and clear.”
“You are surrounded by our forces, do not attempt to escape or retaliate.”
“We’re disabled. Declaring emergency, main engines offline, auxiliary power failing. Who are you?”
A short silence took over for a moment, sending Valkyrie into a paranoia. Their ship was at the point where at any moment, it could break apart. Any decently evolved civilization would know that. They were in no position to fight.
“This is the Solar Defense vessel “Andronikus”.” The voice came back strong, “We have visual and sensor confirmation. Are you hostile?”
“No!” Valkyrie exclaimed happily realizing where they were, “We are earth descendants from another time. Please, help us. We have injured and our ship is about to fail at any moment.”
“Stand by, we are going to tow your ship to one of our carriers.”
Valkyrie was surprised at how different her birth-world had become. The skies had a deeper blue, and even the nature of the defense force, felt… different. They didn’t seem barbaric like they once were, they were… strangely reasonable.
The Spheres are taken to a nearby SDF facility where they are treated with medical care and questioned as to who they are, where they came from and why they are in the system. Seven addresses the defense organization on behalf of his family, peacefully setting all paranoia aside and explaining the depth of their mission and what exactly happened. The Earth forces go on to contact the Martians and inform them of the Spheres’ recovery. The Martians agree to send a pick up ship for their return back home. The peaceful negotiations between the Martians and the Earthlings makes Seven realize that they are not in any of the time eras they came from. When he asks one of the defense agents of the current time, he is told they are in the year 2732. When he inquires about what happened in the space between 2400 and 2700, he is informed of the Sirians return to the Sol system, where they negotiated peacefully with the people of Mars and later earth – helping to correct the broken genes and allying with Solarian forces. Mars and Earth had put their differences aside to help fight off the Remnants with the help of the Sirians.
The effect unified multiple nations and at last, peace had reigned supreme in this quadrant of the galaxy.
7 Months Later
The Spheres had long returned to Mars, finding their homeworld changed yet again where Colin went on to marry Astraea, uniting her to the family and impregnating her. In honor of the Spheres’ service, they were granted land and all the necessary comforts for their hard work. The mission was a success. Astraea, peacefully negotiated with the Sirian council during her consciousness projection which led to earth’s forefathers putting their differences aside to help their descendants. Both Mars and Earth, along with other inhabited moons in the Sol solar system were regarded as a new breed of human. One that had walked through the fire and learned. They would go on to later join The Plejaren Federation in the future. A collective of highly evolved interstellar humans who monitor the growth of life across the cosmos.
All the suffering, the losses and setbacks, the hurts and disappointments, what could’ve been and what should’ve been – became completely irrelevant. In the end, the idea that started in mind of one man, Seven, expanded into the hearts of others as a mission. Eventually, this ‘mission’ could not be his own, nor his family’s. They were stepping stones to the unification of mankind, and so, what Zero Sphere really became was a quest for mankind. It did not belong to only The Spheres. It belonged to every human who looked up to the sky and not down in the dirt.
As a part of the justifiable rewards for their services, The Spheres’ were also given their own collection of upgraded interdimensional beamships capable of time travel, allowing them to partake in whatever future adventure they desired. Their first stop was returning to their original time. There, they picked up Josh and Heather, along with his children – Nicole and Scott who had a surprise for Colin. Josh was the one who helped constructed the ship Valkyrie and Seven arrived in during the 2400 mission. After that, they sailed off to Astraea’s time, where she invited her family to come along with her for a reunion.
Farewell, Sphere
A grand feast awaits on an island, located in a planet in another dimension, in another time and another place. Near the shores of a sandy beach, a family from here and there, sits laughing and playing, eating and reminiscing. There’s all the food one can think of, and the kind to put any hungry man’s stomach to ease with the full satisfaction of taste to go along with it. Chicken, salad, juices, fruits, vegetables, you name it – it was probably there.
Pleija was on the grill, firing it up as the main chef, although she was being mentored by Josh on a thing or two about old earth dishes. The irony is, Josh wasn’t even around during that time – but he was still over there giving her tips on the cooking. A long, oak table seats most of the family – Colin with his newly wed, newly pregnant wife, Astraea who was reading a copy of the finished Solar Opus. Opposite them sat Lilith and Heather who were enjoying the fine cuisine and having a discussion over space races, a form of sport released in the aftermath of the Zero incident.
A few unknown faces, related to The Spheres’ from different timelines also sat around. Mainly children, some from the future and others from the distant past. Arilia was also there, although her attention was more focused on the food, she became a good friend of The Spheres’ over the course of time.
Seven was going around, making sure everyone was having fun and at ease, and they were. Smiles were everywhere. The atmosphere felt light, relieved and relaxed. There was a deep essence of love, peace, freedom and harmony under a Creative light. At one point, Astraea got up to play her harp for the reunion where she whisked everyone away in a dreamy state. Pleija also joined her, both women singing the song to lyrics Pleija wrote in collaboration with her sister.
‘Founded in the hazy fog,
Life’s gone where others only dream of,
Seeking share and share,
Oh time, don’t you wander off,
The tale’s only now begun,
How can it be so?
It must go that way,
Tell me why, love?
I’m only human,
Roam with me, dear darling,
See what my eyes imagine,
Feel my body call to the stars,
Journey to a land before time,
Spiral to the eternity,
Come create with me,
We’ll be one.’
The only one missing from the all the joy was The One they once called Valkyrie. A title she had cast aside, referring to it as ‘a relic from a violent past’ no longer needed in her family’s future. Seven could still feel her in the vicinity. She was around earlier, perhaps she had stepped out for some time alone.
After all, they were on an unpopulated world where nature reigned supreme and Creative order, harmony and peace roamed freely. The world contained many beautiful sights, unharmed by chaos and unnatural order. Seven went looking around for Xeilya, feeling her closer as he ascended up the small slope that overlooked the main event. There, he did find her, meditating to the breezy cool alone. Her hair was almost covering her face as the wind blew.
“Out here alone?” Seven asked her as he came from behind. Xeilya was finding something she’d been searching so long for. She found it strange at first, the fact that she was at such peace but at the same time, she also found it natural and her inner feeling told her that this is what she was searching for all along.
“I’m just thinking.” She replied, her back still turned to him
“About what?”
/> “All along, what we’ve been searching for, was right here.”
“What do you mean?”
Xeilya turned to him, “Family.”
Seven looked past the slope, looking over all his loved ones at the event below
“We’ve been searching so far and wide, trying to build a better future but who knew what we needed here was here all along? Not just the people we love down there, I mean, all of this – the nature, the freedom, the peace, the… oneness with all this Creation. Can you feel it? The family of human and universe because they are not two, they are one.”
Seven smirked, “Of course.”
“We are the universe, experiencing itself as a human and we are all one. Family is one and family is all…” Xeilya stuttered for a moment, nearly shedding a tear on accident upon her self-realization. Seven took careful steps closer to her and brushed her hair aside to reveal her beautiful face
“So…” Seven wittily eyed the love of his life, “Family is all, and I agree, so, this is it? This is what we’re about now?”
Xeilya’s eyes connected to his as she wondered where he was going with this, then a glimmer of realization appeared in her eyes
“Well, we do have interdimensional beamships…” she whispered, biting her lower lip while flashing a devious grin.
“According to my calculations, this world will be encountering a possible outside visit from other intelligences within three days. May be interesting to investigate.” A robotic voice called out from the nothingness, materializing as the holographic humanoid avatar of the AI installed aboard their cutting edge, 28th century beamship.
“Shut up Zero…” Xeilya hissed at its interruption, then glanced back at Seven once more.
“You shut up, hag…” the AI blurted smugly, before dematerializing again.
“Our next adventure, huh?” She turned around smiling deviously at the setting sun over the horizon of the sea. Seven went on to hug her from behind while they both confessed their love for each other with a hint of playful mischievousness over the possibilities of where their future may take them
“Let’s go…” she said “Time to write our next chapter.”
Written by Jedaiah Ramnarine.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Table of Contents
Prologue, Solar Opus
ACT ONE
2049, Valkyrie’s Final Earth Battle
2049, Valkyrie’s Goes Home
2049, Voyage To the Red Planet
Solar Opus
2049, On Route to The Red Planet
2049, Arrival
2049, The Valkyrie’s Seven
2049, An Ancient Discovery
2049, Friend or Foe
2049, The Valkyrie Goes to War
ACT TWO
2060, Son of Mars
2093, The Son of Mars grows up
Solar Opus
2093, The Offspring
Solar Opus
ACT THREE
2093, Colin Sphere – The Son of Mars
2093, Joshua Sphere – The Offspring
Son of Mars searches for The Offspring
The Offspring searches for himself
Son of Mars confronts The Seven
The Offspring is taken
Son of Mars’ Mission
A time in Colin Sphere’s mind
ACT FOUR
2093, Inside The Valkyrie’s Anamnesis
The Offspring in The Crimson Spear’s lair
The Son of Mars on route to the Asteroid
Cyberspace
Solar Opus
The Son of Mars nears The Asteroid
The Offspring vs The Valkyrie
ACT FIVE
In space…
In The Crimson Spear’s Command room…
In the present in the bathroom…
In Space…
On the desert sands of Mars, some distance from Zero’s base…
At the Outskirts of The Colonies…
ACT SIX
2448, The Timeless Drifter Speaks…
Solar Opus
The Timeless Drifter’s Service
Solar Opus
The Mission Begins
Solar Opus
After the Hyperjump of The Timeless Drifter…
At the Border of Sirius, The Timeless Drifter…
The Valkyrie Returns
The Son of Mars Takes Over
Solar Opus
The Return Home
7 Months Later
Farewell, Sphere
Zero Sphere: A Space Opera Thriller Page 32