CATACLYSMAL

by Adrian Glass

  “This is it?” Stephenson replies handing the sheet of paper to Grunner who checks over the image that sits between large amounts of texts and typed calculations.

  “Yes”

  “Alien?” Grunner asks

  The Professor faces the military man. “It shows a controlled projection, as you are aware, that is not natural...It is heading towards our Solar System.”

  Captain Grunner still looks at the calculated image. “It's a space craft...”

  “That is unknown, the cone-like shape is only from calculations on the emitting Neutrons and Neutrinos, which is still speculative using measurements of Black Hole calculations. What we observe here on Earth is the fragmented distortion of Space and time, that is the visualization of these dark shapes,” the Professor replies.

  “There is now a name, courtesy of Chris Halelis from the Center for Extraterrestrial Intelligence and Research, these abnormalities are now called DE-Voids. It stands for Dark Emission Voids...” Stephenson says as Professor Tori walks to the board and writes within a bracket set at the start of a long mathematical calculation the word DE-Voids.

  Captain Grunner hands the paper of Tori's findings back to Stephenson.

  “We need the theoretical analysis so we can run it through our central computer systems,” Stephenson says looking at the Junior physicist Karen Ginette.

  “Yes sir, we have the binary calculations ready to be set into the mainframe.”

  “As it has already been verified as a threat, the protocol will to be access response and actions to it's presence,” Grunner replies handing the research paper back to Ginette.

  Tori looks at the last part of the calculations. “Yes prelude to a threat...but trying to understand it's purpose from a human-centric perspective would be a pointless exercise, however where it has originated from, it's direction, is what may give us a possible explanation. I have factored these assumptions of origins and purposed them into these equations...” The Professor removes his spectacles and places them down onto the table near the board, he then turns and looks at his assistant Ginette. She remains solemn. “...It feeds off stars.”

  “What?” Stephenson replies shaking his head.

  “The Sun, it's energy, it's power...The directional inception of this DE-Void, is as you are aware, originates from the Fornax Cluster. There is now a larger Void that has been detected in that region of Space.”

  “What is it's relationship with your equations?” Stephenson asks.

  Professor Tori exhales looking over his calculations again. “The Greek term is aether, a fifth element.”

  Stephenson nods looking at the Professor's embedded digram of the DE-Void. “Dark Energy,” he replies.

  “And it's behavior maybe different within a Void...” Professor Tori turns and faces Captain Grunner. “...Your computers with the provided imputation will verify my calculations.”

  Captain Grunner nods his expression austere.

  Professor Tori picks up his spectacles from the desk and sits down on a chair adjacent to the blackboard.

  “In our knowledge of physics and our understanding of the Universe. Yes, a possible analysis of threat would be conclusive. But this...” He points at his equations. “...apart from it's shape and dynamics. Does not subscribe to the fundamentals of what we know about the cosmos...” He looks up at the two men standing in front of him.

  “...It is, by definition, unfathomable.”

  II. Abyss

  “I wouldn't go in that direction,” a man says, his image is unclear, obscure, yet familiar.

  Elly Jansky keeps walking forward, she turns and looks at the man in-front of her. His look is one of concern.

  “It's the only way out of here...”

  “There must be another way,” the man replies.

  Jansky continues walking onward.

  “The building, it's just rubble...We are so far up.” Jansky looks around at the broken interior of the building structure, walls, ceilings, all dislodged and reshaped - a smashed interior of what was once a multistory high-rise, now just reconfigured into perilously unnatural building shape, a structural disfigurement.

  “That's not the way out of here...You are walking towards the edge Elly!” The man yells out. Jansky continues walking forward trying to retain her balance, as the floor beneath her has shifted and warped as though something violent has pulled apart the building. She proceeds to move along the dislodged flooring of this high-rise, which appears to be what was once an apartment block, trying to find a way out. Jansky notices that the walkway beneath her begins to open up, above her is a broken water main, she reaches up and grabs holds of the disfigured piping, a visual reminder of the vehemence against this building.

  “We can use this to hold on,” Jansky says referring to the water main. She turns around, the man that she was with is no longer there, just the rubble of this disheveled area, with it's skewed angles and perspectives. Unsure why she is here and who her companion was, alone, Jansky moves carefully towards where a large opening has appeared - to what looks like a collapsed floor, she angles her self around the edges of the twisted pieces of flooring. Grabbing hold of the pipe with both hands she moves closer to the large gap, briefly looking onward at the smashed and opened walls, she sees a clear day with the blue sky above. Smiling Jansky moves towards the light, she then looks down.

  “Elly, don't look down.” A voice is heard, looking ahead of her she sees an older woman.

  “Mom, I will be with you soon,” she says smiling.

  “No, you won't. Just keep moving my darling, but not towards me...Please don't look into that dark...He was right, stay away from that edge. You have so much more to give.” Jansky continues to make her way towards her mother, looking up at the piping, gripping the broken water main with both hands, trying to maintain her balance. She looks back towards where her mother was standing, on the other side, near the broken window - but her mother is gone. Jansky looks down at nothingness, just a black-hole, an abyss, no other levels can be seen, no indication that the building has been damaged apart from what she can see within the area around her - beneath Jansky is pure darkness. She sees the end.

  Elly Jansky opens her eyes, looking up at the overhead ceiling fan, with her left hand she touches her brow wiping away sweat.

  “Rome...I'm still only in Rome,” she says to her self looking at the whiskey bottle, feeling the ache in her neck, the pain behind her left eye. The tightening of neck muscles and the pressure on nerves – the all too familiar effects of a hangover. She sits upright, looking out of the hotel window at the neon lit city, with it's artificially dull lit illumination, a feeble attempt at repelling the night. Shadows are cast, it's various shapes splintered in a geometric array, reflecting off objects, that span across the ceiling of her hotel room. She stands, rubbing the back of her neck, walking towards the bathroom, in only her knickers and a cropped t-shirt, Jansky opens the door. Leaning over the basement, the nauseous feeling hits her, looking down into the empty sink, her eyes closed. A trickle of sweat falls from her brow, she breaths in slowly and exhales. She turns the tap with her left hand, with her right hand she places it under the cold water. Jansky then leans onto the sink area with her elbows, cupping her hands she splashes her face with the water. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she then reaches across with her left hand, pulling away from the towel rack a small face-towel. Wiping her face, she walks back towards her bed, sitting down. “Fucking air conditioning in this place.” She reaches across to the bedsitter and lifts up the phone, Jansky glances at the time. It's just after midnight.

  “Room Service”

  “Air conditioning...not much cold air coming through.”

  “We do apologize, there was a power outage two hours ago, we hope to have this problem rectified in the next hour or so. The Hotel will offer a complimentary day to all the guests.”

  “Ok...also can I get some headache tablets...I mean, pain killers, Aspirin.”

  “They are
located in the bathroom cardboard, in a small medical pack.”

  “Thank you.” Jansky places the phone down she stands walking towards the small bar fridge, opening the fridge door she takes out a bottle of water, she then walks back into the bathroom, leaning down Jansky finds the small packet of painkillers, she removes two tablets from their protective cover - placing them in her mouth, unscrewing the plastic cap of the bottled water she gulps down the fluid. Dehydrated, she proceeds to drink half the bottle. Walking back into her room, Jansky looks out of the Hotel room window. She stares up at the night sky, barely visible are the stars over Rome, to the right of the horizon she sees the navigation lights of a passenger plane – it's only indication that an aircraft is traveling against a dark backdrop, devoid of photon particles, the very essence of light. Pulling up a desk chair, Jansky sits down, feeling the effects of the painkillers, she takes another sip from the bottled water. Looking down lying on the floor is her turned off cellphone. She bends down and picks up the phone, turning it on, the screen illuminates as it searches for the roaming network and WIFI settings. Logging on, an abundance of messages fill the in-box, most relating to appointments and agent meetings, two from her colleague Micheal Reddy, one from her sister. Momently Jansky ignores all the messages, scrolling down the list looking for a message from Josh Rigel. There is none. She looks away, with a feeling of sadness wondering what he is doing at this point in time, having since moved to Cincinnati. There is a temptation to message him, but resists, instead she looks back over the messages to find her sister's typed text.

  “I know you're overseas, but mom is not good, they say that it could be terminal. I've made an appointment with the therapist you recommended, will be seeing him on Tuesday. Love Katy”

  Jansky stares at the message. Then quickly looks at the messages from her colleague Micheal Reddy from NASA.

  “Remember that star dimming that we thought occurred from an Absorption Nebula around 'Paimon'. Well, it has now been hypothesized that the unusual dimming could have occurred from these DEVs...”

  Following the first message, there is another typed text from Reddy.

  “...So, the new hypothesis is, that we may be seeing an evolved form of dominate matter that could be utilizing other matter to exist.”

  Jansky types back.

  “Intelligence?”

  She places the phone onto the small table, leaning back into her chair she continues looking at the city below. Thinking of her mother. Suddenly the cellphone rings, excitably she reaches over and quickly picks up the phone smiling, seeing it is from Micheal Reddy her expression changes, not of disappointment, but more of a professional demure.

  “Hi Micheal”

  “Elly, hows Rome? Have I caught you up late?”

  She looks across at her unkempt bed and quarter empty bottle whiskey

  “No, late night. It's so hot here! Air-con for this hotel sucks.”

  “Just got your message...”

  “So, are we close?”

  “Theory wise, still off, but the gossip and reporting has calmed down to a more constructive approach. Also a junior astronomer at MIT called Jesse Fran has studied the early astrological photographic plates going back seventy years...Images taken from the region of Fornax, there are some unusual things that have been picked up.”

  “Like what?”

  “Star dimming, once again, abnormalities, pieces of densely populated space, then just black, no stars, nothing...The Fornax Void is now massive. Close, in measurement and size to the Boötes Void in the Northern Hemisphere. Have you had contact with Ivane yet?”

  “Tomorrow at the University of Rome, he's at the Germanium Detector Array working under military jurisdiction. Thing is, he comes and goes from the Neutrino research area to Rome regularly. So are we still under the assumption the military knows more about these Dark Emission Voids?”

  “Absolutely, the have better Space telescopes. And from all reports, the have re-calibrated their more advanced space telescopes to monitor the DEVs.”

  “They...” referring to the military. “...would know I'm here to meet the Professor?”

  Reddy laughs. “No comment Dr Jansky.”

  She also laughs.

  “Bigger things going on than little ol' me.”

  “Yeah, you seen the latest news?”

  “No”

  “Not looking good, tensions have shifted somewhat away from the Russian front, more so now to China. South China Sea...I'll send a news report link.”

  “We have our priorities...”

  “That's right, well good luck with Ivane. You coming back this Friday?”

  “Yes I am”

  “Ok I'll organize a meeting with Chris...Take care Elly,”

  “You too”

  Jansky ends the call and exhales. She then looks up at the night sky again. “Best get some sleep.”

  The following morning Elly Jansky gets ready to meet Professor Ivane Tori, the meeting has been set up by the physics department of Rome University, however Professor Tori has not been notified that Jansky will be attending, amidst a new Cold War, that is becoming more precarious by the day and aware that the American secret service have larger problems to contend with rather than an impromptu meeting between two physicists. She knows that it is still prudent for a clandestine approach, as Professor Tori has been granted frequent access to visit the University to compile notes and continue research - at the same time a degree of secrecy has been authorized over the Professor's interactions. Jansky checks her cellphone, noticing there is a new message from Micheal Reddy with a news-report link.

  “Not looking good” The message reads with a link that she accesses, displayed a web-page headline that reads : “China installs mid-range nukes on artificial islands. South China Sea tensions.” Jansky doesn't bother studying the rest of the article, focused only on the meeting ahead with Professor Tori.

  Suddenly there is a knock at the door, she gets up ready to leave for the meeting, opening the hotel room door standing there is the young physics student Emillo Marconi.

  “Good morning, not so hot today, slightly cooler,” he says with a smile.

  Jansky lifts some papers from the small table in her room. “Still hot in here though...Air conditioning broke down last night. When will the Professor be due at the university?”

  “He's already there,” Marconi replies.

  “Well let's go see the Professor.” Her thoughts abruptly flash back to the dream she had earlier, as a scientist, dreams are thought as whims of the imagination, even though neuroscience is yet to explain deep-sleep and the dreams associated. In a non-philosophical analysis, she was taught that the brain, whilst sleeping, compiles information at a constant rate. A resorting of memories in a dream state as an attempt at unclogging the previous day's thought processes. Yet, she thinks of that recurring and peculiar dream, more so Jansky recollects the image of her mother, this time, she talks to her daughter. Resisting any metaphysical pondering, the images fade from her mind.

  She lifts her bag following the student physicist from the hotel room.

  “Did you hear about the name of this new phenomenon?”

  “Yeah, DEVs...” Jansky replies.

  “What do you think?” He asks as Jansky checks her cellphone, there are no new messages, placing the phone back into her shoulder bag she continues walking ahead towards the elevator.

  “Well they're of unknown composition which is possibly a variant of dark-matter, they seem to radiate emissions and also appear to have a void resonance. So it seems like fitting term for an object that we have absolutely no idea what they are,” she replies, not interested in any deep discussion with the student as her focus is entirely on the meeting with Professor Tori.

  After a short commute through the bustling roads of Rome Elly Jansky and her driver arrive at the Dipartimento di Fisica (Department of Physics) of Rome University. Parking the car, both Jansky and the young student make their way to the upper levels of the f
amous University. Jansky remains quite, trying to focus on the importance of her meeting with one of the most eminent particle and astrophysicists in the world. Also aware that Professor Ivane Tori is now working for the military and whether he will disclose further information on the mysterious Dark Emission Voids. They reach Professor Tori's temporary office, loaned to him by the University, the door is slightly opened. The student looks into the room, with Jansky standing behind him.

  “Scusi Professor Tori, there is someone that would like to meet you,” he says, stepping back into the hallway, as Jansky walks forward into the Professor's small office.

  “Ah! A sight for sore eyes...” Professor Ivane Tori stands extending his hand to Jansky. “...Dr Elly Jansky very happy to see you...and finally we meet!” The Professor says smiling. She shakes his hand also with a smile.

  “This is a very special moment for me Professor,” Jansky replies, as Tori sits down at his desk offering Jansky a seat for her to sit opposite him.

  “Ivane...Call me Ivane. Emilio, some tea please.” The young student nods obligingly and walks back down the hallway to the common area kitchen.