Into The Void

by Ryan Frieda

  “We have sent faster than light messages to this galaxy and waited for a response. No signals have been return-”

  “What if they are scared? What have you told them?”

  “We are talking about the extinction of our galaxy. We have non-renewable energy sources, then we have renewable. The renewable resources will not last through the population growth. At best we can stay alive for several millennium if we make max use of our resources but after that we will need a new plan. We will go to the new galaxy and start with great regulations on how to use energy. We will prevail.”

  “What if there are other races? What then?”

  “We make them listen to our problems and make them see our situation,” said General Vaas.

  “And if they don't like it?”

  “Then we die.”

  Chapter 9

  Contact

  Captain Steele was sleeping soundly until he started to hear creaking sounds from the metal of the ship. He ignored it at first but then heard some more odd sounds. He decided that he'd ignore that until he heard what sounded like scratches on the hull. He got out of bed and moved toward the bridge. When he got to the bridge he checked the readouts and they said everything was okay. Having a gut feeling something was off he grabbed the pistol that he kept near the bridge and made a walk through of the entire ship. It wasn't long before Jamie found out what he was doing.

  “John, what are you doing?”

  “There is something scratching the hull of the ship. How do you not hear it?”

  “We are moving faster than light can travel, and we are out in intergalactic space. Nothing can exist out in this environment without some kind of containment suit. Even then, we are traveling faster than light so only a ship would be able to catch up to us and I have detected nothing.”

  “You make a good point-” Captain Steele stopped mid sentence. “There! You hear it?”

  “I hear nothing and the ship's sensors are picking nothing up.”

  “What if it's like one of those creatures we found back on that large object weeks ago?”

  “Unlikely. We have adapted our scanners to pick up everything they were are able to scan. There is nothing out here John.”

  Captain Steele proceeded to walk through the ship looking and listening for anything odd. He kept hearing the scratching sound. He followed it and ended back toward the bridge. He looked out the bridge's window and saw nothing. He continued to walk the ship listening for the sounds. He didn't want to stop the ship for a space walk around the ship because if something was out there traveling at speeds faster than light then he clearly wasn't at the advantage to begin and he was at an even lesser advantage if he slows the ship down. As he was headed back to the cargo bay he heard a very loud sound that caused him to fall to his knees and place his hands over his ears. The sound went on for several seconds.

  “Jamie, what is that sound?”

  “Unknown.”

  “Slow the ship down. I am going for a space walk.”

  “You can't do a space walk with the ship moving as fast as it is,” Jamie said.

  “That's why you slow it down so that it goes as fast as it can while I do a space walk.”

  Jamie started to object.

  “Not open for discussion bot.”

  Jamie sighed.

  “Okay, but be careful John.”

  Captain Steele grabbed his DSSM suit and put it on, grabbed his rifle and got ready for a space walk down the side of his ship at half the speed of light. He would be traveling at 335,612,181 miles per hour with no ship to contain him. If the ship were to take a sudden change of course, no matter how small, he would be killed. Any sudden change would add unequal force on his body and will tear it apart. The DSSM will keep him alive as long as no sudden and abrupt moves were made.

  The ship was designed so that when it was traveling at extreme speeds the ship would create a small invisible “bubble” around the ship in case work needed to be done while moving. This “bubble” is created so that the ship can fly smoother. It worked similar to the way a submarine creates a bubble around a torpedo so that the torpedo flies smoother without having to worry about any currents in the water knocking it off course. It's the same for a space ship to protect it from any unknown but weak gravity fields or miscellaneous objects. As long as he stays close to the ship the “bubble effect” around it will keep him safe.

  Captain Steele wasn't quite sure how the effect was made other than it had to do with the ship's movement and a certain piece of equipment that generated it. He just knew that if he kept close enough to the ship he would stay within that bubble. The bubble wasn't fail proof however. Thousands of people have been killed because the ship made a small movement and the bubble either collapsed or shifted enough so that part of a person was on the outside of the bubble and that part was vaporized. Even inside the bubble, the effects of the speed that the ship is traveling at is still present, along with the artificial gravity the ship generates. The person on the outside of the ship is still subject to all the laws of physics that would normally be there just significantly less so.

  Most people think that outside a planet's atmosphere laws regarding things like wind would change because there is no atmosphere so you would not be pushed around by air going around the ship. That is true at slower speeds, but once you reach a tenth of the speed of light things change. As you fly by dark matter at speeds of one tenth of the speed of light physics themselves seem to operate differently. Aerodynamics become a real thing in vacuum because of dark matter and dark energy. It is known as Dark Dynamics. Dark dynamics is much more deadly because of the unknown and volatile nature of dark matter. Scientists still have a hard time of understanding dark matter, 2,000 years after its discovery.

  No race has ever figured it out, and according to Jamie, not even the ones that Captain Steele killed on the object. Dark matter will always be hard to comprehend. Until recently it wasn't added as its own element on the periodic table of elements. It started out as a whole other theoretical table of elements. Dark matter is the same, yet has different elements at the same time. The thought was it was originally one element but then scientists came to the conclusion that it was multiple elements as well. Captain Steele wasn't sure about all the research into it and just left all that stuff for the scientists to figure out.

  “Jamie open the portside airlock door. I'm leaving.”

  As Jamie opened the portside airlock door Captain Steele saw the bubble effect. He noticed it had a low clearance.

  “Jamie check the bubble effect. It seems too close to the ship. It will be just above my head.”

  “John, something seems to be affecting it. I will look into it but I recommend we stop the ship before proceeding.”

  “Negative. I don't know that this thing is, but I don't want to stop the ship if its hostile.”

  “Stepping outside is suicide John. It will result in your death if you must fight it,” Jamie said.

  “I killed that creature that's hanging above my bed. I think I can handle this.”

  Captain Steele walked outside the ship and down a small curved path down the side of the ship. The path was designed for easy access to the outside of the ship and made it so that no jumping or large steps were needed to access the outside of the ship. Once Captain Steele reached the bottom of the ramp he stepped sideways and was walking on the side of the ship. He had his rifle sighted at the high ready and ready to engage any threats. He walked down the portside of the ship before finding some scratches deep into the hull. He estimated that they must have been several inches deep. There were 5 scratches and the metal around the outside of them were red hot.

  Captain Steele continued to move around the portside of the ship finding more. He then went to the underside of the ship and found some more markings.

  “We definitely have a visitor Jamie. Either that or we hit a flock of space ducks with claws.”

  Captain Steele went around to the starboard side and found some more
marks. He then went around to the top side of the ship. As he was coming around he saw an extremely massive creature that was at least five miles thick and 75 miles long. It had four “legs” and reminded him of a very large Chinese dragon. The face of the creature was very similar to a cat's face, with teeth at least a mile long, with eyes the size of his ship and as dark as night itself, glowing with black light that somehow stood out from the darkness of space, with a very long tongue that was sliced down the middle about halfway down it. It had two “arms” about a mile down it's body from its head and that were probably 7,000 feet thick.

  This creature was over 1,000 times the size of his ship.

  Captain Steele stood there in awe as the creature turned it's face to him. He couldn't move. No living creature this size has ever been recorded. Nothing this size has ever been able to get into space or even fly. The thing was doing so at speeds faster than light. He lowered his gun knowing that nothing could bring this creature down. He knew the last fight was just below his limits, and if this thing can survive so far out into intergalactic space without a ship, then it was over for him. He looked the thing into its eye.

  The creature brought his eye closer to Captain Steele. The creature then turned it's head toward him as Captain Steele looked down its throat. Captain Steele felt a sense of fear overcome him. He stared at this thing and it pulled its head back and opened its mouth. The creature roared again causing him to drop to his knees and to cover his ears. The DSSM helped block some of the sound but it was still loud. The creature brought its head in fast with its mouth open and stopped just short of him. The creature looked Captain Steel in the eye, then tilted its head, then shot straight up into the air then flung itself forward in a flash of light. It then came back down towards the ship and closed in on him. It stopped just short of him again before shrinking to only 12 feet long and 5 feet thick.

  It then opened it's mouth.

  “Captain Steele, let's talk.”

  Captain Steele stood in amazement. He didn't understand.

  “Let's go into your ship. Let's talk.”

  Captain Steele stood there confused. How did it know English? How did it know his name? How did it find him out here, about a decade away from the Milky Way at speeds traveling faster than light?

  “Captain Steele, let us go into your ship and talk. I mean you no harm. We must talk but not out here.”

  Captain Steele stood there and the creature opened his mouth to talk.

  “We will not talk here. I mean you no harm. If I wanted to kill you I could have already done so, and I can do so at any moment but I choose to talk. Let's talk.”

  Captain Steele walked back toward the entrance to the ship. As he entered the outer door of the ship's airlock the creature shrunk itself down to a human size.

  “Open the door Jamie. We got a guest.”

  “You risk the mission by bringing it in here. It could contaminate the entire ship with some-”

  “It could have killed us by now, and can still kill us if it wanted to. Whats the point in trying to fight it or run from it? Let us in, if it decides to kill us then its not like we have much of a choice in the matter.”

  Captain Steele waited for several minutes before saying, “Jamie, did you not see the size of this thing? You think pissing it off will make it leave us alone? It wanted to talk inside, so let us inside so as not to piss off the giant space worm.”

  After several minutes the door opened up.

  “Women AI's... they are not suppose to be emotional...” Captain Steele muttered under his breath as he walked into the door.

  “I heard that John,” Jamie replied.

  Captain Steele entered the ship and started to take his DSSM suit off.

  “Let's go to the lounge and talk if your okay with that,” Captain Steele suggested.

  “I am conformable where ever you are,” replied the creature.

  Captain Steele walked to the lounge as the creature floating behind him. He sat down and he said, “Okay, let's talk.”

  The creature looked around the room and said, “I will continue to float for now.”

  “There is much to talk about Captain,” the creature said.

  “Let's start with your name,” replied Captain Steele.

  “I do not have a name.”

  “Then what am I to call you?”

  “Nothing. Do not call me anything for now.”

  “Okay, a monologue it is. Please, continue,” Captain Steele said.

  “First off, no one has made it as far as you have Captain, so, congratulations.”

  The creature floated there for several seconds not saying anything before Captain Steele spoke.

  “How are you floating?”

  “It is simple really. I was born with the ability.”

  “That's fricken sick. I'm sorry, continue with what you were saying,” Captain Steele said.

  “Second, I'm sure you may want to know how it is I know your language and your name.”

  “Yeah, that'd be nice. Also, what do you mean no one has made it as far? As far as I was aware no one else has even tried.”

  “Not every galaxy has creatures living in them, but the ones who do eventually try to leave their galaxy for another. All have failed. Several tries have been made in the 15 billion years the universe has been around-”

  “That is incorrect, the universe has been around 13.78 billion years-” Jamie interrupted.

  “SHHHHHH! Jamie the big boys are talking. Let Earthworm Jimmy talk,” Captain Steele said.

  “Don't make fun of it John-”

  “You misunderstand me AI. The universe as we know it has been around 13.78 billion years but the universe was around shortly before then in another state. That state is beyond your comprehension,” the creature said.

  “I understand your language because of dark matter. That which you call an element is so complex it is almost a living creature. It is an element like hydrogen, but it is made of many unique elements that make it seem like a chemical formula. Much like how water is really multiple elements combined. Each element has exact core similarities with slight differences. Each one of these 1,218 elements make up dark matter and dark matter is a single element. They are all so tightly intertwined that they can not exist without one another. Your understanding of elements would be shattered if dark matter could be examined closer. It remembers as it passes through the universe and shares its information with other dark matter much in the same way that electricity jumps. The one thing it does not share is where it has been and there is no way to indefinitely trace where the information came from.”

  “That's incredible...” Jamie said in awe.

  “When you stare up at the night sky and you see the stars in the distance what do you think is between them?”

  “Nothing,” said Jamie.

  “You are incorrect. It is dark matter. You are seeing through dark matter. Dark matter travels at the speed of light throughout the universe. I knew of your ship design because of the dark matter that has traveled through your galaxy. I know your language because of dark matter that has traveled through your galaxy and heard it spoke. I recognized the ship and then knew the language,” the creature said.

  “How do you survive in the vacuum of space. How do you survive in between galaxies? How old are you? What do you do?” Jamie asked.

  “My kind is rumored to be the offspring of dark matter. I survived by eating dark matter and dark matter is created when I exert energy. This energy then creates new dark matter, less volatile dark matter.”

  “Wait, you eat your parents? Oh that is rich! I can't wait to tell the Democratic Party of Cannibals back on Earth about that,” Captain Steele said, “I'm sorry, go on.”

  “Our origins are not known to us. It is only rumored, no one of my kind knows. My current age is unknown to me, but I am estimated to be well over five billion years old.”

  “I bet you've seen most of the universe,” Captain Steele said.

  “I have ind
eed seen much. My job is to travel the universe and create new matter from old matter. I have free will to go where I want when I want, my only job is to make old matter into new matter. I have seen galaxies come and go, stars live and go supernova, black holes ravage galaxies, and met only a few others who have tried what you are doing. My comrades have seen only a handful as well.”

  “How many of you are there?” Captain Steele asked.

  “About 12.”

  “Only 12? The universe is 46 billion light years in diameter. That means there is one of you for every 3.8 billion light years. That roughly 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles. 10 sextillion miles for one of you? That's amazing!” Jamie exclaimed.

  “How fast can you move? How large can you get? And can I get a piece of your body, exoskeleton, mechanism, pod, skin, scales, flesh, hide, or whatever you call that thing that is on the outside of you body? I'm quite interested to look at it,” Captain Steele asked.

  “We can move at speeds that warp time itself. Light was once the fastest speed you could think of. That changed with the Faster Than Light theory. My race can travel at Faster Than Time. We move so fast that time itself can not keep up in any way. No matter what measurement of time is used, we move faster than time can go. Your understanding of time is limited. Time is a constant, always moving at a certain speed either a second or hour, but we travel faster than any possible way to measure time.

  “For example, a planet may take 32 days to orbit its star. We can move faster than that. Time is a constant that never changes. A second is a second. A planet will complete it's rotation around its star in 32 days, at a set speed to make that rotation. We can travel so fast that the rotation changes. When we travel at that speed we rip apart the fabric of time and the void must be filled by the nearest object that can fill that void. If a planet rotates around it's sun in 32 days, but we travel faster than time the planet will speed up it's orbit to fill that void that we caused and may only take 29 days from that point on and forevermore to complete its rotation without it loosing any kinetic energy in the process,” the creature said.