Into The Void

by Ryan Frieda

  “Another example. Time is defined by planets rotation. That rotation will always take an exact amount of seconds. Now picture a straight road with a car driving down the road. Now picture that the road is the rotation of a planet around its star and that car is the planet. Imagine that the car is forever locked into going a certain speed, let's say 60 miles per hour. The car will reach the end of the road at a certain time if it is going 60 miles per hour. If I come in and fly past that car I rip the fabric of time and that car will speed up to fill that tear. That car will go as fast as it need to go to fill that tear in then it maintain that speed until otherwise acted upon by another force to slow it down.

  “So do you, like, just tear up time for kicks and giggles?” Captain Steele asked.

  “All of the time.”

  “Awesome. So what happens when there is nothing to fill that void?”

  “Dark matter fills the void and can have serious repercussions. Things like black holes, powerfully charged cosmic radiation as dark matter violently collides, and even gravitational shifts affecting galaxies including light itself. The energy need to pass through time itself is so vast that only harvesting certain things in certain ways will allow it. If I were to tell you and your galaxy how to do it, it would destroy the universe. It would be overused and the technology would destroy your galaxy.

  “In short, when you travel at speeds faster than light, time still goes by at a constant speed for you and for the galaxy. When I travel at speeds faster than time, time ceases to exist at all for me and everything in the vicinity rushes in to fill in the gap in time.”

  “So does time change for that area of space then? If I was to remain in it would I grow older at a slower rate?” Captain Steele asked.

  “No, like I said, your understanding of time is flawed. When I travel faster than time, time will speed up for the area and maintain that speed, but speed will still be a constant observed rate for you without any effects to you. Think of it as two different times existing together, for both to exist at the same time the area around it must fill in that requirement. Hence, the drastic effects.”

  “You can read dark matter, so can you tell us what awaits us in the galaxy ahead? Are there living creatures? Is the galaxy dying?” Captain Steele asked.

  “What galaxy are you referring too?”

  “NGC 3314. The two that look like they are overlapping.”

  “I do not know. My people have not been able to enter that galaxy. It intrigues us. Which one do you come from?”

  “The Milky Way. It's a medium sized young spiral galaxy. About 10 decades at FTL speed behind us.”

  “Yes, your kind does look familiar. We have seen your kind. We have been intrigued by your kind. Humans have intrigued us greatly. You are much different than others. We have been watching you for some time. You have advanced much faster than any other race we have ever seen. I remember watching your kind hunt Mammoth beasts in packs. My kind would bet on when certain technologies would be built among your kind. Most of us have been wrong on the timing. Your kind built firearms much faster than most do. From the time you first flew in the air, 60 years later you landed on your moon. Fascinating really. Most races take at least 150 years. Even other races in your galaxy has taken at least 150 years. We predict your kind will be the first in your galaxy to find a way to mine black holes. We predict it will happen within 500 years,” the creature said.

  “Why can't you move into the Overlapping Galaxies?” Jamie asked.

  “We are unsure. We have theorized that the overlapping galaxies are not natural phenomenon and therefore have some how prevented us from entering but there is no way to know for sure.”

  “You mean the galaxy could have been built in a way that prevents you from entering it?” Jamie asked, “How is that possible?”

  “It is unknown. Theoretically nothing can be ruled out but it is nearly impossible to create a galaxy, let alone one so defiant to the laws of science and defined in shape. You see, not even we can not create galaxies. We can just alter them in a more powerful way than everyone else,” the creature said.

  “How many others have tried to leave their galaxy and go to another one?”

  “In the history of the universe, 18. Many consider it impossible to do so and so many don't even try. Many, however, do try to leave their galaxy and return but most die in the process. The 'ark' you were on earlier tried to wait outside theirs and it took a toll on them. Most races do not make it half a decade because of the toll it takes on their bodies. You, Captain Steele, are the best your galaxy has ever produced.”

  “If it's your job to keep the universe in check, why would you let me get over to the Overlapping Galaxies?” Captain Steele asked.

  “I simply consume aging dark matter. What other organics do is none of my business. I wish you the best of luck,” the creature said.

  “Any word from our galaxy about what is going on? How are they doing? What do they think of this trip?” Captain Steele asked.

  “Let me recall,” the creature said, “Yes, they are still debating the survey while many races are trying to come up with solutions. Several races have gone back on their proposal to help in the crisis. Your kind has faced more discrimination than the rest of the galaxy. Some people are saving up and others are spending but lots don't believe your galaxy is about to run out of resources. Several corporations have profited off of it and defied the law on resource saving.”

  “What about people's opinions on us?” Jamie asked.

  “People are split. Some believe your are still alive, some believe your continued updates are fake and a cover up for a major failure by the Earth Government.”

  “Why don't you go an inform them that I am still alive?” Captain Steele asked.

  “It's best the masses never know my kind exist. We would be hunted to the end of the galaxy and thousands of races would go extinct in an effort to capture us. Myth is what keeps my kind safe. There are stories of flying Leviathans. Your Chinese saw us and drew pictures of us. Other races have as well. It would only be a matter of time before we are captured. We only live so long as well before we die. We do, however, enjoy talking to short lived organics. It's not often we get to do it. My kind meet from time to time to talk about our encounters and those we have encountered are considered most fortunate. You are my fifth visit with a short lived organic.”

  “It is as great an honor to meet you then,” Captain Steele said.

  “I must go now. Here, take a piece of me to analyze,” the creature said as it broke a piece of it's own flesh off, “That piece houses information that is so vast that it makes the memory storage of the 'ark' you were on look like mere megabytes.”

  Captain Steele held out his hand and caught the piece the creature dropped. It was only about 6 by 6 by 1 inches and felt as hard as a rock but was lighter than a feather.

  Captain Steele walked over to the inner airlock door and stuck his hand out. The creature looked at it then stuck its hand out and they shook hands.

  “Have fun out there tearing up time and thank you for this information and your visit,” Captain Steele said as he opened the inner airlock door.

  “You keep pushing forward no matter how hard and you may just accomplish the impossible. Best of luck to you,” the creature said.

  The creature then stopped floating and walked into the airlock. Captain Steele watched as it left the outer airlock and smiled thinking that he had just had the greatest honor of all time and in his hand he held another mind blowing discovery that only time itself will unravel.

  Chapter 10

  The Cost of Discovery

  Captain Steele awoke thinking about the ridicule the galaxy had thrown at mankind for this massive undertaking. He remembered being told that he was crazy, mad, and asinine. He knew it needed to be done, there was no doubt in his mind. He knew it was a one way trip that had a 100 percent chance of failure. Even if he had made it to the Overlapping Galaxies, what were the odds he would be able to buil
d the Instant Teleportation Device? Even if he built the Instant Teleportation Device what was the chance that it would work? None.

  There were no promise of return. He would be too old by the time the gate was opened for any help. The first ships through would not be able to heal him. His health would be too far gone. He has enough air, but not enough time before his body decays to nothing and he is unable to build the gate. He has enough supplies, but not enough to stay alive indefinitely until he finished the gate. He has the knowledge he needs to complete the mission, but not all the backup parts should enough systems on the ship fail.

  Captain Steele remembered that many races were planning “strikes” against human made items and products. They were furious about all the resources mankind would be wasting in their bold attempt to fix the galactic crisis.

  Captain Steele got up, showered, then went to watch a movie.

  “John you are up at an odd hour. Is everything all right?” Jamie asked.

  “Yeah, I was just thinking. I remember all the ridicule we got for doing what were doing,” Captain Steele replied.

  “It was a lot. But the galaxy will thank us when were done,” Jamie said.

  “I hope your right. My biggest fear is that we can't enter the Overlapping Galaxies. What if some barrier or something blocks us?”

  “There were many variables in even leaving the Milky Way. You knew that.”

  “Yeah but that was before I knew the Chinese time warping dragon couldn't enter.”

  “There is only one way to find out. Let's push forward and see where it takes us. The creature did say you have gone further than anyone else has. Take that for what it's worth. Five billion years old and its entire race has been around much longer and they say that you are the best chance to enter another galaxy.”

  Captain Steele sighed.

  “Your right Jamie. The fact that I'm the best the galaxy has ever produced is kind of a big deal. That's quite a burden to carry.”

  “I have faith in you John.”

  “Well that's nice to know. Glad I can make an AI have faith in me.”

  “I was programmed with the ability to make a choice John. I happen to choose to have faith in you.”

  “Well I'm glad to know you choose to have faith in me. I'm gonna get some breakfast and watch a movie. What movie do you want to see today Jamie?”

  “I will leave that up to you John.”

  “Come on. Just pick a darn movie.”

  “How about an old space movie?”

  “Works for me. Pull it up while I make a sandwich.”

  Captain Steele sat down and watched an old space movie about exploration. He watched the entire movie, then got up to work out. After working out he played a game then went to work on his log.

  “Captain Steele, date 4014, log 1,203, Month 7, Week 2, Standard Milky Way year.

  “I was visited by a Chinese dragon. No joke, that's what the creature said. We conversed and talked. We talked a lot. He informed me that I was the best and only a few others have stepped outside a galaxy in an attempt to cross through intergalactic space.

  “I originally looked at myself as a modern Christopher Columbus but the distance is much much more vast. The only difference between him and me is that I know for a fact my goal is out there and everyone else does as well. That was not the case with Mr. Columbus.

  “I strive forward wondering what other things I will come across. I received part of the Chinese dragon's flesh. It is a very different thing. It is light as a feather but much much much too dense for that. It seems information has almost been coded into it. It easily changes sizes and mass which proves that maybe the universe isn't all we thought it was. How can something change mass without either loosing or gaining mass? The fabric would itself have to create and destroy mass at will. I will have to continue to look into this.

  “Captain Steele, ending log.”

  After finishing his log Captain Steele went back to his daily activities. He walked around the ship checking all the vital equipment. He walked back to the cargo bay, made sure everything was okay, walked around to the lab and made sure everything was in stable conditions, walked to the recreational room and made sure everything was in it's place, then walked to the bridge when he sat in his captain's chair and looked ahead into space.

  The space outside a galaxy is often considered a void for a reason. There is even less light than normal. Normally, in between solar systems there is light from all the stars of the galaxy shining like the night sky because they are so close. Out here the stars are few and far between. Little dots far off in the distance that look like a star are really whole galaxies. There were bands of stars in the sky from time to time but without cosmic dust for light to shine off of so they were dimmer and appeared to be less than normal. The was just a little twinkle of a galaxy in the distance most of the time. There was so much space between the dots.

  There was nothing out here but him. There are enough galaxies in the universe that it should appear like the night sky anywhere else but for some reason it doesn't. It probably had to due with light bending around galaxies that caused light to appear non-existent.

  The more Captain Steele thought about that the worse he became. They were currently more than 14 light years from anything. It's not 14 light years from anything living but 14 light years from anything at all. There is nothing around him, nothing but invisible lack of matter called dark matter. It blew his mind to know where he was. It made him lonely and sad. It made him cold, it made his bones freeze. He wasn't just alone, away from anybody. He was alone, away from anything. He looked out into the distance just ahead of him. He wanted to see the Overlapping Galaxies but there was nothing but a twinkle of a few galaxies in the distance. Only and estimated 128 years to go.

  “Jamie lets play some music. I want a good military song. Something about a company of soldiers. Something heavy.”

  “How about your favorite, one about a company that's bad?”

  “Works for me. Crank it up, I'm gonna party.”

  Captain Steele spent the rest of the day trying to take his mind off of it all before going to bed.

  Captain Steele awoke and went to his captain's chair. He sat there admiring just how far him and Jamie have come. Almost 32 years in and they were making great progress. There was a lot of nothing between the few objects that they had seen and it had been almost 18 years since the last anomaly. They were also ahead of schedule even though they have had numerous stops along the way. Numerous discoveries that will change the laws of science. Several discoveries so great that he will forever be remembered.

  Captain Steele looked out of the ship and saw something. He then looked at the readouts.

  “Unbelievable,” Captain Steele said.

  “A brown dwarf holding an orbit of five planets that exist outside of a galaxy,” Jamie stated in amazement.

  “Isn't a brown dwarf basically a large object that didn't turn into a star?”

  “That's putting it simply John.”

  “Take us in, I'm going to go explore a planet.”

  “John, I know your dying to explore everything but I must-”

  “I'm going planet side. We are to explore what's out here. How can a star that didn't really make it in the star department be able to hold an orbit of five planet sized objects? Where did they come from? No one has ever really thought such a thing could exist outside a galaxy. We need to know Jamie. I'm taking all the gear I can carry.”

  Captain Steele threw on a DSSM suit, his trusty rifle, side arm, spare parts, and containers for specimens. He then entered the inner airlock door.

  “What do the scans show you?” He asked Jamie.

  “The first planet close to the sun has sharp rocks of an unknown material that are spiked at odd angles, with boiling mercury flowing from the core of the planet at a few places. That mercury will shine bright in the dim light of the brown dwarf so be careful. The rocks also appear to be very jagged because the radar is not returning any
thing but the mercury pools. There also appears to be some kind of fog, that's not breathable, so watch out for that as well.”

  “What is the fog made of?”

  “Unknown. The fog appears to have particles of frozen mercury in it so it's safe to assume it is fog from when the mercury hits the surface it instantly cools due the surface temperature of the planet.”

  “Whats the surface temperature?”

  “One degree Fahrenheit above absolute zero. As you probably recall absolute zero is the point at which all molecules stop moving. So one degree Fahrenheit above absolute zero is about -458 degrees Fahrenheit,” Jamie said.

  “Another day in paradise,” Captain Steele said smiling.

  The ship came to hover an estimated 1,000 feet above the surface and the outer airlock door opened. Captain Steele looked down and saw lots of thick fog.

  “Why aren't we going any lower?” Captain Steele asked.

  “I can't see below the fog and without radar I don't know where the jagged rocks stop at. This is the lowest I can take you. If you need to get back up into the ship just light the path by dropping a plasma flare and I'll see if the ship can fit. You'll need to fall, it could be a hard landing but the surface gravity is only .6 of Earth's. You've survived worse without the DSSM.”

  “Thanks Jamie. Glad you love me,” Captain Steele said sarcastically.

  “I am glad that you know that. Anything I can do to help the mighty Captain Steele,” Jamie sarcastically replied bowing her holographic form.

  Captain Steele readied himself for a hard fall and took a step off of the ship. He fell slowly at first, only to gain speed as he went through the fog. He went faster and faster the more and more he fell. He readied himself for a hard fall on a jagged rock. He went through the fog and saw the ground with spiked jagged rocks just below him. He knew it was going to hurt when he hit.

  Captain Steele landed with his left foot on the edge of a rock, and his right foot about a foot below it on another jagged rock that was at a 45 degree slope.