Endless Sky (An Island in the Universe Trilogy Book 1)

by Greg Remy

Bright specks from hundreds of thousands of stars were visible, ranging from soft whites to deep reds. Sliding into view, a silent asteroid drifted by, oblique with shades of browns and grey, on a journey that could easily last a billion years. Just beyond the glass and in-between every pastel sun was blackness, both ever-present and never changing, the absolute essence of the universe.

  The pair remained completely absorbed for some time, each enthralled within their own thoughts. Zoe herself imagined moonlit nights illuminating Martian canyons, sudden bursts from prismatic nebulas as newborn stars ignited, proto-planets undergoing metamorphosis from world-wide volcanic eruptions, and the awesome power of stars at the end of their life-cycles igniting for one final fireworks show. Zoe’s eyes dazzled with an affinity for the infinity to which she was an inhabitant of, upon an island of its great sea. Darious turned to her, and Zoe saw within his eyes that same shimmer she felt within her own soul.

  Chapter 5

  A Lesson on Quantum Entanglement

  The pair disembarked from the space station and idled in nearby space. Zoe was quickly able to replace the broken parts and cleared a space in the cockpit behind her captain’s station, installing a seat, monitor, and controls.

  “Taa-daa!” Zoe said as she lifted her hands from Darious’ eyes. He stared at the setup for a moment and then back to her. She motioned for him to sit. “It will be nice having some help around here.”

  His expression showed puzzlement. “Is this for me?” he asked.

  “Yes sir. You’re part of the crew now.”

  “I… thank you.”

  She ushered him into the seat.

  “Go ahead. Give it a whirl.”

  Darious fumbled with the control panel, managing to turn on the projection controls after a short bit and the screen appeared with a brilliant wave of colors.

  “Alright then,” said Zoe as she assumed the captain’s chair. “To infinity, and beyond!” She punched in the ignition sequence and the idling engines roared with eagerness. The ship leapt forward, pushing both Zoe and Darious back into their seats before the gravitational system caught up. Zoe heard commotion behind her. “Sorry about that. I’ll warn ya next time.” She turned to see Darious regaining his seat with his controls in disarray.

  The ship flew at great speeds out and away from the space station, leaving behind the sojourn slog and pursuing the road less traveled. Zoe’s craft was soaring along superbly; in addition to the repairs, she had found and installed a little gamma amplifier allowing her to tweak the pinch point of gamma flow from the engines and gaining just a bit more oomph.

  “Course plotted in. Looks like...” Zoe brought up a side screen. “about two weeks until our destination.”

  “Ma’am, where are we headed?”

  Zoe got up from her controls and sat on the floor next to Darious, looking up at him. “So, what do you like to do for fun?”

  “I am sorry. I do not know, ma’am.”

  “Please, no need for formalities.”

  “I am sorry.”

  “Or apologizing.”

  “I am—” Darious somewhat froze up and shrunk his shoulders like a child in trouble.

  Zoe knew she was going to have to take it slow with him. “Well,” she said, “how about this: I know it may take some time, but how about you become familiar with the ship? I have plenty of reading material on it. Meanwhile, I’ve got a bit of coding I wanna catch up on. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.” She leaned over and typed into Darious’ projection console, bringing up schematics of her craft along some thruster mechanics. He leaned forward and began taking in the information in silence. She watched him for a bit and then got up and went back in her seat, opening many screens, the first of which was her music player. The subwoofers in the cabin sent low vibrations through the tips of her fingers and the melodies harmonized her mind to her task.

  The two weeks of travel went by quickly, and though Zoe had tried several times to break down those walls of Darious, they turned out to be sturdier than stone and much taller too. On one day she had even made her version of green chili stew and told him about its old Earth-1 origin, to which he seemed interested, but continued to retain his formalities and timidity.

  “So, tell me about your family. Got any sisters or brothers?” Zoe asked on the last day of their voyage.

  Darious was reading a mathematics tensor book in the central room. He had quickly worked his way through the calculus material she had given him and was consuming this book at an amazing pace. She told him he could take notes within the pages, but he insisted on separating his notes as not to discredit the book in any way. Darious paused his reading and set the book down. Zoe took an excited seat next to him seeing that just maybe, that wall was finally coming down.

  He took in a breath. “You,” he said, “were born of nature and grown by nurture. I was borne of machines and matured by them.”

  “I see,” she said, “Ah, you test tube babies.” She smirked but it faded as the face staring back at her remained joyless.

  “Though I could not speak nor see until I was past puberty, I do remember my benefactor once visiting me. At the time, I knew not what his words meant, but I kept them.” Darious’ voice went low, and he spoke in a serious manner. “‘You are corporeal embodiment of the quintessential human; the single resonance node from hundreds of trillions intersecting waves.’ He then took up my limp hands like this.” Darius lifted his hands together, palm upwards, and continued, “With your hands you will hold the dreams of your species.” Darious then put his hands to his eyes. “Through your eyes, you will witness the captivation and imagination from every single Plank frame.” He then pointed to his tongue. “Your tongue will speak with the hopes of all and hold in confidence the secrets of all.” Darious then stood up and brought up each leg in turn as if someone was lifting them. “Finally, your two feet will guide you.” Darious sat back down with a sigh. “And that was it.” Zoe was in awe. “After my vision had developed, I saw these markings all over my body. It is law for clones to have such identifiers.” He stroked each arm. “They exist on every appendage, every organ and bone.”

  With eyes wide Zoe said, “But nevertheless, your benefactor—I mean, wow.”

  Darious looked down and shook his head. “He died shortly after telling me those things. That was it. I learned later I was simply an experiment of his. I was created from a synthesis of genetic coding from all mankind; a blending of all sapiens. When he died, I was thrown out, later to be found and sent to work in the mines on Escobar-3. But really I—”

  “Ha! You got out, you sly dog, didn’t you?” Zoe was beaming. Darious nodded nervously and fiddled with his hands. “Ah Darious, one in a million.” He smiled. That was the first time Zoe saw him smile. “So, you’ve been traveling around, eh?”

  “Yes,” he replied, “for about 7 years now. It has been—”

  “Awesome, right? I know!” Darious looked slightly defeated. “I know, I know, sometimes it’s bullshit. But I saw it in your eyes, you like what’s out there.” Zoe pointed past the cockpit, out to space.

  Exhilaration momentarily passed over his face. “Oh yes.” He paused. “Zoe, if I may ask—”

  “Ask away.”

  “Have you ever been to the center of the Milky Way?”

  “Aww nothing there but a big hole. What you really ought to see, if you haven’t, are the Floating Gardens of Cabernet.”

  “Oh yes! But beware of the carrion flowers; reeks worse than death!” They laughed together. “Cabernet has been one of the few places my hitchhiking has allowed me to visit.”

  “Can I ask you something Darious?”

  “Yes, Zoe.”

  “So, you got out and went exploring, but what about an education? I can see you’re no dum-dum.”

  “I suppose I have been built with certain cognitive abilities.”

  “Well, I’ve got a little stockpile of reading material back from my college days and more I’ve picked up thr
ough the years, as you may have no undoubtedly noticed. It’s all yours to learn from, if you’re interested that is.”

  “Oh, thank you Zoe!”

  “Speaking of which, you had better get brushed up on ionic thrust injectors because next on my to-do list is to recalibrate the one I have.”

  Darious beamed with pleasure. “Yes, ma’am!”

  A beeping from the cockpit announced the ship had arrived at its destination.

  “Ahh ya.”

  Zoe stood up and went to her captain’s chair. Darious followed and peered over her shoulder out at empty space. She typed at a maddening pace, flipping screen after screen as she initiated a multitude tests. She spoke as her fingers rattled over the console.

  “Background radiation. Normal. Cosmic dust. Normal.” She scrolled through more screens. “Normal. Normal. Zero value. Normal. Hmm.”

  “What is it you are looking for?” asked Darious.

  Zoe continued whipping through more screens and then reached up, flipping switches and checking back at the monitor. “Nope. Normal. Zero. Normal.” Her typing slowed. “Nope. Nada.” She sat back in her chair and tapped on her chin. “Well, I guess he was full of shit.” Darious was about to say something but Zoe cut in, “Well, that was lame.”

  “What—,” Darious began, but then seemed to stop himself, before trying again with a timid confidence. “What was the purpose of this mission?”

  “Eh. Don’t worry about it. What do you want to do now?”

  He looked at her blankly.

  “How ’bout lunch?” She asked.

  Zoe left and quickly returned with two silver pouches, handing one to Darious. She tore off a corner of hers with her teeth and began sucking at the sweet substance.

  After they finished their Vita-Pals, Zoe went to work recalibrating the sensors with Darious acting as her assistant. She chatted him up as they worked, explaining the finer points of space flight. Zoe even got a few more smiles from him. The pair spent the next few days modifying the thrust injectors while talking about topics ranging from quantum creation theories to the best toppings for scrambled eggs. They were bonding resplendently, like two electrons, forged on opposite ends of the galaxy and quantumly entangled so that their two separate realities had become indistinguishable.

  Chapter 6

  To Infinity and Beyond

  After several weeks of roaming the galaxy, Darious asked Zoe about family. He elaborated on his curiosities of the family-dynamic and had even inserted a well-placed joke about his zygote infancy. He had wondered aloud if it was worth seeking out a family. Though Zoe had grown quite close with him, she wavered at these questions. Her uncomfortableness went noticed and after Darious apologized many times, Zoe thought he had abandoned the topic entirely.

  Several days after this incident, Darious suddenly asked, “Can I meet your family?”

  The question caught Zoe off guard, as they had just been talking about possible upgrades to the aft thrusters. “My family? Why, um, well…” She twisted her lips in thought. Looking over at him, she could see a hint of anxiety in his sparkling eyes. She couldn’t resist. “Well, why not! It’s been a while since I’ve seen ’em.” She smiled, and he reciprocated with a larger grin. Zoe spun around in her chair and typed in a set of coordinates. “One family reunion coming right up.” With that, she pressed the virtual ‘Enter’ button, to which it turned the ship about and fired thrusters near max.

  “Behold!” said Zoe, six days later. She could hear him fumble with a book and drop it on the floor. “Did I startle you?” she chortled as he joined her in the cockpit. Darious halted as his eyes touched the view beyond the cockpit.

  They were approaching a massive behemoth of a planet, comprised of genial colors from vast deserts and oceans with small spots of verdant greens. By a true show of harmony on this colossal scale, at either side of the world, two enormous satellites—each easily the size of Earth-1—were in orbit exactly opposite each other, appearing to be so perfect in their symmetric positioning that they looked to be painted amongst the stars. Zoe smiled when she saw Darious’ awestruck expression.

  As they neared, mountains became evident, waters of varying depth changed by tones of blue, and evidence of civilization appeared all throughout continental habitable zones. Along the planet’s edge, the atmosphere blended in such fantastic hues, it seemed as if the whole planet was enshrouded in a divine halo.

  “Amazing,” said Darious as he continued to observe the passive giant. Neither he nor could Zoe hide their feelings of admiration. Zoe whole-heartedly smiled in view of her great-uncle’s home world.

  The ship came down through the thick atmosphere and landed in a desert region. Darious remained glued to the window, even after Zoe had left the cockpit to prepare a small backpack.

  “Are you coming, compadre?”

  He snapped out of his daze and joined her. The pair exited the craft through its rear gangway. Zoe shaded her eyes from the brilliant sun and saw Darious looking around with his eyes wide open. Through watery vision, he took it all in. Zoe chuckled; he was just a tad excited. She had parked her ship next to a dirt roadway and looked around at the barren land surrounding them. For kilometers in all directions, the desiccated desert saturated the terrain. Overhead the sun bore down, and the two ever-present moons bulged from either horizon. Just up the road a short way was a line of homes. Zoe led the way, whilst probing her memory for the facade of the house.

  A hot wind sent up gusts every so often and lone tumbleweeds wandered by. The temperature could rival the hottest on Earth-1 and the first beads of sweat soon formed upon Zoe’s brow. Just as Darious parted his lips and the first syllable from some word was about to escape, Zoe announced, “Ah! Here we are!” and stopped at a rusted metal gate leading to a two-story, white-washed house. Desert shrubs covered the fenced-in lot and the angled roof was full of patchwork. It had a dilapidated by homely look just as Zoe remembered. Next to the house was a separate, well-maintained barnyard that had been refashioned as a mechanical shop.

  Zoe took the steps up the porch by twos and rang the doorbell three times. At first there were no sounds, but then stirring and wooden floorboards creaking toward them could be heard. Zoe also heard a young voice within and smiled. The paint-chipped door opened, giving way to a tall, slender man of many years, although his steadfast movements evidenced much capability and strength. His rugged face creased inward as he surveyed the two individuals at his door. Suddenly his expression lightened up and his wrinkles were muscled back into broad smile. “Zoe? Ah, Zoe!” Just then, a little girl peeked from between his legs, shuttering with excitement.

  “Zoe!” she exclaimed and ran out, hugging Zoe’s legs.

  “Hi there Renee!” Zoe bent down and hugged the girl.

  “Zoe!” she gasped with excitement, “Grampa!” She turned toward the man behind her and back at Zoe. “Grampa told me all about you! I can’t believe you’re here!” She was wiggling from joy. “Your hair is so beautiful!”

  Zoe laughed. “Why thank you.”

  Next her great-uncle came in for a hug. “Haven’t seen you in a long time missy.”

  “Well, I was in the neighborhood, so thought it’d be nice to stop by.”

  “Indeed, it is.” He hugged her once more and Zoe held on tight for a moment longer. He put a hand on each shoulder, surveying her and then looked over at Darious. “So, who is this artistic gentleman?”

  “This is my friend, Darious. Darious, this is my great uncle, Sampson Thorgood.”

  “A pleasure sir.” Darious simultaneously bent over, held out his hand, and bent a leg backwards, evidencing several greeting customs at once. Sampson shook his hand.

  “Please, come inside. Today is a hot one.”

  Zoe picked up Renee and the four went in the house.

  Iced-tea was served and they all sat around comfortable, yet worn, fabric chairs. Sampson told them that his shop was well busy; he had fixed up Apollo Adelric’s hover cargo system the other day an
d was reworking the townsfolk’s engines for better fuel economy. If Zoe had time, she should see his current project—a fully automated personal jetpack that was fueled by starch. Zoe’s young cousin constantly interjected, saying her grandpapa was the best there was, and ‘oh Zoe look at this,’ and ‘Zoe can I brush your hair?’ Zoe was happy to oblige.

  Zoe spoke of her recent adventures, which she talked up, though noting that as of late, there hadn’t been much, and truth be told, there hadn’t ever been any real adventure. They ate an early dinner consisting of potatoes and baked chicken, topped with country herbs and spices. Darious looked on with a keen curiosity as the family spoke and thanked Mr. Thorgood for the delicious meal every time his name was mentioned.

  As the afternoon faded, Darious was guided to the couch and obliged to relax, to which he did not contest, and he spent the next hour digesting the six chicken thighs he had devoured while reading a farming book Sampson had given to him. Renee was on the floor playing with plastic bricks. Zoe and her great uncle went outside and sat on the backyard porch with a view of kilometers of uninterrupted desert.

  Zoe was silent for some time, staring out to the horizon; her eyes followed a dust devil in the distance. The sand from it would get kicked up, do several twirls, and settle again only to be picked up again as the gust perked up. She relaxed and placed her head on Sampson’s shoulder. He began to softly stroke her hair, just as she remembered from long ago when she was a little girl.

  “Zoe,” Sampson began. Somewhere, at some moment undefined, the air had turned cooler and a somber mood had fallen upon the porch. “What happens when you pass through an event horizon and finally, after eons, reach that singularity?” Zoe didn’t respond, but continued to look out at the oncoming sunset. “What happens when all of time is done?” He paused and then continued on, “to whom do we even ask such questions? Antecedently, why do we even ask such questions?” A little smile crept along Zoe’s lips and she sat up looking into his eyes. “If we are not here to ask such questions, then I propose, we are pointless creatures. Nettle fish. Mindless all-consumers.” Sampson whisked a few hairs from her face with his fingers. “Thus, I propose to you, that indeed those who do question, who must do the exploring, are necessary for the endurance of the species and for the forward development of it. You cannot plant a seed on a road; you must till on open lands. The same is true for thought.” He paused once more and surveyed the landscape. “Though, I do suppose, without roads, bags of seed do become quite burdensome.” A soft smile showed through his wrinkles.