Wanderers in the Dark : Part 1

by Carlos Vergara

  She realised some of her peers were talking about the high-speed pursuit, as well, but she had no interest in talking about it.

  ‘Man, I wonder why we have to get early for this trip,’ Eikichi said, who appeared sleep deprived and agitated. ‘We could have just taken a flight there at night when the sun was gone and wake up the next morning on the red planet.’

  ‘I don’t think that would be the best option for us,’ Clara said.

  ‘Why is that?’

  ‘Haven’t you noticed the temperature is always cooler in the morning than it is at night?’

  ‘Hard to say as I’ve been living underground. Besides, I hardly am awake during the earliest part of the day sometimes.’

  ‘I see.’ Clara smiled.

  Ali said, ‘Had they scheduled the flight for a late-night departure, we would have encountered harsher weather conditions.’

  Eikichi pointed to the sky. ‘As opposed to travelling in the morning with the sun in our faces.’

  ‘The forecast for the weather isn’t looking good for the next couple of days. There’s going to be some bad weather coming, and I think the academy wants us to leave now instead of having us wait until the weather passes, which could take weeks. Which is why we’re here.’

  ‘Early in the morning.’

  Ali smiled. ‘Well, as Clara mentioned, the coolest part of the day is right after the sun starts to rise. The portion of the Earth that is just beginning to receive the sun's rays is still in the process of losing the heat. As with any property governed by inertia, it takes a little time to reverse this trend.’

  Eikichi gestured with his index finger. ‘Okay, you’re gonna have to rephrase the last sentence.’

  ‘Because the sun is so low to the horizon at sunrise, most of the energy – the heat – is being absorbed by the atmosphere, and this process takes a while to change despite the sun’s rays hitting the area again.’

  ‘Understand now?’ Clara asked.

  ‘A little. So, what’s the temperature right now for outside?’ Eikichi asked.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ Ali said, ‘Let me check.’ He pulled out his phone and checked the weather forecast outside.

  ‘Just imagine. The other places on Earth must be a hellhole. Just think of some place like Libya’s deserts or California’s Death Valley. We’d be fried chickens in a matter of seconds.’

  ‘I’d rather not think about that, Eikichi,’ Clara replied. ‘I’m already worried about the temperatures here.’

  ‘It’s best we don’t think about any of that,’ Ali said.

  ‘Good idea.’

  Alyssa smiled, amused by the conversation.

  She looked away, wondering where Janice had gone. She searched for her, finding Janice alone by the barrier. Her friend was staring into the dark beyond the dome. Curious, Alyssa walked toward her.

  It was still early morning and the sun hadn’t risen, but the first glimmers of light started creeping through the brown murky clouds and onto the land.

  Janice appeared to be in pain as the sun rays reached the area near her, revealing the desolation the planet was in. The soil was blackish-brown and dry without any sign of life.

  ‘Makes you wonder, huh?’ Janice said, when Alyssa stood by her. ‘How life for us can change instantly.’

  Alyssa kept quiet for a moment. ‘I don’t remember the last time I saw the planet like this, I still remember seeing green lands, blue skies, sleepless cities… I’ve been so caught up underground.’ She glanced at the barrier. ‘I tend to forget the state we’re really in sometimes.’

  ‘I don’t remember much of that – green lands, living animals, or any city for the matter. Life was very different for me as a child. I saw what others are lucky enough not to see or experience.’

  How different is what I would want to know.

  Alyssa noticed pain in Janice’s eyes, but didn’t press on the matter.

  ‘We’re trapped creatures, Alyssa. And just like trapped creatures, we’ll all going to suffer the same fate.’

  Alyssa kept her eyes on the land outside as the sun gradually ascended beyond the horizon.

  ‘I don’t believe in fate. I believe in the consequences of my actions… Life hasn’t ended yet, Janice. It hasn’t ended for me, and it certainly hasn’t ended for anyone here.’

  Janice looked at her.

  ‘All of this can change, and it will. Everyone here including myself will see to that. So, let’s not give up on hope simply because we think we know how or when life will end for us. There’s a lot to live for before that happens, and there’s a lot we can do to ensure that moment never comes.’

  ‘I know there is. It’s just sometimes knowing how it really is for us gets to me.’ She paused. ‘And I haven’t given up on hope, hence my reason for being here.’

  ‘I should hope so. After all, you still do want to be my rival, do you not?’

  ‘I do.’ Janice answered, with a hint of amusement.

  ‘Good, because I’m looking forward to it.’

  The chatter from the students rose, capturing the attention of Alyssa and Janice. They regrouped with their peers when they noticed everyone preparing themselves for boarding.

  ‘Where have you guys been?’ Eikichi asked.

  ‘Around,’ Janice said.

  ‘Well, hurry it up, will ya? I have a feeling we’re about to be leaving soon.’ He tapped Yannick, who was sleeping, on his shoulder. ‘Hey, mate, something’s happening. Best you get up now.’

  Yannick took a moment to regain consciousness.

  ‘Need a hand?’ Alyssa asked, stretched her hand and pulled him up.

  Yannick nodded in appreciation.

  The students shuffled in line with their possessions, a bald man with a thick gingered beard strode toward them. Spaceships hovered into position behind him. When he arrived, everyone was quiet, eager to hear what he had to say.

  ‘Hello cadets,’ the man said. ‘I can see all of you are anxious for your trip. That’s good. It’s going to be your first time travelling into space. Before you board your ship, I’d like you to have your IDs out and ready to show. There will be a person waiting by the entrance of every ship to mark your presence.’ He looked around at their expressions. ‘Are there any questions?’

  A person lifted their hand.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Given that this is our first time, is this the first time for the pilots as well?’ the person asked.

  ‘No, they accumulated hours of space travel, flying to and from Mars. You’re in good hands.’

  Another person lifted their hand. ‘So, you’re certain the ships are going to be able to withstand the heat once we’re outside, right?’

  ‘They will.’

  Eikichi looked at Ali and Clara. ‘Well, that’s a relief.’

  After answering several other questions, the man ended the talk. ‘Before I forget, I would like to inform you that there won’t be assigned seatings, so you can accompany your friends wherever you like. However, if there aren’t any spots available in the ship, find another one for the trip. That said, off you go.’

  All the students scurried over to the ships.

  ‘Since everyone is going to the nearest ships, let’s board one of the ships near the back,’ Clara said.

  ‘Good idea,’ Janice said.

  The group briskly made their way to one of the ships in farther rows, while carrying the luggage and backpacks. They found a ship full of vacant seats and placed their belongings in the storage compartment before getting their names marked off.

  The ship was spacious, and had an upper and lower level, which contained rows of blue seats. Each level was capable of holding many passengers.

  Alyssa packed her belongings away, had her name marked off, and entered the ship. She ascended to the upper level where the others were sitting themselves comfortably by the window.

  ‘Oh man, this is exciting,’ Eikichi said, who appeared wide awake now.

  ‘Seems like you got mo
re energy now,’ Janice remarked.

  ‘Sure do. Do you think we’ll feel the heat once we’re heading out there?’

  ‘I don’t know. It’s possible we might feel something, despite the ship’s design to tolerate heat, or we might not feel anything at all.’

  More and more students boarded the ship, filling the empty spots quickly. Within minutes, all the seats were occupied, with the ship’s interior ringing with the voices of the exuberant students.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is your pilot speaking,’ a male voice spoke through the intercom. ‘In a moment, our exit point will be made available, through which we will be leaving for Mars.’

  Everyone cheered.

  ‘Yes, yes. A round of applause to you all. Congratulations. You deserve it.’

  Alyssa glanced to the back when she heard the door slam shut by the crew member.

  ‘There’s only two rules I want you follow while you’re on board. The first is you keep your seatbelt on always during the flight. Once I give you the all clear to remove them, then you can. The second is you must obey my command should we encounter any problems along the way. Understood?’

  ‘Yes,’ everyone shouted.

  ‘Good. Let’s get this ship in the air now.’

  The ship drifted forward.

  ‘Hey, can any of you see the exit point? Because I can’t,’ Eikichi said.

  ‘It’s there!’ Ali pointed toward a hole in the ground opening toward an underground passage.

  ‘We’re flying through there?’

  ‘Looks like it. I believe we’re going to fly through an underground passage that leads outside.’

  Alyssa glanced and noticed the hole was about 50 meters wide in diameter. Then she saw a circular drone hover beside them, followed by others, flying toward a group of officers standing by a hangar.

  ‘What are those?’ someone asked.

  ‘They’re Cleansers. They remove any harmful elements that are in the air,’ another person said.

  Once their ship had flown inside, it picked up speed. The passage was dark and long.

  Eikichi placed his hand against the window, switching sides of his hand. ‘I guess we might not feel the heat that much while we’re in here.’

  ‘Alright, everyone,’ the pilot said. ‘Keep your heads placed on the headrest. It’s going to be quite an ascent into space.’

  ‘Here we go, guys,’ Janice said.

  The ship shifted positions, flying straight through hot, opaque layers of the Earth’s atmosphere.

  Alyssa glanced at the open space surrounding the ship and felt a rush of excitement. She had never flown before, and she smiled in exhilaration.

  CHAPTER 9

  WITH THE SHIP on its ascent, everyone on board was quiet. It was their first experience flying to outer space, and so far, the flight was going smoothly. No one wanted to jinx it.

  Alyssa tilted her head to the side to gaze outside. She noticed the colour of the sky changing from orange-brownish colour into black as they moved closer to space.

  Whoa...

  The ship shifted into faster speeds, which pushed everyone back against their chairs. It remained on course for another minute until it broke out of the Earth’s atmosphere, lifting the pressure.

  Alyssa noticed quite a few of students were unconscious. She wondered why. She looked at her friends. Everyone except for Yannick was also unconscious.

  Yannick appeared surprised.

  Alyssa glanced at Eikichi and tried to wake him.

  Eikichi’s eyes started to flutter. After a moment, he was conscious again, as was everyone from the group. ‘Whoa, what happened? My head… I feel dizzy.’

  ‘Yeah, you were unconscious.’

  ‘I was?’

  A crew member walked past to check on them.

  ‘Are you guys okay?’ they asked.

  ‘Yeah, what happened? Why did some of the students pass out?’ Alyssa asked.

  ‘That’s because of the G-force. The pressure you felt as we were flying up here, that’s what it is. There’s only so much the mind and body can take before you pass out.’

  ‘Is it harmful?’

  ‘If it happens frequently, yes. But this your first time, so you should be fine. Though you will receive a check-up once you’re at the academy, just to be safe.’

  The crew member walked away, checking the other students.

  ‘Okay, guys,’ the pilot said ‘We’ve finally broke out of Earth’s atmosphere. You can take a moment to relax while I prep the ship for light speed.’

  ‘Light speed? I didn’t know we were able to do that,’ Eikichi said, as he stretched his neck.

  ‘Yeah, we are. You’d be surprised how much technology progressed after Oblivion,’ Ali said.

  ‘Oh, I’m not surprised by that. I just didn’t know we found a way to travel at the speed of light. I had a feeling we would learn and create new things. Our backs are very much stuck against the wall now. The only thing we can do is figure out a way to get out of it.’

  ‘How far away is Mars from us?’ Janice asked.

  ‘Well, it depends on the position of Mars to Earth,’ Ali said. ‘The estimated distance of the two planets is somewhere in between 55 million kilometres to 400 million kilometres.’

  ‘Damn!’

  ‘You can say that again,’ Eikichi said.

  ‘It won’t take long though, thanks to the warp generator,’ Ali said.

  ‘That’s the thing that can take us at light speed, right?’

  ‘Yeah. If Mars is somewhere positioned in the middle of that range, the time to get there should there within 10, 15 minutes.’

  ‘I’m liking this warp generator already.’

  Ali smirked. ‘A lot of us are.’

  ‘Guys, take a look outside,’ Janice said.

  The group, along with everyone near the window had their eyes trained on their home planet, which looked nothing like the old Earth. It was a dry, barren place with ocean water boiled away as a result of the sun being closer, increasing temperatures.

  ‘It’s so different now,’ Clara remarked morosely.

  Yannick noticed and placed his hand on hers. She smiled in appreciation.

  ‘Way different,’ Eikichi added.

  ‘This may be one of the last times – if not the last time, we are ever near this planet,’ Janice said.

  ‘For some reason I feel I’m about to choke up on this.’

  ‘You’re not alone.’

  Alyssa glanced at the planet and tried looking for Interpol, but it was covered by the clouds. A sense of nostalgia rose within her, as she recalled her memories of home, along with every other moment she had on Earth, leading up till this point.

  Good bye…

  A moment passed.

  The pilot returned to the intercom. ‘Alright, everything is set. Let’s get going now.’

  The nostalgic mood dispersed once the ship was ready to resume travel.

  ‘Brace yourselves. You might feel your body experience a sudden pressure, like before. But don’t worry, the feeling will subside. Also, don’t get too concerned about the surroundings if you’re looking outside.’

  ‘What does he mean by that?’ Janice asked.

  The question went unanswered as the warp generator powered up and propelled the ship at a blistering speed. Emitted light from the stars and Earth vanished into darkness, except for the ships nearby.

  ‘Okay, I understand what he meant now.’

  ‘This is an effect of the travelling at light speed, right, Ali?’ Eikichi asked.

  ‘I think so. Though I’m not sure, myself. This all new for me, as well,’ Ali said.

  The estimated time of the trip to the neighbouring planet that Ali had suggested proved to be correct. The ship gradually eased on the speed until it abruptly stopped.

  Many of the students were in awe, as they marvelled at the red planet before them. Earth wasn’t the only planet to experience changes since Oblivion. Mars underwent drast
ic changes, with the patches of clouds circulating the skies over the land and channels of water.

  The ship reverted to normal manoeuvring, making the descent into the Mars. The flight through the atmosphere was another new experience for everyone, causing a few to panic as the ship broke through the first layer of Mars. After the bumpy entrance, the drop through the atmosphere smoothen out with a different view.

  ‘Oh my god, we’re here, we’re on Mars now,’ someone uttered in amazement.

  ‘Well, by the sound of it,’ the pilot said, ‘all of you are in one piece, though by the looks of it, a few of you might have been overwhelmed by the flight experience. That’s okay. The more often you go through this, the better you’ll be. Anyway, welcome to Mars, everyone. We’ll be arriving at the academy soon.’

  Curious eyes darted back and forth from each window to get a look at everything outside. All around them were deserted plains in every direction, with little formation of mountains and some manmade infrastructure like mining and farming areas that had their own protective barrier.

  ‘Anyone found the academy yet?’ Janice asked.

  No one could locate it.

  Alyssa remained on the lookout for the academy. Eventually a white light from ahead caught her attention as the ship drew closer to Acidalia Planitia, a place she recalled seeing and reading about on the information package. The illumination grew in intensity. She realised the glare was coming from light rebounding of a barrier that enclosed the entire academy––similar to the barrier at the army base on Earth.

  While the ship flew over the barrier, which gave the students a chance to see the entire place.

  ‘The place is a lot bigger than I thought it would be,’ Eikichi remarked.

  ‘Yeah, I’m surprised we still had the resources to have constructed an academy as big as this,’ Janice said.

  ‘We took a big dip in with the remaining resources we have on Earth because of the academy,’ Ali said. ‘But luckily some of the necessary materials had already been manufactured here.’

  ‘Let’s hope we did right thing. No pressure.’

  Alyssa noticed Yannick pull out a brochure that came with information package, which gave a description of each building of the Academy.