by J. Benjamin
After a few moments, ambient noise filled the air. The lush, soothing sound of flowing water unfolded like a slow-building orchestra of nature. Kiara felt a smooth surface beneath her feet. It was flat, yet organic and lifelike, as if she were walking on the flesh of a living being.
Slowly, Kiara recognized that the place wasn’t as pitch black as she had thought. In fact, a light slowly crept into the area around her. It was faint and purple and originated directly in front of her.
Kiara could finally make out her surroundings. She was surrounded by what appeared to be natural rock walls. However, they were overshadowed by an endless flow of liquid that was red as blood. The fleshy ground beneath her was red too. She wondered for a second if she were back on the worm planet, or if the blood was an illusion of her human mind, or if red liquid was just ubiquitous throughout the multi-verse beyond Earth.
Kiara looked up. Above her sat a beautiful night sky filled with an endless ocean of stars and nebulae. She did not see a single constellation, star, nor pattern that she would have recognized on Earth. She looked at the purple light, which emanated from a large opening in the rock wall, flanked by the blood-like waterfalls.
Kiara crawled into an opening between the waterfalls. She found herself before a massive cavern that seemed to go up for thousands of feet. In the center of the cavern, Minerva’s consciousness glistened brightly. She glowed purple, just like her reactor core. Her appendages draped down the sides of the cave, like aerial silks on a circus performance that one would pay three-hundred credits to see in New Tokyo.
“I never imagined you could be capable of such imagination. I knew you could talk to us and think like us, but this is just incredible,” Kiara said.
“How can we help you?” Minerva asked.
“Not sure if you have been paying attention to what is happening outside, but my friend Matt and I are in a very dire situation,” Kiara said.
“Explain,” Minerva said.
“This is not our home. Matt and I need to get out of here. The one I came here with. Not the others. Can you do that?”
“Home?” The behemoth said. It paused for several seconds. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am positive,” Kiara said. She was still distraught for her physical safety and especially Matt’s, as their Aquarian bodies were still currently faced with three irrational humans.
Most of the light vanished, leaving behind a sea of stars. Actually, it was a sea of galaxies. Some of them exploded violently around Kiara. Others sat undisturbed. They came by the thousands and filled the horizon. Kiara noticed some of the galaxies had what appeared to be orange circles around them.
“What are those orange flickers?”
“You know what they are,” Minerva said.
Indeed, Kiara did know. She knew as every Aquarian knew. They were communication beacons emanating from those galaxies.
“This is your home layer,” Minerva explained. All around the universe, countless species had advanced to the point where they could signal themselves into the everlasting expanse of space. One of the orange beacons drew Kiara inward, as if she were falling toward it.
After an endless journey, Kiara finally saw something familiar, an awe-inspiring disk of dust and light. It was surrounded by thirteen other similar spirals.
“Andromeda!” Kiara was as relieved as she was astonished to see a familiar sight for once. However, Andromeda wasn’t what was pulling her in. It was another galaxy. It was one she never actually saw from the outside because she lived deep in the center of it, the Milky Way.
The deep stretches of the Milky Way surrounded her. It was a beautiful sight for which she had no words. It was her home, and humanity’s rightful home. She was surprised by the number of orange blips appearing in the bands of gas and light from within.
One orange band expanded further above the rest. The blip grew until Orion’s Belt came into focus. Then Proxima Centauri, the collapsed star turned black hole of Betelgeuse, and even Wolf 482 all stood visible. Finally, the orange blip zoomed even further to reveal the solar system. The distance from where Kiara started, to where she was now was not lost on her.
Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and every known feature of Sol now shimmered bright and beautiful. However, Kiara was surprised when she realized that the orange blip she had seen before was actually three orange blips. One emanated from Earth, another from Saturn, and a third had originated from the Moon of all places.
“They’re waiting for us! They’ve been waiting this entire time! They never shut down the portal!” Kiara felt her eyes well up as she was overwhelmed with both intense joy and disbelief. The lights were mere inches from her face. Home was waiting right in front of her.
“Minerva. Take us home…” Kiara reached out, but Minerva’s consciousness disappeared. Everything disappeared.
Kiara’s eyes opened. She was back where she was before, on the sand of the Universal Crescent. The appendages from her ankle no longer clung to Minerva’s roots.
Kiara looked up. Both Alex Harper and Simon Emmerson lay bloodied and battered beyond recognition. Their mangled bodies were engulfed by thousands of overpowering appendages, which originated from where Matt’s arms were. He stood still nonchalantly. Apparently, he too figured out how to morph his Aquarian body.
Kiara could hear them both coughing, so they weren’t dead. They simply had received an epic ass-whooping. Kiara looked at Matt as if she had seen a ghost. He released the sorry individuals from his ironclad grip and retreated the appendages back into his body until they formed his human arms again.
“It was them or us,” Matt said.
“Fair enough,” Kiara replied.
Edie Brenner was still standing in the same spot as before, albeit with a face like death at the terror he’d unleashed. Gone was the self-assured attitude that she confronted them with not long ago. She ran. Alex and Simon slowly pulled themselves up, dropped their guns, and stumbled away.
However, it became immediately evident that Edie wasn’t running because of Matt and the bloody near-death experiences that almost ended her accomplices.
Kiara and Matt turned around. Edie was running because a low-hanging purple cloud hovered directly above Minerva. It grew exponentially with each passing second.
“Kiara, what did you do?” Matt asked.
“Matt. Whatever happens, hang on!”
A band of dark light ripped open from the clouds. It violently shook the ground beneath them with the force of several stars colliding. Its gravity overpowered whatever foundation they stood on. Within the blink of an eye, Matt disappeared into the rift. Minerva violently uprooted from the land and met the same fate. Kiara surrendered herself. She allowed the force to rip her into the abyss.
Everything faded to white.
41
June 13, 2082
She heard a rhythmic beeping sound.
“What’s… what’s going on?” Kiara asked.
“It’s a heart monitor, Dr. Lacroix,” a familiar voice answered.
“I’m back!” She opened her eyes to take in her surroundings. She laid in a large hospital bed. Diodes on her chest connected through the thin patient gown she had been placed in and into a medical diagnostics machine to her left.
Kiara looked ahead and saw none other than Defense Secretary Gwen Jackson.
“Gwen? What’s going on? What happened? Is this real? Am I alive? I am alive!” she shouted enthusiastically and in disbelief.
“Both you and Captain Ashford have been unconscious for a few days now. It’s June thirteenth.”
“June thirteenth? Four days? Oh, my God!”
“Not much happened here on Earth, but I am vastly curious to learn what you have seen. I imagine it will be enough to fill ten thousand libraries worth of new information,” Secretary Jackson said.
“Yeah… I guess you could say that,” Kiara said, rolling her eyes. “By the way. Where’s Matt?”
“Matt is conscious. He’s in another medical room. Thomas
briefed him, and he is now taking a nap. I suggest you do the same.”
“Oh, thank God,” Kiara panted. “I am so glad Matt’s alive.”
“Srivastava says it may take some time for your body to fully recover from that experience. We’re all just very thankful to have you both back, Dr. Lacroix,” Gwen said.
“Thank you for not unplugging us.” She remembered Edie Brenner. “What do you know about Edie Brenner?”
“Dev Ivanov approached us. Told us everything we hadn’t known about spacetime sequencing and how they, the aliens, communicate. Long story short, we knew you weren’t dead and used their beaconing technology to guide you home,” Gwen explained.
“Well done,” Kiara saluted Gwen. “If I had a drink right now, I’d toast to your fine efforts.”
“Don’t thank me. Thank Dr. Srivastava next time you see him.”
“I will do that,” Kiara replied.
“Good. Now get some rest. When you’re ready, we want to debrief you and get your side of the story as to what happened beyond the bridge.”
“Of course.”
***
Six hours later, Kiara felt refreshed enough to yank herself out of bed, get dressed, and get her debriefing out of the way. She called the number given to her and proceeded to report to Room 375, as requested. Room 375 was not far from the GSF situation room, where she initially met Matt and Leon back in December.
She saw the room at the end of the hall. Before she could reach the end of the hall, the door opened and her heart leapt.
“Matt!”
“Kiara!”
They ran toward each other embraced. Kiara gripped Matt tightly, never wanting to let go.
“I thought we would never come home. I am so glad we’re back,” Kiara said, hugging him.
“I know. I can’t believe it. We’re alive.” Matt said. “I think that will be the last time I try to cross the boundaries of spacetime.”
“A-fucking-men and ditto,” Kiara replied. She loosened her grip just enough to find Matt’s lips and kiss him passionately.
“So, are you going to tell me what you told them?” she asked Matt.
“I told them as much as I could. For some reason, I don’t think I am getting through to them.”
“Huh? Not getting through to them?”
“Kiara, High Command believes that from the moment we crossed the bridge to the moment we reemerged in our natural bodies, that we were in a highly-advanced, alien computer simulation.”
“That was no simulation,” Kiara said.
“That’s what I said,” Matt replied. “Good luck convincing them of that.”
“Watch me.”
She kissed him quickly and entered the glass room, complete with a metal table, two chairs, and a young gentleman in a GSF uniform.
“Greetings. You must be Doctor Kiara Lacroix,” the gentleman said while getting up from his chair.
“That is correct.”
He walked over and extended his hand.
“My name is Lieutenant Commander Hussein Saleh. This is not an interrogation, and you are not being held against your will. However, we do ask that you be completely truthful and keep this information between yourself and the relevant parties with proper clearance. We don’t expect to get all the details today, but whatever you can recall would be incredibly helpful.”
“Of course. Let’s begin.”
For two hours, Kiara recounted in detail as much information as she could fathom about her journey beyond the bridge. She discussed the Aquarian encounters and their capability to understand humans. Kiara discussed her adventures into multiple star systems and then the Universal Crescent. She explained her violent standoff with Edie Brenner and her group. Finally, she told about the mysterious event which trigged their return to Earth and brought their consciousness back to their original bodies. At one point, Lt. Commander Saleh began asking follow-up questions.
“Dr. Lacroix, at any point, did you perceive these events as reality or as virtual constructs within a highly-advanced alien simulation?”
“I’m telling you. It was real. Matt was there. I was there. If I were making this up, how did Edie Brenner, Simon Emmerson, and Alex Harper all show up in this simulation? They had real high-frequency laser weapons. I saw it with my own eyes. They used the Aquarian network to initiate interstellar travel.”
“Dr. Lacroix, we have no doubt that Brenner, Emmerson, and Harper successfully transferred their consciousnesses into the gammanet and then beyond the bridge. They certainly had the means. However, there is zero evidence that their pod successfully crossed the physical fabric of spacetime.”
“You’re wrong, Hussein. I’m telling the truth,” Kiara replied.
“Your assertions are noted, Dr. Lacroix. There will be further investigations into these events, and you will be welcome to testify before the GSF Intelligence Committee. Till then—” The Lt. Commander was disrupted by a call on his ocular lens.
“One sec. I have to take this.”
“Take your time,” Kiara said.
At this point, she wanted to get the hell out and run to the nearest bar. Her interviewer seemed somewhat concerned by whatever he was being told on the other side of the call.
“Okay. Okay, I understand. Oh wow. Okay.”
“Pardon?” she asked.
“Dr. Lacroix, this meeting is adjourned. You’ll be hearing from us soon,” Hussein replied.
“I’m good to go?” she asked.
“You’re good to go,” he said.
Kiara walked down the empty hall and followed it back to the main General Assembly area. The further she went, the more people she saw. They weren’t pacing themselves. They were frantically hurrying in the same direction, toward the main floor of the General Assembly building. Why were these people in such a rush?
Kiara ran to catch up with them. Eventually, she reached the main entry hall. A massive holo-screen loomed over the eager throng. Nobody seemed to notice her presence. Kiara looked up and saw both Thomas Adler and Matt standing over the balcony above her looking to the screen.
“Matt? Adler?”
“Kiara. Get up here, quick!” Matt shouted back. Kiara had to push her way past a few individuals. She reached Matt, who looked as if he had seen a ghost. Thomas didn’t even acknowledge her presence. He was fixated on the giant holo-screen overlooking the entry.
“Matt. What the hell is going on? Why is everyone crowding in here?”
“Look!” He pointed to the screen. It was Veronica Rios of United California News. Next to her was a moving drone feed from none other than the Moon.
“We come to you live with breaking news from the Moon. Several hours ago, New Tokyo reported a massive moonquake from the unlikeliest of places, the far dark side of the Moon. Since moonquakes are incredibly rare and uncommon, it was initially assumed that the sensors that reported this were triggered by a meteor impact. Nevertheless, a drone swarm was sent to investigate the site of the crash.”
The cheese-like surface of the Moon raced below the drone that quickly skimmed the surface toward the site of the supposed impact. Then, the camera of the drone pivoted upward to reveal an ungodly sight.
“Minerva!” Kiara shouted. There it was. The Aquarian host laid on the surface of the Moon on its side. Dozens more drones descended upon the Aquarian host. Kiara found herself in complete disbelief. Shrieks and gasps filled the air from the floor below.
“In all my years of reporting the news, I have never seen anything like this in my entire life.” The anchorwoman said. “No comment from GSF as of yet, but it’s clear this is one of the alien flagships seen in the Wolf 482 reports.”
Kiara looked at Adler. His face was stoic.
“You were telling the truth!” he stated. “It was never a simulation.”
Matt turned to Kiara.
“Wanna get the hell out of here?”
“Please!”
Epilogue
July 3, 2082 - Somewhere Far Away
&
nbsp; Matt laid on the beach blanket in a bathing suit and blue button-down. Kiara could tell he was half-awake. She reached for her agua fresca and took another sip. The refreshing drink quenched the thirst from the guac and chips she bought from the nearby beach vendor..
Aside from the locals, Kiara and Matt felt as though they had the beach to themselves. That’s exactly how Kiara wanted it.
For now, all she wanted was to enjoy the afternoon sun on her new favorite beach. Kiara felt compelled to learn Spanish. If she was going to stay here, she would need to know the language. Hopefully, it would be enough to get her a gig teaching exobiology.
She noticed an incoming call on her ocular lens. She was reluctant to answer it. GSF assured her that she wouldn’t be bothered for at least another few weeks. They certainly had their hands full with the rapidly escalating expeditions to study Minerva, which happened to unexpectedly fall in their proverbial laps.
She took the call. The other person’s face appeared as an overlay over the beach view.
“Dev Ivanov?”
“Hello, Kiara, errr…. Dr. Lacroix.”
“Dev. This better be important. I am enjoying the first moment of peace that I have experienced in the better part of a year.” She looked at Matt. He was still asleep.
“Is that the thanks I get for saving your life?” he replied.
“Okay, fine. Thank you for saving our lives,” Kiara said.
“You’re welcome. I imagine you must be enjoying some well needed R&R. I won’t take up too much of your time,” Dev replied. “By now, I am sure you’ve seen the news. GSF has a real mess on its hands with that alien vessel that landed on the moon.”
“Yeah. I know. You can be sure I am not going anywhere near it. Neither is Matt. They have field professionals who are much better equipped to deal with the unfolding situation.”
“If you say so, Dr. Lacroix. How can anyone be equipped to deal with an alien leviathan? There’s no training manual for something like that.”
“Good point,” Kiara replied. “So Dev, what is it you want, exactly?”