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Fiat Lux


Tikiturbo

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A short story told in installments. Sci-fi, planned for no more than 17,000 words. About a boy who journeys into outer space to discover the universe and, ultimately, himself. Enjoy.

 

Chapter 1

 

Lucas eased the star glider into the docking bay and let out a long, relieved sigh. Another successful flight, he thought. Simulation Complete, flashed the overhead display. Of course, it’d be nice to land one day and not be reminded that it was all an elaborate training program. It sort of kills the feeling of accomplishment when you realize you didn’t actually accomplish anything.

           He hung up the virtual reality goggles and turned to exit the room. Then again, Solomon would probably kill me if I ever took the real thing out for a spin – if a stray solar flare didn’t torch me first. 184 kilometers from the Sun might sound like a safe distance, but the terrifying speed at which their station had to revolve in order to turn and not burn around the Sun strongly discouraged real space travel. Leaving the station was not the issue; it was docking without crashing into and knocking out of delicate orbit the ExORBE, and thereby depriving the heliosphere of its last three solar researchers, not to mention their star pupil. The irony of perishing by the very thing to which they had dedicated their lives would not be lost on posterity, and Lucas would die a million unironic deaths before becoming the butt of a historical joke.

           Judging eternal ignominy a steep price for a fun but brief foray into space, Lucas decided to shelve his ambitions and practice on the simulator instead. After all, why would he ever want to leave the ExORBE, or the Experimental Orbiting Research and Broadcasting Emitter as it was professionally known, anyway? Sure, the chores were tedious, all their meals came freeze-dried and in a bag, and sometimes he could swear the Sun’s gravitational pull was stunting his growth, but for the most part, he loved it there. Besides, Lucas thought as he walked towards the airlock. Where else would I get to have such an awesome view?

           In front of him, so large that the window could barely encompass it all, was the Sun. That was with a capital “S.”  Constantly erupting from the fusion of 620 million metric tons of hydrogen every second, its surface glowed with such intensity that even behind a polarized screen you worried you might go blind. At a distance, the Sun looked benign, warm, and comforting. Yet up close, paradoxical as it seemed, the source of all that goodness, warmth, and comfort owed its existence to a series of violent, destructive, nightmarish reactions that culminated an apocalyptic ball of fire. More than paradoxical, it seemed almost unbelievable. For Lucas, however, the unbelievable was an everyday occurrence. And the wonder of it never ceased.

           I’m pretty sure, he thought, if this screen weren’t polarized, I would sill stare at the Sun. At least if I went blind, it’d be with the most incredible thing in the universe seared into my memory. No, that’s a stupid thought, he told himself. What if something even more incredible came along and I couldn’t see it? Lucas looked at the Sun again. Yeah, right. Like that could ever happen.

           The alarm signaling the opening of the exterior airlock shocked the boy out of his ramblings and turned his attention to the three figures entering the hatch.  Three suits, each with its own perfectly controlled environment that enabled the wearer to survive temporarily in the unforgiving vacuum of space, walked slowly and methodically to the end of the airlock chamber closest to Lucas. He could see them through the transparent interior hatch linking the inner airlock to the main cabin. The one nearest the sidewall punched some numbers into a keypad, and the exterior hatch began to close. While they waited patiently for the airlock to seal and the chamber to pressurize, Lucas looked on them with a proud smile.

Inside the three suits were Ray, Jason, and Solomon, adoptive guardians of and idolized heroes to the aspiring solar researcher.

           A second alarm sounded, this time accompanied by a green light, which signaled that it was safe for the men to remove their gear. The one who had punched in the airlock code released the locks on his helmet and turned in Lucas’s direction. The others did the same, undoing their helmet locks with a pneumatic hiss and joining the first in facing him.

            Lucas stopped smiling. Even though he could not see their features, he felt as though they were staring at him. A strange sense of foreboding came over him. What? What did they want? Were they angry about something? Oh, no. Maybe they found out about the new ship I’ve been practicing with. Or maybe I made an improper report in my last broadcast. Or maybe, Lucas shuddered, I forgot to replace the water in their humidity tanks and the dry air made their bodies shrivel up... just like a mummy’s.

            Still staring at Lucas, the figures reached up to take off their helmets. Slowly and deliberately, the three began to lift their visors from their heads, their gaze never once leaving its target.

            Frozen with fear, Lucas could only bring himself to close his eyes to brace for whatever hideous sight he might see. I can’t look.

            “Lucas,” came a voice from the intercom. “Look at what you’ve done to us.”

            Hesitantly, Lucas opened one eye. Then both. Then his mouth. Then he fell over, he had started laughing so hard.

            “Ha, ha, you guys!” he cried, his eyes full of tears. No, he hadn’t forgotten to change the water. Better yet, he had overfilled them, so much so that the resulting humidity had caused their hair to stand on end to its full length, making them for all the world look like a trio of made scientists.

            “Oh, so you think this is funny, huh?” roared the voice on the intercom. “Well, just wait till this hatch opens and I’ll show you how funny it is!”

            Lucas was too busy trying to recover his breath to take note of the threat. By the time the inner airlock had opened, he was too weak to offer any resistance to the old man, who tackled him and promptly delivered a devastating Russian haircut to his head.

            “No, please, Uncle Solomon! Ha, ha – ow, ow.”

            “You looked a little hungry, so I thought you could use a knuckle sandwich,” Solomon grinned good-naturedly.

            “No, please, I don’t want to look like you!”

            “Really? I thought you liked funny hair, you seem so fond of giving it to other people.”

            “Ha, ha, no thanks, you can keep it.”

            Lucas and Solomon sat up together laughing. Contentedly observing the reunion of the two inseparable companions, Ray and Jason exchanged gratified looks before themselves bursting into laughter at the sight of their own ridiculous visages.

            Though every now and then he had his doubts, it was at moments like this that Lucas considered himself the luckiest orphan in the world.

Edited by Tikiturbo

Not Tikicrazy. Not Tikiloco. Just plain ol' Tikiturbo.

 

Check Out My S&T 7 Entry: "Teacher" Below

 

http://www.bzpower.c...?showtopic=7740

 

KINGDOM HEARTS Fan? PM me.

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