The Dark Transit
Synopsis: The Earth
as we know it is dead. Humans live on
an M class planet called Aeon. It is
paradise but there is a zone not far from Aeon called The Dark Transit. Those who have traversed it end up in mental
institutions. One astronaut, Clive
Aldrin, who has lost almost everything, takes the junket, and encounters his
dopple. He comes out stronger,
realizing the Transit is nothing to fear and beyond it lie incredible
possibilities.
‘Darkness
dwells within each of us. In the worst
of us, darkness not only dwells but reigns.’—Dean Koons
‘The
only way to fight the darkness around us is to light a fire within us.’—Seth
Adam Smith
Chapter 1—Another Institutionalized
The
Dark Transit had broken news right when most people were watching their favorite
television programs or keeping themselves entertained online. Clive Aldrin, an astronaut, was enjoying a
lively game of handball against his best friend Tariq in a holoroom.
‘Clive,
how you can keep stride is nothing short of unbelievable.’, Tariq
chuckled. It was surreal how realistic
the match had been. Even now in their
conversation on holovid, it was like old times when Tariq had worked for SpaceX
and trained on missions to seek life in the endless void of space. He had done innumerable reports and gathered
vast amounts of information that there were plenty of living things in space,
but he dared not speak of the Transit.
‘You’re
thinking about going up there again, aren’t you ?’, Tariq asked after sitting
down with his friend from a distance, sharing dinner. Both were enjoying some halal Turkish food
that Tariq had through hover-delivery.
Not only was it fast, but fresh, straight from the source and
authentic.
‘Tariq,
you know as well as I do that every good thing in my life, other than my faith
is gone. My wife died. Even with advancements, cancer still took
her. My kids moved away. Even though I love them more than my own
life, they deserted me and won’t even speak to me. The Transit takes people like Rashad, chews
them up and spits them out, but I have nothing to lose.’, Clive said,
honestly.
‘This
is the 35th person the Transit has swallowed and eviscerated
mentally. Rashad was just another
victim. He still doesn’t talk about his
experience there, but unlike the others, he healed. The other 34 weren’t as fortunate. Don’t be the 36th, Clive. Please.
I beg of you, think before taking a shuttle into the Transit.’,
Tariq pleaded. The 65 year old
astronaut wasn’t about to slow down, and he was far too hard headed to take his
best friend’s advice.
‘They
simply didn’t venture far enough !’, Clive retorted. It was the same argument every explorer had shot
back with when a quest had been completed half-way and the brave (or maybe
insane) adventurer decided it was far better to turn tail and run before the
worst befell them.
‘For good
reason. Clive, it’s suicidal. You have so much life left in you. Think on it, pray on it. Our researchers have nothing but ill tidings
from that den of ill fortune.’, Tariq said.
The two finished their reunion with baklava, savoring every morsel. Although
outside of Aeon, Tariq existed in a fully furnished, self sufficient space
station known as the Everly, the astronaut was returning for a symposium
happening back at New Cape Canaveral.
Tariq would do everything in his power to convince Clive to abandon his
daft plans to ‘breech the junket’ that none had ever done before. The words, as Tariq feared, would fall on
deaf ears and he feared the next holonews report would be on Aldrin when all
was said and done.
Chapter 2—Breaching the Junket
Other
than attending the symposium and being among likeminded fellows and ladies in
the field of astronomy, Clive had been glad to get himself acclimated to
traveling in space again. Musk’s latest
rockets and rovers were state of the art and being built by some of the finest
engineers original Earth had ever seen.
As splendid as life had been there, Aeon had been far better,
particularly in climate, vegetation, food, and opportunities. It was like a resort, but far more
resplendent and verdant than any of them had ever dreamed.
Clive
had been given one last opportunity to return to his life back home on his
farm, watching over the unusual hybrid duckins and cigs he had taken care of and
even sold to others since they were not only delicious but incredibly
nutritious.
‘Although
I love my animals back on the farm, my farmbots have got me covered.’, he said,
honestly.
‘It’s
different without your gentle touch.’, Amelia said, a soft pink hue accenting
her cheeks. Before, Amelia had shown no
outer effort to get to know Clive because he had been entrenched in training
and study. He was one of the many
SpaceX astronauts that took his work extremely seriously. Even though he knew the risks, he was venturing
into hideous territory no one else would touch.
Amelia
had been a devoted patron to Clive’s organic operation for years, harboring a
secret love that she could never quite voice.
She could only tell him to be cautious and wish him well, but inwardly,
she was kicking herself that she simply wasn’t confident enough to ask him on
one simple date. Knowing she would be
unable to convince him to stay on Aeon, she bade him goodbye and watched at the
launchpad as his shuttle Destiny took off into the atmosphere. Once there, it would release a shuttlecraft
known as Inquiry. This journey
had been made multitudes of times before, but Clive prayed and hoped he would
be finding something in the Dark Transit that had been overlooked due to fear,
trembling, and heavens only knew what else causing the astronauts to require
hospitalization, therapy and years of counselling for horrid bouts of
PTSD.
Chapter 3—Encountering Himself
The initial
boost mode had always taken time to adjust to.
An astronaut had to depressurize slowly, or the effects could be catastrophic. Clive had seen some of the most
breathtakingly beautiful novae in the Universe in a galaxy no other astronaut
had ventured into. He was so overtaken
with wonder that tears brimmed in his eyes.
Even now, he was surprised anything could make him verklempt especially
since he had been through some of the worst trauma a human being could
endured.
Coming
the opposite way was a shuttle much like his own, however it’s name was Icarus.
‘Another
astronaut ?’, he thought, a bit on edge and curious as to where and when this person
(if it was indeed another human being) the/66s being was from. He hailed the other traveler and made it known he was making peaceful contact.
‘I’ve
been coming through this ort cloud for years.
Never thought I’d see another person.’, the voice stated, bluntly. It was rather unusual to hear his own
voice responding. Then he recalled
Michio Kaku’s research on M Theory, which he had only studied in part. By no means was Clive an astrophysicist, but
the postulation was fascinating and complexly frustrating to say the
least.
‘Aren’t
we breaking some sort of physical law ?’, Clive asked, confused at how their encounter
wasn’t deviating time lines or diverting them.
‘I don’t
know, but I do know that we’re the same person. Where are you from ? What year is it ?’, the other Clive
asked. Clive realized he had to follow
his doppelganger to wherever he had been from, that is, once he knew that he
could be trusted. He gave him inquiries
that only he would know and discovered that his doppelganger still had his
family around him.
‘I would
give anything to have Theobald and Tess talk to me. They won’t even acknowledge me. I don’t know what I did wrong.’, Clive said,
trying not to cry.
‘You didn’t. When Elaine died in your plane, they didn’t
wish to be a burden to you.’, Dopple Clive explained. It dawned on him then that after the funeral
had taken place he hadn’t seen them or the grandkids once Elaine had been
interred.
‘I should
talk to them and let them know. There’s
no time like the present, and the grandchildren need their grandfather.’, Clive
said, with determination.
‘Oh,
and you may want to give Amelia Dainty a look.’, Dopple Clive stated with a bit
of a mischievous wink. Even in his
timeline and from his dimension, Ms. Dainty had done all she could to drop hints
to the alternate Clive, but it was a long-distance fantasy. In his world, she was going to be united to another,
so her schoolgirl crush was about to fade.
‘I always
liked Amy. She’s a real doll. I never really thought we had anything
deeper than our friendship. I guess I
should’ve noticed she’s always bringing me desserts to try, and man are
they decadent. That gal can seriously
bake !’,Clive responded.
‘We can’t
risk disturbing space and time any further.
I’ve made my discovery, and now you know yours. Beyond me is my world, well, another world,
known as Tertia. Tertia is different
from Aeon.’, Clive stated. Prime Clive
was ultimately curious about Tertia, but dopple Clive wouldn’t utter one more
peep. It would be up to astronauts
after Clive to head to Tertia and see what wonders it had to unveil.
Chapter 4—3 Years Flew By While You Were Gone
Although
Amy waited for Clive, she never gave up on him. Plenty of other eligible bachelors tried
winning her over, but Clive Aldrin was the sun, moon and stars in her
Universe. Nothing at all could replace him
in her eyes, and she had built up enough chutzpah to ask him out after his
mission away.
Upon
releasing his findings, Clive was awarded handsomely for his
contributions. He was honored at a
dinner party and given a Nobel prize.
Now, since he could retire comfortably, others would be taking the mantle
he had left, and they could begin discovering Tertia properly.
‘I’m so
relieved you didn’t go mad up there.’, Amelia said, as the two were at last savoring
the first of many dates they would enjoy together.
‘Let’s
just say I got a taste of perspective, and everything is coming up roses.’,
Clive said, grinning from ear to ear.
The wizened man had felt so much bitterness in the past it had taken a
visit with himself to straighten himself out.
Having contacted Theobald and Tess, the two confessed that they hadn’t wanted
to depress their dear old dad by reminiscing about their mom.
‘It’s
alright if you cry. Yes, I still love
her very much, but I’ve decided to continue living, and that means falling in
love again.’, Clive told them once he had decided to marry Amelia.
Epilogue
For years,
SpaceX had feared The Dark Transit. It
had been the bogeyman so many had avoided, but Clive took it on, full-bore, not
realizing he would receive an unusual life lesson. He never encountered his doppelganger, and
so far as he had been aware, his own timeline hadn’t been altered in the
slightest. He was inquisitive on how his
own conversation with himself had shifted anything, but nothing seemed amiss. The closest he had come to seeing himself
again was a close-up image he had caught on broadcast holonews from Tertia. From what he could see, Tertia was a frozen
paradise and only one location was a hot spring where snowbirds were apt to
escape from time to time. These
springs were littered here and there along the landscape but were mainly in the
south below the planet’s equator. There
was other ‘resort planets’ that Tertians would get away to, but mostly the
inhabitants loved their blustery atmosphere and weather.
Clive
was happy he lived on a tropical planet.
He wasn’t much a fan of the cold, unless it was a beverage or delicious
ice-cream bar. As he idly devoured an orange push pop, he sighed
peacefully while Amelia rested her head upon his left shoulder. He couldn’t kick himself for not noticing
Amelia’s admiration and adoration she had tried to keep secret for such a lengthy
period of time. He thanked God silently
for answering his prayer and relished his retirement. Other scientific pioneers would come after him
and cite him as their inspiration, but he humbly remained himself in spite of the
fame.
The End
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