Cosmic Jabberwocky

Chapter 1: Gyring and Gimbling in the Wabe

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

The frumious Bandersnatch!"

I loved that classic poem. The literary wonks called it a nonsense poem, but what do they know? I think it hides deep cosmic truths. Sometimes when I read it late at night with the right frame of mind, it's like... whoa... cosmic.

"Are we boring you, Mr. Dunn?" 

I jerked up straight, dropping my feet off the table and plopping them on the floor. Two dark eyes glared at me, narrowing underneath two bushy eyebrows drawn into a single menacing line. The Admiral, dressed in a stiff blue uniform lined with gold bars and ribbons, was a by-the-book, hardass military man. And I was not.

"Just thinking, Admiral," I answered.

"Think about this, Mr. Dunn," the Admiral growled, "You are not here to daydream! This is real life, Mr. Dunn, not some sissy-ass video game where you can hit reset if it gets too hard for you. Do you understand, Mr. Dunn?"

All the other uniformed people in the room, which was everyone except Alice Grimm and me, stiffened upright in their chairs. Apparently, the Admiral backs up his reputation.

Rolling my eyes, I answered, "I got it. Chill, dude."

I probably shouldn't have said that.

The Admiral seethed, his puffy cheeks reddening as he shoved his face in front of mine, close enough I could smell his sour garlicky breath. With teeth bared, he spat his words, literally. "Around here, we do things one way, Mr. Dunn! My way! If you have a problem with that, then maybe you can chill in the brig. Understood?"

I gulped and said in a small voice, "Yes, sir."

"Good!" The Admiral stood up and glanced at the blue-uniformed officer standing stiffly beside the conference room view screen. "Commander, continue with the briefing."

Turning to me, Alice wrinkled her brow and parted her mouth slightly while shaking her head in small motions. It was her 'how can you be so freaking clueless' look. I get it often.

Alice and I worked together as programmers on the Invincible project, building the new state-of-the-art AI control system under the direction of Dr. Jack White, who was suspiciously absent from this hastily called meeting. He unofficially named the AI 'Jabberwock', which started my fascination with Lewis Carroll's classic poem. Jack became a mentor and father figure to me, but then we had a falling out about the project's ultimate purpose and I walked away.

Alice was also my on-again and off-again girlfriend, currently off. She said I was 'difficult' sometimes. Go figure.

I couldn't help but notice her shoulder-length purple-streaked blonde hair. The color changes every week or so, but this was the first time for purple. I whispered, "Nice hair."

"Shut up," she hissed back.

The view screen showed the Invincible, the newest Sol Alliance dreadnaught, as it rested at the construction dock orbiting above Earth. The massive starship, the biggest in the fleet with armaments to match, was sold as an instrument of peace, a deterrent intended to end war before it started, the biggest stick in the galaxy. What could possibly go wrong? I remembered enough from history to know this kind of thing rarely worked that way, but to the Admiral and the Alliance Council, it was a big new toy to intimidate the neighbors.