Opet and the Tales of Heroes

Chapter 2: New Olympia

It happened so fast. The ship flew through an area of folded space and emerged in its new location. As it slowly dematerialized in one section, it reappeared at its new destination. The gate jumper had performed one of its many gate leaps. Its flickering blue lights ceased as it completed its objective.

For Raavi, he didn't feel much at all. He almost questioned if he ever leaped, to begin with. He turned to look his head out the window.

Outside the spacecraft was a new location and environment. Space was the same. The void of nothingness was broken up by the strands of things that were lit up. The gate jumper had exited a swirling mass of particles and energy. The vortex was powered by a gate array of almost pure white. The enormous ring had two large spheres attached to either side of the ring. In the great distance was the shining red dwarf that lit the surrounding area.

"I have to remind myself that New Olympia is in a red dwarf system," Raavi remarked to Dolly as he was looking out the window. It looks so much like Aphadus."

"You have seen nothing yet," Dolly replied.

"Attention, passengers of Flight 66613," the intercom announced. "We have arrived at the New Olympian system. Our next stop will be the UHN Opet to drop off a passenger before we continue our main flight to New Olympia itself."

It didn't take long for Raavi to see it. As he continued to peer out the window, he could see the enormous gate array of New Olympia shut down. The swirling mass of particles ceased as the gate closed up. The energy poured into folding space had ended as the gate array's glowing white light dimmed down almost instantly.

The ship itself was still traveling forward as the emptiness of space was all around the spacecraft. Raavi could see the distant planet of New Olympia. The seemingly barren world was nothing unusual to look at. It was one of three planets in the solar system. The red dwarf star had its worlds so close that one was getting scorched even by the dimmer light and radiation of an M-Type star. Much like Aphadus, the world of New Olympia was incredibly close to its star. The planets were tidally locked. One side was forever facing the star, while the other side was in perpetual darkness. Unlike Aphadus, New Olympia was seemingly lifeless. Most of it was orange and yellow rock and sand on one side of the planet. The other side was seemingly dark and cold. The superflares of its star produced radiation surges so high that it would rip an atmosphere off the world with mere ease.

"I still can't figure out why you choose this world to be your home," Raavi told Dolly. "You chose a world that can't support life."

"That isn't true. There was a perfect reason why we chose it."

"Hmmm......" he said with a frown.

"You are a UWAN dater. You have someone you plan on meeting, right?" Dolly asked as she looked at Raavi. There was a slight jolt as the ship turned towards the planet and activated its engines to push itself forward.

He turned to look at her. "Yes."

"She must be pretty special."

"Oh...." Raavi replied with a smile. "She is amazing to talk to. I just.....I can't describe it. The more I talk to her, the more I want to be with her."

Dolly had a smile on her face that was beaming. "The tourists are going to learn so much about New Olympia."

"I always hear the stories of those that stay here. Is it true?...... Is it true that there are like two wives for every husband?"