THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE

CHAPTER 25: THE HAPPENING

"Hey Herbie, wanna play a game of Helaya?"

"Sure Marcus. Let me get the cards."

We were halfway to Neptune, with Carl curled up nearby, when a sudden beeping echoed from the control room. I put the cards down and headed over to check it out. The navigation panel flashed a warning—one of the engines had a rupture. And, of course, the damage was on the outside. I consulted my assistant bot.

"Herbert, can we fix this from the inside somehow?" I asked, hoping for a simpler solution.

"Unfortunately, no. Internal repairs are handled automatically, but external damage must be done manually." I sighed, knowing I should've expected that.

"Alright then, let me suit up. The engine won't last much longer. Can you guide me through the process?"

"Of course." Herbert responded, as calm as ever.

I put on my space suit and exited through the roof lock, repair kit in my hand. Though this wasn't my first time outside in space, the sensation never ceased to feel strange. The vastness, the lack of any solid ground beneath me - it was eerie and comforting all at once. I glanced around, but there was nothing but complete darkness. My helmet lamp illuminated only a small pocket of the void. I floated over to the engine and began working, following Herberts instructions. Suddenly, I felt a strange pressure in my head, like an incoming migraine. Weird. I hadn't had a headache in years. A few minutes into the repair, I heard something - an unrecognizable noise.

What the hell?! How could I hear anything in the vacuum of space?

I looked around, but again, only darkness. The noise grew louder and it sounded like a thousand of birds were rushing towards me. Am I losing my mind?! I heard wing flapping and chirping, like a swarm of birds in the sky, deafening hubbub, but I saw nothing and felt nothing. After only a few seconds, just as suddenly, the spectacle was over. Complete silence once again. Was it a meteor passing by? Another spaceship? No, that's impossible, I would have seen it. I quickly finished the repairment and went back inside.

"Herbie, did you hear that outside?!" I asked, still shaken.

"I'm sorry, Marcus, I didn't hear anything. What exactly are you referring to?"

"This... this noise! Like a loud swarm of birds!"

"I don't follow."

Frustration welled up as I realized the bot hadn't registered anything. Needing to collect myself, I went to my room to calm down. After just a few minutes, there was a knock on the door.

"Marcus, may I speak with you? I need you to see something." I opened the door, curious about what he wanted to show me.

"What is it?"

He led me over to one of the windows and pulled the blinds up. All I could see was blue - a deep, endless blue. I needed a moment to realize – we are approaching Neptune.

"Is this... Neptune?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes, sir, I've checked the instruments. We are only a few hours away from entering its atmosphere."

"But... how is this possible? We still had months left before reaching Neptune."

"I cannot explain this," he answered.

A chill ran down my spine. Something had shifted, and it was beyond our understanding. I rushed back to the control room to look at the journey logs. As the data loaded on the screen, I felt my stomach drop. It showed that our trip to Mars had taken place 364 years ago, and our visit to the Moon was logged as only three days ago. The first use of this MSS vehicle was in the year 4024, meaning we started our journey back then. What in the world?! The MSS didn't even exist in 4024! The timelines were all scrambled, as if we had jumped through time itself. Had we unknowingly entered a wormhole? I don't understand. It was like the laws of physics had stopped applying. A month seemed to pass in a minute - or maybe a minute now stretched across years.

Nothing made sense anymore.