KYLIE'S SONG #SciFriday

Chapter 1

Kylie broke hearts everywhere she went through no fault of her own. She was destined to break hearts because she was so damn happy all the time and she didn't know why. Stupid, giddy joy squeezed out continuously and without remorse. What people saw on the outside, she felt on the inside. And that's what made her attractive. It wasn't her crisp blue eyes or the way she looked right into your soul. It wasn't the way she hugged you and squeezed until you were sure she meant it. When you were with her you didn't want to leave. All these things were nice, but her smile made you realize there was magic in the world.

Despite Earth annihilating itself in her generation, she was still happy, because she knew deep inside, humans were born a star faring race. She felt it in her bones when she looked up at the night sky, and it transcended all reason. Humans were meant to reach the stars.

She knew Earth was covered in a blanket of radioactivity, but at least the people down there were still alive. She had only left the planet a few days ago, which meant there was hope. They could adapt and evolve, humans would prevail.

Then there was the Darkstar mission she was on now. It was the first interstellar ship to reach beyond the pathetic hope that was Alpha Centauri. They had set their sights further, but no one knew if the ship would work.

Kylie brushed her blond hair behind her ears and rushed down to the lower bomb turret where the observation dome was shielded enough to say goodbye to Earth. Her heart felt like it would burst today at the wonder of it all. But she didn't know her heart would be broken because her father hadn't told her the cost to catapult Darkstar out into space.

She skidded through the airlock and slid up to the thick window set in the floor. She was eager to watch the first detonation and she didn't notice the shadow pressed up against the carbon bulkhead. Her foot landed on something soft.

"What the freak," screamed Victoreen, sounding like a wounded cat. "You smashed my fingers."

"Excuse me, lurker, if you weren't skulking in the shadows, I would have seen you." The entire breech face shook as drive motors made the final precise adjustments. They both turned when a low pump signaled the first warhead was fired. It streaked past their position and spiraled perfectly towards the drive cup mounted on the back of the ship. Time seemed to stand still when the nuclear device reached the exact center of the ship's axis. Kylie sucked in a breath and held it. White hot annihilation erupted, causing the dome to go dark. She imagined the crush of gravity would smash her against the deck, but it never happened because the infinite gyroscope was turning at the center of the ship.

"Looks like my dad's inertial dampers are holding," he gloated, knowing full well her own father was only the captain, but had done nothing to advance the mission.

"I hope so or we'll all be torn to shreds." She wasn't really worried, the science was good. She knew the basics. She had helped Victoreen hack into his dad's personal network and look at the blueprints. Superconducting magnets at the outside of a giant wheel spinning close to light speed dropped the mass of the ship close to zero. It was the hallmark to attaining superluminal velocities, as well as protecting against acceleration.

The human body could never be accelerated to 2000 times the speed of light. Not in one lifetime, so the infinite gyroscope was a modern miracle of man's inventive prowess. It was also their only hope to beat Einstein's theory of relativity. No one knew if they could break the light speed barrier.

The infinite gyroscope was the only thing keeping them alive as the second explosion drove the ship around Earth at extreme acceleration. Their bodies would already be liquid if the system failed, but for now they were safe in the bubble surrounding the ship. One more detonation would send them free of Earth's gravity.