Hereafter

Hereafter: Part II Graduation Day, Chapter 18

18

NOW THAT WE WERE PART of a formal mission we qualified to go on the Star Trek Enterprise space excursion—this time really going where no man, at least no Earth person, has ever gone before! Leaving Antonio’s office, we walked down the corridor to gawk over the railing at the working full-scale model of the Starship Enterprise! Growing up on Earth we’d seen the films and even watched reruns of the three seasons of what eventually became the wildly popular original science-fiction television series, so I was stoked to check it out. We both stopped to take in the majesty of this mighty craft.

Its two proud and powerful engines, in the sci-fi story capable of both impulse and warp drive, were pointing away from the circular main upper hull, while connected to the lower elongated substructure of the vessel. In this functioning replica of the fictional Enterprise, the warp drive engines were replaced by a device that slipped the ship into a wormhole that could travel instantly to anywhere in the universe. The conventional impulse engines were replaced by a sophisticated system that manipulated gravity vectors. The interior was faithful to the film representations of the Enterprise. Since it didn’t take a long time to get anywhere, for the purposes of the ride there was no need for cabins and sleeping quarters. I looked at Lydia, she looked at me, and I knew we were going.

“Absolutely . . . let’s do this!” I eagerly replied to the I-want-to-too look on her ecstatic face.

“Hey, we better get to the lobby, I think they’re about to start the orientation before the ride begins,” Lydia, ever vigilant, recommended.

We scurried down the steps like two chipmunks chasing each other after one snatched a snack. Antonio had registered our names into the official log of the mission, code named, Diva Deity, so getting the tickets went smoothly.

“You’re just in time. Right through those doors,” we were directed by the clerk as she handed us the tickets.

The staff were all wearing official Star Trek uniforms and looking like Madame Tussauds’ Wax Museum replicas of the original TV cast members. The person who walked to the front of the auditorium holding a microphone sure looked like Captain Kirk to me. We were the last ones to take our seats before the orientation began.

“Welcome . . . everyone . . . and congratulations on being chosen to go on a mission to one of the rare planets in the universe that at this point in the current Creation cycle of the physical cosmos has developed the capacity for intelligent, soul-bearing life. You know that it often takes billions of years before the debris of exploding stars gives rise to such a planet. There are participants for five new missions represented here. Today we’re going to stop and visit each of the worlds you’ll be sent to. Now, this experience is just for your entertainment as you won’t remember anything about it once you’re born into that world, but take it from me and the rest of the staff here at Mission Control that this will be one of the highlights of your mission experience. I’m sure you must have questions, so ask away. We won’t be taking off until they’ve all been answered.”

Lydia and I looked at each other knowing this was a golden opportunity to get a leg up on our mission issues, but weren’t sure what to ask. After listening to a few questions from others, I was ready to fire away.

“So, I grew up speaking English, but here in heaven the language you speak doesn’t matter because it’s instantly translated, and, of course, spoken words aren’t really necessary at all to communicate, but what should we expect during our mission? Will we retain any of these abilities?”

“May I ask what planet are you being sent to?”

“Calidari.”

“Ah . . . Calidari . . . no, you’ll be born there without any special powers, but as I recall you won’t deal with the problem of having to learn multiple languages in order to communicate with the people because in their world the original super continent has stayed together in one large landmass, so the people all speak the same language, or should I say understandable dialects of a single language. Of course, you’ll be growing up there, so you’ll learn their language just the way you did on Earth,” our William Shatner-looking version of Captain Kirk replied.