Tevun-Krus #38 - International Edition

Translation Chain Part One - Voyager - English

Title: Voyager

Author: AngusEcrivain

Language: English

Around the world, millions of people sat glued to their television sets, their computer screens, or their smart phones, waiting to see the delayed images from Voyager 1, as the spacecraft became the first manmade object to exit the Sol System.

It was the largest step forward since the Moon Landing, and during the couple of months building up to the milestone, media all over the planet had been abuzz with anticipation.

When the hour came, there was much celebration, as images from the craft were relayed around the globe. The vast nothingness of space, dotted with stars, many of them thousands of light years distant.

The closest star to the Sol System, Alpha Centauri, shone brightest, yet it was still nothing more than a slightly larger speck of light, than the rest.

Voyager 1 sent back thousands upon thousands of images, each one minutely different from the rest.

Then, against all rhyme and reason, a final picture, one that no one had expected to see. The Voyager 1 spacecraft itself, reflected as clearly as it would be in a mirror.

That image was the last received, and it baffled even the most brilliant of minds.

***

Vib'Hi smiled, as she studied the large cylindrical object that sat upon a pedestal in front of her.

All around the enormous laboratory were many similar objects. Most were unattended, as the projects contained within were considered complete.

"Yes!" she cried out in a deep, guttural tongue.

Her cry caused one or two of the laboratory's other occupants to glance in her direction. One stood and approached, a smile upon his grey, elongated face.

"Vib'Hi," he said, his wax-like features hardly moving as he spoke. "Your project is complete, at last?"

"Yes, Sir," she replied, bowing her head slightly. "The people of my inhabited world have finally developed to a point where they are able to leave the confines of their own star system."

"You are sure?"

"Yes, Sir," she replied as again, she bowed her head respectfully. "A craft of their design reached the glass."

"Then it is time," he began, slowly, "to build this star system, full-scale. Ensure you get the right mix of elements, else nothing will come of it."

"I calculated the correct measurements aeons ago," replied Vib'Hi, smiling. "I am ready, Sir."

He nodded, his thin lips matching her smile.

"Then, I grant you permission to create this, 'Sol System'," he said, chuckling at the primitiveness displayed by the people of Vib'Hi's inhabited world, for it was they who named the star system. "Add it to the collective, and monitor the progress of the star and its bodies accordingly."

"Thank you, Sir," she said, bowing her head for a third time.

It was a rite of passage among her people, to insert a star system into the collective, and soon her name would be added to the ever-burgeoning list of those students who came before her.

As she set to work, mixing the elements required for the Sol System to be built on a much larger scale, already her mind was racing with thoughts of her next project.

"Yes," she said, quietly, as she played her fingers through the matter, filling the bowl atop her workstation. "A methane based life-form next, I think."