Star Burn Bright

Two walked on that day. Their protective visors shielded their eyes and prevented instant death – the world around them was so bright. They wore armour several dells thick, which made walking almost impossible, and all the time, there was that brightness!

The light was the result of accumulated energy – energy obtained from a sun that was no longer a source of life but rather a merciless destroyer.

Ten thousand years ago, a star had gone supernova and the resulting thermonuclear explosion had released enough energy to increase the surface temperature of Earth’s nearby sun.

The increase in temperature created an unstable situation in the planet’s atmosphere, as it could not possibly handle the increase in cosmic activity. The planet had burned and mankind had had no choice but to escape. For once, technology could not develop fast enough for sceptics who were thankful when these bubbles were created into which the population ran.

How many of these bubbles existed, no one really knew. They had lost communication a long time ago, so that each bubble became an island.

Massive underground structures were created underneath the bubbles – these became the new cities we lived in. The bubbles trapped and stored photon energy for much-needed power to run the underground structures.

Me, I’m Matt Okri, a technician, and one of the two that walked within the bubble that day, surrounded by stored energy – only kept alive by this thick suit. My companion was Tony Mantis, also a technician, although of a higher rank.

Today we were scheduled to do a little maintenance on some equipment and we went about this task quietly – more to conserve much needed bodily fluids than for anything else. But each of us had his thoughts, and I also had a plan. I turned 50 next week, and the thought had suddenly occurred to me that I had wasted my life. This waste was not from neglect or laziness, because I was in an enviable position, as far as this bubble was concerned – I had an enviable job. For to be a technician, called to maintain equipment in the bubble, meant that I was well placed in the upper echelons of social life in my community. So this thought was not meant to diminish me. Rather, it inspired me. Maybe there was something else out there. Something that my present life had no way of defining and hence employing into that complex equation known as success. Maybe there was success waiting to be explored beyond my borders…

‘We need to get in shortly,’ I heard Tony screech through my earpiece.

‘Tony, maybe you should get that fixed,’ I called back irritably – for I had been jolted out of my daydream, and I could not quite remember what I had been thinking about.

‘Oh, sorry,’ I heard Tony screech back. ‘I must be coming through quite badly?’

‘Quite, yes,’ I replied.

‘Well, that’s OK,’ Tony said, ‘we’re done here anyway.’

‘Fine,’ I replied. ‘Just let me solder these joints.’

‘Hurry,’ Tony said. ‘We’ve been told that the temperature will be over 300 Halls before a Darwin hour is up.’

‘I know. I know,’ I returned. Then: ‘There, I’m done.’ We both gathered up equipment and headed for the safety of the underground structure.

‘So what’s been on your mind?’ Tony asked when we had entered the nexus point – a room with reinforced shielding and cooling systems that ran without stopping throughout the day. The laborious suits were now off and we were back in our civilian clothes – a skin-tight one-piece suit designed to keep the skin cool. ‘I heard you whistling that song when we were outside.’