The Song of Sqia'lon Seven

[This story was originally written for, but never entered into, a wattpad sci-fi writing contest]

"Listeners" are those who have the most acute sense of hearing. They are chosen to travel the universe and record its songs. A song is a unique dance of vibrations emitted by a dying celestial body – every planet consumed by its star, every star that explodes into a supernova or extinguishes for lack of fuel, and every galaxy that is devoured by a black hole or that collides with another galaxy. Each celestial body and every living thing within it emits a song – its galactic DNA – which Listeners record, categorize, and maintain in the Library at Xandri.

The "squadron" of Listeners on Sqia'lon Seven is led by Kulu, an ancient fossil of a being who is legendary among all Listeners, and who is charged with seeking out and finding the leader of the new Listener squadron. The Listeners of Sqia'lon Seven were bequeathed the task, a map of the galactic pathways, and three "worm gliders" by the Listeners of Mandu-C, and they before them from the Listeners of Tev. With the 3rd eon of songs coming to an end for Kulu's squadron, it is time for them to bestow the mantle of "Listeners" on another race of beings for the next eon – to maintain and continue to record what is essentially the history of the universe.

Kulu uses the ancient method of dream-vision to search for the next race of Listeners and the squadron leader among them.

Across the universe, on a planet known as Aquia-1, a 14-year-old girl named Misti with earbuds in her ears and a backpack over her shoulder skips down the front steps of her school. Her 5 friends wave to her and they head home together, ear buds in, and dancing down the street. School is over for the summer and the kids are deliriously happy. See you at the lake tomorrow! Misti arrives home to find her father packing the car with Misti's camping gear. Another summer at Camp Blue Lake for Misti and her friends.

Camping at the shore of Phantom Lake on Sqia'lon Seven, Kulu gathers and burns the Ota root and lets the smoke wash over him as he fades into a dream-vision trance.

Sitting by a fire with her 5 friends, Misti and her friends are among a group of 20 kids having a blast toasting marshmallows and singing songs. As they douse the fire and retire to their tents, Misti and her friends hear a sound coming from the forest and they investigate. The other kids don't hear anything and head back to their tents. Misti's and the 5 enter the forest, see a small light glowing in the trees, and approach the light. Some say it's just the buzzing of fireflies. But Kulu's face appears in a light's glow, and Misti whispers to the others, "This one here is definitely not a firefly."

Over the coming weeks, Kulu teaches Misti and the other 5 about being a Listener, its long history, the maintenance of the records, and the gathering of songs. They dodge their camp meetings and skip out on meals to meet in the forest and learn from Kulu, who uses his dream-vision to build a command post, song archive, and flyer station there in the forest next to Blue Lake.

Each kid learns their role within the squadron: Jake, Bonnie, and Rev are flyers; Helen is the historian; Big Frank runs logistics; and Misti is squadron leader. Kulu simulates a supernova for the squadron to practice their skills: Misti hears the song and notifies Big Frank on a special communicator who scrambles the flyers, Jake, Bonnie, and Rev. The flyers speed off on their worm gliders. Big Frank and Misti provide coordinates and route options using the ancient maps. As the flyers return to the base, they deliver to Helen for archiving a small box containing the captured song.

The kids work hard. At summer's end before heading home, Kulu tells them they're finally Listeners, and they must be vigilant going forward to listen and be prepared. The kids each thank Kulu for his teaching, hoping they'll someday meet across the endless galaxies.  Kulu transfers the base to Misti's garage, hides the archive behind a wall of tools, and disguises the worm gliders as bicycles.  

The next morning, Misti awakens in her bed at home to a song in the distant ether of the universe. She calls the others on their communicators and they excitedly scramble to the base in Misti's garage. The flyers race each other to the coordinates provided by Misti and Big Frank. Upon returning to base, Rev hands Helen a small box. "That's our first," said Helen, "the Song of Sqia'lon Seven."