The End is Near

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

July 6th, 2045 – Galaxy 1.01, Star Hyperion

"What the ....?"

Those were the first words to fill the hushed silence of the landing party. All else was utter stillness. The clearing in which they had landed looked normal enough. Trees, bushes, a deer in a thicket... Two children sat next to an old tree trunk, as though about to play at taking tea. The stillness was one thing out of the ordinary. The other was that the entire scene was a monochromatic, washed of all coulour. It was as though time had stepped into an old black and white movie after the scene was paused. The children had not even looked up to see the small exploration vessel land.

Roger Correlli was the first to step forward. He walked over the grass, which strangely enough, made a soft dry crackling sound. He looked down, noticed that each step sent the disturbed grass crumbling to dust. He frowned and his steps brought him closer to the children and he crouched down in front of them. Two curiously blank stares were focused on the tea things laid out so neatly in front of them.

Some latent instinct kept him from touching them. He wasn't sure he could handle it if they crumpled to dust too. He got up and slowly circled the clearing. At the base of one of the larger trees he finally stopped.

He took a deep breath before placing two fingers tentatively on its trunk. Nothing happened. More firmly now he placed his palm on it. Still nothing. And then he noticed what was odd. The nothing was really the absence of something. It was though the pulse of life that he expected to feel was missing.

He looked back at the children again and shook his head. "Something is definitely odd here. Spread out guys and gather some samples."

The other five members of the six-man team spread out to do as told. This planet was one of the first exploration ventures outside of the home solar system with a high potential for sentient life. The expectation was that since the sun in this system was a bit larger with a third planet somewhat further out in orbit than the Earth was those factors made it at least probable that there would be some form of life.

The early probes had yielded data that showed a planet rich with life. Samples had included air, soil and even some plant life. The children who looked like humans were a definite shock. The vast silence was disturbing in the extreme.

As they quickly spread out over the terrain, they noted everything was the same. The farmers in their field, the animals in the pose of grazing...all still.

Their sketchy reports and the subdued tone of alarm was enough to make the Captain cut the excursion short and pull them out of there.

"It's as though something just sucked the life out of everything..." Roger's comment caused a ripple of uneasy laughter among everyone else except the five that had seen what he had.

July 10th, 2045 – Deep in the redwood forests

I let my mind drift. Eyes closed. Breathing deep and easy. I felt the cool tendrils of stray wind brush my cheek and let it comfort me. The cry of a bird above brought my head up, but my eyes stayed close. I pictured it soaring through the heavens, felt myself become the bird for a moment. The wind teased my feathers as I followed the current, I felt the sweet taste of freedom in the air.

I cried aloud for joy and heard my voice as that of the bird. I crashed back to my body with a jolt and slumped back onto the soft cushion of grass. Moments like this always left me a little drained, a little defeated. Practicing meditation and oneness with other creatures was only a small part of what I had learned and these sessions always brought me a sense of freedom while they went on but the sense of separation after was doubly dispiriting.