Recollections: A Star Wars Story

A Discovery, An Ambition

"Grandma! Get down here! Humans just discovered lightspeed!"

Konan had been anxiously watching the news for the past five months as they covered the development of the Blink Project, a Polish man's fever dream which ushered into a new age of exploration. He eagerly devoured every piece of data the press was allowed to leak.

Before that five-month span, a now-twenty-year-old Konan had long ago given up his obsession with beings on other planets. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology had drilled real science into his head, his grandmother was trying to weasel him into the NASA Space Exploration Division, and he had watched recordings of the ridiculous attempt to raid Area 51 way back in 2019.

However, the promise of something that could literally shatter the rules of physics sent Konan's mind back down the alien-filled rabbit hole from his childhood. The Polish scientist had become his idol, and the incarnation of his ambitions.

Since Grandma Xing was still nowhere to be seen after a grueling ten seconds of yelling for her, Konan excitedly turned up the TV's volume just as the anchorwoman repeated herself for the third time. She used different expressions each time, but it was obvious that she and the rest of mankind had to hear themselves over and over, just to realize it was not a dream.

"Science fiction officially became science fact at 2:13 pm, Greenwich time, when the public reveal of Erik Lekki's Blink engine successfully transported a live human pilot from NASA Headquarters to the Seoul Observatory and Research Center within a nanosecond.

The monetary powerhouses of the world are scrambling to be the first to commercialize Lekki's historical discovery. NASA's Board of Directors has already been in contact with the Polish genius, not only to offer him a seat, but to propose that his patented harnessing mechanism be modified for space travel. We have yet to receive word from Dr. Erik Lekki on his acceptance of the Board seat. Rumors from on high claim that he was already in contact with legendary shuttle engineer Sean Beck even before prelim—"

Konan angrily swiped his arm in front of the screen, shutting it off. They just had to include his father on the news.

"Konan? I thought you wanted me down here immediately. Why'd you shut it off?" his grandmother asked as she shuffled into the living room.

Konan didn't answer; his arms were crossed and he glared at the black screen through narrowed eyes.

"Sweetheart. . ." the old woman sat beside her grandson, sensing she should say no more.

"I've read the letters they left me. I've even had half a mind to bathe them in acid—or run them under UV light—or taking them to a professional cryptologist—something that'll let me read between the lines! But there are no lines to read between. In what universe am I expected to forgive my father for cheating on my mother?" Konan rambled.

With the quiet wisdom of her age and profession, his grandmother slid her hand onto his knee. "In none."

"Stop talking like my grandmother, please," Konan sighed.

"I'm not. I am stating scientific fact. You are not expected to forgive someone for something so hurtful. But it does help," she looked up at him, noting how flushed her grandson had become.

"What about my mother? So she gets divorced—good for her, by the way—but she still ditches me here? I guess that one guy at college was right. . . she does love her lab rats more than her kid."

"Konan Liang Xing-Beck," his grandmother growled, summoning his full name. Genuinely terrified, her grandson turned his head towards her meekly.

"Your parents still love you. They made mistakes. They did things to you they probably should not have done. But look at you! You are proof that their marriage worked! You have your father's freckles, his eyes, and his obsession for building. You have your mother's hair, walk, and love for science. Your imagination and intelligence are unmatched in anyone your age that I've ever met! Whatever you do with life—astrophysics like your Nainai or a McDonalds fry cook—know that you don't have to suffocate your dreams just because your mom and dad aren't around."

"It's not suffocating; it's infuriating."

"And you think I wasn't angry? You think that I wasn't shattered when your parents called me to say it was over?"

Konan furrowed his brows. He'd never "considered all the variables," as his grandmother said.

"Lekki—your idol—he's made something that has changed history. And he started out just like you. Stuck in the middle of a split family, changing hands every few years, and obsessed with science."

"So I can make my dreams come true, huh?" Konan smiled dryly at his grandmother's bad attempt at a motivational speech.

"No. There are no such things as aliens."

"Oh. Then why did—"

"I'm trying to tell you to literally get off the couch and get your life together. You're a twenty-one-year-old genius sitting depressed in front of his grandmother's TV."

Konan burst into laughter, and his grandmother joined in, tapping her cane on the floor with every shake.

"Now do me a favor and turn that thing on. I want to look at my research baby," Konan's grandmother said with the air of a new professor on their first day of lectures.

"Your WHAT!?" Konan gasped in disbelief.

"Uh-hu," Professor Xing nodded. "Lekki and I met in high school. He was telling me how he wished he could escape his life at the speed of light. Several napkin doodles and equations later—here we are!"

"I got the world's best grandma," Konan snickered and turned on the TV again.

He smiled, understanding what she meant. Hurt can sometimes reveal its own balm. He knew it would take some time, but eventually the pain would die down. As a sort of inside joke, Konan looked around at the leather couch he sat on and declared, "Yeah, no more sitting around. Also, Nainai, where's my job application?"

~~~

About a week later, Konan stood before the NASA Board of Directors, including Erik Lekki, the man who made lightspeed accessible. Professor Xing was trying her hardest to contain her tears of pride.

"We, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Board of Directors have found Mr. Konan Liang Xing-Beck to be of sterling academic, intellectual, and moral report; and today, the 25th of May, 2049, we formally induct him into this hallowed organization at the base rank of Intern, in the division of Space Exploration."

The Board stood as one and erupted into applause, congratulating the young genius on his entrance into manhood.

As Kronk said in The Emperor's New Groove, "Oh yeah. It's all coming together."