Among the Stars

Learning the Truth

Sharing one's home can be like sharing one's heart, and a new room has been built in my heart to accommodate for my new friends, the Lunars, over the years that flew by.

How that happened is a long and unexpected tale.

I would've never thought I would be comfortable with Lunars aboard. However, nowadays, I find them to be a crucial part of my daily routine, of who I am now. You could say I am a new man, and it is no wonder after everything that had occurred.

After a few months of getting no closer to understanding the space anomaly, I made a fatal decision of approaching it beyond what was considered a safe distance.

What occurred next was something none of us could have predicted.

There was a sudden shimmering that went over the length of the ship, and seconds later, the stars were in patterns that were unfamiliar to me. I had hoped that shock was preventing me from remembering the constellation. Thus, I did my best to keep my composure. My crew looked up to me, and I had to keep them calm.

"Jackson, what was that? Where are we?" I asked calmly.

"I am not sure. There was a sudden surge in energy all around the ship. We seemed to have made an unscheduled quantum jump. I can't pinpoint our location." Jackson said.

"What do you mean you can't pinpoint our location? Are the instruments functional? Were they damaged by the surge?" I asked, doing my best to control my rising frustration.

"All instruments are functional. However, there are no recognizable constellations," Jackson said.

"What does that even mean?" I asked, aggravated.

"Sir, if I may?" a young Lunar who was present at the bridge asked.

She seemed to be aware of my reservations towards her kind, and her approach was a cautious one. It is what made me listen to her.

"Go ahead," I said.

"I believe we got transported to the uncharted territory. The anomaly we have been investigating seems to have been a rip in time-space continuum, judging by the readings on my instruments," the Lunar said.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Yppa," she said.

"Alright Yppa, you seem to know what you are talking about, why don't you and the other scientists try to figure out a way out of this mess, please," I said.

She nodded her large head and retreated to the room we provided them with for their research.

I couldn't believe that we finally discovered what we needed to know about the anomaly, and we had no one to tell. We lost contact with Lunar base 1, the moment we accidentally went through the rip.

In all honesty, I was terrified.

Nevertheless, the unfortunate event was also what brought us all closer together, Lunars and humans, one big happy family.

Having to work so closely together over the next days, months, years, we started to understand each other better, to connect. However, I still believe that those first few days were crucial.

After what Yppa told me that day, I was determined to get back to our part of the universe. The strange new stars and constellations were making me nervous. Their unfamiliarity was nerve-wrecking.

On Earth, I was always comforted that I could name all the stars in the night sky, and yet the stars that stared at me in this new place offered no comfort.

Thus, while my navigation officer did his best to figure out where we were, I spent my time questioning the scientists.

Even my dislike of Lunars didn't stop me from often visiting their working station, inquiring about their success or lack thereof.

Five days after the initial incident, I couldn't tame my agitation, so I let out all my pent up frustration on the poor unsuspecting scientists.

"Yppa, how is it possible that we can't go back through the same rip and be back home as quickly as we ended up here?" I asked the Lunar whom I've deemed the bravest and the most rational among the scientists, even though she was Lunar.

"It's not as is easy as that, sir. The rips in space and time are unstable. They open and close at different times and places. The one we went through closed up the moment we were through, and there is no telling when or if it would appear again. Besides, even if it does appear here, there are no guarantees that it would lead us home." Yppa said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, utterly confused.

"From what our studies have revealed, rips often occur on the surface of planets, and mostly they go unnoticed. However, from time to time, some unsuspecting being does end up going through it by accident. They sometimes return years later, or never. From what our instruments told us when we went through, the rips in the open space are even more unstable. It might have something to do with the lack of gravity. I am not sure." Yppa said.

"You are saying that we are stuck?" I asked to confirm my doubts.

"Yes, sir," she said calmly.

"What are we supposed to do then?" I whispered.

"We can keep trying to find a way back, but this kind of research is not an exact science. We can't guarantee anything. However, for the time being, it seems like our best option is to try and adjust to this new place, wherever it might be." Yppa said.

That was the first time I felt gratitude towards a Lunar, but it wasn't the last. It was a crucial moment for me to understand that happen what may, we were all in the same predicament, and we would have to learn to respect each other.

"Captain, we need you on the bridge. There has been...a development." Jackson's voice reached me through the communicator.

As I turned to leave, an enormous hand fell on my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. Turning around I saw Yppa's apologetic smile.

"Captain, may I join you? The more we know about this place, the better our chances will be of navigating the ship home." Yppa said.

"Sure, if they can do their job without you, it's fine by me," I said.

Yppa turned around to other Lunars and explained something in a quick set of deep guttural sounds that my translator didn't manage to catch.

"All good, captain," she said as she followed me out.

"What is it?" I asked the moment I reached the bridge.

"We are being hailed by a space station that appeared out of nowhere," Jackson said.

"Put them through," I said, settling comfortably in my chair with Yppa on my right.

"Identify yourself," a growling voice echoed from the screen as an alien with long fur and terrifyingly red eyes appeared on the screen.

"This is Space Titanic. We've gone off course and found ourselves unable to pinpoint our location." I said honestly, hoping that our confusion might justify any transgressions that we might have committed without our knowledge.

The furry alien appeared dissatisfied with my response. However, they didn't seem hostile, which was good news in my books. Whatever they were, as long as they weren't trying to harm us, was fine by me.

"You are in the Forbidden Sector of Unstable Space. Follow these coordinates to exit the area," the alien said.

Upon sending the coordinates, they cut off the transmission and disappeared as if they were never there in the first place. Following the coordinates led us to the most breathtaking place that my eyes had ever seen.