#16 in Scifi as of 12.1.18
THE FICTION OF SCIENCE (My collection of Science fiction entries)
1. A MATTER OF FACT... When Death Looks Just Like You.
What happens when you know how you are going to die? Read the story of a Ayla, who befriended death...
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"Look at that! Mumma," baby Ulybky pressed his little round face against the crystal glass window of his mother's spaceship.
"Mumma is driving," Mother Ulybky didn't remove her eyes from the console. Space is filled with so much junk that accidents can happen anytime if one is not too careful.
"But this is beautiful. Those two white galaxies and the arcs. They look so inviting," baby Ulybky jumped on his mother, swinging to and fro by hanging from the wiry hands.
"You disturb too much, what is it?" she reluctantly moved her eyes from the ionic screen and cast a glance towards the window. She could see a translucent ring produced from gravitational lensing.
She took out her smart camera and pointed it at the beautiful celestial phenomenon. The lens captured and scanned the exact picture and with a beep, the machine spoke —
"Galaxy clusters are the most massive structures in the Universe and exert such a powerful gravitational pull that they warp the spacetime around them and act as cosmic lenses which can magnify, distort and bend the light behind them."
"There you go, information for your new project. Your teacher would be so proud," she beamed at her son who was again staring intently out of the window.
"Mama, that's —"
But his words were lost in the terrible jolt that shook their spaceship. But before Mother Ulybky could react, another piece of asteroid hit their spaceship, sending them both skittering across the floor. They had accidentally reached the Kuiper Belt.
~~~~~~~~~~
When mother Ulybky opened her eyes, the light was all crimson. She tilted her head slightly and saw the lone star in the sky glowing a bright orange, mixed with the shimmering infrared— a sinking globe in the horizon of a strangely colourful planet.
And then she noticed the remains of their ship, some distance away, glowing a faint white. She rushed to the ship and tried to pry apart the broken door.
"Baby, where are you?" mother Ulybky cried into the darkness of their asteroid battered spaceship.
"I'm here, Mumma. But I'm unable to get out," the weak voice of baby Ulybky floated from somewhere within the mangled structure.
Relief flooded her voice. "Stay put. I'll go, get some help," she instructed, as she started running along the soft green surface, looking around.
Some distance away, an unknown creature was standing with its back to her. It held a small square in its hand which reflected the horizon into the tiny device.
She made a sound in her throat. The creature spun around suddenly. Its eyes were cautious as well as surprised. It looked around here and there, perhaps searching for others of its own kind.
It was taller than her with a mass of black filaments atop its head. It wore weird circular objects that covered its eyes. And its body was covered in loose colourful stuff that moved with its body.
"Help me!" she waved her hands frantically into the air.
The creature froze and then backed away a step.
"It can't identify my language," she mused, taking out her translator and spoke into the receiver. "I need help. My baby is trapped in the ship."
The creature's eyes widened, "What is that device?"
"It's a translator which knows every known language of all creatures in the universe," she replied, eyeing it warily.
"Your say your baby is in there?"
She just cocked her head to one side.
"Okay," its tense body relaxed a bit as it followed her to her spaceship. It paused for a moment before touching and then hit the metal hard, punching a hole through it and ripped apart a part of the wall with bare hands. It slowed again, staring at its own limbs in awe.
"Are your spaceships this weak?" it asked, before diving its hands in and gently lifting her baby up.
"Give him," she extended her hands.
"Wait. He's drenched," it said.
"Dreenncheedd?" she clarified, a little angry at him not giving back her baby.
"Your ship landed in water. He is wet. He'll catch a cold," the creature replied, taking off one of the colourful things covering its torso and wrapped the baby in it, holding him close to its own body.
She stared at the liquid brown eyes of the creature in front of her. There was a different kind of magnetism and a charm in those eyes, though obstructed by something like a lens.
"What is this planet?" she finally asked.
"Earth. Where did you come from?"
"Ulybka350, Nyxa571 galaxy," she mused.
She had heard a lot about Earth and how destructive and cruel the Earthlings are. They're destroying their own planet. But this particular earthling seemed totally different. It was staring at her baby with a look of compassion not found in creatures of many planets she had visited.
Little Ulybky shook himself once and yawned. It hugged him closer and the baby nuzzled against its body, looking comfortable. The creature's face changed expression. Its eyes scrunched up and its lips rose at the corner. The expression looked blissful.
"Your face looks just like a galaxy cluster we were seeing before we got hit," baby chirped up. The receiver had translated his voice.
"Like what?" the lips parted and a neat row of white teeth shone through them. The corners turned up more.
"That expression on your face. What is it called?" mom asked.
The expression vanished as its lips twisted in thought then slowly that expression was back again.
"This?"
"Yeeeessss," baby Ulybky crooned.
"It's called a smile. We smile when we're happy, excited or sometimes also maybe when sad," it mumbled, "Don't you all smile?"
"No, but this expression looks serene, peaceful."
"One smile can brighten up anybody's day," the earthling's smile widened.
"I know the topic for my project now! Smile. I'll take back a smile from this planet," baby Ulybky announced, his lips turning up, to imitate the earthling.
