Deep Darkness — A Short Story
„Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were, but without it we go nowhere.“
– Carl Sagan
***
The clock was ticking, it was about time to say goodbye. The uncertainty was killing everyone, no one knew what was about to come. Thoughts were running through all of our heads. You could say it was stress, but there was this smell of excitement in the air. Sadly, the scent of metal quickly started to irritate me and a lot sooner than anticipated. Still questioning whether this was what we really intended even though the plan succeded for a short time… How deep did it go? Is it lost forever? What happened to it?
„Jerry… Wake up, Jerry!“ Alice yelled. „Are you crazy? Pay attention!“
„You‘re right, you‘re right, sorry.“ I shook myself out of my daydream.
This was the last piece of the puzzle, the only thing left to finish on this tincan. Without this bonus engine we will not be able to leave this sector anytime soon. A long mission almost coming to an end finally. Not to say, it‘s hard to move these arms when the only thing I can think about is getting outside of this undersized, robotic piece of…
„Are you here or in a simulation? Pay attention!“ her tone rises.
We‘re already behind schedule and hearing her yell at me doesn‘t help either. Also, it is not the most pleasurable part of my experience here. Although, without her huge head this whole mission would have burned to ash. Needless to say, she is the best pilot in this sector of the solar system and her background is top notch — Harward graduate, NASA astronaut for over 10 years, worked in the NSA as a data encryption specialist and she even was the first one to fly the „Next Generation Tactical Aircraft“.
„Jerry… Uhm, would you care if I assist you for a minute? It seems that the left arm is drifting by 2% off the mai…“ Travis tried calmly.
„I know. Ugh! Can‘t you remember that I have detectors in this damn thing too?“ I was loosing my patience.
„Yes, I do recall that, but as time is running the arms final location will be further and further away fro…“ Travis tried again to pierce through with calmness.
„Look, guys, I‘ve done hundreds of these simulations. And yes, I am aware that simulations don‘t represent true reality, but I can do this. Just trust me.“ I attempted to reassure them. „All I have to do is focus on the spin of this metal bubble.“
The left arm is getting closer to the target trajectory. Dizziness comes up seeing the ship spin in front of you and on top of that, the loss of up or down sensations is making me dissoriented. „The left arm is back in it‘s place!“ Travis cheered, but it wasn‘t done yet. The only thing left to do was to spin the whole thing by 48% and connect the arms to the ship or atleast that‘s what the computer calculated. It‘s eerie to think about how little processing power our brains have, a computer can do that calculation in a matter of milliseconds and I‘m just sitting here… Controlling the arms of some metal bubble, while carrying this damn engine.
„Almost there…“ I whispered to myself.
„Come on, don‘t fuck this up, Jerry“ she yelled again.
„Almost there… Travis, open the conjunction lock.“
„Conjunction lock opening initiating in 3… 2… 1… Wait, there‘s a malfunction. The signal has been delayed.“ Travis told.
„I can‘t wait! I‘m almost touching it!“ I worried.
„I don‘t know what‘s going on with the lock… Everything should be in pl… Oh, wait! The signal is back again! The lock is opening up, now‘s your chance!“ Travis yelled.
„I see it opening and the arms are almost in! Alice, can you make sure if it‘s all going according to plan from your side?“
„One moment… The algorithm calculated a 97,7% success probability. Everything‘s clear. You can go in.“ Alice assured.
„The arms are grasping the inner walls. Stabilizing position… Aaand… They‘re locked.“
„Initiating the conjunction lock in 3… 2… 1… Done! The engine is in place. Good job, Jerry! Do be more careful next time with the trajectories, please, even the smallest discourse can hold detrimental effects on the ship.“ Travis laughed.
„I‘ll try to work on that.“
„Maybe I underestimated you, Jerry… Now, get back on this ship, I‘m hungry.“ Said Alice.
„Ahh, already missing the five-star, one of a kind plastic-tube, paste cuisine?“
„Don‘t test my patience, Jerry.“
„Alright, alright, can‘t you take a joke? I‘m opening the hatch in a minute. I want to look through the window for a little while.“
„Enjoy it while you can, dreamer.“
„I‘m going to go make some food, it will be ready in 20 minutes. Don‘t fall asleep there, the view can caress you deeply.“ Travis intercepted.
Finally, the additional engine of the rocket was in place. Without it we would have not been able to fully leave the inner solar system. I turned off the communication line and stared through the thick glass. The view would constantly remind me of my childhood… Feeling energized by the feeling of the unknown, thinking about how vast it is and how much we don‘t know… Looking out there and wondering, what lies beyond, what lies beyond. I guess it‘s the natural instinct of humanity or more specifically life, especially when given freedom. Being here doesn‘t feel like the most successful freedom generating venture, but the thought of us being the furthest that humans ever went to in history, does motivate me. Staring through the window reminds me of the curiosity we all hold as children, something so special and also so fragile, something that if you take care of — no one can take away. Sometimes, I think that I didn‘t take care of that curiosity seed too well, but would I even be here if all of us didn‘t carry it with us? Wouldn‘t we all be too scared to do it? Would anyone even survive if we didn‘t have it? Maybe I‘m just overthinking… Maybe I‘m just missing my home… „I should go eat.“ I said outloud.
***