Glowing World

By Art Hernandez

Via the external cams and the remote relays, the crew and I spotted the clouds, huge black mushrooms pressing the firmament. There must have been thousands of them.

"Do you wish to continue?" Karzeem asked me, finally breaking the silence.

"Yes, proceed," I told him.

We watched, on the sphere's monitors, swirling flames rising into the air; there were rolling fireballs, and wild electrical spectacles streaking through massive clouds in the sky; on one monitor was a bubbling tower of molten rock leaning and about to explode upon the ground.

"Are the relays picking up signs of water?" I asked Karzeem.

Karzeem turned to me with a doubtful look upon his old face and replied, "No signs as of yet. No lakes, rivers, nothing. Not a drop."

This wasn't the Maz my people had come to learn about thousands of years ago. Where were the countless forms of life? Where were the bounteous rain forests, the lush jungles, the blue skies, the seas and running rivers?  

Something flickering on another monitor captured the Sphere's Eye's interest. Something beyond the bubbling sand, flowing steadily.

"I believe I've located running water, Sir" the Eye said as it spun around, its black pupil expanding. "Can not confirm it yet."

"Confirm it then. Magnify the location," I instructed the Eye.

The cams focused in on the object; the flickering image on the monitor cleared quickly. What had seemed a stream had unfortunately panned out to be nothing but a mirage, an illusion rendered by the heat rising off the ground.

Jasmine entered the Sphere chamber, flanked by another Eye. She noticed me and smiled, waving. I made my way towards her.

I had informed her of our findings via our mind-link.

"Is this the wrong planet?" She asked me.

"Our Navigational compilers normally don't make mistakes," I informed her, staring deeply into those enchanting eyes of hers. She seemed uneasy, on edge. "I'm sure if an error had occurred the compensatory functions would have kicked in to fix the problem."

I turned to Abar, our expert Sphere technician, and asked him, "How are the shields holding?"

"So far so good. Two days till they start to degenerate. After that, I would seriously consider orbiting. The radiation's completely disposed of the primary circle, and is eating away at the secondary circle."

I nodded.

In spite of all the hazards outside the Sphere, my desire to venture out there was still adamant.

I needed to make absolutely sure there wasn't any life out there. Was I in my right mind? What would I discover? Most likely more of the same Hell that the relays and cams were plainly receiving.

  There was one way (perhaps) to make sure: assemble a search party that would sift for life, or something closely resembling life, through this wasteland; we would find it out there, somewhere, miraculously sheltered from this raging inferno all around it.

I turned to Karzeem and said, "Prepare a team, we're going out."

Karzeem looked up, "Out? Where?"

"I need to make sure the relays didn't miss something."

Karzeem gaped, staring at me as if I had gone utterly insane. His left eyebrow went up instantly.

"Of course," he said.

"Assemble five volunteers. Have them ready in two hours?" I told him.

"Sure," Karzeem replied. "I can have five shutout suits ready in two hours, too."

"Good, let's do it then," I said.

The Maz sun suddenly erupted, lighting up the sky, its fury blasting through the Sphere's windows.

"You are not going out there," Jasmine warned me, as if I was a child about to commit a misdoing. She looked for Karzeem for help, her eyes pleading.

Karzeem however didn't comment.

"You don't really expect to find life out there? Life? Years of hibernation has somehow effected your mind, Tarod of Gal" Jasmine said, pointing her finger at the raging fires and monstrous clouds on the outside.

"Nothing's impossible," I told her. "Where there's a will, life will find a way."

"Some things are impossible," Jasmine said, glowering.

I looked at her, then said, "Yes some things are, but I have a feeling about this planet."

"Listen to Jasmine, Tarod" Karzeem finally spoke. "Take a good look at this planet. There's no way life could be sustained here."

There was a strong possibility that they were right; but I sensed something about Maz.  It seemed to be inviting me.

"Something's out there, Karzeem. What? I don't know. But it's out there," I told him.

"Yeah, the death of you perhaps," Karzeem replied.

"You're serious," Jasmine growled.

"Yes, I am," I said back. "And hopefully Karzeem and I will find that something."

She shook her head in disbelief.

Karzeem looked at me, sorrowfully. "You are insane my friend," Karzeem said finally. "Still, you are my friend, and if that friendship entails following you through Hades, then through Hades I will go."

"You are a good man, Karzeem, and a good friend," I replied.

The Hours had passed rapidly. The day quickly turned to night. Stars were blazing through the dome, resembling tiny fires sparkling in the sky. In the darkness outside the forward portals, flames rose then fell, dancing and prancing in unison.Karzeem had finally assembled the search party consisting of five humans, two  Eyes, and one security probe. Karzeem was first to volunteer his services to the search. Abar volunteered next, then Profef, the Sphere's chief engineer, and his assistant engineer, Quan. Hal Deon, the chief medical officer, offered his services--his many years of mending bones would no doubt come in very handy. I had requested Abar to prepare all the necessary equipment: remote relays, portable cams, the sensors and scanners, compilers, and software. Profef and Quan had been requested to draft the scanner and sensor functions.We were ready to go."Please be careful out there, Tarod," Jasmine cautioned me, sounding deeply concerned. "I have the two Eyes and five great men to guide me," I said. "I'll be fine, my love.""This is not our world, remember that," Jasmine reminded me."I know.""The chamber is ready," Karzeem reported, adjusting the priming dials on the activator panel. He turned toward Jasmine and said, "Don't you worry about him, Jasmine. I'll bring him back in one piece; even if Tarod brings nothing back. That you can be sure of."Jasmine began to giggle."Thank you, Karzeem," she replied."Enter pre-disembarkation," I heard one of the Eyes instruct us as it spun around. A laser streamed out from its huge pupil, making contact with the activator panel. The chamber portal crept open as the search party clambered in. Giving Jasmine a kiss, I followed the others into the chamber. The steel portal then came down slowly behind us, obscuring our view of the Sphere's innards.

Five hours in this freezing night air and still no readings on the scanners, nor on the sensors. I was getting restless, so was the crew. "Relays report daylight in thirty minutes, Mr. Tarod. Should we begin our return to the Sphere?""We should," I replied."The shutout suits weren't designed to handle the extreme heat," Abar warned, his eyes glued to the compiler in his palm. "Maybe an hour, tops, if the reflector cells don't' start degenerating."Gazing upon the dark horizon, I replied, "There's nothing out here. Nothing living that is." Karzeem quickly agreed.Abar sighed, relieved to hear that I had decided to return to the Sphere."I could have told you that a long time ago," Profef said, snidely. "He wouldn't listen to me," Karzeem said."Alright then, lets get moving before the sun starts rising," I told them, motioning with my scanner towards the Sphere.I could see the Sphere in the distance, its shields shimmering. The serenity of the night suddenly ceased, as the security probe went spinning wildly overhead, its alarms shrieking. Laser beams burst from its shiny metal chest and head, piercing the air above our heads. "Impending meteor shower!" the probe wailed. "Impending meteor shower . . .evasive course…evasive course!"My head went up in an instant. "Oh my . . ." I soon realized, as I watched in horror, that we were all about to be pulverized by massive fiery stones plummeting down upon us.I tried my best to regain some equanimity. "Search for shelter!" I hollered at the Eyes."Stay in control!" Karzeem ordered everyone.The probe beams continued to shoot upward towards the rapidly descending stones, most of the beams blasting the rocks asunder, others missing the meteors completely. Within seconds, the Eyes informed us of a cavern about twenty yards to the right. "Lead the way," I commanded them. My hand went up to instruct the rest of the party members to follow the Eyes. The ground shook violently as the first meteors struck the ground. Profef was thrown backwards. Deon and Abar quickly scrambled to his side, helping him up off the ground and to his feet."Thanks," Profef said.  More meteors came crashing down all around us. One of considerable size struck the ground not far from where I was fleeing; I stumbled, but quickly regained composure. To close for comfort, I thought.I heard Hal Deon holler something about Karzeem. I stopped to see what about and discovered Karzeem, lying still on the ground, blood pouring readily from the side of his head. Instinctively, I pulled out my firearm, activated the retriever function, and aimed the beam at him. The beam poured over him, enveloping Karzeem in a glowing blanket of hisses and pops. Then, running as hard as a man could possibly run, I hauled Karzeem through the air, dodging falling rocks as I fled. Abar and Profef were the first to reach cover inside the cavern; following right behind them were Deon and Quan. I entered next. All of us gasping for air and falling to the ground. Struggling to my feet, I glanced outside at the meteor shower to see the security probe vaporizing in the merciless downpour. I heard Profef, over the pounding noise, cursing about something."What's the matter?" I asked him."The transmitter -- it's been damage. I'm not receiving signals from the Sphere."Profef shook the busted device in his hand. Fragments of it fell to the cavern floor."Damn thing must have been damaged during the storm. Anyhow, we can't contact the Sphere with it.""Abar," I called out, my head turning to find him."Yes?" Abar responded, limping over to where Profef and I were standing."See what you can do with the transmitter." I asked him then about his limp, "Are you hurt?""Hurt," he grimaced, "my ankle running here.""Make sure you get Hal Deon to take a look at it," I told him.He nodded. "Probably a busted crystal," he remarked, then went right to work examining the broken device.I had another very important matter to attend to; Karzeem was still badly injured and in dire need of immediate medical assistance. I noticed Hal Deon was way ahead of me: strapping scanners and mind links onto Karzeem, suturing his wounds, wrapping him up."How's he doing?" I asked Hal Deon, hoping for a positive answer."I've stopped the bleeding -- that much is good.""That doesn't tell me too much," I said."If you hadn't of rescued him when you did he probably would have bled to death. The retriever beam slowed down the bleeding.""Great," I replied, eyeing the pulsating scanner nodes strapped to Karzeem. "Will he be alright? You know -- up and moving, talking soon?" "I won't know until I run some more test," Deon replied. He sounded unsure to me."Not exactly what I wanted to hear," I replied."I'm sure he'll do fine," he assured me.

An hour had pass; the storm was gradually ending. Outside the cavern in the distance, the sun was finally rising, its warm beams creeping up through the entrance of the cavern.We were stranded here for the remainder of the daylight hours. A journey back to the Sphere in the direct sunlight would in all likelihood be suicidal. Karzeem was in no condition to be moved anyhow.I decided then I would make contact with Jasmine (no need worrying her) through our mind-link, since Abar was still working on the transmitter. However, due to the dampening properties of the cavern and the awful atmospheric conditions, The mind-link was not the best form of communication. Nonetheless, it was better than nothing.Jasmine was pleased to know that we were all fine, and that the only casualty suffered was that of the security probe. I hadn't the heart  to tell her about Karzeem.Hal Deon was working hard at Karzeem's recovery. I sauntered over to where Hal Deon was and asked, "How is he doing? Anything yet?""All vital systems seem to be stable, but still no change in his present condition.""That sounds good," I replied. "Why don't you get some sleep. You've been up for quite some time.""I'm alright, Tarod. However, you look like you might use some sleep," he replied, gazing into my blood shot eyes.I nodded in agreement. "I think I will."I turned to find a spot to lay my tired self down and noticed Profef sleeping soundly. Lying next to him, sprawled out on the cavern floor, was Quan snoring away. Abar was missing, perhaps sleeping further down the cavern where the light from the sun would not disturb his slumber. I lowered my tired self down on a soft patch of ground; taking a final look at Karzeem, I drifted into a peaceful slumber. A joyful dream quickly came to me afterwards.I woke, faintly remembering my dream. It was a happy one. I dreamt I was in a lush garden, teeming with radiant flowers rippling in the cool wind. Thick sinewy vines were spread over the ground and twisting about the trees; the trees, towering high above me, were densely garnished with leaves and outlandish fruits.I can recall the sweet aroma of the garden being highly intoxicating, causing me to giggle sheepishly. In my intoxication, a flock of remarkably large insects had fluttered by, startling me.I distinctly remembered Jasmine being there in the garden with me. We were holding hands and dancing to some weird music that was coursing through the garden. She was beaming, her eyes twinkling. Together we watched entranced as a swarm of insects sped upward into the sky and vanished into the azure, leaving behind them a trail of multicolored stars.The dreamed had end, as all dreams do eventually, as Jasmine and I started to rise upward and towards the swarm.Yawning, I rubbed my eyes, then peered outside the cavern, watching a swirl of hissing smog twist, rise, twist and rise, and eventually fall to the ground. I must not have slept very long for it was still daylight outside."Tarod, Abar's found something in the back of the cave. Paintings . . . on the wall? Sounds nutty to me," Profef informed me, that insensitive and extremely annoying stare beaming from his eyes."I'll make that judgment," I grinned back. "Paintings?""Crazy . . . yeah? He relayed his discovery to me not long ago, while you were asleep.""Then Abar got the transmitter working?" I asked Profef."No. Mindlink.""Paintings, what's he talking about? Where is he?" I asked."Approximately one hundred kilometers in that direction, down the cavern," Profef replied, pointing towards the darkness at the other end of the cavern."How's Karzeem doing?" Profef asked me, glancing toward Karzeem's direction."The Doctor needs to run some more tests. He's going to need the medical compilers on the Sphere for that.""I'm sure he'll pull through. Karzeem's tuff as nails," Profef replied, sounding sure of himself. "Show me to the site," I said, changing the subject."What site?""The site Abar's at. I'd like to take a look at the paintings he found on the wall.""Through the dark? I have a phobia about dark places." He answered. "What if there's a creature or  something down there that likes the taste of flesh. I'd prefer not to discover life in  such a manner.""Hopefully the beast will have good taste and refuse you," I responded with a grin.Profef didn't grin back. The thought of uncovering unlit ground made him a bit uneasy."I'm serious," Profef grunted."And I am too. You're leading the way through the tunnel."Profef glared at me, his eyes burning."This way," Profef pointed towards the darkness to our right. "Over there.""Good. Let's move," I paused to think, and then said, "Inform Abar that you and I are on our way to the site.""Of course," he moaned.Having informed Hal Deon and Quan where we were bound, Profef and I then departed for the tunnel ahead. The darkness would have nearly engulfed us if not for the flare in Profef's hand--the light glowing dimly behind us from our makeshift base at the entrance of the cavern offer little help in are endeavor."No flesh eating life-forms yet?" I joked again. "I can barely see you in the darkness," Profef snapped back."That's because it's dark," I replied.It was silent for a minute or two, as we continue our trek through the dark corridor, when Profef suddenly blurted, "Weirdest thing, Tarod. Abar says the paintings are extremely old: scan waves have informed him they're over millions of years old."I responded, "Millions. Is he sure of that?""Amazing," Profef remarked."What?" I asked him."According to the scan waves, the paintings on the wall were sketched thousands of years after we had left our world, during the time we were hibernating.""What could have sketched them?" I asked Profef."More like who, not what," Profef replied with twitching eyes."There were no humanoids on Maz when we left our world. I know that, you know that," I said."Right," he agreed. "Which could mean some sort of evolution occurred on Maz while we were hibernating for thousands of years. It's highly possible.""We need hard evidence not speculation, Profef," I replied.But if humanoids had once lived here on Maz, where then had they vanished to?  Could these humanoids have left for the stars just as we had done thousands of years ago? I could make nothing of this puzzle.Ahead of us was a flickering yellow light, growing stronger as we verged upon the it. The darkness began to scatter, and we could now see Abar working the scanner beam up and down, back and forth across the wall in front of him.Abar spotted us emerging from the dark tunnel, waving us over with his free hand."You won't believe your eyes," Abar grinned. "Look at this. Uncanny huh?" His long bony finger was pointing at one of the illustrations on the wall.I moved forward anxiously. "Let me see it," I said.It was positively extraordinary. Just as Abar had relayed to Profef -- there on the wall was an illustration of a behemoth, with four legs and two long tusks spiking from it's mouth; beside the behemoth stood a humanoid with what looked like some sort of spear in his hand."Did you find anything else down here?" I asked, hoping perhaps that he had found something other than a painting: pottery or  tools, reading and writing materials. Must a painting  be the only clue to this irritating mystery, I wondered. "Only this so far. There's more cavern down that way." Abar pointed to the tunnel on the left."What's wrong with the other tunnel?" Profef ventured."It goes about nine meters and ends abruptly. I found nothing down that one."Abar paused to tweak the portable scanner then resumed speaking. "The poor creatures must have all perished when Maz was destroyed.""Did the scanner find any bones? Fossils?" Profef asked."Fragments only, buried hundreds of meters below. It'd take at least a week to reach the bones with the tools we have with us now."Profef was busily observing the painting when I asked him, "How and what caused their destruction?""My theory?" Profef grinned."Yes.""I don't have one . . . yet. But I am working on it.""Good," I nodded at him. "Abar, what about you; do you have an idea?""Better than ideas, Sir. I've got facts. I mean, never mind the painting, the scanner recorded some marvelous data."Abar show me the scanner screen: on it were numbers, thousands of figures. I never could understand those figures. And I had never really wished to learn anything about them too."What does it mean?" I asked Abar."Abar and I," Profef hastily interrupted, "will know more later. The data will be put through the Sphere's main compilers, and then analyzed.""Didn't you bring some compilers with us?" I asked Profef."Of course," Profef growled, apparently disturbed by my question. "But most of the cells and logic lines were damaged in the storm. I won't be able to get an accurate reading."I paused, focusing on the illustration  upon the jagged surface of the cavern wall. "Lets get packing then. How much longer till nightfall?" I asked Abar."Thirty minutes," he replied."Ok, let's move."

Everything was packed, re-assembled and ready to move on. Profef and Qaun, assisted by Abar and Hal Deon, had loaded the scanner, camcorder monitors, and all the data that the smooth slide scanners had garnered, onto the floating transports. The storage cubes were strapped to the transports, full of rocks and air samples which would be analyzed later in the Sphere. The memory shelves were loaded on their  own special anti-gravitational transports. The last load, I loaded myself, was Karzeem's sleeping body, which I had frozen in nitro-jelly and constantly monitored by the mind-links and brain-wave receivers that Hal Deon had strapped to Karzeem's body.I placed Abar in charge of guiding the transports back to the Sphere. With my go-ahead, he moved the lever on the remote regulator and the transports, and their loads on top of them, jerked forward, their servomotors softly buzzing as the transports moved ahead.

Now back on the Sphere, settled in my command seat, I watched bewitchingly as the sun sprouted from the horizon like a fiery demon breaching upward through the ground, transforming the surface of Maz into an surging ocean of fire. It was the greatest spectacle."Hal," I asked, speaking into the transmitter, "how's Karzeem doing?""The same," he replied, "I've hooked him up to the Dreamprobe. We should be able to communicate with him this way.  While he's dreaming. That's if he is dreaming.""Sounds good. If you come upon any new information, you tell me, ok?""Sure thing, Tarod.""Tarod, the scanners have picked up something, a very large something, heading our way," Abar told me, his eyes glued to the screen before him. I turned to him. "Large what? What is it?""I'm not sure, yet. Some sort of electrical storm.""It's just a storm. The Sphere can handle the brunt of it," I replied, sounding somewhat annoyed by Abar's discovery."It's not your common storm. You're not going to believe this, but the scanners detect life signs emanating from it."I asked again, "The storm's alive? Rescan.""Did a rescan. I'm surveying the sensor cells now."I turned to Profef, who was also studying the strange thing on the scanner screen."The sensors cells check. It's alive, whatever it is--a very big spinning multicellular organism. The sensors detect mass concentrations of nucleoprotein.""Amazing," Profef remarked, his eyes anchored to the screen. "How bout that Tarod, you were right. There is life here." "Will the shields hold if the lifeform decides to ram the Sphere, Abar?" I asked him."I'm hoping, yes. They should hold," he replied."Can we make contact with it?" Jasmine asked, having entered the control center a while back."That's a very good question. Can we make contact with the lifeform? We mean it no harm." I asked Abar, who was busy punching figures into his compiler. "I've been trying to do just that. However, there's a strong signal emanating from the lifeform, a dampening field of some sort; I can't seem to make contact with it," Abar explained, his eyes glaring at his terminal as he fervidly prepared the sensors for another extensive scan of the lifeform. "I'm going to try something.""Good," I remarked. "Scanners have detected," he paused, unsure of what he was seeing, then continued, "sounds emerging from the lifeform . . ." Abar gulped in air. "I could be wrong, Tarod, but I think its trying to make contact with us.""How much longer till the lifeform is in range of the local cams?" I asked Abar."Soon, not much longer. Ten minutes max," he assured me."I think its time to leave" Profef said, with a morsel of that same fear he had expressed in the cavern on his face."Yes," I agreed. "Dispatch a squadron of security probes to defend the Sphere's surroundings. Prepare for evasive action.""On it," Abar assured me.

A cacophony of shrills suddenly flooded the control center. I covered my ears, muffling the disharmony a little. The shrilling grew even louder. Pain was shooting through my head. "Silence that!" I hollered over the shrilling.

Profef was down on his knees, gripping his head. "I don't think, the creature seems pleased to meet us.""No doubt," Abar, with a painful look on his face, interjected."Can we silence it?" I asked again."I'll try," Abar said, punching some buttons on the control panel."We've got a visual on the lifeform," Abar informed us, his voice straining to be heard over the noise."There." The horrible noise abated suddenly. "That should do it," Abar remarked, a little softer now.

"I recommend departure from here as soon as possible, Tarod," Profef advised me, his eyes bulging.I didn't answer him, watching the lifeform slowly move back and forth before the forward portal. It was, without a doubt, colossal, encompassing an area of about two square miles.  Its tail, like a serpent squirming in a trap, whipped about madly, tossing chunks of itself outward and towards the Sphere. What appeared to be its head swayed left and right in beastly manner."Our shields will hold, right?" I asked Profef."They should," Profef responded.Yet in his voice I sensed hesitation and terror. Something I hoped I hadn't sensed."Good," I told him, watching as he slowly walked away.I wasn't sure if I should trust Profef; but the man was our only chief engineer, a pretty good engineer too. He knew more about the Sphere's innards and outwards than most of the Sphere members. I had no other choice but to trust him."Profef," I called out.Turning slowly, he asked, "Yes?""Why do you recommend we depart so soon? We might be able to communicate with  it. It might want to communicate with us too. If we leave now we may never  get that chance."He sauntered over to me with that smug told-you-so look beaming off his face."I don't think this lifeform wishes communicate with us, Tarod. I think this lifeform, this parasite more likely, sees us as food. It's feeding off the shield's beta stream; and it's making its way straight for us. But that's just my thinking."If you wish to communicate with this creature, go right ahead. But keep in mind that the shields will eventually collapse if the virus decides to fill its belly. We may be next on its menu.""It's a parasite? Where'd you get your facts?" I asked him."From me," I heard behind me. It was Hal Deon, punching in notes on his compiler. "Our friend outside is a extremely large virus, to be exact. It's trying to infect the sphere. And it's doing a very good job at it."I nodded."Hal says this thing will multiply as it continues to feed off the shields. Eventually the life supports systems will fail, and--" I stopped Profef in mid-sentence. "I know what could happen next, Profef."Profef glowered. He hated being cut short.Jasmine had entered the control center and was now talking with an Eye."Have the security probes stand by for offensive action," I instructed the Eye manning the security probes. It turned obediently to carry out the command."Automatic systems on?" I asked Abar. On his face was that look of fear I grown to know so well."On," Abar replied.The Sphere was suddenly jolted back, then forward. Startled, I braced myself to the nearest stable object."What was that?" I asked Abar."Scanners are picking up extensive brain wave activity, emanating from the virus. You're not going to believe this, Sir, but I think the virus just blasted the Sphere with some sort of thought wave," he said, sounding as if he himself couldn't believe his own words.The Sphere was hit again, harder. Small fires sprang all around us as the control center shook. The fire defenses responded immediately to the situation, spraying fire retardant in the necessary places. Panic quickly ignited as we all rushed to repair the damage. The Sphere was hit again, sending fragments of fiery metal through the  air. Smoke from the fires was thickening around us, making it harder to spot the control center for other possible damages. The siphoning vents instantly went to work, sucking in the toxic smoke from the control center."Take invasive action," I told Abar."Yes, Sir," he replied.However, the Sphere did not move; it lingered, awaiting possible disaster."We've lost all power to the hyper-engines," Abar informed me; terror was beaming from his face."How much longer till we make contact with the virus?" I asked Abar."Contact in thirty seconds, Sir. Everyone, activate your  anti-motion joiners," Abar warned us all.Another thought wave hammered the control center."We need to leave here now, Abar," I told him."I agree," Profef said gravely, his eyes popping from his head."I'll divert the power from the Power Shield to the hyper-engines. It's risky but I see no other way out of this mess," Abar replied.Jasmine was now by my side, her arms wrapped around me."We can't just stay here and wait for that thing," she remarked."Two seconds!" Abar hollered.Like a doll pitched by a angry child, the Sphere was thrown backwards, slowly spinning as it sped through the air.The virus, now attached to the Sphere's shields, began to eat away at them like a starving beast. However the security probes, busy firing upon the virus, were taking it apart slowly. Pieces of the virus were erupting and spilling outward into space as the probes continued their relentless battle with it.The lighting  inside the control center tried desperately to remain lit.And then a miracle happened: the hyper-engine generators came alive."Sir, I've finished rerouting the power to the hyper-drive!" I heard Abar gleefully shout, who was trying desperately to keep from falling.The Sphere jolted sharply to the left, gradually stopped spinning, then finally came to a standstill a few miles above the surface of Maz. And like dew pulling away from a branch on a tree, the Sphere hauled itself from the virus's tenure. Spewing behind the Sphere as it rocketed toward the heavens  was the virus, a stream of ghastly dust slowly evaporating in the sunbeams."We've got full power back," Abar confirmed, trying gracefully to keep his cool. Spreading on his face was a tiny smile."Good," I replied. "Thrust us out of here.""Aye," he replied, maneuvering the Sphere upward and into the darkness of space, fragments of virus residue swirling and spinning below us still as the Sphere ascended.

Regaining my composure, I began inspecting the control center for any change in the fires that had been lashing out of control, and noted that the fire retarders were still at work disposing their retardant over the flames; smoke from the fires was leaving quickly through the vents.There were some injuries. Jani, our Eye tech and Vanock, a compiler programmer. Hal had alerted medical of the injured, instructing the med team to send help immediately.My eyes caught the remains of the virus as it slowly shrank away. Eventually it vanished below our bottom portals.I instructed Abar to slow the Sphere's escape and to set an orbital course around Maz."That was close," Profef said, his hand wiping some sweat from his forehead."Very close. Too close," I agreed.I turned my attention to Abar, who was working with the compilers and Sphere regulators, and asked him, "Have you a damage report for me?"He nodded and replied, "You don't want to hear this, Sir?""Of course he does Abar," Profef snapped.I turned my attention to Jasmine, who'd been clinging to my arm during the whole ordeal. "Are you alright?" I asked her.Jasmine smiled and responded with a nod.Abar, relaxed, was sitting at his station, his head in his hands and moaning nonsense. Finally looking up, Abar took in a deep breath."What's the damage?" I asked Abar. "There's no need prolonging the action that must be taken to eliminate the damage done," I told him.The news was not good. Some of the compilers (the main ones; the ones which run most of the navigational programs) were damaged in the thought  waves. Many of the energy pods -- used to store solar power -- had been blown to bits. A deadly gas, released by the disposal machines, had  found its way into the Light Chambers, seriously contaminating them.  Ten Sphere members, of which two had been children, were killed during the violent contact with the virus; about twenty five members were injured, and now quickly on their way to medical. The Shield was now operating at barely ninety percent proficiency. And finally, ten hibernation cells had been damaged, but could, fortunately, be repaired, in just a few hours.We were very lucky, though, that the thought waves had done little or no damage to the bio-links connecting the hibernation cells, as bio-links were extremely hard to repair."What is the status of the virus?" I asked Abar who was busy working the scanners."Scanners indicate it's returned to the surface of Maz -- fading fast.""Continue scanning for any recurrence of the virus," I told him."On it, Sir," Abar replied.

I had managed to tear myself away from my leadership duties to see how Karzeem was coming along. Entering Medical, I saw Karzeem resting quietly, by his side were two medical robots constantly checking his progress.My eyes went around Medical, searching for any possible damage; but luckily the lab had been left intact. Although there were a few minor mishaps: a busted cryo-meter, a fallen lamp that still had its shattered remains laying around it, and two cracked microscopes that had been ditched in a small pile with the other irreparable equipment. But fortunately, the damage wasn't serious.I directed my attention, again, to Karzeem. There were long, thin tubes, originating from the dream probe accompanying his bedside, sinking into Karzeem's head and upper chest. Surrounding his bed were three dream screens. The picture on the largest dream screen was faint and unclear.Finding a seat near Karzeem's bed, I sat down. As I became engrossed with the dream screen hanging in mid air above Karzeem's head, my eyelids began to feel heavy and I began falling to sleep. A sudden sound from the dream probe sparked life back into my limbs and I awoke to the sight of the medicine flowing through the dream probe tubes. Oddly the floating screen began to flicker on and off, fading from white to black, black to white. I began to worry. Perhaps something bad was happening to Karzeem, and so I asked the med-bot nearest Karzeem why the screen was acting in such a fashion."I'm preparing the probes for another dream scan," the robot replied."Have you and Hal been able to communicate with Karzeem?" I asked the robot."We're still probing his mind, and we're still receiving no signs.  Brain wave activity is at a minimal," the robot confessed."Where is Dr. Deon?""The Doctor's on the upper level tending to the other critically injured members, Sir."Is there something you need? Perhaps I could help you with something?"  The robot asked me, its eyes rolling around in their sockets."No," I replied, sounding pathetic."I'm prepping the probe for a deeper scan of Mr. Karzeem's subconscious." The robot moved its fingers, flipping a few switches up and then down on the dream probe. "Deeper scanning will exert some stress on Mr. Karzeem's body and mind, but he will feel no pain."  "How much stress?" I asked it."There's a very small possibility that we may lose Karzeem's vital signs."It was the delicate way of saying that Karzeem might die. Med-bots were programmed to be delicate. Since matters of life and death can be  sensitive subjects, it seemed wise to encode the med-bots to be sensitive."What are his chances if we proceed with the deep scan?" I asked it.But even though the robots were programmed to be slightly sensitive, the robots were not required to lie. "The odds are very small, Mr. Tarod," it replied."I need numbers," I told it."Seventy two point three thousands four hundred and eight percent, to be numerically exact, Sir.""What happens if we don't do the deep scan?"But the med-bot didn't answer me. Hal Deon had entered Medical a few minutes ago, and having overheard my last question, quickly responding to it."He'll never be able to recover from his coma, Tarod. But if we do make contact with him through the dream probe, there is a possibility we can coax him to awaken from it."The thought of never speaking again with Karzeem went hurling through my mind; I felt it hard not to tear."Are you willing to let us perform a deeper scan on Karzeem?" Hal asked.I said nothing. I sat back down on my seat, my hands reaching up to clear my face of the tears."I've instructed  the med-bot to prepare the dream probe, but I was going to ask your permission first to actually start the scan."I contemplated the idea a little while longer, and then agreed. "Do it.""Proceed with the scan,  MB2," Hal told the robot."Yes doctor.""I'll let you rest. I'll be up level with the other members, if you need me," The doctor informed me.I nodded, and watched as he walked away. I saw him whisper something to the other robot before finally exiting Medical -- most likely something about me.The trying times had finally taken their toll on me, and I closed my eyes and fell asleep. A couple of words came out of my mouth as I slipped  into dreamland. "Good bye."Were my eyes playing tricks on me, or was the image I was seeing before me that of Karzeem (an angel maybe?) standing in front of me? The image was crisp and gleaming in the light of star shine beaming from the glass portal above our heads. With eyeballs burning brightly, the image smiled at me -- it was an old, familiar smile, one that had only recently vanished.  Karzeem, the image, was clothed in white lights.  And everywhere, swarming like pesky insects, were small, ovals, swirling with colors and circulating around the image, thin streams of white and blue light spewing from them. And music was in the air, so sweat, so divine, tantalizing my senses; no doubt in my mind, this was the music of angels.At first, I was much too terrified to utter a word; instinctively I turned away from the image. But the lights and the music emanating from the space where the image was now floating seem to call me back. I turned to look again at the image as rays of fiery light shot forth from the all the dream probe screens. My mouth finally moved and words were uttered. "Karzeem? Is it true?" I said."Hello, my friend," Karzeem replied; I felt his eyes boring into my soul,  illuminating the darkness within it."But -- you're in a coma," I reminded him, looking over at the bed his body was still silently lying on. The tubes from the dream probe were still sinking into his head and upper body; and even though the screens had been acting weirdly, they had returned to normal."I am what you wish to see," the image spoke once again. A feeling  of sheer sorrow began to slowly eat away at my innards."Don't be afraid of me, my friend. Calm your fear." I swallowed hard; a shiver moved my body. He waved his hand at me and all my feelings of trepidation vanished instantly.Composing myself, I spoke again, "What did you mean by what you wish to see?""Your heart that has returned me. Yet, I've come back only to say good-bye."I was undoubtedly puzzled. "The mind link must be doing something to my head," I conferred with myself."No," Karzeem assured me. "The mind link is not effecting your thoughts. I am as real as real can be."The image shuddered, discarding particles of red and yellow lights."I must be asleep," I said, looking deeper into the image's glowing eyes."I've come back from another universe, to say good-bye, and to tell you to not grieve for me. My time here, in this universe, has run out, and an even greater one beacons me to follow it into its wonderful light.""I've seen this new universe, Tarod. I assure you that there is no need for you to feel remorseful for me.""I can't help feeling remorseful, Karzeem. If it weren't for me pushing you to follow me on that search party, you'd still be alive. It was my  fault that you ---""This was not your fault my friend. This was meant to occur.""Then . . . you are leaving?" I sounded angry with the idea, but I did my best not to show it. "But why must you go. There is still so much we've haven't done. So many new worlds yet discovered. Maz is but one world.""I shall be with you always my friend. You need only to think of me, day or night."I watched as Karzeem's eyes grew wider; a shaft of red light burst outward and into the room around us. His hands were rising, as though he was reaching for the portal above our heads, and expanding before my eyes. His fingers were vining, interlocking with the monitors, dream probe; and snaking over and under Karzeem's resting body."You complete what we have undone," Karzeem uttered over the commotion caused by his flowering arms and fingers. The shaft that had exited his eyes collected itself into a single coherent beam of light once more and returned itself back into the bulging pupils on Karzeem's face."I will miss you," I told him."I will miss you my friend as well." I saw him smile. "The other  universe calls to me. I must leave."My mind was weary, and a slight faint was close at hand, but I regained  my strength as he raised his tree-like arms and budding fingers to envelope me. They held lightly to me, like a soft caress touching every inch of my body.I felt his presence slowly retreating, and the colorful ovals fading from sight. His fingers were recoiling, slipping off my face. The chamber became darker, and the coolness faded away. This was it, I knew he was finally leaving. But instead of feeling sad, I felt relieved.   My head sprang upward and I yelled, "Wait!" But no one heard my plea.  I had woken from a dream with tears in my eyes. I felt cold and lonely, shivering from fear.The med-bot, startled by my exclamation, responded immediately, "Are you alright, Sir?""A bad dream," I told it. "What's the status on Karzeem's condition?""The latest report--" the robot hesitated, "on Mr. Karzeem's condition indicates no brain activity, Sir. I am sorry, Sir. I meant to inform you after you had fully awakened.""I know," I replied, bowing my head. I excused myself and exited Medical via the transfer beams.

I returned to the control chamber. On the forward portals were the red streaks of the returning probes that had been launched earlier, and in the background, raging madly in space, was the yellow sun.The Sphere was still in orbit around Maz.  The planet sure did look peaceful from outer space. All it's ailments were well hidden in the shroud of distantness.Profef had been working hard at a possible explanation for all that's happened, assisted by Qaun and Abar.Approaching them carefully, trying best not to startle them, I asked Profef, "Have you come up with any theories? About the virus, the paintings on the wall, all the radiation?"He turned to me, "We have. With all the information gathered from the expedition, the remote relays, the compiler data, the main scanners, and now the probes transmitting their own data, I do believe I have one fantastic hypothesis.""Does Abar agree with your theory?" I asked Profef.  "He has his doubts, but does agree with most of my speculations.""We differ on a few points, but we do agree on the general idea," Abar replied."What is it?" I turned to Profef who was watching data scroll down the screen in front of him.He looked up at me, obviously bewildered, and muttered, "It?""The general point Abar spoke of?" I reiterated."You must understand, Tarod, that it is only speculation. I'd say maybe seventy percent accurate."I nodded hesitantly."I heard the unfortunate news. Karzeem was such a good man," Abar kindly said."Yes, indeed," Profef mumbled.There was a brief moment of silence before Profef would speak again.Why Karzeem? I thought grimly to myself. I should have been the one struck down. The one dead.Profef looked up, his eyes glaring into the forward portal in front of him. "Besides the sector we had landed on, probes have discovered  even greater levels of radiation in other sectors of the planet."This data has lead me and Abar to strongly believe that Maz had been destroyed by nuclear explosions. Judging by the destruction, and the radiation in the other sectors, the magnitude of each explosion roughly ninety mega-tons--fortunately it wasn't blasted into oblivion."It sounded pretty sad. I found it hard to understand why a world of such beauty and splendor could have been utterly demolished by nuclear explosions. It just didn't make much sense."Nuclear explosions? I'm lost. Why nuclear explosions?"  I asked Profef."I will now explain the paintings on the cavern wall, which should explain the nuclear explosions." Profef asked me."Yes," I responded."The artwork was done by something human-like Something like us.  It stood upright, on its two legs (like us), with two arms.""And?" I interrupted."These creatures must have evolved while we were traveling through  space. I hypothesize that the Maz men were able to experience the wonder of space exploration; to communicate by radio transmissions and visual transmissions. They must have sported compilers of some kind -- crude, simple ones, but efficient. And the ability to harvest the power of nuclear energy.""Abar would agree to that?""I do," he uttered."So what you're trying to tell me is that these hominids destroyed themselves in some kind of nuclear battle?"'"Exactly. Like a children playing with fire, not knowing  better, these hominids destroyed themselves. Perhaps persuaded by greed, hate or some other motive."Abar, nodding, then said, "unlike our people, who were able to live together, nourish each other, and use nuclear power to our advantage and not to our destruction, the Mazians had done the complete opposite. Mazian civilization took a most dreadful turn down the path of extinction -- devolution."The careless souls," I mumbled under my breath.Everyone at Karzeem's funeral said a few words. Jasmine spoke with such elegance -- lovely speech flowed from her mouth. Profef, Abar, and Karzeem's father, Lansjin, all bid him farewell. Sertio, Karzeem's brother -- a much younger man -- had prepared the eulogy and had read it for us."Thank you for being his friend, Tarod," Karzeem's father said as he held my hands in his."It's been an honor to have had Karzeem as a friend, Sir," I replied.

I was back in the control center; Jasmine was with me. Abar was setting a course for the next thousand years to come: a course that would take us to the center of the galaxy, pass thousands of other worlds, and pass hundreds of stars."It will be of years before we make contact with another world. The compilers are already setting the course," I told Jasmine."Is it a planet we know of?" She asked."The data base has informed the compilers that this is a fairly new planet, about two billion years old. We should reach it in about twenty years. In the meantime, over a thousands years of this new world's time would have expired.""What if when we arrive at this new world we find another mess, another Maz? Or worse?" Jasmine asked."We mustn't lose hope, my love. There must be intelligent life out there, somewhere. It must be alive and living in peace, as our people."I took her hand in mine and said, "I truly believe we will find what we've been looking for.""Abar is activating the hibernation cells. Are you ready to go down to the cells?""No," Jasmine sighed. "I'm so tired of sleeping. I'll pass on hibernation for a while.""Everybody's started back to their respective cells. If you wish to stay up a little while longer I shall stay up with you," I assured her."Thank you," Jasmine replied, her grip on my hand tightening."All systems checking, Sir," Abar interrupted. "I'm going down to the cell station.""Jasmine and I will be retiring later. The Sphere is in great need of repair, and the techs will need me to assist them with the problems.""No need for that, Sir, I've got all the robots on the job, working harder than Profef and me could ever work.""That's fine, Abar, but we wish to stay up nonetheless," I told him.He looked strangely at me, combing his messy hair with his fingers, and muttered, "Oh . . . sure.""But do leave two cells ready for us when we finally feel the urge to hibernate. OK?" I instructed him."Right," Abar responded. "Don't take too long." Abar took my hand, giving it a friendly squeeze and shake. "Got to go. Profef is waiting for me down at the station. He hates it when I'm late for anything.""Abar," I stopped him. "Good dreams.""I will try, Sir," Abar answered back. And with that said, he exited the control center.The room got somewhat silent as everyone left for the hibernation cells.  The white stars gleaming just ahead on the forward portals were like diamonds sparkling in the darkness of outer space.Maz, now, was merely a spot on the lower portals as the Sphere streaked away on its latest tangent.Jasmine and I were like children once again, holding hands, and staring numbly into space. Everything around us just seemed to vanish.

THE END

Copyright © 1991 by Arturo Hernandez