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 Beyond the Edge  (19 ratings)by Robert Anderson Page 3 of 5 I kept asking, "Okay, we have to sleep most of the time, but what actually happens to us, travelling at that incredible speed?" "Well,'' Tony finally explained, "you keep life, your soul, (if you want it) and consciousness when you need it. But all your bones and blubbery stuff become sub-atomic - very sub-atomic, pure energy in fact - until we slow down." "Like a big bomb!" rumbled Lisa. "That's nice. How do I know I'll get all my own bits back? Cooped up with you lot, I can see me coming out with Tony's big ears and Lisa's boobs tacked to my knee caps." "Be assured, you're not getting any of my parts!" she said. "Within the Bubble, every item has its own mini-container or captive bubble that stops any mixing. With people, all the little bits, genes and DNA stuff are very intelligent and know their way back to the right position - hopefully? Then again - there have been no leaks - - - so far! Think positive Mate - in your case, any change could only be an improvement." "With you two as friends, who needs bureaucrats? "Anyway, what have you done about general supplies and the cooking department?" asked Tony. "I thought you'd never ask. To save us taking lots of gear and so that Lisa does not have to wash every day, I've bought a large clothes washer with hot air drier - and an electric tin opener." The first items were ignored, (especially by the lady), but they both reacted violently to the last one, "A - TIN - OPENER - ????" "For the tins, of course. Food was a bit more difficult. But, with a lot of work, I managed a bargain price on twenty-five container loads of lamb-and-veggie stew - one for each year. They're all charged to your account Tony, and will be delivered, to you pad, tomorrow afternoon." I dodged their well aimed missiles and brought back coffee. What I slowly managed to glean from them (now common knowledge, of course) was that we would give "Bubbles" her directions by "thinking" where we wanted to go, based on all the currently available cosmic information we had access to, or could theorise. The Bubbles sensors would progressively gather everything coming to it, from that broad direction, right through the spectrum, as well as all the gravitational forces from any object in its path, right down to fist sized asteroids. The distance for detection being proportional to the size of the object. From all that information, navigation would automatically happen and way-points signposted for the return journey. For safety, she was programmed to avoid all nasties like solid bits of rock, neutron stars, black holes, fresh super-novas and anything else that might be dangerous. Being good tourists, we did ask her (at first) to slow down and wake us to see any particularly spectacular, nearby event. Even so, the sensors would record everyt hing for future analysis, even if we were not interested or asleep. Definitely astronomy - but on the run. As the time to leave came closer, one of my hardest jobs was to convince my mother that she was not to worry, we were perfectly safe and we had to come home - even if the trip took a bit longer than the scheduled week. I think she "smelt a rat" but said nothing - but must have had just a "few" doubts when the time became years! Over the last three days, we went into isolation with Bubbles so that she was fully linked to Tony and Lisa's thought patterns. They said I was only part of the cargo, and not allowed to think! Clever machines did the last of the stowage, checking, cleaning and polishing every inch of the thin dome. On the last night, we tried to relax in the adjacent quarters, knowing what was intended but careful now, not to project anything but the official "line" to our very personal (and tiny!) Bubble, resting there beside us. Its gossamer fabric glowed silver with latent energy in the huge, dark hangar. Lisa was strangely quiet, and suddenly near tears, "I just realised that I will be sitting between you two men for - maybe thirty billion light years! Even marriage was not meant to last that long." Tony gave her his cheeky grin, "No problem Honey. We'll be quite happy to open the door and let you out - as we pass the Ten Billion Light Year, Mile Peg. You can easily hitch-hike home." She blew him a loud raspberry - but looked even softer. "Just as well I love both of you," she said. And three people - now very lonely, held close to each other. Next morning, at first light, we moved into the Bubble and the quarters were pulled aside. With a few watchers up in the glass gallery, Tony floated us outside then climbed quite slowly, up through the atmosphere. That early model, light, fragile dome was not made for high speed work in dense air or flaming re-entries when returning to earth. But it was better than any flight or helicopter ride and I had nearly two hours to enjoy the beauty of the world as it dropped away from us. Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001 Robert Anderson, sffworld.com. All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the author. The author has submitted the work in accordance with and in agreement with the following Submission Guidelines. |
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