Enter the Vortex
Ch27: The Doomsday Weapon(s)
In a flash, Brian’s team appears on the bridge of the Starburner.
“Welcome back, Commander. This is most strange. There is no record of the shuttle bay door opening. Yet, your shuttle is docked. You were not here a moment ago, and now you are. I fear I have suffered a malfunction. I will run diagnostics immediately,” says LARS.
“Forget the diagnostics. He kicked us out,” Brian replies.
“What are we going to do, Commander?” asks Lizzie.
“It’s going to be a long trip back!” Winchester sighs.
“Let’s hope so. Those are the best kind!” says a strange voice.
They look and find a man sitting relaxed at the conference table with his feet propped up on it. He appears to be human, and caucasian, with short dark hair. He wears a Galactocorp uniform identical to those worn by Brian and his crew.
“LARS, did you invite company over while we were away?” asks Winchester.
“No, of course not! I don’t know who he is or how he got aboard!” LARS gets defensive, “I apologize, Commander. My systems must be failing!”
“What made you decide to come?” Brian asks the stranger.
“You interest me. You’re explorers. I like that. Besides, I remembered that this galaxy is screwed. So, what do you say? Shall we go?” he replies.
“Let’s go.” Brian sighs with relief. “What do we call you, stranger?”
“Hmm. How about Barry? That sounds very regular, common. Yes, I like it. Call me Barry!” he announces.
“Welcome aboard, Barry.” Brian greets the god apprehensively.
He is suspicious of Barry, and uncomfortable having him on his ship. He just wants to get back to the Milky Way, and be done with this ordeal as quickly as possible.
I can’t believe I found a way to get something on board this ship that’s even more dangerous than the nuclear arsenal. Mr. Conrad would be so proud, he thinks sarcastically to himself.
“Well, let’s see what this tub can do, shall we?” Barry stands up and waves his hands like a magician doing a trick.
Without the engines firing up, the ship breaks orbit, and promptly accelerates to a ludicrous speed.
Stars zip by in a blur. Fewer and fewer stars pass by until the vidscreen is almost completely black. In mere minutes, they pass beyond the edges of the Pinwheel Galaxy. The ship changes directions and they can see the galaxy from a bird’s eye view now. The ship gently comes to a stop.
“Why are we stopping?” asks Brian.
“What is the point of exploring, if you don’t stop to smell the roses? That is the right expression, isn’t it?” replies Barry.
Albert calls from the lab. “This view is amazing. Thank you for stopping, Commander. I’m gathering tons of data. How much time do I have?”
Brian looks at Barry, who is wearing an “I told you so” look.
“How much time would you like, Dr. Daniels?” Brian asks.
“As much as you can give me. I’m detecting a massive amount of solar activity throughout the galaxy. I could use at least an hour. It’ll probably take that long just to figure out what I’m looking at.”
“Okay. I can give you an hour. Then we leave. Hastings out.” Brian looks at Barry. “You know what he’s talking about, don’t you? Come to think of it, you said something about this galaxy being ‘screwed’. What’s happening?”
“Glorin Hasplatch had his heart broken, that’s what’s happening,” Barry answers enigmatically.
“Please elaborate,” Brian insists politely. The frustration is building on his face.
“Glorin was brilliant. Certainly the brightest scientific mind ever produced in his galaxy, possibly the whole universe. Unfortunately, genius often goes unappreciated. Glorin had lots of ideas, but many were so outrageous he wasn’t taken very seriously. The ladies didn’t take him very seriously either. You see, Glorin was a bit of a nerd.
“He spent most of his time in the laboratory. They say necessity is the mother of invention. Well, loneliness can be a pretty dark muse, too. Glorin went from being a wild theorist and a pariah to the most respected scientist in his world’s history. He had a very productive career.
“Eventually, he found love, too. He put everything he had into that relationship. It was good for him. He became a philanthropist, and what your people call a ‘humanitarian’. But it didn’t last.
“One day, after years of happiness, he discovered that Mrs. Hasplatch was having an affair. Glorin was devastated, inconsolable. He was so heart broken he declared that all of creation would feel his pain. He called love ‘the bane of existence’, and swore to eradicate it. He was once again ridiculed and ignored.
“Glorin went into hiding, and spent years working on a secret device. He poured every penny of wealth and ounce of knowledge he had, and all the pain his broken heart could produce, into that infernal invention. Look out there. What you’re seeing is the fruit of that festering misery. It is the ultimate doomsday device, born of despair. It is nothing short of loneliness incarnate. This, Commander, is what happens when emotions are weaponized. One man’s pain rings throughout an entire galaxy, and leaves loneliness for all in its wake. It is as beautiful as it is horrific.”
Throughout the galaxy, one by one, little white dots burst into big bright flares.
“What are we seeing?” Brian asks apprehensively.
“Novae!” Albert interrupts over the intercom. “Commander, the entire galaxy is going nova! Thousands of stars are exploding in some insanely huge chain reaction. I’ve never even heard of such a thing!”
Brian is shocked. He looks at Barry suspiciously.
“This is your doing, isn’t it?!” he yells.
“Whoa! Hold on there!” Barry gets defensive. “I told you, it was Glorin Hasplatch. Some guys just can’t deal with betrayal.”
“How do you know so much about him?” Brian asks.
“We were lab partners in college. To be honest, I didn’t really talk to him much. I thought he was kind of creepy,” Barry replies.
“Why didn’t you stop him?!” Hana screams.
She runs across the room and pounds on him with her fists. Tears stream down her face. Todd grabs Hana. He pulls the sobbing girl off of Barry and wraps his arms around her. Everyone on the bridge stares at Barry. They all want to ask him the same question.
“You could have stopped him! You can stop it now! Why aren’t you doing anything about it? Why didn’t you stop that Hopscotch guy back then?” Tick yells. He points at Barry “You are the Devil!”
They stand around Barry in a circle. If he wasn’t a god, he would probably be in for a pretty good butt-kicking.
“Why are you blaming me? It’s not my place to interfere with the cosmos. What happens, happens. That’s the way of things.
“Look at you, the noble human race! Who are you kidding? I can read your minds. I can read the memory banks of your computers. I know who you are. Don’t get all high and mighty on me!
“How many senseless wars have been fought on your planet? How many generations of people have starved, while others went about their own business? When mankind invented the time machine, did they use it to go back and kill Hitler? No, they used it to end their war against the Martians by going back millions of years and nuking Mars into a dusty wasteland!”
“Huh?! What was that?!” asks Todd.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned that. I forgot you guys see time as linear. The point is, no one can or will help everyone. True altruism is letting the universe play out on its own terms. Sometimes bad things happen. That’s just the way it is.
“I could have killed Hasplatch, or turned him into an idiot. But you didn’t see all the good he did. He single-handedly brought about a new age of peace and enlightenment to his civilization. The man was a rare wonder. That is, until his wife cheated on him. She’s the one you should be mad at.”
“How many trillions are dying right now while you lecture us?” Hana cries.
“How many trillions died when the Skull Galaxy collided with the Skidmark Galaxy? I don’t hear you crying for them,” asks Barry.
“I never heard of those,” whimpers Hana.
“Does that make it any less tragic? A new galaxy was born out of that cataclysm. Life exists there. New life will form and die off. That’s how the universe works. I’ve been around a long time. That gives me a different perspective than you. I’m not evil. It’s not that I lack compassion, I just see things on a larger scale.
“What you’re seeing out there is one man’s attempt to make his cries heard across the universe. The galaxy won’t stay dead. When a star explodes, its matter is spread across the cosmos. New stars will ignite and new planets will form. Glorin knew he couldn’t destroy the galaxy, but he could reboot it,” he explains.
“Is there any danger of this chain reaction spreading to other galaxies?” asks Brian.
“None. Besides, it will take thousands of years for it to finish spreading through this galaxy. Your home is safe, if that is what you are concerned about,” replies Barry.
Everyone on the bridge stares at the sight on the screen in silence for several minutes. Every bright burst marks the death of an entire solar system. Hana tries to wipe the tears out of her eyes, so that her Thinkmaster can record a clear image.
“They might want to change the name of this galaxy to the Popcorn Galaxy.” Winchester regrets saying it as soon as it comes out of his mouth.
He is immediately met with cold glares.
Suddenly, the entire crew, all ten of them, plus Barry, are standing on the outer hull of the Starburner. None of them are wearing spacesuits or maglock boots.
“Don’t worry. I’ve provided you with air, and I’ll protect you from any radiation. I just thought you should see it with your own eyes, instead of through a video feed. Sometimes beauty has an ugly side. That’s the nature of the universe,” Barry announces.
“Thank you,” whispers Hana.
Those who weren’t on the bridge earlier gather around Brian. He quietly explains what is happening. They stay on the hull for an hour, watching mostly in silence. At one point, Tick walks up to Barry and asks him for a large blanket. Barry materializes one for him. Tick, Todd, Hana, and Lizzie spread the blanket on the hull. They sit down and watch the universe’s largest and most morbid fireworks display.
In a flash, everyone appears on the bridge. They are in a pretty somber mood.
“I feel weird,” shares Lizzie.
They look at her, each of them think they probably feel what she is feeling.
“How can something so horrific be so beautiful? I don’t know, I guess I feel kind of guilty for being so awestruck by it. Am I a bad person?” she asks.
“Why shouldn’t destruction be as awe inspiring as creation? A star exploding is as beautiful as one being born. They both represent the same thing, change.
“Change is what the universe is all about. Things evolve, morph, grow, die. Existence is dynamic. How one change affects another is what makes everything so interesting. Look at you. Your race has reached the stars. How will that affect change in your galaxy? The only guarantee is that it will be interesting,” replies Barry.
“He’s starting to sound like you, Winchester,” remarks Brian.
Winchester smirks. “Then, he’s in good company.”
“Why don’t you let me show you what I’m talking about,” offers Barry. “I’ll show you a destructive force in your own backyard.”
“What are you talking about?” asks Brian nervously.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.”
“Don’t you need to get to your brother? He sounded kind of urgent,” asks Brian.
“Don’t worry. He’s always been a bit dramatic. We’ll get to him in time.”
Another short trip at super speed, and the ship arrives at its new destination. It comes to a gentle stop. Albert, studying readings on one of the bridge’s computer consoles, starts to squeal like an excited little girl.
“Oh my god! Are we where I think we are? And if so, why aren’t we dead?” he asks.
“What? Are we dead? You son of a…” Tick is stopped mid-curse by a gesture from Brian.
Once again, there is a flash, and everyone appears on the hull. This time, Barry has given them lawn chairs and drinks with little umbrellas in them.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the most dangerous neighborhood in the Milky Way. The scenery here is a little bright for your eyes, so I have filtered it for your viewing pleasure,” announces Barry. “I hope this makes up for upsetting everyone so much.”
“Where the hell are we?” asks Brian.
“This is Sagittarius A, the galactic core!” Albert shouts as loud as he can. He stands with his arms stretched out as if he’s trying to absorb the sight with his entire body.
“In the center is what you call a ‘supermassive black hole’. It eats everything that falls under the influence of its massive gravity. Planets, moons, and stars all fall victim to its insatiable appetite. Yet, look around you.” Barry says.
“There are so many stars! Were they all pulled here by the blackhole?” asks Hana.
“Many were born here. A lot of the stars are young, only a few million years old.” explains Albert.
“You see, even here at the edge of the cliff, at the brink of destruction, creation happens.” adds Barry.
All around them, stars burn bright, massive gas clouds swirl. Chunks of shattered worlds are spread across huge distances. Barry gives them another hour to soak it all in.
Christina, Lena, and Guy awaken and find themselves aboard an alien ship. Their heads ache terribly from the zapping they took. Christina is the first to get to her feet. She looks around, but their isn’t much to see. The ship is small and poorly lit. She can make out the four alien figures gathered at the front of the small cabin.
“Where are we? What have you done to us?” she demands.
“They better not have probed me! Come to think of it, my bum is kind of sore,” Guy rubs his backside.
The alien leader turns to face them.
“We have spared you their fate.” He points toward the large window at the front of the cabin.
The planet is visible in the distance. Suddenly there is kind of flickering lights, like sparks, visible behind the planet. The field of sparks grows and becomes brighter. Then a huge swirling shape, like a whirlpool in space appears.
“Behold. The Ancient One comes,” the leader announces.
Everyone gathers at the window to watch. Out of the swirling space whirlpool, an enormous orb emerges. It is the size of Jupiter. There are round openings on two sides of the sphere. Each is four times the diameter of the Earth. The inside glows like a furnace. Huge irregular shapes can be seen inside the orb rotating in opposing orbits.
The giant machine floats out of the wormhole as it closes. It is accompanied by a swarm of small ships. The machine approaches the planet and engulfs it through the opening on its front. The planet is smashed and ground up by the whirling masses inside the orb. A field of meteors and debris is left in its wake.
Within minutes, the planet they just visited is reduced to rubble. A new wormhole opens, and the planet-eater leaves with its swarm.
Christina, Guy, and Lena are overwhelmed by what they just experienced. They stare at the carnage in shocked silence.
“We will take you to one of your kind,” the leader tells them.
He takes out the obsidian rod, and zaps them again.
