Tharuuke Fleet Faal-Madoorian: The Door is Closed

  --Moments Prior--  

    We stood at the edge of a precipice, staring down into an abyssal dark that no light broke free of. A gap in discovery that no amount of mathematics, hypothesis, or educated guess work could bridge completely until it was truly experienced. We have stood on this precipice before, when we took our first step into our oceans, when we spread our arms and fell into the sky, when we left our mothers arms and walked into the stars, and still when we watched our galaxy fade to black as we rushed headlong to another. Yet, this was different. Each member of the helm was standing by at their terminals. I listened to the cacophony of chatter throughout the bridge as the final preparations where made. We all waited with anticipation, some held their breath while others forgot to breath. I’m sure if I had lungs I would have done the same.

    “All readings nominal, the door is stable and ready for entry…” A moment later the ship gave the command to proceed. Her superstructure rumbled as the pulse drives came to life and we moved toward the makings of history. We could see the distorted light at the edge of the Door flux as we breached its surface. My grip on the cold metal railing tightened.

    For an eternity that moment stood as the only moment in my mind, a moment that lasted seconds but seemed to never end, as if all my senses had reached the event horizon and halted yet...didn’t. A lag in logic as we crossed the junction of two realities. And it was over. I stood there confused before glancing back at the helms man. Was that it? I thought there would be more.

“...Entry successful, the door has closed, all vessels accounted for.” The helmsman reports with a slight shake in his voice. “All stations are reporting chronological singularities in their data, but all systems are outputting at nominal levels and holding.” There was an audible release of tension across the entire bridge shortly followed by a unanimous cheer. Expedition Fleet Faal-Madoorian had completed the first ever known transdimensional crossing.

    The immense observatory dome arched out in front of me, from over my head to below my feet. Behind me was the bridge filled with crew and consoles. None of that was important. I found myself standing in the void, supported by naught but the metal walkway stretching out into unfamiliar space. This wasn’t our void, it had new stars, ones the catalogs had never seen. I was transfixed by the billions of shimmering pin point dots of light that filled the expanse before me. My imaging software relaying stunning false color footage, showing the brilliant clouds of base elements that filled the black. I archived the data and turned on my heel. It was time to report to the ship. Our expedition was far from over.

[This was written and drawn for The Bright Future: Beyond the Mirror, hosted by ]