Prologue to a Space Odyssey

Sarvam Sree Krishnaarpanam Astu

Prologue: Word Count: 3381

“It’s happening…My word, it’s happening for real…”

A low distant rumble brought Vasudevan out of his stupor, even as he skimmed through the myriad of equations and calculations on the screen of his giant computer.

“It’s happening much faster than I had anticipated…”

The distant low rumble gradually amplified, threatening to reach deafening levels in a matter of minutes.

“I need more time…a lot more time…Darn, Larry…What have we done!”

The lanky thirty eight year old man with a long nose, thick, scruffy, hair and brown lenses fiddled with his computer trying to reach his fellow scientist Larry Dougman. The video call application on the screen displayed a message saying that the contact was unreachable at the present moment.

“Where in the world are you, Larry!” Vasudevan grumbled with his teeth tightly clenched.

“Vasu, what’s happening outside?” A voice from behind him suddenly brought immense concern within the man. There were plenty of fears, worries, concerns, and an unbearable guilt already, but the voice of his wife made his heart race even more. The giggle of a baby followed making Vasudevan even more uncomfortable. Vasudevan stared at the worried countenance of his twenty nine year old wife and the innocent smile of his one year old baby, wrapped in a blanket in her arms.

He turned his gaze upward and saw the sky, through the skylight in his laboratory, emanating an orange glow.

‘I need to get them to safety…Right away!’

“Yasha, to the Launchpad now!” yelled Vasu, carrying with him a portable system that seemed to be too heavy to be easily portable.

“Why? Where are we going?” asked Yasha, knowing that something was very wrong, and very keen to help her husband right the wrong.

“Don’t ask me questions! To the ship, now!” Vasu scuttled between the various contraptions and screens in his advanced, yet greatly cluttered lab, tripping twice on the gigantic cables and pipes all along the floor.

Yasha understood that she wasn’t going to get too many answers from her husband then and she did as she was bid, carrying the baby in her arms and using the elevator nearby to reach the terrace. The moment the doors of the elevator spread open, Yasha got the full view of the evening sky, the colour of which was switching between a pale orange, to a fiery red and to an ominous green. She could not believe the light show happening above her and it seemed to be from some glitched out video game.

“What do you know Vasu? Why aren’t you telling me anything…” she murmured holding her baby close to her breasts. She noticed the doors to the elevator shutting behind her and she knew her husband should be coming up any time then. She saw the large launch pad at the far end of the terrace of the humungous pot shaped building, the Science Cauldron. Vasu’s lab and residential quarters was just a tiny portion of the thirty five acre complex.

Various dishes, towers, and solar panels adorned the entire length and breadth of the terrace. Two large space ships with humungous boosters, twelve smaller cylinders with circular pods within them occupied a major portion of the Launchpad, which by itself spread over 14 acres. The Space Cauldron, built in the year 2650 was at that point the largest building in the world. Three other larger structures had been built ever since, the world’s large shopping mall, the world’s largest catholic church and the world’s largest sports stadium, with commerce, leisure and religion once again trumping Science.

The Space Cauldron was still a very special place for it was from here the first ship carrying tourists to the human colony in Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, was launched. The first human colony outside earth was established in the year 2433 in the moon, with the colony in Mars being set up in the year 2600.  Yasha remembered having read various articles on these buildings and events as architecture and history were two of her favourite subjects, along with science and literature. She had a lot of fears at that moment, but she tried to distract herself with mundane thoughts.

‘Mankind is capable of so many great things in life. I’m sure whatever mess we are in right now, we can definitely overcome it, as we have for centuries!’ she tried to comfort herself. She turned back toward the elevator door hoping her husband would come out any moment to paint a clearer picture for her. She saw her own reflection on the glass panel on the door to the elevator and she could see a thin girl, with black greasy hair, thin dry lips, eyes reddened by lack of sleep, staring back at her. Having a baby had its toll and she could see her naturally slim body having recently gained a few extra pounds.

The glass panel also revealed lightning in the distance in the open sky above her. She turned her gaze upward and noticed purple lightning all around, with thunderous noises rapidly increasing in frequency. The door to the elevator opened again and outstepped Vasudevan carrying his large portable computer and wearing some heavy goggles, a tiny light projector attached to the side of which projected out a plethora of numbers and equations above his head. Yasha could see a tiny projection also revealing the photo of her husband’s colleague and childhood friend Larry Douglas, with his long puffy brown hair, large nose, thick eyebrows and wide lips, staring at her. A text above him reading “Contact unavailable” kept pulsating every few milliseconds.

“The purple lightning…Geez, it’s happening too fast!” muttered Vasudevan as he saw the sky.

“What’s happening, Vasu? Please tell me” begged Yasha, frustrated to be not given any information.

“Please don’t ask me anything, Yasha. This is too complicated and we don’t have time. I want you to get into the space ship D025…” said Vasudevan, hurrying toward the cart nearby, which was to be used to travel to the far end of the terrace, where the space ship remained.

Yasha followed Vasu and sat in the back portion of the kart, having her hands over the eyes of the baby, trying to protect him from the lightning. The little one kept staring skyward, fascinated by the light show and smiling brightly.

The kart drifted slowly toward the portion of the humongous terrace where the space ships remained. Yasha kept staring at her husband hoping for him to tell her something, but he seemed to be fiddling with his portable computer and the text “Contact unavailable” kept pulsating over his head.

“If my calculations are correct, we have about twenty five minutes before the “Big energy wrap” reaches our part of the planet and thirty minutes before it completely covers earth…” Vasu seemed to be talking to his own self, for Yasha was unfamiliar of the “Big energy wrap” he was murmuring about.

Vasudevan was watching the screen of his portable computer, more than the path over which he was driving the kart, not that there were too many people around or too many other vehicles moving about. But Yasha was hoping he would at least use the time driving to focus on her and enlighten her on the present situation.

“Come on, Larry! Pick up! Pick up! Pick up!” he kept mumbling as the hologram above his goggles kept blaring the text “Calling Larry…Contact unavailable.”

The kart came to a stop not long after and Vasudevan dragged his portable computer toward the little booth a few hundred meters ahead of the Launchpad. Yasha followed carrying the baby. Vasudevan connected his computer with a bigger console inside the booth and a large screen came to life displaying more numbers, graphs, a countdown timer and several paragraphs of codes, none of which were familiar to Yasha.

“Well what are you staring at? Get inside the spaceship!” commanded Vasudevan.

“You kidding me? I am not going anywhere without you telling me where I’m expected to go. And no, “inside the spaceship” isn’t a sufficient explanation!” yelled Yasha, no longer having the patience to put up with Vasudevan’s commands.

Vasudevan covered his eyes with his hands and sighed. “I’m sorry, Yasha…I know I’ve not been forthcoming…A lot of things have happened. I want you and Krish to go to our colony in Titan. What you need to know will be relayed to you during your journey to Titan. For now, you just need to trust me and get yourself into that ship.”

“Just us? What about you? Why would you not join us?” asked Yasha, her voice cracking.

“I can’t right now…How I wish I could…but I just can’t…Not when I’m partly responsible for what is happening on earth…” said Vasudevan, his gaze once again moving toward the sky.

“What did you do? Whatever it is, we can fix it…You and me…Like all other problems we’ve sorted in our life…Together…” said Yasha moving closer to Vasudevan.

“This is one problem that I prefer to face alone…If anything you’ve got to be as far away from me as possible…Only then will I have the peace of mind to work…Knowing that you and Krish are safe and well, will give me great strength and clarity” said Vasudevan, pointing toward the space ship D025 outside the booth.

“What kind of wife leaves her husband when he is in trouble?” asked Yasha, determined not to allow her husband to convince her to leave his side.

“The kind who cares for her child…Krish is our utmost priority…” Vasudevan was interrupted by a loud boom emanating from the horizon. Both Vasudevan and Yasha were terribly startled. The baby’s smile was gone and a loud wail followed.

“Go now Yasha! I will be ok…You head to Titan and I will communicate to you as soon as I could…I believe I could sort this all out…I will eventually…I think…” said Vasudevan, trying to sound confident, but appearing very unsure.

The loud explosion from the sky had disoriented her immensely and she knew she had to do as commanded by her husband for the sake of their child.

‘If not for Krish, I would have definitely stayed back with Vasu and ensured he got through this all…’ she reiterated to herself. As she left the booth, she noticed Vasu working on his large portable computer, even as the countdown timer on the giant screen in the booth kept coming down rapidly. He lifted his gaze away from the screen and on toward his wife. Their eyes met one final time that day…An uncontrollable smile appeared on his lips, his mind forgetting about all the problems occurring in his life then. That feeling of elation her face brought in him was so overwhelming. The first time the two of them had met flashed before both their eyes. It was four years ago in a science exposition where he had come to display his latest batch of nanobots designed to destroy cancer cells in a timeframe much shorter than the previous editions and for a fraction of the cost. Yasha had come there as a science writer trying to gauge the most exciting new innovations and advancements and write about them in the tech magazine she was working for.

She had gauged many a tech in the expo and their creators and designers, but not the man who was displaying the cancer healing nanobots. Nanobots to cure cancer had been there for centuries, and so it wasn’t something completely new or ground-breaking. She had definitely not moved toward Vasudevan’s exhibit fascinated by his creation. It was the combination of his quirkiness, his absentmindedness, his carelessness with regard to his own physical presentation, his fumbling and mumbling during the presentation of his tech, and her own feeling of pity that no one would bother to encourage or appreciate his work, that prompted her to spend some time observing the man. She knew much later that Vasudevan was a genius who fascinated many great scientists and CEOs of tech companies. She had come across his name many a time, but had seldom seen his photo in any of the magazines or news reports.

The more she saw him, the more she had felt wonder. How could such great things come from the mind of such a comical looking man had been the question in her head. Something had forced her to make a conversation with him. In her presence, Vasu had fumbled and mumbled more than his usual self, for in him had born a strange, new feeling of ecstasy as well. But Yasha could sense great sincerity and genuineness in the man and for those her respect for him grew. Several meetings, dates, romantic nights spent together discussing everything science, later, the two of them had gotten engaged and eventually married. Four years since that first meeting, so much had they explored together and in each other that the bond within them was stronger than any bond they had been able to form with any other human in their life. Now that bond prevented them from going in different directions, even though the predicament they found themselves in forced them to part ways.

“We will meet again…I promise…” assured Vasudevan and pointed his fingers toward the ship.

As Yasha reluctantly stepped in, the large doors of the simple looking ship shut down. The ship had no one inside but Yasha and her baby. Despite the ship appearing large from the outside, the room for the passenger within was modest. There were a lot of screens, buttons, navigation systems and tools, none of which Yasha knew how to operate.

“Yasha, have you settled down?” came Vasudevan’s voice from beyond a speaker on the deck of the ship.

“Vasu? You are in here?” asked Yasha hoping her husband had a change of mind.

“No, I’m still in the booth. You don’t have to worry about the launch. The ship is programmed to launch, and reach Titan on its own. You have to do nothing but stay comfortable on the seat inside. You have plenty of oxygen, food and pure water in the ship for the entire trip. There is a pod inside for Krish if you want to rest your hands.”

Yasha looked around and saw the pod mentioned by her husband. Krish had become fascinated by the inside of the ship as well and he was no longer crying. It was colder on the inside of the ship than outside.

“You can find a whole cluster of seat belts on the inside. Fasten yourself and use the pod for Krish at least till the ship leaves our atmosphere.” instructed Vasu through the speaker.

Yasha did as bid and settled down in the seat allotted for her, after leaving Krish in the pod, that closed around him, the moment he was placed.

“I would not be able to communicate with you for long. Radio silence should commence any moment…”

“But how will I know you are safe?” asked Yasha, getting panic-stricken knowing she would lose contact with Vasu any moment then.

“I will communicate with you once you reach Titan…hopefully. Till then you are on your own. I know I haven’t told you much. But all you need to know will be relayed to you as the ship leaves our atmosphere. I’ve already remotely sent all information to the ship’s database. I’m sorry we had to part this way…but all should be well…” Yasha could hear Vasu’s voice cracking.

“The ship will launch in T-minus 10 seconds…” came a robotic voice from the console of the ship.

“Vasu…are you there? Vasu!” Yasha kept yelling, but all she could hear in return was the countdown by the robotic voice.

“7…6…5…”

“Yasha…Yasha…” Vasu’s voice came with static noise interspersed every now and then.

“4…3…2…”

“Vasu! Vasu!” Yasha screamed at the top of her voice, trying hard to make herself heard to her husband. “I Love you! Come to us, soon!” she yelled.

“1…0…Launch!”

Yasha could feel severe vibrations all around her as the ship began to launch. She rested her head back and closed her eyes. For a whole seven minutes, Yasha could hear absolutely nothing, but the roar of the boosters of her ship and vibration all over her body. The nerves on her head began to tighten. She felt a terrible ache in the head and she felt like she wanted to puke. The baby seemed to be in a better condition for the pod prevented Krish from experiencing any of the physical discomforts that were experienced by Yasha.

When the vibrations reduced in intensity, Yasha slowly began to hear everything around her.

“Take…good…care…of…Krish…” were the last words uttered by Vasu over the speaker before the line completely got cut. A small display on the console in front of her showed Yasha, the ship leaving earth’s atmosphere. She could see hundreds of ships and pods from different parts of the world escaping out of earth. She could see several larger military ships flying severely damaged. She could see debris of ships, satellites all floating around. And then she saw it…A large alien ship, roughly a quarter the size of earth, hovering on one side of earth, even as a dense green light emanating from it, slowly engulfed earth.

“The big wrap…that’s what he meant?” murmured Yasha, in horror.

“Voice message, initiated…” came the robotic voice, which again startled Yasha.

“Hello Yasha…My apologies for all the secrecy…” came Vasudevan’s voice from over the speaker.

“Vasu? The communication’s back?” smiled Yasha hopefully, before realisation hit her that it was just a programmed voice message being initiated by the ship. Hearing his voice made her feel great sorrow in her guts.

“I’ve not hidden a lot of things from you in life. Whatever I experience in my life, I wish to share it with you. For if it is a good news, the proud smile on your face lights up my life greatly. If it is a bad news, your consoling tone, soothes me and inspires me that I can overcome anything. But the events of the past few days have been so terrible that I haven’t had the strength nor the time to share with you. I…I and Larry…we’ve done something awful…Something we hoped would advance mankind by millions of years, but has really doomed us all…This is all that has happened…” the voice message went on to narrate the events of the past few days in great detail.

Yasha heard the words narrated by Vasudevan with great concentration and she couldn’t believe what she was hearing…

“Earth is indeed doomed…Quite possibly, all of humanity…” she whispered, as tears poured from her eyes.

“I will do everything I can to fix this mess we’ve gotten into. If we…I and Larry…fail….Then forgive me…Please don’t stop loving me…” the voice message ended. Yasha cried out despondently. She knew there wasn’t much hope. As she cried in her seat, the baby within the pod smiled, waving his hands and legs, completely oblivious to the fate and the long journey awaiting him.

As the ship moved from the vicinity of earth, Yasha felt a sudden tremor all over her. It was as if some large beast had grabbed hold of the entire ship.

“Warning…D025’s course to Titan interrupted…Warning, external interference…warning…” the robotic voice kept looping.

Yasha couldn’t deduce what was happening around her. She heard loud thumps outside the cabin, as if someone or something large was trying to break down the door. She turned her gaze toward the little display on the console hoping she could see what was outside, but that panel seemed to have turned dark. The thumping on the door grew louder and she knew the ship wouldn’t remain intact for long. She quickly unfastened her belts and moved toward the pod, her instinct telling her to protect her baby at all cost. She removed Krish from the pod and hugged him tightly. A loud explosion followed, knocking her to the ground. The last visual she saw before she collapsed, were that of four large, scaly, highly armoured, bipeds entering the ship carrying large cannons. Krish’s cries were the last sound she heard. Then everything turned dark…

-A. Prashanth Narasimhan

(Sri Vishnudasan)