Chapter 7

Dance Of The Freaky Circles

It was truly an unusual sight. If we thought the Neutron Star was bizarre, then this was beyond weird. It was your typical bright, yellow star, but there was a stream of plasma being pulled off of it, and warped around to some unknown location on the other side where we couldn’t see.

It was if someone had put a giant vacuum cleaner nearby, and started sucking plasma from the star as it spun. Jake raised an eyebrow, and Jessica also watched perplexed.

“Why the hell is it doing that?!” I said.

“I think I know what…” As Jake spoke, he moved the ship forward, and we started coming around to the other side.

On the other side was a much stranger sight. The plasma continued on in the steady stream, and then came to a point where it was all pulled in as a disk. It spun around at high speeds and gave off massive amounts of energy. The radiation levels on the computer were going off the charts. The signal from the computer was getting stronger and stronger. We were almost on top of it.

“Just as I thought…a black hole.”

As Jake spoke, I faintly recalled our high school physics teacher’s words. A black hole was invisible because it sucked up any light that strayed to close. Black holes were usually either found in the center of galaxies, on the outskirts of the known universe, or in binary star systems. The black hole partner in a binary star system would constantly feed off its partner’s material, slowly digesting it.

Even though we were at a safe distance, the computer was complaining about strong gravity wells and intense radiation. The outer edge of a black hole before the Event Horizon was a very deadly area.

“Is the signal coming from within the black hole?” Jessica asked.

Jake turned the ship. “No, it’s coming from there…”

If I thought it was impossible, then I had never seen this world. Off away from the black hole and in orbit of the star was a beautiful planet, with shades of green, blue, brown, and white. It was alive and active.

“How is that possible?” Jessica asked. “Wouldn't the black hole suck it down? And what about the radiation?”

Jake and I both shrugged. “It might be possible that with the planet on the exact other side of the star that the black hole would have no effect on the planet gravity-wise and radiation-wise.”

“Plus,” Jake added in, “this is just a game. None of it has to make sense. Take the Randomization Drive, for example.”

I stood up, and took a closer look at the planet. Whatever or wherever that signal was coming from was on that planet. That had to be where Dad was.

“Jake, set a course for that planet. And this time we’re going to land this thing on the surface.”

Jake plotted in the course, but then spoke up. “No need to land, Chris.” I frowned, but he pointed to the edge of the screen.

As we got progressively closer I could see a small collection of white structures in orbit of the planet. It was a space station.

“Quick! Scanners, Jessica! Do they detect us yet, and are they launching any weapons?” After our past record it didn’t hurt to make sure we weren’t under attack.

Jessica looked at her own screen, but shook her head no. “I’m not picking up anything except for the station. It’s like no one is onboard.”

I frowned, and looked suspiciously at the now much closer station. It was white, and was composed of a cage like structure that allowed any ship to dock and be worked on. There were a few side structures, but mostly it was the cage.

“Bring us in for docking procedures.”

Jake brought the ship in beautifully, and as we stopped, a small air-dock extended and attached itself to the side of the hull. Several more arms extended, and clamped the ship in position. There was a rumble of metal clunking together, and then all the dials spun to zero.

“Let’s take a look…”

The three of us left our seats, and proceeded to the air-lock. The hallway was white just like the station where we had first come to acquire the ship. It was much longer, seeing as how it extended over the entire range of the cage, and then was built into the small building on the edge of the station. The outside was a grayish metal color, but the interior was completely white.

We stepped through into the main structure, and passed several locked doors. The main space composed of overlooks where visitors could sit, eat, talk, and look down on the planet. We covered the three decks fairly quickly, but found nothing of interest except two transporter rooms. After deciding that either the interesting stuff was behind locked doors or on the planet, we decided to go down. The coordinates were already locked on, and were in continuous cycle. This station was almost like an abandoned tourist attraction.

“This place is odd. Where is everybody?” Jessica said.

“Are they all on the planet?” Jake suggested.

“If they were on the planet, then someone would have said something by now. This place is abandoned…”

“But why is all of this still in top condition?” Jessica said, admiring the fine workmanship.

“We may never know. This could just be another Easter egg in the game,” I said.

They both shrugged, but went over to the transporter pad. I pulled out my pistol, and joined them.

“What’s that for?”

“To be prepared…”

Both Jessica and Jake pulled out their pistols too, and aimed them for ready. An instant later the transporter activated, and the landscape around us changed from the interior of a space station to the interior of a transportation room, presumably on the planet.

Out of instinct, Jessica fired off three rounds into the door in front of us. Jake jumped back, and my eyes went wide. When she realized what she had done, she slowly lowered her gun, and smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry…”

“What were you trying to do?! Kill the attacking door?!” Jake shouted, finally regaining his composer.

I stepped down, and walked over to the slightly damaged door. On the other side the bullets hadn’t even left a dent. This metal was probably designed to keep ammunition from damaging the equipment.

Something else I noticed were the unusual number of welcome sings. It was like standing in airport. They were posted everywhere, saying welcome and thank-you for staying at the wonder of the universe, and other crap just like that.

Jessica and Jake came out too, and looked around the various posters. As we continued down the hallway we came through something like an airport gate, and into a terminal. Then it dawned on me.

“This planet isn’t abandoned; it’s just not in season.”

“What?” Jake said confused.

“It’s like a vacation resort. Think about it; a luxury planet where you can pay to stay in expensive accommodations, and visit a black hole as a side activity. Hell, I imagine the nights here are quite a site with all the radioactive stuff in the sky!”

Jake paused for a moment, and then spoke. “So you’re saying we stumbled upon a space resort that is closed for the season?”

“Yeah. I have no idea if it’s just closed or if it’ll soon open; but that’s where we are…”

As we continued walking past the various ports of entry, Jessica said something interesting. “You’re Dad dies, and he goes to a vacation planet. Hmm, now there’s something worth thinking about.”

I admit the idea did strike me as odd. Why would my Dad come here? At first the black hole theory made sense, but the signal was coming from this planet. What the hell was he doing here? And why was he even here?

We stepped out of the main terminal and out into the sun, finally getting a view of the surrounding landscape. The structure was about the size of an International Airport, and was currently situated by the edge of a lake. The lake itself was surrounded by several large, snow capped mountains, and wound along their bases. In fact, looking all around I noticed that the entire place was surrounded by mountains. It was a Mountain resort.

“Wow, this place is gorgeous,” Jessica said, looking around from the retro-looking space-port to the mountains.

As we walked around the edge of the building, we found several sweet-looking vehicles parked by the workers station. They were a mix between an SUV, an ATV, and what I guessed to be a Blazer. Combine all these features, and you got a supped up sleek car-body with appropriate curves and even a nice paint job. This what every man wanted in a women all in a car.

“Wow, dibs on the black one!” Jake yelled.

While Jake ogled over the cars, Jessica and I continued a little further, and discovered that there was quite a large open valley between the far side of the terminal and the other mountain range. The valley was mostly empty, but had several large areas completely paved. A few of these paved areas currently had large space cruisers landed, and sitting silently in the sun. Behind the structure itself were several large transporters.

So here it was. The ships waited for call into action, and if anyone was brought down (other than being transported), then they could land here, and be driven to the terminal. This was some resort. I’d stay here, but then again I had no money. And then there was the fact that this was only a game…

It was then that it occurred to me that the entire time I had been in the game I wasn’t the least bit hungry. Nor had I been thirsty, needed to use the bathroom, or wanted to take a nap. I turned to Jessica, who was still looking over the vast scene that lay before us.

“Jessica, are you hungry?”

She turned and smiled. “No, but if you’re thinking of going out to get some dinner later…”

“No, what I mean is; have you felt hungry at all?”

She frowned, and shook her head no.

“And after the battle on that desert planet; weren’t you the least bit thirsty from all that climbing?”

She thought, and then her eyes went wide. “No. What’s going on?”

I shrugged. “I guess the computer isn’t programmed to give us fatigue. I mean, we can run a bit and get tired, but that’s a character-programmed response.”

“So…we won’t get sleepy, we won’t get tired, but we can get hurt?” Jake said.

I shrugged again. “Getting hurt is direct assault on our avatars. Our characters haven’t ever needed any health supplies other than to re-heal. Although, I suppose when they release Anon version two-point-oh, they’ll have an upgrade where you do need to feed your character.”

Jessica shook her head, and put a hand on my right shoulder. “You people and your fantasy worlds… Can’t you just live in the real world with the rest of us?”

She smiled, and I smiled back. We came together and kissed.

“Come on, guys! We’re supposed to be finding your Dad,” Jake whined.

I broke off, and frowned at Jake, who was now standing next to one of the large transporters. Jessica laughed, and we walked over to him.

“Now that you two are done, you mind telling me where that signal is coming from?” he asked.

I pulled out my remote, and turned on access to the ship’s computer. This way I wouldn’t have to haul my Dad’s remote around. The sensors came on, and the signal began to search out for a source. It finally targeted on one, and showed it into relation of our position. Somewhere to the north there was what appeared to be a facility or laboratory, which was off the public domain. My guess was that it was probably a government lab that studied the black hole.

“Okay guys; here’s where we have to go. Now how do we get there?”



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