In A Perfect Circle

In A Perfect Circle

 

     The crew set off from their home planet of Isis on a direct course to the unexplored, by their standards, planet of lush fields and pristine ponds and lakes known as Cartore. The ship traveled faster than the speed of light for three months until Cartore was within range.

     During the trip the all male crew exercised, ate, slept, read and cleaned their equipment and probes. When the planet was within range the captain announced to the crew:

     “The time has come, this is what we’ve been waiting for. Now we’re minutes away from touching down on Cartore. I hope you all are as excited as I am.”

     The crew watched through the cockpit window as the ship hit Cartore’s atmosphere. Suddenly the layer of sulphuric acid, mistaken as clouds by the men, started melting the ship’s hull. The men scrambled around trying to repair the damage but they were quickly sucked out of the ship through the gaping holes and dissolved in the acid atmosphere. All except for one man, Artel who recalled something he learned in high school. The great Albert Einstein theorized that if you travel in a perfect circle at the speed of light, then bisect that circle (basically taking a short cut) then you will actually see yourself. Artel had to try this while the ship was still functioning.

     He took hold of the controls and turned out of the acid cloud, then he drove the ship into a complete circle, he hoped it was perfect, set it to cruise control and increased the speed to beyond light speed. Art wondered if Einstein contemplated what could happen at beyond light speed. The lights of the ship went out for a second and when they came back on the rest of the crew were present with the captain speaking: “I hope you all are as excited as I am. Hey, Art, what are you doing at the controls?”

     “I had to get us out of there, we can’t go to Cartore, the atmosphere is all sulphuric acid, it will burn holes in the ship and kill us.” Said Art. Adrenaline pumped through his body as he looked around to make sure everyone was safe and sound. He couldn’t believe it worked!

    “I doubt it, we’ve come this far, there’s no way we’re turning around.” Said the captain.

    “It already happened, I went back in time to prevent it from happening again.” Said Art.

    “How did you take us back in time? Time travel is impossible.” The captain said as he looked around to the men, who appeared to be laughing.

    “It is possible and I did it. You have to believe me, or we’ll all die, again.” Said Art.

    “I think Art might be on to something. I’ve heard theories about time travel. Maybe we should scan the atmosphere before we land, just to be sure.” Said one of the crewmen.

     They scanned it, pure sulphuric acid, Art was right. The mission was soon aborted, they were going home.

The Sorians

The Sorians

Main character: A promising ambassador with a cold demeanor

Setting: A miltocratic country where humans live in complete luxury served by aliens that do all the work

Plot: A powerful forbidden technology and the cost of using it.

 

                Following the Sorian war, and the victory of the humans, the planet took on a new resident, the enslaved Sorian aliens. They wait on the humans, trained to pamper them and work for them. From what I could tell the aliens took well to their new roles, they made excellent slaves and almost enjoyed it. They were well treated servants, given a section of the house to live in and all their food and needs were taken care of. I’ve been living as a slave for one year, although my real job is ambassador for the Sorian people. We feel like the time has come and we deserve some more respect. We’re not willing to fight the humans again for we would surely lose, but we need to reach an agreement, somehow, no cost is too high.

                I’ve been looking into some darker technology, communicating with native Sorians through telepathy (humans are not aware of this ability of ours). We are a smart race, but not the best soldiers. They told me about the dark ray weapon, a device buried in Earth’s crust, put there thousands of years ago so that it would never be used again. But we unearthed it at a construction site and did some research. Ancient dolphins developed and used it two thousand years ago to destroy the whales who were consuming their food sources. The ancient dolphins were an extremely intelligent race that developed many weapons, but the dark ray was their most effective. However, modern dolphins have no technology, it’s almost as if their intellect disappeared. This could be why the technology is forbidden, it could have some massive draw backs, but we’re willing to adopt those if it means we can have our freedom again.

                I continued working at the construction site until I felt as though the time came for an agreement. I took a video of myself demanding the freedom of the Sorians and if the demand was not met, then I would activate the dark ray. I then sent it to a major news station, they played it that night for the viewing of millions of people. I was summoned to the white house and sat down with the president.

                “So, you’re the one who was sent here to make a change?” Asked the president.

                “That’s correct, I’m an ambassador of the Sorian race and we want our freedom. I’ve been living in slavery for the past year and I’ve studied your race carefully, searching for weaknesses. Little did you know you had a weapon of mass destruction lying under the feet of your people. I unearthed it and now I have it with me. Such a powerful little weapon this is.” The ambassador said as he played with the gun in his hand. With a sudden movement the president reached for the gun. The ambassador was quick and pointed the weapon at the president. “Oh no, you can’t have this, now you must die for your stupidity.” The ambassador said as he pulled the trigger. “No! You fool, you don’t know what you’re doing.” Shouted the president, but he was too late. A sudden white light filled the room and spilled out the window. When the ambassador opened his eyes the president was gone, but the importance of this did not cross the ambassador’s mind. He was small, about the size of a turtle and his mental capacity was greatly diminished. The humans were gone, the Sorian’s could inherit the planet but they had more competition now. They no longer had their telepathic abilities and their intelligent was on par with a common mouse. The dark ray effectively got rid of the humans but the side effects were huge, they paid the price for freedom.