Into The Void (10 page)

              “Not every galaxy has creatures living in them, but the ones who do eventually try to leave their galaxy for another. All have failed. Several tries have been made in the 15 billion years the universe has been around-”

              “That is incorrect, the universe has been around 13.78 billion years-” Jamie interrupted.

              “SHHHHHH! Jamie the big boys are talking. Let Earthworm Jimmy talk,” Captain Steele said.

              “Don't make fun of it John-”

              “You misunderstand me AI. The universe as we know it has been around 13.78 billion years but the universe was around shortly before then in another state. That state is beyond your comprehension,” the creature said.

              “I understand your language because of dark matter. That which you call an element is so complex it is almost a living creature. It is an element like hydrogen, but it is made of many unique elements that make it seem like a chemical formula. Much like how water is really multiple elements combined. Each element has exact core similarities with slight differences. Each one of these 1,218 elements make up dark matter and dark matter is a single element. They are all so tightly intertwined that they can not exist without one another. Your understanding of elements would be shattered if dark matter could be examined closer. It remembers as it passes through the universe and shares its information with other dark matter much in the same way that electricity jumps. The one thing it does not share is where it has been and there is no way to indefinitely trace where the information came from.”

              “That's incredible...” Jamie said in awe.

              “When you stare up at the night sky and you see the stars in the distance what do you think is between them?”

              “Nothing,” said Jamie.

              “You are incorrect. It is dark matter. You are seeing through dark matter. Dark matter travels at the speed of light throughout the universe. I knew of your ship design because of the dark matter that has traveled through your galaxy. I know your language because of dark matter that has traveled through your galaxy and heard it spoke. I recognized the ship and then knew the language,” the creature said.

              “How do you survive in the vacuum of space. How do you survive in between galaxies? How old are you? What do you do?” Jamie asked.

              “My kind is rumored to be the offspring of dark matter. I survived by eating dark matter and dark matter is created when I exert energy. This energy then creates new dark matter, less volatile dark matter.”

              “Wait, you eat your parents? Oh that is rich! I can't wait to tell the Democratic Party of Cannibals back on Earth about that,” Captain Steele said, “I'm sorry, go on.”

              “Our origins are not known to us. It is only rumored, no one of my kind knows. My current age is unknown to me, but I am estimated to be well over five billion years old.”

              “I bet you've seen most of the universe,” Captain Steele said.

              “I have indeed seen much. My job is to travel the universe and create new matter from old matter. I have free will to go where I want when I want, my only job is to make old matter into new matter. I have seen galaxies come and go, stars live and go supernova, black holes ravage galaxies, and met only a few others who have tried what you are doing. My comrades have seen only a handful as well.”

              “How many of you are there?” Captain Steele asked.

              “About 12.”

              “Only 12? The universe is 46 billion light years in diameter. That means there is one of you for every 3.8 billion light years. That roughly 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles. 10 sextillion miles for one of you? That's amazing!” Jamie exclaimed.

              “How fast can you move? How large can you get? And can I get a piece of your body, exoskeleton, mechanism, pod, skin, scales, flesh, hide, or whatever you call that thing that is on the outside of you body? I'm quite interested to look at it,” Captain Steele asked.

              “We can move at speeds that warp time itself. Light was once the fastest speed you could think of. That changed with the Faster Than Light theory. My race can travel at Faster Than Time. We move so fast that time itself can not keep up in any way. No matter what measurement of time is used, we move faster than time can go. Your understanding of time is limited. Time is a constant, always moving at a certain speed either a second or hour, but we travel faster than any possible way to measure time.

              “For example, a planet may take 32 days to orbit its star. We can move faster than that. Time is a constant that never changes. A second is a second. A planet will complete it's rotation around its star in 32 days, at a set speed to make that rotation. We can travel so fast that the rotation changes. When we travel at that speed we rip apart the fabric of time and the void must be filled by the nearest object that can fill that void. If a planet rotates around it's sun in 32 days, but we travel faster than time the planet will speed up it's orbit to fill that void that we caused and may only take 29 days from that point on and forevermore to complete its rotation without it loosing any kinetic energy in the process,” the creature said.

              “Another example. Time is defined by planets rotation. That rotation will always take an exact amount of seconds. Now picture a straight road with a car driving down the road. Now picture that the road is the rotation of a planet around its star and that car is the planet. Imagine that the car is forever locked into going a certain speed, let's say 60 miles per hour. The car will reach the end of the road at a certain time if it is going 60 miles per hour. If I come in and fly past that car I rip the fabric of time and that car will speed up to fill that tear. That car will go as fast as it need to go to fill that tear in then it maintain that speed until otherwise acted upon by another force to slow it down.

              “So do you, like, just tear up time for kicks and giggles?” Captain Steele asked.

              “All of the time.”
              “Awesome. So what happens when there is nothing to fill that void?”

              “Dark matter fills the void and can have serious repercussions. Things like black holes, powerfully charged cosmic radiation as dark matter violently collides, and even gravitational shifts affecting galaxies including light itself. The energy need to pass through time itself is so vast that only harvesting certain things in certain ways will allow it. If I were to tell you and your galaxy how to do it, it would destroy the universe. It would be overused and the technology would destroy your galaxy.

              “In short, when you travel at speeds faster than light, time still goes by at a constant speed for you and for the galaxy. When I travel at speeds faster than time, time ceases to exist at all for me and everything in the vicinity rushes in to fill in the gap in time.”

              “So does time change for that area of space then? If I was to remain in it would I grow older at a slower rate?” Captain Steele asked.

              “No, like I said, your understanding of time is flawed. When I travel faster than time, time will speed up for the area and maintain that speed, but speed will still be a constant observed rate for you without any effects to you. Think of it as two different times existing together, for both to exist at the same time the area around it must fill in that requirement. Hence, the drastic effects.”

              “You can read dark matter, so can you tell us what awaits us in the galaxy ahead? Are there living creatures? Is the galaxy dying?” Captain Steele asked.

              “What galaxy are you referring too?”

              “NGC 3314. The two that look like they are overlapping.”

              “I do not know. My people have not been able to enter that galaxy. It intrigues us. Which one do you come from?”

              “The Milky Way. It's a medium sized young spiral galaxy. About 10 decades at FTL speed behind us.”

              “Yes, your kind does look familiar. We have seen your kind. We have been intrigued by your kind. Humans have intrigued us greatly. You are much different than others. We have been watching you for some time. You have advanced much faster than any other race we have ever seen. I remember watching your kind hunt Mammoth beasts in packs. My kind would bet on when certain technologies would be built among your kind. Most of us have been wrong on the timing. Your kind built firearms much faster than most do. From the time you first flew in the air, 60 years later you landed on your moon. Fascinating really. Most races take at least 150 years. Even other races in your galaxy has taken at least 150 years. We predict your kind will be the first in your galaxy to find a way to mine black holes. We predict it will happen within 500 years,” the creature said.

              “Why can't you move into the Overlapping Galaxies?” Jamie asked.

              “We are unsure. We have theorized that the overlapping galaxies are not natural phenomenon and therefore have some how prevented us from entering but there is no way to know for sure.”

              “You mean the galaxy could have been built in a way that prevents you from entering it?” Jamie asked, “How is that possible?”

              “It is unknown. Theoretically nothing can be ruled out but it is nearly impossible to create a galaxy, let alone one so defiant to the laws of science and defined in shape. You see, not even we can not create galaxies. We can just alter them in a more powerful way than everyone else,” the creature said.

              “How many others have tried to leave their galaxy and go to another one?”

              “In the history of the universe, 18. Many consider it impossible to do so and so many don't even try. Many, however, do try to leave their galaxy and return but most die in the process. The 'ark' you were on earlier tried to wait outside theirs and it took a toll on them. Most races do not make it half a decade because of the toll it takes on their bodies. You, Captain Steele, are the best your galaxy has ever produced.”

              “If it's your job to keep the universe in check, why would you let me get over to the Overlapping Galaxies?” Captain Steele asked.

              “I simply consume aging dark matter. What other organics do is none of my business. I wish you the best of luck,” the creature said.

              “Any word from our galaxy about what is going on? How are they doing? What do they think of this trip?” Captain Steele asked.

              “Let me recall,” the creature said, “Yes, they are still debating the survey while many races are trying to come up with solutions. Several races have gone back on their proposal to help in the crisis. Your kind has faced more discrimination than the rest of the galaxy. Some people are saving up and others are spending but lots don't believe your galaxy is about to run out of resources. Several corporations have profited off of it and defied the law on resource saving.”

              “What about people's opinions on us?” Jamie asked.

              “People are split. Some believe your are still alive, some believe your continued updates are fake and a cover up for a major failure by the Earth Government.”

              “Why don't you go an inform them that I am still alive?” Captain Steele asked.

              “It's best the masses never know my kind exist. We would be hunted to the end of the galaxy and thousands of races would go extinct in an effort to capture us. Myth is what keeps my kind safe. There are stories of flying Leviathans. Your Chinese saw us and drew pictures of us. Other races have as well. It would only be a matter of time before we are captured. We only live so long as well before we die. We do, however, enjoy talking to short lived organics. It's not often we get to do it. My kind meet from time to time to talk about our encounters and those we have encountered are considered most fortunate. You are my fifth visit with a short lived organic.”

              “It is as great an honor to meet you then,” Captain Steele said.

              “I must go now. Here, take a piece of me to analyze,” the creature said as it broke a piece of it's own flesh off, “That piece houses information that is so vast that it makes the memory storage of the 'ark' you were on look like mere megabytes.”

              Captain Steele held out his hand and caught the piece the creature dropped. It was only about 6 by 6 by 1 inches and felt as hard as a rock but was lighter than a feather.

              Captain Steele walked over to the inner airlock door and stuck his hand out. The creature looked at it then stuck its hand out and they shook hands.

              “Have fun out there tearing up time and thank you for this information and your visit,” Captain Steele said as he opened the inner airlock door.

              “You keep pushing forward no matter how hard and you may just accomplish the impossible. Best of luck to you,” the creature said.

              The creature then stopped floating and walked into the airlock. Captain Steele watched as it left the outer airlock and smiled thinking that he had just had the greatest honor of all time and in his hand he held another mind blowing discovery that only time itself will unravel.