PART 1

Between the Milky Way Galaxy and its nearest neighbours, the Magellanic Clouds, there is a gap.
      The 'gap' is a nearly starless gulf more than 100,000 light-years across, and is pretty much empty except for a few stray stars and some trace gases.
     That is about to change.

Inside the Generator Room on the ISV Columbus, Pili Abasi, a tall, well-built engineer from Zambia, attempted to run a maintenance check on the navigation systems. Unfortunately for him, Jackie Starr, a brash Aussie outbacker-turned-pilot, happened to decide that Pili was his best friend -- leaving the soft-spoken African with a daily barrage of endlessly repetitive stories about Jackie's son, Chris, who was actually a little miracle himself, having been the first human to be born in intergalactic space.
     "So then he pulled himself up and starting running to me. I'll tell you -- that kid's special. No doubt about it."
     "Uh-huh."
     "Did I tell you about the time he picked up the videodisc controls? You wouldn't believe what started playing."
     "Actually, as a matter of fact..."
     Before Pili could finish, the door that lead to the core engineering crew-quarters opened, and in walked Edmund Colby looking a bit downcast -- his usually spirited hazel eyes were rimmed with dark circles. He wore a plain black t-shirt under his 'space fatigues', the multi-pocketed green pants and jacket that were the standard issue for most UNOSC missions. Jackie and Pili were lacking their jackets, the both of them wearing white tank-tops that emphasized their well-toned torsos.
     "Hi Ed." greeted Pili.
     "Oh. Hi Pili. Jackie." replied Ed smiling weakly.
     "Rough night?" asked Jackie with his patented slightly cruel smile, the one he reserved for those crew members he considered 'pussies' -- like Ian O'Bryant and Pierre Dupre.
     "Yeah. Something like that." mumbled Ed, who just lowered his head and continued on walking past them.
     "So anyways, Chris managed to select a porno movie. Out of the thousands of movies he could have picked. Can you believe it?" continued Jackie, without the least bit of compunction. Pili, on the other hand, thought briefly about approaching Ed, but not until he finished the maintenance checks -- without their transdimensional navigational systems functioning properly they might never reach their destination -- a g-class star system on the fringes of the Tarantula Nebula, part of the Large Magellanic Cloud.
     Pili would never get the chance to talk with Ed...

When he woke up today, Ed Colby had a revelation. He finally had the answer to the moral dilemma he had been wrestling with of late -- knowing that it would only be a matter of time before they all killed each other, possibly poisoning another viable planet in the process.
     Yes, today Ed knew what he had to do to save his crewmates from themselves. And he knew that the only was to pull it off was to try and act as though everything was OK. He even took the time to properly spike up his short blonde hair. But the closer he got to the GenRoom, the more he felt his facade crumbling.
     Despite his minor setbacks, Ed still felt confident that he would be able to achieve his goal -- after all, what he had to do would not take very long, and Jackie and Pili's preoccupation had bought him more than enough time to destroy the illusion and finally end the cycle, once and for all.
     Ed easily found what he was looking for, especially since he was the one who usually put everything in its right place -- constantly undoing the chaos wrought by his delusion-blinded crewmates. The object in question was a 2.5 meter carbon rod, about 5 centimeters in diameter with a hexagonal socket on the end. Its function was relatively specialized -- opening filter segments located deep inside the water recycling unit. Today, Ed would find another use for it.

Ed's attention became focused on a set of glowing devices on the other side of the GenRoom. Strange geometric objects enclosed inside a cylindrical crystalline case. Their alien glow hypnotized him, flashing in strange cacophonic patterns. Red red red. Blue-blue, blue-green, orange-green. Tiny white flashes in a dizzying sequence, then nothing at all for seconds before resuming. Each time at a different interval. Not one pattern ever repeating.
     Ed snapped out of his trance. He knew that the only way to save them from their fate was to destroy the delusion, and so with a fresh gust of manic will, Ed sprinted over to the devices, something that was not un-noticed by Jackie, who exclaimed, "What the fuck!?!"
     Ed struck the casing with the rod but it did not break. He then gave it a good push with his foot and it toppled over rather neatly, gently rolling to a stop a few meters away. Ed then began angrily kicking apart the components. There was a bright flash as a blue transparent cone became separated from a long thin yellow stem.
     Jackie started running toward him. Pili was stunned into temporary inaction.
     "I'll stop that little fucker!"
     But before Jackie could reach him, Ed had managed to detach every single component. Fortunately, his attempts to smash them with the metal tool were unsuccessful, as the alien substance resisted the hardest blows. If only Ed were that lucky...

Jackie grabbed Ed from behind and sharply pressed in on his stomach, making him lose his breath and double over. The tool fell out of his hand and made a soft hollow clang as it hit the floor.
     Jackie loosened his hold on Ed, who was hunched over in pain. Jackie double fisted him in the back, and he crumbled onto the floor.
     The tall muscle-bound pilot then grabbed Ed's slender shoulder and turned him over so that he was facing up.
     "You ratshit bastard!" Jackie spat into his face. "Do you realize just what you've fucking done!"
     "It was for our own good. Why prolong the inevitable." gasped Ed, still out of breath.
     "Own good, huh?! I'll show you what our own good is!"
     And with that, Jackie began pounding him savagely. Ed tried to defend himself, but without success, as Jackie's superior strength, coupled with nine years of relative peace on board the ship (which had left him one very frustrated, action-starved individual) made him more than a match for Ed.
     Meanwhile, Pili, who had been looking at the broken device with despair, finally snapped out of his daze, no longer oblivious to how badly Jackie was beating Ed.
     "I think he's had enough, Jackie."
     "Yeah. I suppose he's too far gone now to know the difference."
     Jackie, whose countenance was still twisted in vicious enjoyment, inspected the damage wrought by his fists. Ed's face was bruised and swollen in several places, and blood trickled out of his mouth. His eyes were nearly closed and he found the world around him getting blacker and blacker. He was aware of a extremely hot sensation on the lower left side of his ribcage, but he didn't feel any pain. In fact, he could barely hear anything at all.
     "I guess we'd better call in Med and the kid. I just hope she isn't on duty."
     The black silence was so peaceful. Ed welcomed it gratefully.

Let me know what you think.

[Return to what? magazine]