The Forsaken Journey

Among the stars,
is the story of the cosmos.
Above the clouds,
is the ocean of nothing.
So, it seems,
that our world is small.

Up above the,
sea is an angel
on horseback.
It, slips through my,
thin, fingers as I,
hold on tightly.

Blasts of lead and light,
point and deflect
across blades of protection.
Defying your ideas,
will be your downfall.
It's only, Us and Them.

On its largest scale, the Cosmos resembles something rather small- a spider web.  Near one of its joints you notice that two Galaxies consist of it.  A Barred Spiral with its graceful blue arms wheeling eloquently in the vastness that is the Void, and the golden stars in the Core that move in ellipses at five million miles an hour.  And the Elliptical, consisting of a trillion old and gold stars.  Between the Two, there is a bluish-red star; which is actually a Binary containing a Red Giant and a Blue Dwarf.  A planet called Jovia is twenty times bigger than Jupiter orbits only five million miles out from the suns.  Farther out is a red giant half the size of Jovia called Ares.  But the third planet is different, it’s rather small (Slightly smaller than Neptune), rocky, has the most spectacular rings, and is one of the 13 homes of Man. 

As you near the planet you see lights in a spiral form, a thousand miles across- a spiral city.  The polis (city) is called Spirûlla.  Closer in you notice that the polis has graceful blue arms and a bright golden center.

As you near the golden center, which is called the Core you see a building almost a mile high, and then a flyer (hovercraft) comes into view.  Inside the flyer you see a man, a man called Vion.  As he pulls into the building he shakes hands with a man called Flôrida.   

    "Hey Flôrida how are you," said Vion.
 
    "Exhausted, you?" asked Flôrida.
 
    "More of the same."  They went into a room with a wide view of the entire polis.  And the Suns were getting low, and at that time of day, the Suns begin to pass through the Rings of Earth, creating a glimmer over Spirûlla unlike any in the Cosmos.
 
    "Sit down, I have to talk to you about something," said Flôrida.

    "Okay, shoot," replied Vion.
 
    "Well as you know, our race is dying."
 
    "Yes I know.  Why do I need to be told that again?"

    "I'm telling you again because one thousand people are leaving Earth.  One of them, is you."
 
    "Wh- wh- what are you talking about?" asked Vion with a look of shock on his face.
 
    "You my friend will be leaving Earth for ever, to save humankind and ensure our permanent existence in the Cosmos."
 
      "I, I don't know what to say.  When are we leaving?"

      "In a few days."

      "In the name of El, why did you pick me?" asked Vion.

      "It wasn't my choice."

      "Who's was it?"

      "The Senate.  It was the Senate's decision, not mine."

      "Who will be going with me?"

      "Slëan will be your partner."

      "Blast it, I won't go if he does."

      "Vion, you have to."
     
      “He is of the Spartalia Tribe, he is descended from pure evil.”

      “Vion, you keep living with these prejudices and grudges about events that happened eons ago in the Old Days, that ancient epoch.  Apollo dealt Spartalia the death-blow, Slëan won’t mess with you, a descendant of Apollo.” 

      "But why me, huh?  Why not you or Mentor?"

      "Hey, you have a chance to live!  Don't you dare get angry at me like that."

      "Sorry." said Vion and after a long pause he continued, "What planet did we come from?"

      "Nìldan, why?"

      "Nìldan?  I thought it was. . ." said Vion as he looked for an Encyclopedia Galactica, "I thought it was, ahh, Hadés.  I thought it was Hadés."

      "No, we came from Nìldan, then moved to Hadés, to Athena and Barrona, then we went to Atomika, and after that, I think it was Orion, then Lúna (This is not Earth's moon which only by coincidence has the same name), Eden, Elqi, Helghan, Kaprika, Amanak, and Atlantis." said Flôrida in a very artificial manner.  "Thus we became the Twelve Colonies.  But after the Attack, we left those worlds and came to Earth.  Then we recolonized the Colonies.  Then came the Extinction, the War and the rest is history."

      "Yeah, how about our little world?  How's it doing?"

      "Well, Spirûlla and Elliptika are the largest polises, one hundred towns remain, and there one thousand villages on Earth.  It’s hard to believe, 1,102 human settlements on Earth, all between us and Elliptika, with a total population of 1,001,045,163 humans remaining alive.  That's a big difference from the 100.5 billion people before the Extinction, and the 535 billion humans before the Attack." said Flôrida looking at the Encyclopedia Galactica.

      Vion laughed, but after laughing his face turned serious, "You know, that number doesn't go up very often." said Vion.

      "No, no it doesn't." said Flôrida, "its a shame, really, an advanced civilization bent on tribal warfare.  But… then again, we may not be an advanced civilization."
 
      A cold shiver ran up and down Vion's spine.  "I have to go see Mentor,” he said in a hurried rush.

      "Okay, goodbye Vion," said Flôrida, "I would like to see you again before you leave." 

    Vion, quite the overthinker, questioned many things about his new obligations. Yet, as often happens, thoughts digress and become engulfed in deeper, more intense fields. Through his mind ran a stream of questions:

Why is sadness so beautiful?
Why is beauty always clouded with strife?
Why is strife always a strive for perfection?
Why is perfection such a grand flaw?
Why do our flaws tend to define us?
Why do our definitions guide us?
Why do our guides lead here and there?
Why do we go there only to be sent back?
Why do we go back when we knew things would get better?
Why do things get better, and not stay better?
Why would things stay better, if we always strive for grandness?
Why want grandness when the happiest among us are the least in materials?
Why are the material-less so happy than the other?
Why are the ones defined by materials so sad?
Why do the sad always do good?
Why does the good come so rare in life?
Why do we live, when in the end all we do is live forever?
Why do we live forever, if we wait only for a thousand year peace?
Why do we wish peace, when our cousins don't?
Why do we not acknowledge our cousins as so, when it is so?
Why is it that bird chained to the skyway like a slave chained to a cage?
Why is the cage not as safe as the war?
Why is war frowned upon as the curse of happiness?
Why is the happiness of man most important of our troubles?
Why is man always plagued with hardship?
Why is it that the best among us are hurt the worst?
Why is the world the worst among the three worlds?
Why is the first world not the only world, one with happiness?
Why is happiness never bestowed upon from first light?
Why is the light as always gray?
Why is the gray always flushed with white?
Why is white the defense of sadness?
Why is sadness so beautiful?

His thoughts always did move in circles; almost as it's as if that once he makes a decision, he runs the calculations again just to arrive at the same conclusion. He had lost his daughter and wife in a bombing twenty years hence. Ever since, his favorite question was why?                                             

    Two buildings share the center of the polis.  One is the Senate Building.  The other is the Elqi Building.  But instead of being made of metal and glass, these two structures are constructed completely of diamond, and they shine unlike anything human eyes have set their gaze upon.  Vion enters the Elqi Building and goes to the council room, there he sees Mentor.

      "Mentor, I have a question of serious matter,” said Vion before he continued, "Flôrida has said that I'm to leave Earth, but I can't think this to be right.  I have only been to space in a single fighter, I haven't the requirements necessary.  I really need your guidance."
 
      "Hmm, hmm, a second chance of life.  Go ye shall, for thy survival of humanity."
 
      "Thank you Mentor, for I am very grateful to have received your help.  Goodbye Mentor, I will miss you dearly."

      "And so will I.  Farewell my friend, Vion.  You were a good man, a good friend, I loved you like a brother and still do," said Mentor as tears came to his eyes.  Mentor then gave Vion a hug and a handshake goodbye.  Vion left in tears.  Mentor was already 500 years old when Vion was born and has been Vion's friend for all his life.                                                             

    On his way home he looked at the polis.  The structures appeared organic, not metallic.  Slicing through the sky were the rings, the most beautiful sight in the Heliosa system.  And below them was Luna, Earth's habitable moon, with its deep blue oceans, and the lush green forests and grasslands, it was unsurpassed in living beauty.  Vion lives at the edge of the polis so he could have a view of the polis and the wild.  All plants and ninety-nine percent of all animals on Earth were wiped out in a mass extinction several thousand years before.  Vion lives alone but is accompanied by several androids.  "How may I serve you master," one of them said.
 
    "I don't need your help," said Vion as he walked outside.  He looked up at the sky.  There were the two galaxies between were the red giant star and the small blue star casting their duel shadows over Earth.  For the next few days Vion prepared for the greatest exodus that one species will ever undertake.  He packed, trained for space flight, sold his remaining belongings, and he gave his dwelling to his brother- Hector.  He waited and he slept.

    After seven years someone came knocking upon his door.  He opened to Mentor.  "Vion, I have to tell you two things.  One is that I wanted to say goodbye one last time.  Goodbye Friend."

    "Goodbye Mentor, I will miss you dearly." After a long, disconcerting pause he slowly continued, "okay, what's the other one?"

    "And now the time is, Vion."  Tears came to Vion's eyes as he looked upon the face of Mentor.  A shuttle was there to take Mentor and Vion to the launch site.  The site was located between the Taurus Arm and the Sagittarius Arm. 
         
        Then he saw he saw one of the largest things his eyes have ever beheld, standing upright it was nearly fifty thousand feet high and three thousand feet wide at its base- it was the largest artificial structure in the Heliosa System.  The ship's reason for being so large was a seven thousand foot high section, used for fusion and also it is filled with cold hydrogen used for the launch.  But the ship at the top (living quarters) was long and fairly narrow with windows made of cold plasma.  An official gave Vion a Vile of red liquid, they did not tell the purpose of the Vile.  He turned and gazed upon the polis one last time.  The rising suns gave the buildings a beautiful glow.  And after a series of screenings Vion entered, and after a few others, the doors sealed them off from Earth, never to return.  An elevator took Vion to the top of the Ark.  He strapped in and waited.  And finally he heard, "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, LAUNCH!”  And off they were!

The initial launch was deathly, for to launch a ten thousand foot long Ark you need an extremely large amount of force.  The force against your body made you think you implode.  That’s what happened to one of the Elders.  The polis became smaller and smaller, until they saw Elliptika, the golden polis one thousand five hundred miles across.  When they entered space all those near a plasma window gasped at the blackness of the Cosmos.

They entered a solid tube of metal and they connected.  Before they came together the humans were in zero gravity, then after they connected and the Tube began spinning they could walk again.  There was another attachment, larger than the entire ship.  A huge dish (Called the “Dish”) seventy thousand feet across was used to scoop up atoms and throw them together creating fusion, which when uncontrolled could create an excellent form of propulsion, but also there was a ship extension 90,000 feet long as well, making the total length 140,000 feet long and fifty thousand feet wide.
 
They traveled at 99% the Speed of Light.  You cannot travel the Speed of Light, because to do so you would have to be as big as the universe itself.  But even at the Speed of Light it would take billions and billions of years to traverse the universe.  But, something happens at that speed.  Time slows down tremendously.  Call it Time Dilation.  So while billions of years pass back on Earth only a few years-if that- pass onboard the Ark, it's a somewhat tragic side effect.
 
Vion at first wandered the Ark alone, going from the Dish all the way down to the Engines at the rear of the Ark.  But, in the weeks on the Ark he began to mingle with the refugees.  Their names were normal; John, Jack, and Bill.  And odd; Odysseus, Meade, and Slëan.  One thousand people went to their doom at their leaving of Spirûlla.

Vion also wondered about the vile of red liquid.  He grew attached to it and could not be parted from it; and so he kept it in his pocket and at his bedside for all time until his death.

There have been many songs of old that have passed out of memory, or at least out of words. That may be the cause of changes among peoples, human forgetfulness, or a combination of factors yet untold. Vion, due to his vast age, still could recall verses from otherwise lost songs. And so on one day, in the Garden of Ark, while accompanied by fellow shipmates he recalled an old lyric: "Mmmm, mm, mmmmm, mmmm his thoughts were dense, filled with anger and things, mmmm, filled with desire. Mmmmm, ah, mmm, oh, oh, mmmmm--truths in his mind--mmmmm. . . mind consumed by fire." Such a strangely comical and sad moment it was for those involved, they never forgot it--nor failed Vion to live it down.

Space is lonely, even with so many people.  They are the only ship of humans leaving and that leaves them alone, in the dark.  What if they ran out of supplies or something broke down?  No one can help.  If they weren't afraid of the dark before, they would be now.

Early in their Voyacosmica, Voyage through the Cosmos, they came across a white ship and upon the bow was a shining point likened to that of a Star.  They brought the ship aboard.  In it was a Man, a living Man!  It is told that he was the son of Progothes, who lived in the Old Days, the Man who questioned Zumenor.  Ere it was that the man was taken aboard, and was from then on known as the Forgotten One, as he did not remember his name.

                                                             

* * *

Back on Earth, as soon as Elliptikan Watchers saw the Ark lift off from their sister city, the Elliptikan Army was warned (Apparently, they thought the Ark was a fifty thousand foot tall nuclear missile).  They launched missiles and sent fighters over to the city with bombs and.  When they arrived Spirûlla retaliated and fired guns of lead and light into the enemy contraptions.  They came to building were Vion learned about the Exodus by Flôrida.  Flôrida was in it, when the Elliptikan bombs destroyed it.  As the building fell into the Spirûllan streets Flôrida prayed to El (God) asking that he have time to Repent for his Sins.  But whence the building hit the dust, if you listened closely, you might’ve heard a scream that said, “CURSE THEE SPARTALIA,” that was Flôrida’s last words.  Mysteriously, after that building was destroyed the Elliptikans left for Elliptika.

                                                             

* * *

     

The humans eventually left their cluster and entered a new one, and then they ventured into a Spiral Galaxy about to collide with a smaller Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy.  Today, it is known as the Whirlpool Galaxy.  There, the stars are nearer to each other than out in the void.  On each habitable world- of which were slightly harder to find than gas giants- a group of five males and five females, along with some building materials, were left to begin a million civilizations on a thousand worlds.

Come with me, and I'll show you the way.
Don't be afraid, the night is whatever you may.
The stars are perfect, they never falter.
Beyond them, lies the ocean's altar.

A rush of joy, is not always one with crash.
To think that life, is good rather bad is rash.
At last the seasons change, and then the stones break.
When you lie on your deathbed, you'll see how much they take.

Come with me, and sing for the requiem of a dream.
I love you, so sit with me aside this gentle stream.
Eyes are many things, but to me the eye is a fountain.
They rupt visions, of starlit domes and snow-capped mountains.

 
One day, a planet loomed on the horizon.  Imagine if you will, all the world’s oceans blown away and the continental shelf erased making a drop off 12 miles deep.  The cause was evident of a crater that covered one half of the planet.  Using an elevator inside a tube the refugee's went to the planet which was labeled P. S. C. - 806.1874.300 (Planet of Special Concern).  It was a hellish place.  The planet's gravity is slightly less than that of Earth's.  Vion went down and with him went another apprentice of Mentor's, Slëan was his name.  "Vion, come get a look at this, you won't believe it," said he.

"Oh, my your right, I can't believe it," Vion said as he looked over the edge.  The ground was a coal black with 12-mile high spires, which most likely used to be islands.  "Hey, Slëan, come get a look at this volcano," said Vion, but as he said that, he turned.  To his horror Slëan was just executing two refugees.  Vion, angered, drew his white laser sword and headed for Slëan.  Slëan saw and raised his and then, all hell ensued.

      They fought a great battle.  Moving across the landscape they fight gracefully, but at the same time they were fighting like brutes- throwing each other against rocks and their blades made great flashes as they collided as well as great noises.  They headed towards a cliff, when they threw themselves together.  At that very instance the cliff collapsed!  They continued to fight for the one minute that they were falling from heaven.  They hit the ground and both of their worlds went black.  After an unknown amount of time their lights came back on and they continued their battle to defeat the other.  Slëan backed Vion into a corner and Vion went on the defensive.  After five minutes Vion got a rush of adrenaline, he picked Slëan up and threw him 8 feet away.  They fought vigorously and Vion turned the tide of battle.  With Slëan backed into the corner he jabbed at Vion, Vion placed his saber on Slëan’s, grabbed his arm, and twisted his saber until it sliced his arm off.  Then Vion grabs Slëan by the hair and brought his head down and at the same time stabbed Slëan in the stomach.  With Slëan on his knees Vion walks around until Slëan couldn’t see him and he raises his saber and beheaded his ultimate rival.  It took him 2 hours to climb back up to the encampment.

      After that ordeal they traveled through the galaxy.  At the Core, they hit a bump in the road.  The refugees ran into the galactic- T- Rex- a Supermassive Black Hole that is two hundred billion times the size of the sun.  The gravity pulled them in and they could not escape.  Vion prayed to Spirûlla’s patron- Atlantikus:
 
         

"O, Atlantikus, take us to the light,
            spare us through this night.
            Haleth, give us the courage to keep on,
            and press on until the dawn.
            O, praise thee, our safety has been sealed,
            the mission healed.
                            Amen"

The pull turned the Engines to the black abyss and the dish scooped up two hundred million times more atoms, creating one hundred million times more energy, just enough to keep the Ark above the Event Horizon.  It did so just long enough to where the Black Hole lost an atom, lowering its gravity just enough to let them escape.

        They left that galaxy and for forty years they traveled in the Cosmos, discovering new worlds, and life forms, and above all- new civilizations.  All were friendly, all except one.  But it was not on the offensive rather it was on the defensive, retreating into caves and mountains, all strange behavior for an advanced civilization.  After traveling for 8.8 billion light years Vion said to himself, "We, have crossed the edge of eternity, and entered, infinity."

        "What does that mean," said a person briefly mentioned earlier by the name of Odysseus.

        "Eternity is a long period of time, with an end.  Infinity, on the other hand, is an immensely long period of time, with no end at all."

                                                     

* * *

    On Earth, Spirûllan rescue teams searched for survivors.  When Mentor learned of Flôrida’s death he mourned and cursed the Elliptikans and the Spartalia Tribe saying, “Curse thy motherless dogs that sleep in the reek and roll on the floor with the dogs.  Curse thy boy-lovers who kill Men as sport and rape women as hobby.  Curse thy maggots.  Thou shall all die by thy hand, and that I promise you Flôrida.”  Little people they had left to pick up the dead, and fewer still to tend the living.  And after that event, a message was sent to the Twelve Colonies for help.  The message was received not only by the Colonies, but billions of years later, it also was received by civilization far more advanced than any human civilization ever could imagine.       

                                                       

* * *

        A couple of months passed when the refugees saw a single star as massive as some open clusters, a star known as Mû Cephi to earthlings of the present day.  This system breaks so many astronomical rules: a star this big shouldn't have planets, and therefore shouldn't have life, and above all, it shouldn't have a civilization.  When the humans landed they communicated with the inhabitants, so the refugees could find a planet on which to dwell, permanently.  They spoke of a red planet 5,258 light years away, named Vegas.

        The humans have appeared to have arrived when thousands of representatives from all over the galaxy made egress from their worlds to Mû Cephi; the galaxy by the way, is called the Milky Way.  They were planning to argue about matters they wanted to hear.

There were countless ships of different shapes and sizes.  Some were small and looked like space shuttles.  Others were gold and organic.  On the other hand there were ships made entirely out of rock and weighed a million tons.  But the largest ship of all was 100 miles long and 10 miles high, ships the size of small worlds.

      On the way to the meeting the refugees passed by two trees.  The first was a 10,000-years-old, black, gnarled, and resembled a bristle-cone pine.  Each year it produced delicious, bright green fruit.  The other was the single largest organism to have ever lived in the Cosmos, at one hundred twenty five feet wide and one thousand eight hundred feet high; it surely was the largest to have ever been.

      All the while, a shining structure loomed on the horizon.  As they got near they saw it was constructed of gold.  It was seven miles high.  The gathering was held to ask whether to accelerate the evolution of life on a planet- of which they spoke no name.  After seven days of debating they came to a conclusion, the acceleration of the planets life would be necessary to its survival.  But how?  A look of realization came upon Vion, for he now knew the purpose of the Vile.

      "When we left our world 42 years ago I was given a vile.  And I believe that this vile will do what you have no answer for.  If you let us, we will go to the planet of which you speak," said Vion.

      The beings looked around and thought about what the human said.  "No.  We have no knowledge of your race or your home planet, and therefore we do not know your nature or intentions.  You may mean well, but we cannot let you do what you mean to."  Vion was shocked that the being responded in his own tongue.

      "As a matter of fact, what planet are you from?  Extraterrestrial," said another being, in an insulting manner.

      "Earth.  We are from planet Earth, thirteen billion light years away," said the Forgotten One.

      "Earth?  Could you tell us your planet's coordinates?"

      "Yes, although I doubt we use the same grid as you. I could presume to show our course in reverse--that is, from here, back." said Vion.  And so it was that the Forgotten One ordered a droidical to bring up a star globe of the known universe.  Their path went back across the edge of the map, and continued on, endlessly. At least, that's how it seemed to the council members.  Alas! From their trajectory, the council could surmise Earth's location, thirteen billion light years away.

      "We have received mathematical and radio signals which originate from a source 13 billion light years away.  From which star system did you originate," said a large wolf-like reptilian beast with wings.

      "Heliosa," said the Forgotten One.

      The entities looked around in amazement.  "You must return to your people, they are in the wake of a war.  A war with only one outcome- the extinction of your race," said a rather primitive looking creature.

      "No.  They cannot help; the message was received from a system 13 billion light years away, which means that the war ended 13 billion years ago.  Your kind is gone.  How pathetic- an advanced civilization bent on tribal warfare.  Then again, your kind may not be an advanced civilization.  I am sorry."  A cold shiver ran up and down Vion's spine, for he will never forget those days, the days back home, back where men belonged, home.

      "This does not change the fact that they are foreign to the galaxy, foreign to the cluster!  We cannot let them go," said one creature.

    "Whether or not you let us go freely we will leave.  We don't want a war with anyone," said the Forgotten One.  The council ended.

    After the meeting there was the reception, of course.  There was only one other bipedal species, it was the reptilian beast mentioned earlier.  Most were tripeds or floaters.  Then after one night of the reception the humans left to find their objective.

    As they traveled they would ask the natives for directions to Vegas and the other planet, which turned out- ironically- to be in the same system.

Blast through to the stars,
it seems that life is special.
What is theirs, and what is ours,
defines our survival instincts so crucial.
That is life among the stars.

Ships hewn of rock or of gold,
sail untold years in heavenly clouds.
Ships the size of small worlds yet untold,
voyage through piercing purple shrouds.
That is life among the stars.

At some distant point we encounter our brethren.
We then expand and share across the cosmic ocean and rivers.
Then the day comes that we deny what we call death-in.
Then the day comes that we wage war on our allies and shiver.
That is life among the stars.

Our warships contain no projectiles but piercing blades
that decisively decommision the ships from old friends.
Just as the old days, when after battle, men went home to their maids,
but the next day the former allies meet on the battlefield once again.
That is life among the stars.

Then the day comes when all the wars cease
and the day shall come when men fail to overcome
and the day then arrives that Man will not live but be deceased
and the day when our enemies will rejoice and kill with pun,
and so will end life among the stars.

                                                     

* * *

    When not one dead was left to be picked up, the Elliptikans returned.  For one hundred days and nights the polis was attacked, and it was attacked ruthlessly.  When a search party stormed his house and the King of Elliptika was with them (The King was there because he and Mentor had unfinished business).  Mentor drew his blade of light when his door was smashed into the dust, and when the Elliptikans entered along with the King (He was called the Tyrant by all non-Elliptikans) Mentor lifted his blade and cut down the Tyrant King of Elliptika.  He felled also the entire search party and fled to the Wilder-Place, and as he left the polis he realized that his curse was fulfilled.  He turned to look back as his home for 500 years burned at the hands of the Fallen.  Then out of the heavens came a Battle Fleet (Seventy-five war ships) of the Twelve Unified Colonies, and they destroyed the Elliptikan Army and Elliptika itself, along with all the towns and villages.  Knowing that none would rescue him and that all humans on Earth were now dead, he wandered into the Wilder-Place and he dwelt in a cave for a thousand years.  Yet only after one year, he was driven insane and was the last Descendant of Abraham to die.

                                                     

* * *

         

    Three weeks before their arrival on Vegas the Ark pierced an extremely thin bubble of hydrogen- the remnants of a Supernova.  Five days later the refugees ventured into a region of dormant comets.  Relics from the time of that systems creation.  They were eerily silent and still.  Far off in the distance there was a star and four dim points of light that beckoned to them.  On their voyage through the comet region they passed several planet like objects, 4 to be exact.  One was so oblong that is was suggested by one of the refugees (who had a very intimate knowledge of planets) that the planet will undergo fission, a process that splits a planet in two as a result of a super fast rotational spin, creating a double world.

    As they neared Vegas they passed a pale blue planet that was knocked on its side obviously by a massive collision with another planet much smaller than itself.  Another was a deep blue.  The third had beautiful rings and a butterscotch color.  The last had an extremely tumultuous atmosphere and a red spot, which was growing larger.  A probe was dispatched into the upper atmosphere of the latter planet and it was discovered that the human eye could see for a thousand miles.  But also, they discovered Sinkers and Hunters, and the largest was a Floater- 10 miles across- and they were all living beasts.  Ahead loomed a plain of asteroids, and on the other side laid Vegas- with a red glow.
 
  They entered the field.  They went to an unknown fate in which they could either come through without a scratch or, they could perish amidst a rocky meadow.  The humans prevailed, nearly colliding with a six hundred mile wide asteroid.  But they did not come through without a scratch; they collided with 17 asteroids with most hitting the Dish.  Finally, Vegas beckoned unchallenged to the weary travelers.

    It was a small red world, it had oceans, rivers, lakes, and seas but they were drying up.  One feature was a mountain 15 miles high it was named by the humans- Olympus Mons- Mount Olympus or the Mountain of Olympia.  But the most distinct feature was a huge gash four thousand miles long.  It was obviously a canyon, but unlike the Grand Canyon of our time, it was a canyon created by fire.  In the planet's dark and distant past a volcano blew a huge gash in the planet in an eruption greater than we can imagine, for what kind of volcano can leave a scar one fourth of a planet's circumference.  Vion called it, Valles Marineris- Valley of the Mariners.

    Vion was looking out over the Valley of the Mariners when he felt the ground shake beneath him and the valley shook with it.  He turned and saw the largest volcano in the Cosmos erupting!  It was the largest eruption the volcano ever witnessed, spewing pumice and ash into space past the inner moon of Phobos (as it is called today).  Lava flowed at tremendous speed toward the valley and Vion ran toward the encampment but the lava was flowing faster than he could run.  He ran until he came to the edge of the cliff.  Vion had to think, would he jump, or die by fire?  He jumped and fell for thirty seconds when he hit a piece of rock that was jutting out.  Vion looked around and saw a cave, he ran into it and his world went black.  He was worried but he turned and saw that he isn't having a blackout but rather the cave is very dark.  The lava fell past the cave and continued to do so for half an hour.  Vion got some people's attention and was hoisted up onto the plain.
 
      It was time to go to the planet of objection.  After leaving Vegas it took seven minutes to arrive.  For some odd reason the humans named the planet, Earth.  The planet was molten in an area, and had geographic extremes in the remainder of the planet, both areas have ocean.  They landed and explored.  Primeval humans do not need as much oxygen as modern humans do.  As they wandered the planet some came across the ocean, almost no life was present.  Almost.  A jellyfish or a coral might be present if you looked into a very small nook or cranny; Earth had life but very little.  On shore there was a perfectly circular pond, and it was there that the Forgotten One let loose the amino acids into a pond Vion called, Eden.  Vion looked up at the sky and it was covered in clouds, but amidst the black shroud there was a tear and the Ark came into view.  He turned behind him and saw a cloudless, star- filled sky, and below the sky was a lava field.  Then the humans prepared to return to Vegas and live out the endless waves of space and time.

I dreamed I saw a light.
I had a vision of endless waves.
A vision of waves like mountains.
I dreamed in the middle of the night.

I wish I had the ultimate tax.
I have to give it instead.
Give it to the man in the blue suit.
I need to step back and relax.

Riots beaten back by racist police.
I wish the passivity would die.
Wish the non-screwers would rise.
A beautiful song is a mind's release.

Whale killers should be executed.
Why are people so stupid?
Are people so incompetent?
Persecuters shall be persecuted.

Redemption songs rouse the soul.
He who sins by silence when he should protest is a coward.
Sins by violence when he should be peaceful is a barbarian.
Throw the evil minds into a bottomless hole.

      When they activated the Vacuum something happened.  The Ark began to turn towards the planet, and then the ship entered the atmosphere at tremendous speed.  Vion saw as the Dish turned red and all of a sudden, out of the blue, it exploded.  Followed shortly by the Tube.  Now with the ship top heavy it fell towards the lava field, and because it is currently falling on its exhaust (Where the atoms used to be thrown together) the resistance slowed it down slightly.  They hit the River of Lava with a bang, and lava was spewn half a mile into the atmosphere, and they began flowing down river.  Huh, down river, makes you feel like going down a river back home.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw two huge black slabs of rock flow down the river of fire.  One lifted straight up and disappeared.  "Oh no, no, it can't be, it can't be, it-," said Vion to himself.

    "What can- can't be?" asked an extremely scared and worried teen.

    "It's a cliff."

    The teen ran away and told the refugees.  As news spread the humans waited for death to hit them hard.  But death did not come.  Finally, at the peak of fear and excitement, Vion took an elevator to the front- really the top- of the Ark to see.  What he saw was pure horror and grandeur.  A black and red plain of lava and spires two miles high covered the landscape.  He saw the other piece of rock lift up and pass over the Falls.  Vion saw death, and then he felt it.  All alone, Vion prepared for death away from home.

       

"O, Atlantikus, I am nearing you,
            My soul is pulling through.
            I did as you told,
            to my end, those truths I still hold.
            I ask not for you to save me,
            only to accept thee.
                            Amen"

The Ark tinkered on the edge of oblivion for seven minutes and then- the Ark fell out of site.

Vion said nothing as the two mile high fall came closer to the end, and he continued to gaze at Earth the place where he was born, and the place where he died.


    Eventually the Colonies destroyed themselves and the hope of survival was passed to the Refugees on their thousand worlds.  But they too went extinct (Only after building civilizations and empires that spanned galaxies) and for billions of years the Cosmos was devoid of Man (Except on some small worlds in a galaxy far, far away), but after countless eons, Man returned to a tiny planet called by us Earth.  They developed and mastered space flight; they have not met others beyond the stars, but are threatened by their uncivilized ways.  It is Man's destiny to find their home, that home called Nìldan.