Story: Journey to Exoplanet SV 82223 Bb

Steph and Vik found The Key to the universe in an old cereal box, deep in an ice cave on Titan. 

That had been the easy part. Intrasolar travel had long become pasé for the pair. Did they appreciate the clever nod to Vonnegut, in discovering The Key in this hiding place? Of course. Was it a modest surprise, finding it so much closer to Old Earth than logic dedicated? Also yes. 

It got them thinking about their next challenge. Perhaps, to discover the undiscoverable, they needed to first look very closely. Steph pondered the challenge anew, from this perspective.

Where was the lock? Who had hidden The Key on Titan? Was this puzzle created for them, as it increasingly seemed more likely, with each step forward they made together on this quest? And, supposing that were true, what would this all mean to the current mythos (carefully crafted and hard won by them together) that held the pair up as the leading explorers and space archaeologists of The Solar Consortium? Once they succeeded, where would they go from there?

There was only one way towards any answers, and that way was onward, deeper into the vast mystery of space.

In studying the cereal box, preserved as it was by the cold of Titan and that moon’s absence of any strong winds, Steph found an additional clue. The barcode on the UPC label, once run through various deciphering algorithms in their ship’s computer, matched the scientific categorization for a planet orbiting the second sun of a faraway binary system. 

Exoplanet SV 82223 Bb.

They’d need to create a temporal fold to get there, which would take a lot of energy. This meant Vik would have to explode a star again, which remained very illegal, but they’d gotten away with it before. Space law enforcement had never been very robust, plus, together, they were good at threading the needle between sanctioned and unsanctioned rule-breaking. When you brought the accolades to Old Earth that they brought through their discoveries, the Consortium tended to look the other way more often than not.

So, Steph traded a priceless bottle of vintage Martian red (Old Ones, 2374) for a fold matrix, which they wired into their ship. It was a risk, but risking was what they did. 

As was their custom, they clasped hands and hit the button, silently mouthed something that was between a poem and a prayer. Then, with the bottled energy of the collapses star feeding the fold -- there they were.

SV 82223 Bb. It was beautiful. It was also an impossible planet.

The orbit of SV 82223 Bb was too distant from each of its suns for it to stay warm enough to sustain either liquid water or life, and yet its surface dazzled with verdant green and liquid blue. There was plenty of light, as if it were near to a sun, and yet just outside its orbit -- back within reasonable space -- the laws of physics proceeded as normal. No light.

Something else was sustaining SV 82223 Bb.

“Interesting,” said Vik, punching and tapping a series of holokeys, from where they stood on the bridge. “None of this is recorded in the charts. But the fold worked. It says we’re in the right place.”

“It’s got something to do with the key,” Steph said. “The key brought us here. Not just the ship.”

Vik didn’t seem completely satisfied with this explanation, but it wasn’t impossible. He shrugged.

“Should we go down?”

She laughed, because of course they would go down. He only smiled back at her, as they started moving towards the airlock and the jetlander. The put on their suits.

For their approach, they chose to touch down in the largest city, which was home to an enormous temple made of ancient stone. 

The computer on board had registered no life signs, other than the plant life and various species of small mammalian, reptilian, and aquatic life. This data had compounded Vik’s initial skepticism surrounding the strange planet, as the flora and fauna resembled Earthen lifeforms just a little too closely. Had this planet formed, with all the rest of the universe? Or had it been engineered?

Still, he could not explain any of it himself, and their attitude as a couple and as team had always been to explore first and attempt explanation or adjust methods later. It had worked out most of the time until this point. So they proceeded.

They both agreed that it seemed a little obvious to head straight for the temple. But Steph reminded Vik about the pattern with the cereal box and the bar code, which had led them seemingly to the right place. Also, the planet, on a sensory level, was just as brilliant on the surface as it had been from space. It all just felt right. 

There was a clear, open entrance to the old stone temple, that led to a tunnel. They went in.

The light from outside followed them, proceeding several feet ahead, like a guide. Was it only light, as they knew light? Or was it something more? At present, it didn’t matter.

Steph produced the key from her spacesuit, holding it out in her gloved palm, and went first. Vik followed, his dominant hand hovering closely enough to the laser pistol at his belt as to have it ready quickly, if necessary. Noticing this, Steph clucked at him.

“Really?”

“Like we haven’t needed it before.”

“We don’t need it now. Look.”

The key had begun to glow in her hands, a gentle blue at first, that grew brighter the further they moved into the center of the vast temple.

“Is it hot?” Vik asked.

“No. And yes. It doesn’t hurt, exactly. It’s more of a gravity than a heat. It’s bearable.”

“I should probably draw my laser.”

“Do not draw your laser.”

When they reached the end of the tunnel the light thad had been leading and surrounding them drifted up and out to illuminate a looming cavern. The key had become too bright to look at, requiring them both to dial up the filters on their helmets.

“Look,” Steph suddenly exclaimed.

Vik followed the general direction of her gaze, high up into the dissipating darkness of the cavern. A great metallic orb descended upon them, far enough away and at a slow enough rate that they felt no need to scramble.

It came to a gentle stop, on the ground in front of them. Nodding to each other, they approached together, clasping hands again automatically. There was cutout in the orb, in the shape of the key.

“Obviously, we have to try it.”

“Obviously.”

Instinctively, Steph proffered the key to the orb. It responded to this graceful approach by floating up from her palm, and then across the short distance between it and the lock.

Then nothing happened. They waited.

“Well,” Vik said.

“Something must be missing.”

“Indeed.”

They remained silent for a moment, then Steph huffed.

“What?” Vik said.

“Might need a push.”

His face brightened.

“Laser?”

“Yes, maybe.”

He withdraw the pistol, seemed to think about it, and then handed it over to her. This surprised and please Steph.

“Do the honors, milady.”

After a brief hesitation, she fired. A short, low-energy, warming blast, directly at the lock and key. The orb responded immediately, opening up amidst a rolling flash of brilliant blue light.

A majestic figure of a great bird rose before them. They knew, instinctively, what it was, and what it meant.

The Phoenix. The beginning of life.

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This story was commissioned by Vik, for Steph. It was written by Michael DiBiasio-Ornelas, via Last Site Press. To order your own Custom Short Story, click here.