Lighgretron

 

The day is January 20^th, 2284. A drastic breakthrough in research for habitable planets brought forth a suitable one just within Alpha Centauri, much more habitable than Mars. The funds for research for this were well met as global climate change had been out of control the last 200 years. It didn’t take long for a proposal for a manned mission to go there given the state of the earth. A spaceship was designed and erected capable of just not a few people but more than a 100 volunteers. As guessed, many were eager to make history however only specially designated scientists, geologists, biologists, and those very capable were allowed. Their task was massive: Colonization of another planet and the survival of the human race.

Large amounts of resources were put into building the ship. It was a humongous 5 miles in diameter, somewhat circular in design, dome shaped. The site used to build it, a sealed off square 100 mile zone. The last 150 years were spent in its creation. Now it was the day to launch. The day to launch the “Supremor.” It was given that name to symbolize new life for a new earth.

One of the key scientists taking part was Ubunan Del Gruke, a theoretical physicist and engineer. He would play a massive role onboard.

On the day of launch, Ubunan wanted to bring his cat a long being a gift from his aunt who found it injured and nutured it back to health. Getting old, she could no longer care for it and so Ubunan decided to. If he could not take it with him, his aunt would be his backup plan. Ubunan also dawned a large mushroom type hat. It was tan. His colleagues could never understand his tastes. As they boarded, Ubunan found out that he could not take it onboard. Discouraged, he handed it to his aunt who put it in a cage beside her. The cat did not have a name.                     

 

            With that said, everyone embarking on the journey made their way onboard, getting ready for the final phase before takeoff. It wasn’t like the traditional rockets that used to lift off only 100 years ago so procedures were different.  Ubunan's cat didn't seem to like this plan. The cage door was not properly closed allowing him to get out. This was completely unnoticeable as everyone was glued to the imminent launch that was to take place in only a short five minutes.

            The freed cat made his way onto the Supremor. It didn't take long to find an opening. This had gone unnoticed.  Lift off finally occurred not long after, hurling the Supremor way out of the earth’s atmosphere and into the eerie desolate space. Like a normal airplane ride, they would have to wait until they reached a certain altitude before they could walk around normally, as there was an artificial gravitation unit which generated gravity throughout the ship.

            It had now been only two hours into the journey.

            “So, Ubunan… Once we get back, do you think we’ll be considered great heroes in our time? Taking such risks to find another planet out there…” his friend Steve asked.

            “It’s difficult to say. I’m just so sick and tired of living on earth anyway,” he replied, feeding his pet. Just then there was a major rumbling noise jerking the ship, lights flickered, going out briefly and then came back on.

            “What the hell was that?!” Ubunan queried, knowing that no one really knew the answer that quickly.

            “How should I know? Maybe we’re under attack by aliens…”

            “Very funny. I’m going to the control center and see what’s going on.” His pet fox-cat hybrid followed with him, usually afraid to be without his master.

            “Ubunan Del Gruke… what brings you in here?” It was the commander of the ship. His voice was commanding… like it was meant to be, very easy was it to see he was meant for such a job. Unlike the others, his outfit consisted of mostly black. He also sported many medals and stripes.

            “Commander,  I am curious to know what that disturbance was just a few moments ago.”

            “A solar storm. Nothing to worry about. We’re equipped to handle such cases. It’s true they cause much distress amongst satellites, but I can assure you that we will be perfectly safe if any more pop up. This is especially true as we are at the closest point to the sun in our journey.”

            “Thank you, commander.”     

 

            Shortly after, the commander repeated what he had said to Ubunan on PA, announcing throughout the ship what had happened. Just then, at that point, the sun let out another solar flare. This time millions of times stronger than one ever recorded. This coronal mass ejection was also much more different than before. It traveled faster. With an astonishing amount of power, it impacted into the hull of the Supremor with enough force to destroy a small planet, but it was not damaged. All of its inhabitants were knocked unconscious. Some had even died.

            Ubunan woke up to see the ship in utter turmoil. There was panic stricken everywhere. No.. this couldn’t be happening. He had wanted to LEAVE from this. Now it was everywhere onboard the ship. There was almost no lighting. They must have lost power.  Ubunan managed to make his way to his backpack after feeling the walls to his cot and was able to feel for his flashlight. It didn’t work.

            “Just great. Either I’ve gone blind or the power is out. Even back up.”

 

             After a few minutes of pondering what had happened, he noticed some light coming from the hall. He looked intently, glad to see he hadn’t gone blind. But then something else caught his eye. As the source of light crept closer and into the door way, a very eerie display was placed before him. A strange creature approached with eyes glowing an eerie yellow which bathed the room in a soft glow, powerful enough to let anyone see what they’re doing. It stood upright, had a gray type of skin and cat like ears. There was no tail visible. Then he realized. This was his unnamed pet.

 

The light from his pet’s eyes pierced through the darkness. Ubunan looked at a mirror to see that his skin was no longer a flesh tone but a much more pale and yellow color. It was clear that everyone had been changed.

Using his pet as a guide, he could see there were numerous casualties onboard the ship. Many had died, but to his shock, his wife, Lynn was still alive but unconscious. It was very clear that everything didn’t go the way expected.

However, through all that, nothing could prepare him for what happened next. The creature before him opened his mouth and spoke.

“Father.”

 

Ubunan blinked.

"You can speak now?!"

Silence.

"I know I heard something."

"Who's there?" Came a cry down the corridor. They approached the light coming from the cat's eyes.

Realizing that his pet being on board could lead to problems and even ridicule he may not want to deal with, Ubunan quickly decided to dress his pet, putting on the first clothes he could find. Ubunan then reached for his hat and plopped it onto his pet's head who did not seem to mind. Realizing this only solved half the problem, he quickly rummaged through his room looking for some way to counteract the glowing eyes.

"I need some kind of light source. Hm." He grabbed a self sustaining light bulb and attached it to the top of the hat. It seemed to work. The glow was now barely noticeable.

"There we go."

 

"Ubunan! Good to see you're alright! Do you know what happened?" It was the commander.

"I have no idea. I remember a solar flare hitting us and then.. I guess it was another."

"Wait.. who is that?"

"Oh him?"

"Yes. I do not recall seeing him around here."

"His name is uh.. Lighthead. He's one of the doctors checking on everyone."

"Dr Lighthead?"
            "Yes. So what happened?"

"That last solar flare did something. We're not really sure. All we know is that we have no power and we're heading to the sun."

"Can we contact Mission Control?!"

"All our power is shot."

"So what do we do now?"

"Good question. Oh.. I need Lighthead to take a look at some of these patients." The realization of what Ubunan had just done quickly snapped into play realizing what was he thinking just a moment ago. Ubunan looked at Lighthead who was standing fairly still and then to the commander. Ubunan then began to formulate a sentence in his mind when...

"They'll be fine."

Lighthead spoke. Ubunan couldn't believe it, practically falling over. Words then filled the air again.

"Ah, good. I'll be on the bridge." With that said, the commander walked off, satisfied with that he heard. Ubunan, was obviously more than satisfied.

"Howw... how did you just speak just now?"

"I didn't really know how before but after hearing you and others talk I felt more comfortable."

"So that solar flare?"

"Yes. It did something."

 

The rest of the day was spent getting acquainted with eachother. They decided that this would be their little secret. It was also decided that Ubunan's pet, would from now on be referred to as Lighthead as he also welcomed the name. He also had no issue posing as a doctor. Everyone turned out okay anyway.

Days passed as they drifted in space. Contact to Earth could still not be made. The crew started to realize they weren't getting hungry and that they didn't really need to eat or at least not as often. They were still without power however. The only light that entered the ship was from the sun and it was slowly growing.

 

Isn't wasn't long however, Ubunan, being as resourceful as he normally was, decided that the only way to get power was to get it from the sun in the form of solar power. They did have solar panels but they were inside the ship. They would need to be installed outside the ship. Outside work had then gone into place with workers placing them outside the Supremor but they weren't nearly enough to generate enough power.  Frustrated with this Ubunan consulted his pet. Shockingly, Lighthead was able to develop a piece of technology that was able to convert material from the sun into a more desirable flexible material that could be used for whatever means. A form of matter manipulator. After many years of developing it, it was finally put into place. The Supremor was coated in a solar panel equivalent. This wasn't a moment too soon as only a few months later, it had plunged into the sun's corona.