Thursday, January 18, 2024

The Galaxies Beyond: A Space Opera Short Story

 NOTE: The following story takes place in the same universe as my books Next Star Over and Next Star Over: Into the Past. That said, I did my best to structure this story un a way where it can be read without needing to read either book. This is just a fun little exercise to show people that you can do a lot with just a few hundred words. Don’t take it too seriously.


THE GALAXIES BEYOND

Henry N. Silva


Year 9007 A.V.


The Star-Drifter and the Wiseone look to the wormhole ahead…

The large void of darkness, with its barely-visible rim, remains still in the vacuum of space, as the pair of visitors eye it carefully from the cockpit of their starship. For a second, the Star-Drifter squints, barely able to make out the faint reflection of her burgundy uniform, as well as the blueish, grayish coat of her companion, another young woman, much like herself…

“I don’t understand,” the Drifter says out loud.

The Wiseone looks over, “What is there not to understand?”

“Finding out the secrets of the universe is what you people do. Us Drifters are just work-for-hire temps, really. Why bring me along?”

“We have been friends for a long time, have we not?” The Wiseone grins, “I had figured you would be curious enough to want to see this.”

The Drifter laughs, “I guess I am, yeah.” She looks back towards the wormhole, “Where do you think it goes?”

“To a galaxy beyond, one would assume.”

“And what’d you think we’ll find there? If we go someday, I mean.”

“Perhaps other Drifters and Wiseones.”

The red-clad woman laughs once more, “Be serious!”

“Who says I am not?” The Wiseone elaborates, “There is reason to believe that others of our kinds became lost in faraway galaxies long ago. The unknown may not be so strange.”

In that very moment, as if somehow on cue, an exotic-looking starship suddenly emerges from the wormhole, making its way towards the Drifter and Wiseone. Soon enough, they are able to make out the details of the visiting ship’s cockpit. There they see a pair of young men, with uniforms not too dissimilar from that of their own…

The unknown may not be so strange…


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