Chapter 11: The Third Day of October 2349

“One more rock...” Raavi said with a grunt as he pushed himself up. “Come on ... come on!”

His hand had purchased as his barefoot clamped down to the edge of the protruding rock on the stone wall. The augmented foot acted like a vice to the stone. It wouldn’t disengage unless he pushed himself up. He looked around at his surroundings. There was no fear in his face as he gazed at the environment of Aphadus.

The great mountains of Aphadus dotted the entire planet. One side was always hot, and the other side in dark and frost, the area between the two regions allowed just enough lighting for him to see where he needed to go. The fact that the sun barely moved made it just as easy to associate where he was. Raavi knew that he was born in the right environment to do rock climbing. The mountains never shifted much, and it was pretty to look at. The reddish hue of the sun produced the calm purple to the distant lakes. The only thing that he had to worry about was the winds and storms that may come to impede his progress.

He shifted his foot and pressed it to another rock. The fact that he was hundreds of feet off the ground and stuck to a wall didn’t scare him. What would scare most human beings was nothing to him. As a rock climber, he felt that he was close to divine as possible. He wore a unique red and blue spandex suit that covered most of his body. He only had a climbing pick in one hand that he used to drive into the rocks. He preferred to have his other bare hand touch the stones to find the perfect areas to grab a hold.

“Yeah...” he said to himself. “One step ... at a time.” He pulled the rock climbing pick and slammed it into the rock face as small chunks of dirt fell to the ground below him. The pick was in securely as he saw another rock to grab with his other hand. His feet moved up and touched another set of jutting pieces of stone.

The mountain itself was a steep solid wall that must have been one of the highest jutting platforms in Aphadus’s soil. As he continued to climb, he could look over to the left and see the distant colony of his former home planet. He kept his breathing steady as he looked at the giant military base dome. Climbing the mountain was bringing back pleasant memories as he felt the obligation to continue.

His eyes looked back at one of the rocks as he then pulled the climbing pick, pulled his hand back, and then stabbed it higher up above him. He then pushed his feet up with a good purchase and then used his free hand to grab another rock.

Suddenly, the stone that he grabbed started to feel loose as he quickly grabbed another stone. His other hand already had a good grip of the pick, and his feet seemed to anticipate the climbing effect that his body was feeling. The loose rock came free from its confines as it slipped off and fell down hundreds of feet below him. It did not deter him as he kept moving up. He kept his breathing steady and calm. The lack of oxygen was one that he was used to. Climbers he knew would risk hyperventilating or passing out if they overexerted themselves as they climbed. Doing it while they climbed risked certain death.

“Almost there...” he said as he continued upward. He slammed his pick into the wall and could see a sizeable flat crevice in which he could rest and stop. A few more steps upward, and he would reach a flat area. There he would pull himself to stop and rest.

The temperatures were perfect as expected. The occasional breeze would hit him, but he was used to it. He took his time as he paused and took in whatever cool air he could take. A little bit of sweat ran down his brow, but it was nothing more than from the workout of doing it. His fingers were beginning to ache. He devoted what he had left to get up the side of the wall. He pulled the pick out and drove it a foot below the edge. He noticed that there was only a small rock that was barely enough for both his feet to be pressed upon. He decided to take the risk and use his augmented right foot to press it against the wall. It emitted a blue glow to it as it clamped to the side with ease. There was enough now for him to reach with his left hand at the edge. Using his strength, he pulled himself enough that he used his pick one last time to drive it up the surface of the aperture. His augmented foot disengaged, and he pulled himself over the edge and into the crevice.

“Ugh...” he grunted as he leaned up into the crevice. There was more room than he realized. It was almost shaped like a hollowed-out seat for him. The stone formed a spot where he could overlook everything with ease. He slapped the pick into the stone and could feel a sense of relief overcome him. He once again remarked at the environment as he felt a little bit lightheaded. He looked at the other direction of the base and capital of Aphadus. The valley itself was filled with the black plants that grew away from the mountainous area. Some trees were above him if he continued to climb upward. The air quality was finally starting to get to him. He knew that it was safe for him to rest at this place and catch his breath. He closed his eyes momentarily as he let his body relax.

For Raavi, he felt a sense of accomplishment as he knew how high he had climbed. He wiggled his toes as he knew the augmented feet once again performed their job as it was intended. No divine help was needed. Science and human engineering would gain the prize for this moment. Something still seemed to bother him, though, as he looked at his feet. The skin was colored perfectly to match his bronze complexion, but he would look at the hair of his toes and see the slight differences between the strands of his legs and his feet.

“You enjoy being up here?” a boy’s voice called out to him. It startled Raavi a little bit as he shook at his spot. He was not expecting to hear anybody that would be near him, let alone being hundreds of feet above the ground. He turned to his right to see a boy of dark complexion sitting next to him. The alcove allowed enough room for the small boy of Africa to sit comfortably with his legs and feet dangling over the edge of the crevice cliff side. Dressed in what was called a kanzu, it was a traditional red dress that some wore in places of former East Africa.

“Yes, yes,” a girl’s voice called out to Raavi’s left side. “The view is pleasant up here. To enjoy it, do you not?”

Raavi turned to see a girl also dressed in what was called a kanga and gomesi. It was blue colored and reflected the opposite gender of her brother. She was also sitting on the opposite side of Raavi on the other side of the alcove. Her feet did not dangle off the edge, and instead, she was looking at the environment. For Raavi, he knew it was the Ibeji Twins again, probably enjoying the moment that he was doing.

“I guess you came to watch me rest from the climbing,” Raavi remarked to the both of them as he looked ahead and down the scenery of the forever sunset of Aphadus.

“Came here, yes,” Taiwo said.

“Saw you resting,” Kehinde added. “Enjoy watching you challenge your environment.”

“Finished up with duty?” Raavi asked.

Both of the twins nodded. “Yes,” Kehinde replied. “Time to play.”

“Play for the both of us,” Taiwo added.

“Ugh ... unfortunately,” Raavi said. “With me ... a little hard to play when I am like hundreds of feet from the ground.”

“Why do you climb so much?” Taiwo asked.

“Your climbing, why is it so?” Kehinde asked along with her brother.

“Because it is there,” Raavi replied. “I love climbing. Since I was a kid, I always ran out of the home and found a hill to climb. I just loved doing it. Scared my parents half to death when they found me climbing one of the plateau sides. I must have made it fifty feet up before they were screaming at me and calling a shuttle to come ‘rescue me.’ I told them that I didn’t need a shuttle, but they got the hint that I had rock climbing skills.”

“How old were you when you climbed?” Kehinde asked.

“Your age, when did it happen?” Taiwo asked.

“Simple,” Raavi continued. “I was just about your age ... err ... well ... approximately the age that you physically appear to be.”

Both of them smiled as Taiwo swung his legs and feet over the edge. “You climb with such basic equipment,” he said.

“Why is that?” Kehinde asked.

“Ah...” Raavi remarked as he looked at his hands. “Nothing feels better than to feel the natural rock face with your fingertips. I even constructed my own rock climbing tools without the need of a lot of the artificial high tech stuff when I was young. To me, you climb and know the land well enough. You can judge the dirt and rocky interface enough to tell what will work and what will give. Some of the experienced rock climbers end up relying too much on their technology and pay with the consequences.”

“Your feet are not real,” Taiwo said as he pointed his finger to his feet.

“Your feet are not a natural process to your climbing,” Kehinde commented.

“Yeah ... and?” Raavi asked.

“You rely on something that helps you climb,” Taiwo said.

“The feet help you climb, but it is mortal technology at its best,” Kehinde added.

“Yeah, I admit it does help me out a lot,” Raavi said.

“You always display some frustration when you look at your feet,” Kehinde said.

“The frustration is something that is caused when you look down,” Taiwo added.

“Ugh ... just something that reminds me of things that I don’t want to talk about,” Raavi answered in his best way possible.

“You hold secrets,” Taiwo said.

“Secrets that you have not told anybody,” Kehinde added.

“Yeah, well, they are my secrets to keep,” Raavi answered.

“Secrets that might hurt us,” Kehinde continued.

“Secrets that might hurt you,” Taiwo said.

“Trust me ... they won’t hurt anybody,” Raavi added. “I wouldn’t have come to this ship otherwise.”

Both the twins smiled. “We are not worried about our wellbeing,” both of the twins said at the same time. “Raavi, you are a good friend and playmate.”

“I got to admit, you twins are certainly are something,” Raavi said. “In some ways, I wish I never grew up.”

“There are ways that can be accomplished here at New Olympia,” Kehinde replied.

“Yes, mortals can live much longer lives here in the company of the gods,” Taiwo added.

“I meant that figuratively speaking,” Raavi said. “Just, the prize of youth and being able to climb is something that will naturally phase-out of me.”

“Parents may say that,” Kehinde said.

“Adults can do things we can’t and abandon things that they were good at,” Taiwo added.

“Yeah ... you are right,” Raavi said. He did his best to hide his emotions, but the twins were good at seeing his facial inflections.

“You are troubled, Raavi,” Taiwo said.

“We can see it in your face,” Kehinde concluded.

“What is a human mortal in the face of gods supposed to do when my home planet is going to be wiped out?” Raavi answered. He sighed. “Several months after Eutera is taken, another colony is about to be taken by the Itreans. One of my cousins just moved to Cipra. He is dead now, I am sure of it.”

“He isn’t dead,” Kehinde said.

“He is within you now,” Taiwo added.

“Unfortunately, that is only the tip of the iceberg,” Raavi said. “I have been keeping up with the news, and they pretty much say that the UHN is going to be wiped out if things don’t improve. This planet ... my former home, is completely vulnerable to being wiped out. They won’t even send any additional ships to defend it because they are trying to protect the most vital and strategic worlds instead of places like Aphadus. I am no military person, but I feel trapped ... I don’t know what else that I can do about it.”

“The hardship of being a god is not an easy one,” Kehinde said.

“The hardship of being human is equally not as easy,” Taiwo added.

“Seems like you mythics have it pretty easy, honestly,” Raavi said. “I am just along with the ride as I watch you guys.”

“Children we like to be,” Taiwo said.

“Never have to worry about growing up,” Kehinde added.

“We never grow up. We have fun and play.”

“We never experience what troubles the adults so much.”

“We never see the hardships that the adults see and feel.”

“We miss this greatly. It can never be undone.”

“We live as children forever and care about the worlds around us,” both twins said at the same time.

“I can only imagine what you kids have had to see...” Raavi said as he looked at the red star from his former home.

“Many hardships,” Kehinde said.

“Death and destruction,” Taiwo added.

“Africa was our home.”

“Land of birth, greatness, regret, fun, death, and despair.”

“Africa has survived much despair.”

“HIV, corruption, poverty, and its own tragic attacks from beyond...”

“And to itself.”

“The children suffer the most for they grow up to become adults,” both twins said at the same time.

“Yeah, but the people of former Africa have a home now ... Oshun,” Raavi added.

“How did that happen?” Taiwo asked.

“That is the question you must ask,” Kehinde said.

“Africa survived its hardships.”

“They gave homes to those that lost their homes as the sea levels rose.”

“They accomplished much as many others gave up on Africa.”

“The many did not care about what happened to there. Both the Africans and the ones outside of Africa are clearly to blame.”

“But all were agreed that Africa did not give up,” both the twins said at the same time.

“When the colonies were forged,” Kehinde said. “Oshun was created. Africa survived.”

“Against all odds, they found a great home of mostly water,” Taiwo added.

“Against what was expected, Oshun is a land of people that never gave up where many of the children can play once again.”

“Just the same as you, Raavi.”

“The human race will survive,” both the twins said. “They will survive these events and carry on, just like Africa did.”

It took time for Raavi to consider it. Coming from two child twin gods, he felt more assured by them but only by so much.

“You are right,” Raavi replied to both of them. “We, the human race, have survived through a lot of the crap that was thrown out there. I can only hope that it will be all true.”

The twins said nothing else in regards to the argument as Raavi finally slapped his knees. He had enough of the discussion and wanted to move on.

“Computer, end simulation,” Raavi said out loud.

With that, the environment fizzled out of existence and was replaced with a substantially long cubical room. The cliffside and alcove vanished and were replaced with a solid floor on their feet and butts. The climbing pick evaporated into nothingness, and Raavi’s clothes changed back into his usual attire. The New Olympian simulator was a fancy piece of technology. It was nothing more than a chrome-colored silver room with a simple sliding door that led in and out. Heavy-duty non-seen array projectors lined the entire layout of the room. Everyone stood up as the twins looked up at the adult that towered over them. There were innocent smiles displayed on their faces.

“You are leaving,” Kehinde said.

“Leave, you must?” Taiwo asked.

“Yeah, I had enough climbing for now,” Raavi commented to them. “I suppose the simulator is yours to play around with. I am returning to the Captain.”

“Always remember, Raavi,” Taiwo said as he pointed his finger at him. “A father to a baby will make a great child.”

“A father to their child is an ultimate sacrifice,” Kehinde added. “You have never abandoned your family.”

“You will make a great father,” both of them said.

He nodded his head to the two kids. “I will keep all of that in mind ... thank you,” he told them. He gave a brief smile to them as he proceeded to leave the massive room. He said nothing else as he stepped up to the door. It slid open as he stepped out. The two twins looked at the closing door and then at each other.

The door opened up as Raavi stepped into the bridge. The door closed behind him as he knew where Opet was at. She would definitely be on watch again, and he knew that it was best to be by her side.

As he overlooked the balcony that looked over to the enormous projection screen, he could see a large nebula. The galactic core of the Milky Way Galaxy was nothing more than a wonder to behold. At much closer distances with it, it was like being enveloped with bright light. The massive stars surrounding the area were both a symbol of the strength and true identity of what a galaxy was. It was both beautiful and frightening to look at. The core was both a harbinger of mass and energy that projected outward. It carried the engines that spun the galaxy and provided the elements necessary for life to develop. It was also the place that brought death.

Raavi was used to these sights, but each time was different and at different locations. In the background, Opet had the music song Space Oddity that was performed by David Bowie. He had heard all the music that the former goddess had listened to and could identify almost every song. He looked down the balcony to see that Opet was perched on the large couch. She was in her military uniform, but it was modified because of her physical appearance and changes. Her pregnancy was something that could not be blocked out by the uniform. Instead, it was designed where the belt never existed. Her belly stretched out to her full term. He knew that she was near her time to give birth ... if she wanted to.

A part of him displayed some discouragement. He was happy to see her near the end of her pregnancy, but another part of him was nervous. It was something that he needed to discuss with her. He left the balcony and proceeded down the stairs that would lead to the main portion of the room.

When he looked at the large display, it was like looking at a theater of the universe. He continued his trek forward as he admired the scene. He knew that the ship was much closer to the galactic core than any human-made ship. Even the great Gabatrix would have dreamed of having traveled this far. It was like staring down at nothing but lights. Blue stars, red stars, orange stars ... it was all there in the greatest concentration of gases and material that could ever be seen. The transport that was over two hundred meters in length was little more than a speck of dirt in a beach that was staring at the solar system. The gods’ power, the ability to fold space, and the most incredible combinations of technology made everything possible, and Raavi had front row seats to the cosmos.

His hands still hurt slightly from the climbing as he reached the long couch where Opet was sitting. Perched on her side, she seemed perfectly relaxed and was admiring the view of what beheld her. Her crocodile tail flowed along with the couch and over the side. She had her hand perched on her chin and had a slight grin on her face. It was like she was in her element. The right music was playing, and the computer’s scanners were running at full power, gathering as much data as possible. How long the ship had been here and what it was doing exactly didn’t seem to matter to her. Raavi could notice that she was almost meditating in some ways to the sight.

“It is so beautiful,” she said finally as she noticed his presence. “We are about 7,000 parsecs from Earth and staring down the galactic core.”

“It feels so intimidating,” Raavi remarked.

“It is beautiful,” she said. “I sometimes question why humanity ever needed religions. This is why I think the mortals should forget about us. There is so much more out there than we ever imagined. The universe is bigger than we ever imagined.”

“So many stars...”

“Over 11 million ... the computer is still measuring and calculating it,” she whispered as she turned to look at him. “Most of the stars are red giants ... W types ... O types ... even hypergiants. These are where the big boys reside. Stars that are so huge that it makes Sol look like a toy.”

“Like how big?”

“Computer, show the size comparison of one of the nearest stars from us. Use the current known stars colonized by humanity and then show the nearest one from us.”

The projection showed Sol and the star of Aphadus together. The two stars were glowing with light as Sol was zoomed out a little bit to depict the other stars. The Red dwarf star of Aphadus was so small that Sol easily towered over it. In fact, the star of Aphadus was almost the size of Jupiter. It had nearly the star mass of 0.4 M⊙, with Sol obviously being 1.0 M⊙. The entire projection began to zoom out a lot until both the stars were nothing more than dots looking at a giant ball. The nearest star had a measurement of 12.0 M⊙.

“Whoa...” Raavi remarked.

“Computer, now show the size comparison of Canis Majoris. Superimpose the distance radius orbit of Sol’s planets along with it.”

The projection then began to zoom out more as the planets of the Sol system were added to it. The great star of Canis Majoris was nothing more than a titan of the Milky Way Galaxy. Bigger than Betelgeuse. More significant than most stars out there, it measured at 17.0 M⊙ and had a radius that consumed all the planets reaching Saturn’s orbit.

“Most of the stars here are around this type,” Opet remarked. “These stars live young and give off explosions so large that Vishnu might as well be throwing off firecrackers in space.”

“It really is amazing,” Raavi commented.

“Computer, show the location of Sagittarius A. Magnify the image and show its current activity.”

“Any sight of the Itreans?”

Opet shook her head. “Nah. I doubt they would find much here. Once you get closer and closer to the galactic core, the radiation field generated from all of this is too much ... assuming that they are just like you. This place is a little too dangerous to be around in.”

“Why is that?”

A yellow box appeared on the screen that highlighted a small portion of the massive star cluster. Among the millions of stars seen, the box narrowed down an area that seemed like nothing. The center of the Milky Way was nothing but red and yellow hue everywhere. The massive disk and line of light practically engulfed the ship. The box moved around and then began to zoom in on this Sagittarius A. At the moment, he had no idea what she wanted to look at. The image zoomed in more and more on the image as the giant stars flew past it. It did this for almost ten seconds as it seemed like a sprinkling of fine white, red, and blue dots flew past the screen till it finally reached it. Perched in the very center was a void of space. The galactic core, the very center of the galaxy, was like nothing he had ever seen before.

The image had zoomed in on Sagittarius A. It was a massive black hole in space. A remarkable and frightening aspect to look at, the collapsed star was little more than a black sphere with a red aura around it. As the light from the background radiated toward it, a warping image was also generated near the center portion of the mass.

“Looks like Sagittarius A is eating up a star,” she remarked.

Raavi folded up his arms as he looked at it. “A black hole?”

“One of the biggest in the galaxy,” she explained. “The life and death of those stars. When they die, they become that.”

“They do nothing but consume everything around it...”

He continued to watch it as he paused in his conversation. The image was breathtaking to watch. The matter of some small star was being ripped apart and jettisoned into the event horizon where it would never escape.

“I never understood why you can see black holes,” Raavi remarked.

“With typical human eyesight, you can’t,” she said. “What you are seeing is the matter that is being sped up, causing friction. It is emitting the light that you see. Once the matter reaches the event horizon, it is gone. That is why the sphere itself is solid black.”

“What about that ... um ... the distortion around it?”

“It is warping space around it. Its gravity is so dense that it is bending everything around it. Even time is affected.”

“What?”

She paused as she smiled at the picture. “We are safe enough away from it, but time itself operates differently there.”

He shook his head. “Feels like it is nothing but death there.”

She nodded her head. “Computer, using the projection of the Sol system, I want you to show the event horizon of a typical black hole and superimpose it to the orbits of the planets.”

The projection image of the sizes of the star was dropped, and instead, a black sphere was imposed onto Sol. The smaller average size was that of about 5.0 M⊙. Even with that mass, the event horizon was actually tiny when compared to Sol. Its visual radius was about that of around 10 to 20 kilometers in diameter, whereas Sol’s diameter was that of around 1.3 million kilometers. The image zoomed out more and more, so much that Sol was becoming a speck of glowing dirt. It was here that Raavi’s jaw dropped. Sagittarius A’s size was that of about 4 million M⊙. Its event horizon had a diameter range of over 12 million kilometers.

“Wha!?” were Raavi’s only words.

“It is so huge, Raavi,” Opet calmly explained. “It stretches out from Sol to the orbital range of Venus and Earth. That was a star once. Most of those smaller black holes come from stars that are around the ones that we were looking at. To be able to make Sagittarius A...”

“It was much bigger...”

Opet nodded her head. “And to think that this supermassive black hole isn’t even the biggest out there. Our knowledge of these things grows more and more as time progresses. The ship’s engines are idle, and we are currently drifting. Even at this range, that black hole that we are looking at is moving us. It is doing the same thing as every star is doing right now. A collapsed star is still a star, and it is driving the mass around it. We are in a galactic orbit. Sol is a part of that very system.”

“Are we in danger of being pulled into it?”

“No ... you have to go towards it before it will ever try to do it. We are so far away from it that we are never going to see it happen unless we teleport to it.”

“Amazing ... so it is basically a cosmic engine of some sorts?”

“A long time ago, I grew up in the sands of Egypt,” she explained as she shifted her body to look at him. “I knew of the planet and the world that I lived on. I had no other desire but to look at the tedium and joys of life. I admired nature that was all around me. In time, I watched as Earth slowly faded away as it became uninhabitable. That was the universe to me. It was the universe for a lot of us. I almost took my life because I felt that my soul was destroyed when Earth went ... then I got this ship.” She smiled as she looked at him. “I realized that we are a part of something that is so much more. Nature was never destroyed because it still continues all around us. The gods ... the mythics ... the humans ... the Itreans ... we are all a part of this system. My beliefs were altered the moment that I viewed these spectacles more and more. These are the things we need to see more and more and enjoy the people around us. These are the things that I want our children to see and experience.”

Raavi watched as she put her hand to her belly and rubbed it a little bit. He said nothing as he still felt the need to say something that was bothering him.

“You have had to be so patient,” she continued. “Two years of waiting ... I know that it hasn’t been easy for you.”

“Yeah,” he said as he scratched the back of his head. “I can’t believe that it went by that fast.”

“The tedium of this ship is one that allows me to see the universe now. Having all the great luxuries is one that I know can be tiring eventually. I am thankful that you have managed through all of this.”

“The Itreans almost have Cipra. I don’t know if the UHN can properly win this war.”

She nodded her head. “I hope things will be alright with your family back home. I feel as powerless as you are in this. At least we have each other and a baby that is on our way. How was the climbing today?”

“I went and climbed the plateau walls of Mount Fren on Aphadus,” he said as he looked at his hands. “That simulator does such a good job with recreating things. I must have climbed that wall over three times, and it felt so real.”

“And you can’t get hurt from it either.”

He shrugged. “I never needed any safeties. I used the same tools that I had and was able to scale it without any difficulty.”

“Hmmm ... regardless ... I don’t want to have to send Qing to go and heal you if you fall.”

“I will never fall,” he assured her.

“Have you ever tried climbing some of the former Earth locations yet?”

“Yes, I climbed Railay Beach and Gibraltar Rock so far.”

“I have a Greek friend that would recommend Kalymnos to you.”

“Slanted walls?”

“I don’t remember. You know I am not the rock climber type, but I think you should check it out.”

“Hmmm ... I will give it a try,” Raavi said as he looked at the display one last time. He decided it was time to say something, and Opet could see it in his face.