February 27, 2559 C.E.

Tethys to Mars - Edith

Over the last seventeen days Tim had hardly slept, ate, drank, or interacted with the other members of his ship. Edith had just cleared the asteroid belt and only a couple of days away from Mars. He read and practiced. Jaedon had many books on the subject matter of his interest, but he was already past many of them.

Tim wanted to know everything he could about the energy that ruled the universe. Scientists discovered “Dark energy” in 1998 and studied a great deal since but never studied in a way that allowed the secrets to reveal themselves until the late 2070s. However, humans knew about this energy long before the 1900s, some say as early as the 200s B.C.E.

This energy was a cosmological constant but appeared to radiate from stars, planets, and to a lesser effect, all living things. Planets and stars were classified as ‘living things’ and they got added to a fourth domain of biology named “cosmae.” This discovery had occurred around 2090. However, much of the scientific discovery of humanity had ceased by 2095. Humanity did not advance any further.

Tim had refined his way of seeing the energy so that he could appropriately see the difference between taxonomies if he concentrated hard enough. As he relaxed on the floor, he lost himself in the energies around him. Then it resounded clearer than anything else around him. A person who had a vastly dissimilar experience. The person on the other end of the connection was not human. He was confident that he had found something, or someone, remarkable. The feeling, however, it was not his own, came back to him. Tim did not know what to do next.

He sat on the floor of the room. He was beginning to feel that he failed but decided to empty his mind instead. As he calmed down, he felt all the people in the ship again. There was an overwhelming confidence coming from the navigation room. Jaedon was sure, especially after what had happened before, that the war was now going to end in their favor. From Sam’s room, there was a newfound air of hope. Sam and Alestra were sitting there together and they had found companionship. Tim felt a warmth and calm in his heart and mind.

“Hello?” The voice was ethereal. Tim’s heart skipped a beat and his eyes popped open, and he jumped up into a defensive stance. His concentration broken in a heartbeat. The voice was gone. He had a feeling of panic as if someone were sneaking up on him, the room was still empty. He spoke aloud, “Was that what I think it was?” He tried to shake out of it.

He sat back down trying to clear his mind again. As he breathed deeply, he felt his compatriots on the ship again. Reaching out past the steel walls of the ship he felt again the void of space. There was energy there, but not a whole lot, not formed onto anything.

Then there it was again, the unexplainable energy. The energy that felt almost human but was not. He was the one that asked a question first. “Are you human?” This time he was ready when the response came in an ethereal voice in his mind “No. I am not.”

Tim breathed deeply. He was telepathic now. “You’ve clearly been watching me. Come teach me.”

“No, you have a gift you should nourish it yourself.”

“How?”

“You have started well.”

“Can we meet?”

“That violates the rules.”

“What rules?” Tim inquired mentally.

“I am not supposed to contact you.”

“You already are, and I contacted you.”

“Oh, good point. I will see you soon.”

A general warning alarm pulled him out of his own mind. A Public-Address announcement followed it. Tim instantly recognized the voice of Jaedon. “Can everyone please come to the navigation room. Something very odd just happened.”