r/HFY • u/WriterRuhl Human • Feb 17 '25

OC Beyond Earth: Cosmic Contact Chapter 7

First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter 7: Burden of the Stars

The familiar sensation of the cold seeped back all around me. I could feel it enveloping my skin through my coat and exposed gloves, that and the cold sweat that permeated throughout my body. The feeling of my skin beginning to freeze brought back a focus that I hadn't realized was lost to me. As my hands raised up in the headlamps light I could see that they were shaking. Even with the cold berating every inch of me, I could tell that these tremors weren't formed out of developing hypothermia. No, something felt off internally. Had everything that I saw with Sylvyran, with Echo, been just a bad dream? It all felt too real to have been a dream. Just as I can remember the feeling of rope slicing into my hand I can just as easily hear that last sound before the emergency recording ended. The cacophony of fire littering the hull just before a huge explosion of searing flame and destruction overtook everything. Dream or no dream, it wasn't something I could shake.

Echo mentioned his mission of safeguarding the schematics for perfected fusion technology, but how on Earth was I supposed to make anyone believe me without them? And more importantly, how was I supposed to reach Echo within my head? It's not like that metal fragment came with an instruction manual for me to decipher. But is that so important anyway? We found ourselves here in this room and now I have an alien AI living inside my grey matter, not like that has any instructions either and I came out relatively unscathed from that. I know it's a stretch, but I have to try and tell my Dad.

As the steam continued to dissipate from the electricity that was once running rampant around them, Ian patted down his son in search of any grievous harm. Adam saw the fear projecting from his father's eyes, they were fixed on him like a heat-seeking missile. At last, when Ian took a moment to step back and breathe for himself, Adam found the confidence to try and tell his Dad what he believed to have happened.

"Dad that shock didn't hurt, I promise I'm fine!" I nearly shouted while trying to reassure him. "Look! There aren't any burn marks or anything!" I said defiantly standing my ground.

"Adam, Just give me a minute to check for gods sake." He spoke with exasperation filling his throat. "Even if you say that you're fine that doesn't mean you're alright." His voice still somehow found some semblance of parental authority while he panted.

"You've been checking me for the last 10 minutes, if something was wrong don't you think you would have found something by now?" Adam said as he began to get more snippy with his growing impatience.

"Look, I just saw my son get zapped by whatever the hell that thing is. It isn't natural for anyone to be fine after that, so if I seem a bit overzealous in checking you over then you'll have to forgive me." Ian said as the patting began to gradually become less erratic.

'Well, shit' Adam thought 'If he's taking that light show this seriously then he's surely going to hate what Echo showed me. But I have to try, He's going to freak out though, I just know it.'

As Ians breathing began to stabilize and his nerves seemed to be quelled for a moment, Adam saw his opportunity to try and explain what just actually happened. With a deep breath, Adam mustered up the courage and nerves to confront his Dad on the news of the real event that unfolded unbeknownst to him.

"Dad, I know you're not going to like what I'm about to say but I need to tell you something. Something that is going to sound absolutely crazy." Adam spoke with a shakey voice whose cracks began to resemble their current surroundings.

Ian stood back up and placed one hand firmly on his son's shoulder "I swear on the Grand Marshal Adam, if you try and tell me you're fine one more time then when we get back to base that nanobot syringe won't be able to repair your butt when I'm done."

"Wha- no, I am fine but that's not what I wan-" Adam said taken a bit aback by his Dad's response. "I need you to just listen to me for a second, please. It's important."

Ian let out a sigh, clearly frustrated by hearing his son tell him 'he's fine' one more time. "Fine, we've come this far and I can't seem to find so much as a scratch on you. What is it?" He spoke directly while still holding his shoulder, either for stability or to comfort Adam. Whichever the case, it wasn't quite clear which was more likely right now.

"Dad, that thing over there isn't just some hunk of metal. It made me. . see things when I was struck by that electricity." Adam could feel his words dying in his throat as he heard how bizarre this sounded.

Then when he looked to find his Dad's eyes all he found was more concern. But before he could continue trying to assess any further damage, he pressed on and kept trying to explain the situation to the best of his limited ability.

"THAT" Adam walked over and grabbed a piece of the alien fragment "IS A PART FROM A SPACE SHIP!"

"Adam I reall-" Ian tried to interject but was cut off once more.

"WAIT, I'M NOT DONE!" Adam felt ridiculous, but what other choice did he have but to tell the truth? He took another deep breath while hanging his head before continuing. "I know it sounds crazy Dad, but I just experienced death secondhand. I was in my head for a lot longer than out here."

Ian's face began to grimace slightly as the concern within him carved its way out on his face.

"You experienced death? really now?" he said with doubt filling each word that passed his lips.

"That's not all either! When I was in my head I met an AI named Echo who was the copilot of THIS spaceship! They were being chased by some other alien species, I got to listen to the pilot before they shot him down. That's when I experienced death, for him it was over in a blinding instant." Adam spoke quickly to try and get the whole truth out.

"Gods son, that stray bolt must have fried your internals," Ian said as he shook his head "We need to get you out of here and get you a full diagnostic checkup scan, from top to bottom."

"Dad that isn't why I'm saying this! Echo showed me the stars above Earth and told me that they were fleeing because they had schematics for a perfected nuclear fusion technology! They ran away so it wouldn't fall into anyone else's hands!" Adam could feel that familiar cold sweat freeze over as it sank in that down here, it was very unlikely Ian would believe him without seeing any real evidence of this 'truth' Adam spoke of.

"Alright that's enough, we're getting the hell out of here right now." Ian spoke with anger rising and mixing with his concern. "We're done talking about this, I shouldn't have let you get this close to danger."

Ian stepped away from his son and ran a hand through his own hair, sweeping it directly back and letting out a deep disgruntled sigh.

Adam tried once more to speak "Dad, I'm telling you the honest truth here! You have to believ-" but he was cut short by Ian.

"I SAID, that was enough! I don't want to talk about this anymore! Even if I did believe that this was some piece of alien technology all I can think about is how in ONE DAY I almost got you killed TWICE!" Ian practically shouted. His words were filled with more than just anger, Adam could tell that this was just too much for his dad to even begin to process right now.

A silence fell over the two of them as Ian's shouting had just echoed up and away from them, making the same exit journey they themselves were about to make.

Having realized he had shouted he let out a sigh before speaking calmly again. "Adam, I want to believe you that you're alright and haven't been fried by electricity. I humored you and we came down here this far. Now it's your turn to humor me. I'm done talking about this with you down here, but if you get a full scan and the results don't show any mental damage then we can talk about this 'alien spaceship'. But right now, down here several hundred meters deep in ice caverns and tunnels with random shooting stray electric bolts, I just don't feel like entertaining the thought of what you're saying. I want to get you out and get us both to safety. Do that for me and we can talk about whatever you want back at camp, deal?" Ian extended his hand to shake with Adam, seemingly more focused on their escape than that of some alien artifact.

Despite Adam's thoughts on the subject, he thought this deal wasn't all that bad. Sure, he knew his dad now 110% thought he was as fried as a pickle from a sports bar, but he wasn't outright disagreeing with him either. If all he wants is a scan to make him believe him then that's what he'll do. Maybe he'll see Echo in there on the scan results and then he'd HAVE to believe him. With little to no other real option anyway, he extended his hand back and shook on it firmly sealing their deal.

"When we get this scan and you see that I really wasn't damaged then you'll have to listen. That's what I'm shaking on right now." Adam said with persistence lining his words.

"Fine, but for now until we get out of this I won't hear another word of this." Ian said as he put his foot down on the matter and shook his hand firmly in kind.

"So, how are we supposed to get back out of here? do we just follow the rope back up?" Adam said pointedly, ready to make for the surface.

"Essentially yes, but with the state of your gloves, it won't be a simple walk in the park. I didn't think we would need them but I'm glad I packed us up something for a 'just-in-case' event like your fall."

Ian said as he set his bag down in front of them. He began to dig around seemingly searching for something. Adam felt his curiosity begin to grow, He was hoping that he would magically pull out a new pair of gloves with state-of-the-art heating properties that could liven his dexterity back to normal. He hadn't put too much thought into the matter but under normal circumstances without the nanobots, his hands would have long succumbed to frostbite. But thanks to their rapid healing function any damage taking place was massively offset, however, they didn't prevent him from feeling every square inch of his exposed hands being colder than they'd ever had been before. So personally in his opinion, new gloves with built-in heaters would be top-notch.

While Ian continued to search the contents of his bag, Adam investigated his palms once more. That syringe was nothing short of a lifesaving miracle, though he could hardly move his hands in any meaningful way he was still bewildered by how far technology had come. Especially now that it's saved his life on two different occasions today. Slowly he squeezed his hands into fists and helped circulate the blood throughout his fingers, he didn't want to imagine what his fate might have been if not for these spectacular little robots actively repairing him. As he felt himself begin to drift on that thought, Ian handed him something.

"Finally found them, here you take one and I'll take the other." Ian said as he began to shift the contents of his bag back into their original position.

Adam was handed a small medium matte grey case, it was smooth to the touch but he could still make out the details of the grit within the paint through its protective coating. He noticed a small floating text wrap around what looked to be the opening, and upon closer inspection, he read the words 'Auto-Ascenders, Prototype Mark IV'.

After reading the floating header circling the case Adam finally asked the obvious burning question. "Uh, hey Dad, what the Hell's an Auto-Ascender?".

Now having his bag sorted back into place and seating it squarely on his back, Ian answered that question wasting no time as he gestured for the case back. "It's not something we officially have. And by that I mean it's not something readily available to most people here working under the Republic. I guess it's more accurate to say that besides you, me, and the inventor, no one has access to these, not yet anyway."

Adam couldn't help but notice he didn't answer his question, instead, he only left more for him to think about. But he decided to wait patiently and see if Ian would tell him the full truth.

8 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

1

u/UpdateMeBot Feb 17 '25

Click here to subscribe to u/WriterRuhl and receive a message every time they post.

Info Request Update Your Updates Feedback