The Intergalactic Paradox

The evening sun pours its last light into the windows of the little house as the brisk knock

comes upon Augustus Perry’s door. The old man watches as his watch blinks from 7:59 to 8:00.

His son has arrived. Orville Perry. Always punctual, precise, and polite. So polite, in fact, that

Orville refuses to invite himself to the his father’s house, even now that Augustus’s age is

showing more than ever before. The lonely father consequently tries to extend an invitation to

him as often as possible. This invitation in particular has a greater purpose than simple father-

son bonding time. A secret is being held. Augustus’s heart flutters with nerves as he approaches

the door, even though he has prepared a three-course meal for themselves to eat before the true

importance of this night’s meeting is revealed. He braces himself, takes a deep breath, and turns

the doorknob.

Have a seat, Orville. And you may as well get comfortable, this may take a good deal of

time. I’ve been debating this internally for months, but my mind is made up. I trust you enough. I

hope you will forgive me for withholding this story from you for so long, but I have never shared

this with a soul save those directly involved. I’m nervous. I can see you’re already anxious as

well, but I must ask that you please allow me to finish before you ask any questions. This is

difficult enough as it is to get through. Now, after running through this conversation in my head

for the last few months, I still have no better place to begin than at the beginning. Some of this

may sound familiar to you at first, as I’ve told you about my education before.

This goes back to my childhood. I’ve always had a fascination with outer space, and

when I was in elementary I can remember playing make believe space games with my friends.
We would run around at recess and chase imaginary aliens, then hop into our space cruisers (a

space cruiser, you must understand, was still a very novel idea at the time) and fly to an

uncharted planet. One thing led to another and I found myself graduating college and headed to

NASA for a possible position as an astronaut. 2064. That was a good year. My life was full of

promise and I was reaching out for my dreams like a child for a jar of cookies.

Now, up to this point you’re probably familiar with everything I’ve said. You’re ready to

hear once again about how I eventually accepted a job at Harvard as an astrophysics professor, as

it paid higher and was closer to my childhood home. You’re anticipating the tale of how I fell in

love with your mother, and how we gave up our careers at the university to open our little

crafting business here in Maine. You’re expecting the sorrowful tale of how your mother passed

away when you were still young, and how I raised you and took care of the family business up

until a few years ago. Son, I’m sorry if this all seems deceptive. I really have told the truth in all

of this. Just not the whole truth.

Do you really think a young astronaut like me, full of potential and zeal for his career,

would simply walk away from it all to pursue crafting? It took a lot to break me away from that

life. Maybe more than anyone alive today could ever possibly imagine. This is not a joke. You

must believe this no matter how absurd it sounds. I, in fact, along with my colleagues, attempted

to destroy all evidence that this had ever occurred some years back. The world seems to have

forgotten, and I am indeed thankful for that.

What I am going to tell you about next may seem like a wild tangent, but I’m going to go

over some world events, now of course considered historic. The year after I arrived at NASA

was 2065. Something huge happened to the world that year. You know all about it from your

school days I’m sure, but I’ll give you a basic refresher. I know I could never forget; I was there.
The UFO of ‘65. It does still irk me that they describe it as a UFO, not once was it observed as

flying. A massive, metallic machine. It was completely foreign to all eyes that gazed upon it,

eyes gazing from comfortable living rooms to TV screens in complete shock. It was alien to us

all. It was found not too far from my childhood home in Connecticut by the police and was very

close to being taken into human hands, but its owners arrived back within an hour of its

discovery. Unbelievably, no one captured this moment. Everything we thought we knew about

the world in shambles, and no one thought to document it. All firsthand accounts describe the

unearthly creatures as “green, oddly dressed, tall, and incomprehensibly advanced”. They

quickly climbed into their craft in front of the dumbfounded audience that had assembled, and it

disappeared. Not into the sky, it just vanished in a flash of light. Something, however, had been

left behind. A tiny object. At first, no one knew what it was. It soon became obvious to

researchers that it was some sort of device capable of storing information, perhaps comparable to

our modern day iCells. While no one has ever been able access the information inside, the source

from which it drew its power from was a different story. Our leading scientists had the

mechanics of the source figured out within a few months. A completely new source.

Unbelievably strong and dependable, and almost infinitely expendable. It soon became known as

flash power, in salute to the flash the craft made before disappearing. The exact science of where

the power is derived from is difficult to wrap the mind around, and even now new studies and

experiments take place in an attempt to determine how it works exactly. But it does work. We

can tell today, obviously; it’s our main source of power. And why should we not tap into a new

energy source such as this one?

I’ll tell you why. It simply wasn’t meant to be here. You know I’ve never been big on

flash power, and you’re about to find out why. My first and only mission as an astronaut
involved flash power. I was selected for this assignment, and I heartily agreed. At this time, I

was ecstatic. Finally, it was my grand opportunity as an astronaut! NASA apparently had

employed a select group of minds to work on a new spacecraft within days of the discovery of

this new energy. Their goal was to utilize the powerful new flash power for a faster way to travel

through space, and they completed it within a year of its very discovery. I’m not sure exactly

what the big rush was, perhaps it was an attempt to avoid hackers, or perhaps the crew was

simply excited to see it through for themselves. The result of this procedure was Entry I. It was

indeed a sleek and solid looking craft, I must admit. On the inside, however, the ship was riddled

with technical problems and errors. This craft should have been infamous by now, regarded in

the same light as perhaps the Titanic. It would have been, too, had I not worked so hard to

destroy its publicity. You will find that the government can be very agreeable when it comes to

not publicizing its errors.

Alas, I digress. You do not know of the ship’s problems yet, nor did I when I was first

called in for the mission. The first time I laid my eyes upon that craft, I’m doubtless that they

possessed the wonder of a child on his first trip to Disney World. The crew was three. Albert

Garland, Rhiannon Smith, and myself. We were few because of the risk factor. NASA had no

idea of the horrors that awaited us, but they were not blind. This was intended to be a short,

carefully monitored test run using a new energy source, which they had made sure we

understood could be unpredictable. We were young and naive. We heeded the warnings but

thought nothing of them, trusting as we were. We entered the ship with minimal rations and

supplies; they had told us we would be gone for about five hours.

Our departure time was 10:00 in the morning on February 1st, 2066. We wouldn’t be

back for ages. We began with our traditional power; rocket fuel propelled us a relatively small
distance away from the earth. We waited for what seemed like ages for the call for ignition.

There is a huge difference in what “seems like ages” and the true meaning of “ages”, as I would

soon learn to appreciate.

The call came at last, and with smiles all around, we activated the flash power engine.

They would be our last smiles for awhile.

The very fiber of the universe seemed to fall apart, we travelled so fast.

Massive, unintelligible blurs moved past us at horrific speeds.

Sound had no meaning except for a constant, ear numbing roar.

Confusion.

It was as if a new dimension of panic and incoherence had been created just for us to be

thrown into at that exact moment. We were sprawled over each other on the ship’s floor. Not in

any explicit physical manner were we thrown there, but by our own utter disorientation with

reality. Once we gathered what we could of our bearings, we still found ourselves hurtling

through space in a deafening roar. We began trying in a frenzy to halt the ship. We hadn’t known

exactly what to expect from the power, but there wasn’t even the slightest shadow of doubt in

any of our minds that this chain of events was a complete catastrophe.

The ship’s engineering flaws immediately became obvious at this point, as if they hadn’t

been already. We could not find a way to halt the ship besides the stop button on the bridge,

which had been tried. When we reached the engine room it was almost too overheated to bear.

We had to start from scratch. We weren’t stupid, we were qualified astronauts, but we hadn’t

been filled in on the engineering of the ship before we boarded. That was a mistake as well. We

sat around with hardly detailed maps to the engine room while we continued blasting forwards,
and none of us could guess where to. Might I remind you that we conducted this mad research

with absolutely no sense of hearing due to the intense roar that still shook us to the very core.

It was a miracle we ever stopped the craft. We did just what the manuals told us not to

do. Once we located the flash power’s generator in the engine room, we disconnected it. We did

it very roughly; the wires were ripped apart. The overheated engine room was too overheated to

attempt a surgery. The manual warned that the ship could possibly self destruct if the power was

suddenly removed, but instead we found ourselves back to normal.

Silence.

It was a comfort to stop moving at long last, but strangest of all was the very sudden lack

of sound. We looked at each other and spoke; no noise seemed to come from our lips. I never

have been sure if my hearing ever fully recovered after that fateful incident. As we assessed our

situation, our emotions were simply gone. We felt everything so strongly at once that they all

sort of canceled each other out for numbness, like the way mixing too many bright colors

together can give you a dull brown. We couldn’t even comprehend what had just occurred, and

we were worn, in every sense of the word. We slept. When we awoke, the entire experience

seemed surreal, yet there we were waking up in odd corners of the craft.

Our best judgement at that point was to attempt to repair the engine and return in the

same direction we had come from, opting to endure the hours of cacophony once more rather

than slowly waste away in some empty corner of space. The engineers had designed a navigation

device in our ship as well, and they had told us it would only stop giving readings altogether if

the ship left the galaxy. The device gave no readings. Yet I looked out of the ship’s observation

window and saw stars all around us. I believe we were inside the Andromeda galaxy, but I am

not certain. We could have been farther. At any length, we knew we had to return the way we
had come until the navigator was functional again. Once it was functioning, we would know we

were once again in our own galaxy, and we could then use it to return to Earth. After hours more

of nerve-racking studying manuals and discussing methods, we attempted the repair. Orville, we

had no idea what was going to happen when we activated the flash power again. For all we

knew, the engine was too unstable for flash power and would blow, or perhaps nothing would

happen at all. Perhaps we would waste away, light years away from home, inside of another

galaxy.

The engine miraculously turned on. We were thrown into limbo once more, rumbling

through the stars in a crippling din. The sound was much worse this time. On the way out, we

were distracted with attempting the engine shutdown. Now, there was nothing to do but wait.

And waiting meant nothing save sitting and enduring the eardrum-rattling clamor. After about

forty minutes, our view of any stars disappeared. Even given our condition, the view was

something I will never forget. Deep space. Outside of any galaxies, nothing in view except more

galaxies. The galaxies were unimaginably huge, yet they appeared as tiny little saucepans from

the observation window. The view on the ride back is the main reason I believe we were in the

Andromeda galaxy, for we passed through no more stars before returning to the Milky Way,

which appeared colossal and bright in front of us after some time.

Our navigation device came back online. We found we needed to make a minor

adjustment to our course to return to earth, nothing more. It was smooth sailing besides the mind-

numbing sound and abnormality of the state travelling so quickly had thrust upon us. We

prepared to once again disconnect the flash power as we neared earth; at our velocity we would

have to be exact with our operation. It still baffled me, how much the scientists had

underestimated this new force. We stopped the ship almost perfectly, just outside of our solar
system. With our prior, earthen thruster technology, the journey home would take around five

hours, so we engaged a course and anxiously awaited our arrival. After what seemed like an

eternity, Earth was clearly in sight.

“Father, this absolutely is unbelievable,” says Orville, almost cutting off his father. “I

find it hard to take in, it’s a miracle that you’re even here if this is all true. I can’t believe you

want people to forget about this, this mission should have made you all heroes! You travelled to

and from a different galaxy in one piece, using a completely revolutionary power source, all

within a couple days’ time. I simply need more time to process this story. I have so many more

questions for you, this is an amazing accomplishment that should be shared with the world, it

should be-”

“Orville,” Augustus cuts him off, “if my story ended here, I would probably agree with

you. But alas, I fear perhaps the most terrifying part of this ordeal is yet to come. Listen closely

here, I still have trouble wrapping my own mind around this, and I have had a very long time to

consider.”

Orville sits back with a different light in his eyes, intent on hearing this apparent twist of

events. This story is going to be running through my poor head for months at this pace, he thinks

as his father begins again.

Something was wrong with the earth. Something was different. We were still a very long

way from it, so the particulars were difficult to make out, but something was most definitely off.

Strange little shapes and colors were appearing and disappearing all around it, and the moon

appeared different as well. I stared harder, unable to grasp what could be occurring. Although I
wasn’t exactly paying attention to them at the moment, I am sure my crewmates were both doing

the same.

The realization hit me like a ton of lead. A gunshot to the stomach could not have

disturbed me more as I staggered back from the window, almost in physical pain. One realization

led to another as I began to understand the true extent of our situation’s desperation.

There was one thing that we forgot to think about while on the spacecraft. Given our

circumstance, it’s not as though we had much time to; nor could we have done anything about it.

Still, to realize all of this just as you’re thinking that you’re finally home, only to realize that

you’re not home at all...it was devastating to me. My shipmates had to comfort me for at least ten

minutes before I could even breathe a word to them.

That word is the same word I have for you now, Orville.

Relativity.

A cold, nasty shiver runs down Orville’s spine as he swallows silently.

Scientists have estimated that the Andromeda galaxy is at least 2.5 million light years

away from the earth. We left the station at 10:00 am, February 1st. Here, at our position about a

half hour away from the earth, the ship’s clock read 7:45 pm, February 3rd. Not even three full

days. Can you imagine the time shift that would occur from travelling 5 million light years round

trip in less than three days? It’s simply mind boggling. Can you imagine looking upon an earth

on which millions of years have passed while only hours have passed for you? Can you imagine

the change, in every sense of the word, to our lovely planet? You could try to imagine this
change, sure, for better or for worse. I’ll attempt to lend a hand to your imagination, though.

Soon, we would have our own express tour of this strange yet familiar world.

We were no longer aboard the ship. One instant we were there, the next second we

were...here. Where was here? At the moment, your guess would have been as good as mine. I

think I speak for all three of us when I tell you that the sight suddenly before us was horrifying.

The room was completely white, so bright that it was difficult to tell where the floor met the

wall. We were sprawled on the floor in the same fashion as we had been in our ship. In front of

us, staring straight down through alien eyes, was a towering, green skinned, humanoid creature.

In these first few moments of wordless interaction, we were all scared witless. The

creature then spoke. Its voice was robotic in its lack of emotion, as was its facial expression. Yet,

it seemed to express kindness in its choice of words. Much was explained. Due to some wonder

of technology, we had been transported from an uncountable amount of miles away in space to

this room, apparently on earth. The creature, who was a male and referred to himself as Wertle,

seemed to believe we were aliens. He assured us that we would have our ship back and given

proper nutrition. He told us that he and his “earthmates” only wanted to ensure we were a safe

species, as we were new to them. Our DNA was being analyzed efficiently yet meticulously at

that moment. He then asked to know about where we were from.

It was a funny feeling, at that moment, to know that I knew more about the current

situation than the incredibly intelligent being standing in front of us. I was hesitant to give away

the knowledge, for it gave me a reassuring feeling of power. Alas, the hospitality expressed by

Wertle prompted me to spill the beans.

Well, Orville, have you figured it out? Who else were these creatures but our distant

descendants? As millions of years go by on earth, evolution occurs. If apes turned to humans in

this span of time, wouldn’t humans change dramatically as well? Relativity had thrust me into

the future, and here I was with my 50,000 times great-grandson for all I knew.

I told Wertle that we were humans. Our species had lived on earth millions of years ago.

We had left earth in a ship too fast for us to comprehend, and returned from a different galaxy.

Wertle understood the repercussions, and emotionlessly expressed his surprise at the

news. At this very moment, as if on queue, another of his species materialized in the room to

confirm from the DNA test that we were indeed human. Wertle appeared to consider for a

moment, then told us that there was only one proper thing to be done at this point. Again we

were all whisked away to an entirely different location.

We were outside. Everything was so different than the earth we were used to. It was too

much to take in at once. We stared around ourselves, dumbfounded. At this point you would

think that we would all be in utter shock and panic, but there was something oddly familiar and

pleasant about this futuristic world and its inhabitants that kept us from falling apart. Still. The

air was different, the structures were different, the plants were different, the animals were

different, the sky was different. Everything was different. It is all too much to describe in detail

right now. You will have your chance to inquire further another time, Orville. The hour is getting

late, and I must come to the end of my tale soon.

The one object I will describe a little better is the one that we had materialized in front of.

It was the first object in this foreign place that I immediately recognized. Enormous and metallic.

Everything slowly fell into place in my mind at this point. It was a spaceship. Not just any

spaceship, but one that perfectly mirrored the UFO of ‘65. We were led into the ship. Wertle

spoke to us as we went, but I heard nothing as my mind furiously pondered. This was no

spaceship. It was a time machine.

 I began to listen again to Wertle and the other beings as the machine’s doors closed

behind us. They told us that we would be taken back to our own time, close to when the ship left.

We were also given severe instructions to interfere with as little as possible until after Entry I left

Earth, and above all we were not to contact our past selves. Any action like this could mess up

the space-time continuum; the results of which would be devastating. We were to hide and wait.

We were to change our names and keep quiet. Yes, Augustus is only my choice of a new name. I

was born as Alexander. Alexander Perry. That was me, before this incident, but Alexander exists

no more. I am Augustus Perry. I am forever changed by these events, and I am not the same

individual.

When the machine turned on, it was a very similar shock to the first time our spaceship

used flash power. The noise and the strange feeling both hit us like speeding bullets, and myself

and the crew fell about the ship instantly. Wertle and his companions were completely

unaffected. In fact, they seemed very confused in their straight-faced way as to what was

happening to us. Some evolutionary feat had evidently prepared their ears for sounds of this

amplitude.

We “arrived” in a few minutes. The ship’s location on earth had not changed, but we

were back to a more familiar time. The doors opened and we breathed in clear relief as fresh air

washed over us. The normal trees around us reminded me of a family reunion. The house nearby

and overall look of the place absolutely confirmed for me that the thoughts in my head were true.

This was where the UFO of ‘65 had been found. It moved me to silence for our journey. The

beings led us through the nearby woods for about 20 minutes, to a “safe distance away from the

disturbance”. After a brief farewell and “good luck”, they returned from the way we had come at

a much faster pace.

 Between this moment and when they reached the machine, something happened. It

wasn’t good or bad, it simply was necessary. One of the beings must have dropped a device.

Whether this occurrence was accidental or on purpose, I will never know.

It was an information storing device, perhaps comparable to one of our modern day

iCells.

“There is a lot left to clarify, father,” says Orville after a silence, “but you no doubt have

left me dumbfounded. I need some time to ponder this, it’s all so hard to believe. Even from one I

trust so much as you.”

“That’s very understandable,” agrees his father.

“Could I come over tomorrow afternoon to continue?” he asks.

“Of course,” Augustus answers him. A few minutes later, after the father and son have

said their goodbyes and the door is closed, the elderly man gently takes a seat on the couch. The

secret is out, to his one and only son. A deeper connection has been formed between the two

men. A huge, warm smile paints his face as he reflects on his son’s words. Though the night had

been dominated by the long and memorable unraveling of his secret, there is only one thought on

Augustus’s mind. This night, after the story, was the first time Orville had ever invited himself to

his father’s house. He feels an elated and peaceful sense of long-awaited relief.
 Reflection

This story has been in my brain for awhile now, it all just randomly came to me one day,

probably about a year ago. I’ve thought about making it into an album, but I haven’t had enough

good song ideas for it yet. I also wasn’t sure how well I had the story in my mind. This narrative

was perfect for laying out my ideas and getting a clear picture of what is happening in such a

complicated story. Adding the frame aspect was also interesting; I hadn’t thought about adding it

before but it gives it an intriguing layer. Plus, you get to find out a little bit about what happens

in the main character’s life after the main events play out. Since this story was already a fairly

complete idea before I started, I didn’t feel a huge necessity to map out much prewriting beyond

coming up with an idea for the frame aspect which was new. My writing process is to just start

writing, and it worked well on this assignment. I wouldn’t change anything about the way it

came about. I actually enjoyed myself while writing out a 10+ page narrative! It came naturally,

and I found myself working on it whenever I had free time. If I hadn’t had my ideas lined up

prior to the project, I might have found prewriting a little more helpful, but it still isn’t quite the

way I come up with ideas. The way that usually works best is to start writing, it helps me to

develop characters, which makes deciding upon their actions a little easier. If I need to figure

something out, I just think for awhile. It’s what helps the most. If I were to ever rewrite the story
with more detail, I would probably change up the format a little bit to allow for more direct

dialogue from the retelling. For all of the major events that occur in the story, it is a bit short and

rushed, even at 13 pages. A more direct approach would almost turn out as long as a novel, but in

order for it to feel complete it may need that. Overall, it was a fun experience, and I feel proud of

the outcome.