Funny Thing, Time.

Original post date: September 11, 2020

"…main engines…check!"

"I'm done with this already. How much more to go?"

"You need to do 3 more rounds of checking. You do realise, right?"

"I have done 5 rounds of careful checks and this is the 6th time! The probability of this ship not blowing up is already 0.7! Theoretically, I am very much safe up here!"

"Practically, your luck might choose the remaining 0.3 of that probability. So, why don't you sit your ass for a while and begin round 7?"

"Ah! Alright, alright. Don't snap at me like that."

Yet, after one more round of his hourly spaceship check, Sam took off his helmet and drank some special drink made for astronauts. It was the 13th expedition program to The Sink. The Sink was a wormhole formed somewhere in the asteroid belt, discovered a mere 30 years after the discovery of life on Saturn's moon, Enceladus. The aliens found on Enceladus were not massive creatures but microorganisms that breathed methane.

The wormhole, however, was the pinnacle of human discovery. Many expeditions had been made to it, each approaching closer than the last. It was an eye-opener for scientists and a shock for everyone else. It proved not only that space has more than three dimensions, but also how little humanity knows for all the knowledge it has accumulated.

"Okay Sam, we are ready here. Give us a signal when you are. Move to the alpha position in t minus 5 minutes beginning…now!"

"I'm making my way towards the Sink at a steady velocity. System stats are stable. Waiting for your command to stop at the alpha position."

"You are approaching position alpha at a slow, but acceptable rate. Do not increase the speed. I repeat, do not accelerate."

"Roger that."

The Sink expedition was a one-man mission. The government did not want to risk more lives for repeated expeditions. Each mission allowed one month of research, excluding travel time. All 12 previous explorers had succeeded. Sam was a military commander before joining the space agency. He had spent 5 months travelling to Jupiter during training and carried enough oxygen, food, and water to survive two years in space. He was now approaching position alpha, the closest sanctioned approach to the wormhole.

"Okay guys, I think I am approaching alpha. Notify me."

"…"

"Guys? Do you copy? I said I am approaching the Sink."

"…"

"Can you hear me? Should I stop?"

"Sam, your speed has increased abruptly. You are way too close to the wormhole!"

"What? How did that happen? I thought that I was moving steadily!"

"We don't know what happened. Dr Julian is suggesting that space-time bends more as you move closer, pulling you faster towards the Sink. Signals aren't transferring properly."

"Okay, I'm moving back. How far am I from the alpha position?"

"You are almost near it but are slightly moving ahead. Move back now!"

Without his knowledge, he was being pulled toward the Sink faster and faster every second. Realising this, he panicked and fired the thrusters in reverse.

"I'M TRYING! THE FORCE IS TOO STRONG! I DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE IT BACK!"

"SAM! DON'T PANIC! … …."

"I HAVE A PLAN. I AM GONNA USE MY FUEL TO DEVIATE FROM THE HOLE. I CAN'T GO AGAINST THE PULL."

Sam redirected his thrust to the left side of the wormhole, attempting to veer around it rather than fight it head-on. He came within a breath of the event horizon, just missing it, and began orbiting the hole. When he swung around to the far side, he fired full thrusters away from it toward the Sun. The moment he left the wormhole's gravitational influence, something felt different. The Sun was encased in a Dyson Sphere. Different spacecraft surrounded him. He was running out of oxygen. Before he could make sense of any of it, he had fainted.

Had he entered the Sink?

Sam woke up in a white room, surrounded by long pipe-like structures aimed at him. Then he saw the aliens and his heart rate spiked. He raised his hands to signal he meant no harm.

The creatures were still, watching him carefully. At least seven feet tall, they had arms and legs like humans but their eyes were flat, shiny planes of glass. They were lean and hairless. Their feet were flat with no toes, and each hand had four fingers. They were weirdly dressed. Despite everything, they seemed oddly familiar.

Sam tried to speak. Pointless. He then tried to mime that he was hungry, clutching his stomach. They made loud sounds and brought him a plate of capsules. He pushed it away. They seemed to understand he would not eat it.

Satisfied he was not a threat, one of the aliens produced a low, bellowing sound. A hologram of humans appeared in the air. Sam smiled and nodded. They understood what he was.

A new alien entered the room shortly after, followed by a small robot. Sam tried to get out of the bed and found he could not move. No restraints. Just stillness. The alien sat beside him, took a blood sample, and fed it into the robot. The robot projected a hologram of symbols.

Their language.

The aliens left one by one until only the doctor remained. After a long pause, the doctor spoke in their language. When the alien finished, the robot spoke in English, in a flat mechanical tone.

"Hello, a creature of Homo sapiens. This is Earth. You are in the year 3010. We are the evolved form of our ancestors, Homo sapiens. You."

"What? What happened? How can this be Earth? How can it be 1000 years ahead of my calendar? Who are you?"

"We are called neo sapiens. We are the evolved species of the ancient Homo sapiens. You are the only known living evidence that our ancestors looked like you."

"I still don't understand. Why did I come here? How did I travel in time? Is this all a dream?"

"No sir. You are in a very real world. This was a result of time slippage. According to reports, there was a wormhole at the location where you were found. It faded in the year 2243. You were recovered by our spacecraft a few hours ago. Funny thing, time."

"Funny. Very much."

Sam broke down. His family, his species, his world, everything had been taken by time. He was officially the longest-living person in history, measured against Earth's timeline. A thousand years of evolution had passed. The thumb was gone, deemed unnecessary by nature. Hair was gone. Humans were grown genetically, not born. And here he was: a fossil from the past, surrounded by life, completely alone. His last human contact had been days ago by his count. Thousands of years ago by the universe's.

Funny thing, time.

Originally posted on thedopplerdude.blogspot.com.