The Father

In his wandering, AXKZ found himself on the Observation Deck. He stared out at the once brilliant star the humans had called the Sun. It was beginning to lose its luster, a fact which is one of the reasons the humans largely abandoned Earth. Unlike AXKZ and his people, humans needed the energy source to live. AXKZ almost envied them... the glow was quite nice. It really was sad that no one got to see that view anymore...

Walking some more, AXKZ stumbled upon the flight deck. It was all abuzz with activity due to the ship’s impending departure. It was time to rejoin the colony, so the captain, ICRS-2304, and his men were planning out the escape trajectory. As he was about to move on, the display in the room caught AXKZ’s eye. He noticed that their flight plan had them slingshotting extremely close to the Sun. Now, he was no expert, but AXKZ knew there were many human stories warning about the dangers of the Sun. From modern tales about spaceships being pulled in and burning up, to ancient tales about men, like Icarus, with wings who flew so high that their wings melted.

“Ah, AXKZ-1029, come on in!” exclaimed the captain. “How goes the study of those bizarre humans? Intriguing as always?”

“Yes, sure,” AXKZ mumbled in reply, having taken on some of the humans’ colloquialisms. “Um, sir? I actually want to discuss our flight out of this solar system. I’m no engineer, but that path looks awfully close to the sun. Don’t you think an alternate route would prove a bit safer?”

“Nonsense! Have you seen our ship? Have you seen that dwindling star? It’s not even close to a threat!”

“Even so, sir, if the ship lost even a bit of integrity, the gravity of Mercury could be enough to pull us in and crash us. If we lost thrusters, there’s be no chance of escape.”

The captain was done with this conversation. He had the “hysterical” AXKZ escorted back to his chambers. There, he couldn’t stop mulling over all of the warnings the humans had left. They had learned, over millennia, to respect and fear the Sun. Shouldn’t they take heed, despite the humans’ shortcomings? After much thought, AXKZ decided it wasn’t worth the risk. He knew in his gut the ship wouldn’t make it. Now he just had to decide what to do instead. There was no hope of stopping the ship, but could he escape it?

He formulated a crazy plan. It would take the perfect timing, and was most likely suicide. Then again, so was staying aboard the ship. However, it would only work if another came with him. He went to go find his life-partner, and set in motion his desperate act. She was busy working in the botany lab. She had always had a gift for working with other forms of life. Looking at her there, AXKZ began to understand the humans’ description of “love.” He was certain in his plan now.

Without so much as a word, AXKZ took EVJS by the hand and led her out of the lab. She could see the intensity on his face and didn’t even think to question what he was doing. They’d known each other for decades, so she knew she could trust AXKZ. The ship fired up its thrusters. They were running out of time. AXKZ picked up the pace. He knew he didn’t have time to grab any of his belongings, so he made a break straight for the launch room.

Since the ship was preparing to move, most people were out looking at the scenery. There was but one guard left in the launch room, and AXKZ dispatched him with a single blow from behind. EVJS was caught a bit off guard by this, but then she finally figured out what he was doing. She turned and looked back, and gave a final farewell to the ship where she had grown up.

They climbed into a small pod. The unconscious guard’s vital monitor had finally alerted the rest of the crew, so AXKZ worked furiously to get the pod running. A few switch flips later, the pod sprang to life. Just as the rest of the guard entered the room, the pod launched, sending AXKZ and EVJS hurtling toward the old planet beneath them.

As they approached the surface, they knew they were safe. The ship’s primary engine had already been engaged, which meant there was no stopping it until it entered hyperdrive. They examined their surroundings. Nothing stuck out except for a giant, old tree. Despite the petering Sun, life had begun to prosper again on Earth with the absence of humans. AXKZ knew that if anyone could revive this planet, it was EVJS.

Suddenly, there was a giant flash. They looked up and saw their former home burning bright in the sky. A capital ship on fire is quite the sight to behold. It began to break into pieces, with the main hull falling toward what appeared to be Mercury. Just as AXKZ had thought. The fusion reactor, however, went the other way. It fell into the sun, and ignited a chain reaction which caused the Sun to burn as bright as ever. With its new fuel source, the Sun was ready to go for another billion years.

AXKZ smiled as he saw the Sun light up. Not so much for the demise of his former comrades, as for the joy at knowing that the Earth had just been given a second life. He stood there, with his life partner, and recalled a passage from one of the humans’ favorite books. And he said, “Let there be light.”

Author’s note: This story was kind of an oddball, as there was a lot of exposition about my personal story wrapped around the myth I was retelling. Icarus’ story of flying too high is a fairly well known one, and it is fairly brief so a lot is left up to extrapolation. While I hit all of the main points from the story, I expanded upon it a lot. The story served more as a very basic frame for me to put my conclusion in. I took the main plot thread- that a boy (Icarus) ignored his father's (Daedalus) warnings and flew too close to the sun- and used it to propel AXKZ into his final journey. On top of this, I also included a bit of a retelling of the Bible’s creation myth. AXKZ even quotes the Bible in the last line of the story. I didn’t use an actual source for this, as I didn’t really retell it other than the basic “man and woman start life on earth.” I wanted to tie in the idea of the ship reigniting the Sun to some larger meaning, and the rebirth of life on Earth gave me the perfect opportunity to do this. All in all, the source stories simply served as a way to finish up the tale of AXKZ.

Bibliography: The Myth of Daedalus and Icarus, Web Source: Island-Ikaria

Image Information: The Roar of Our Stars, Alice Zhang, 2012

Web Source: deviantArt