Twin Earth
Chapter 55

Running my hands over the box I studied it as it vibrated and glowed softly in my hands. Its silence was almost vindictive, taunting me, holding my very existence in its grip. There was barely anything on it. The few DNA markings and planetary symbols were all that I could find except for one tiny latch. A small elongated piece of plastic hung almost broken from one side of the box, similar to those plastic tags that hold a battery in place before it’s ready to be used. I attempted to pull at it in that very manner, but nothing happened. Frustrated, I shook the box, but even that was hopeless due to the mud like atmosphere I was suspended in. I just looked like I was doing some kind of ridiculous slow dance, not angrily fighting to destroy something.

Still sweating, thankfully from only stress, I studied the tag again. It wouldn’t move sideways, outwards or inwards.

‘So what’s the point of it?’ I groaned.

Out of desperation I pulled at it with my teeth. Still it wouldn’t move, but then as I pulled the box away from my mouth, the end of the tag slowly began to dissolve.

‘What the hell,’ I thought confused, realising it had reacted with my spit.

Licking it again I watched as the small tag dissolved further until it completely disappeared. Then to my amazement the edges of the box also began to dissolve, growing smaller and smaller until it too vanished completely in my hands. Alarmed, I shrieked at the idea I had somehow destroyed the box and looking around I frantically double checked that the bubble was still safely holding me in suspension. Thankfully it was, but to my horror I watched as the edges of the bubble began to shrink closer, encompassing the abandoned hunks of metal from my destroyed craft one by one as it grew smaller around me, forcing them to be crushed and hurled away beyond recognition into the black void surrounding me.

As the last piece of jet junk was flung deep into the deathly chasm, the bubble eventually stopped just inches away from my body, creating a bizarre, blob like shape that mimicked my every movement. Curiosity getting the better of me, I waved my hand in front of my face and watched as the opaque bubble followed its outline, but before I could enjoy the bizarre spectacle my attention was caught by a tiny bright dot that had appeared behind my hand. It was so bright it forced me to squint and look away from it, blinded by its incredible luminosity.

Then suddenly, three intense laser like green jets erupted from within the bright dot, forcing me to cower and cover my eyes completely. Blinking to see into the intense light, I watched as minute hexagonal black shapes began to appear in-between the laser-like beams, unfolding like a mechanical puzzle no-one would want to play. Unfolding so fast in fact that the hive like structure quickly surrounded me in all directions and I realised I was being forced away from the bright spot of light at the centre, my only point of reference to wherever I was.

‘It must have been the box reacting to my DNA. It somehow triggered whatever this box had to do. Like an on switch, to be activated at the exact right moment. Lucky I didn’t lick it earlier,’ I thought, slightly annoyed at the lack of instructions.

As the dot grew dimmer and more distance as I floated away, the black holes became visible again in their entirety, but only briefly because I suddenly became blasted by a light so intense that even closing my eyes could barely turn it off. Groaning in pain as I adjusted to the sudden brightness, I realised I was floating in the intense stream of light that was being sucked away from around Mochuvia. I hadn’t noticed it before because the jet had dumbed everything down, but now it was streaming towards the black holes and being sucked up like juice all around the edges of the larger black hole. Then I noticed something.

“It’s gone!” I exclaimed in surprise as I looked back towards where the smaller black hole had once been. I could still see remnants of something being pulled into the larger black hole from where it had once sat, but it was slowing and dissipating as if a fire had just been snuffed out. Whatever the box had done, whatever that grid of hexagons had been, it now covered or had removed the smaller black hole.

“I did it!” I screamed into the silence. “I fucking did it!”

Laughing in shock and relief I couldn’t believe I had achieved the impossible, but my elation was quickly dampened by the realisation I had no way of getting back home. Pushing myself around, I squinted towards the gate holes and realised that even if I did get back through to Mochuvia I would surely die in orbit around the planet without a jet to help me. All the other hexagonal holes led to vast chasms in space, except for one.

‘The desert,’ I thought desperately. It was my only choice. I had to pray it was Earth. That at least I would land on hard ground somewhere. I was running out of time to make a decision anyway as the blast from whatever the box had done was still pushing me towards the gate holes. I had to make a decision and quickly, before I was swept past them and out into a virtually starless void.

Taking a deep breath I inched myself away from the stream of bright light coming from Mochuvia and towards the smaller hole where I could just make out the image of the desert landscape I had seen before. This time I could see something more though. Something or someone was kneeling in front of the hole.

‘Is that a human?’ I wondered in amazement. It certainly looked human, dressed in something that resembled a blanket and it was growing closer.

Then I landed, face down on a bed of dusty red dirt and cracked my head on the side of a small jagged rock.

Swearing I pulled myself up and holding my head I stared back at the hole, but there was no sign of the streams of light or the black hole. Instead I came face to face with a door shape that had been carved into the side of a huge rock centuries ago. Running my hands over it I was surprised to feel it was cold, and hard, like rock would feel.

“This isn’t possible,” I mumbled, but I was interrupted by someone shouting behind me.

Swinging myself round in a daze I saw the humanoid shape from before. It was a man. A Mexican looking man to be more precise or at least someone from South America.

Laughing to myself in shock, I ran towards him and grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Where am I?” I screamed into his astonished face. Not recognising a word the man said in reply I shouted at him again, but getting nowhere I finally let him go and stared around my new environment in awe. I did know where I was. I knew it well. I had written a whole thesis on this location many years ago.

“This isn’t Mexico. This is Peru,” I breathed in excitement as I thanked the confused man and started running towards the nearby road. I knew exactly where I was going. I had landed at Amaru Muru near Lake Titicaca. “The Gate of the Gods,” I laughed to myself. “The Gate of the fucking Creators’ more like!”

Hailing a passing truck I quickly made my way towards the city of Puno.

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