26: NIGHT OF A TRILLION STARS

1.1K 53 73
                                    

VIDEO above - Warrior by Paloma Faith & Sia  


Brad and Saroh ran across the clearing in the center of the village ruins shouting out hoots and hollers of excitement because they were free again. Carrying his rifle in one hand, Brad had Rondin's gun belt fastened around his hips again. The Andromedan space ship was no longer there, and gone along with it was the strange blue light. Hurrying a couple feet behind Saroh, he sniffed a slight lingering odor, something like that of popcorn oil. Figuring it was residue from the fuel of the flying saucer, the memory of its take-off caused him to glance up at the sky above the clearing. It wasn't there, of course, but its home port galaxy sure was.

"Whoa there, buddy." Brad reached out to grab Saroh by the belt and pull him to a stop.

The boy swung around with a smile. "What? Can't you keep your hands off me for even a few minutes?"

"Fuck no." Brad laughed, pointing upward. "Look at Andromeda. It's so close now it looks like we can touch it."

Saroh's eyes shot up to look at the sky. The multitude of stars had thickened from earlier and the approaching galaxy now looked like an almost solid path of gaseous light across the dome of the heavens.

 The multitude of stars had thickened from earlier and the approaching galaxy now looked like an almost solid path of gaseous light across the dome of the heavens

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

"Wow, that's incredible. Looks like it's gonna come down and get us. What if it actually crashes with our own galaxy? Won't there be total disaster?"

Brad shrugged. "I sure hope not. Some people think it could pull a chunk of our galaxy away with it, others think there's so much space between all the stars and planets that it's unlikely any would collide even if they do merge."

Saroh let out a low whistle. "Hard to imagine either one – hitching a ride in a new galaxy or all those stars up there looking so close and yet too far apart to ever touch. Damn, the universe sure is amazing. How many stars are there in Andromeda?"

"They figure at least a trillion, and that's more than twice the size of our Milky Way. Makes you wonder why those bozos have to come down here and mess around, doesn't it? There's got to be plenty of planets up there for them to explore."

Saroh turned in the direction they'd been going. "Then let's go see what those fuckers are up to." He started pulling Brad through the ruins on the other side of the clearing. "It's a real mystery what the Andromedans are doing down in those caves. We're like the Hardy Boys, working on a really big case. Like bigger than anything imaginable. And the best part," he paused to snort a laugh, "is we get to have sex. It'd always piss me off reading those books that Frank and Joe never got to fool around with each other. I'd get so horny reading them, picturing them hot at it, and then ... zilch ... nothing. Theyd never do a damn thing."

Brad grabbed the back of Saroh's neck and shook it. "Your dad's right. You are a heathen. They're brothers. They're not supposed to fool around with each other. Ha. You don't sound anything like a minister's son."

LOST ISLAND | bxb adventureWhere stories live. Discover now