Bullies in Space

I have spent the better part of my morning, trying to find the exact planet I was stranded in.

Before we dive into it, allow me to refresh your memory of our solar system.

The dream, per usual, takes place in space where a bunch of astronauts and I were out for a spin in the ol' spacecraft. For reasons unknown to me, I wasn't as myself. I featured as a 35-ish year old man. Think Arthur Dent in 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. Only equipped with a space suit instead of a house -coat.

I forget if the ride along was a routine check or a spur of the moment thing. Nevertheless, feeding on my fear of space and speed, these other astronauts (let's just call them Ass* for short), maneuvered the vehicle in between planetary bodies, like one would dodge traffic on a highway. Imagine my heart leaping to my throat each time the vehicle neared a planet, 10000-100000 times, its own size.

After what seemed like an hour of screaming like a little kid on my part, the Ass* finally charted a destination to Uranus (ha, ha), only to realize that they were wrong, whereby, they corrected the course to fly past the Sun, make a sharp U-turn, and hover over a potentially habitable planet.

As per my findings, in the real life, I was able to narrow the area down to the Kepler Search Space in the below diagram to the planet GJ 667C c. Okay, so maybe it wasn't exactly this planet. I just liked the artist's rendition of it (thank you Google sites).

All credits to the site: https://sites.google.com/site/alligaterra/ps-mechanics/the-solar-system-in-the-galaxy-and-the-origin-of-intelligent-life-in-the-milky-way

Again, for reasons unknown, there were a number of cats overboard. The Ass* concluded it would be fun to send me to the planet for discovery and reporting along with a few cats. The screaming resumed and any protests were promptly ignored. If you have never been in zero- gravity, let me tell you, having no ground beneath your feet is an unsettling experience to say the least. My ears started ringing after my own voice reverberated in my helmet. The Ass* had switched off any input from me, and no complaints and cries were heard by them.

I also forget why I was not send in a shuttle to the planet, instead hurled towards it hoping gravity would do its job. So, it was basically a free form sky diving right from the upper layer of the atmosphere, followed by my equipment and the cats.

By the miracle of dreaming, I landed safely alongside my equipment and cats in what appeared to be the dark-ish side of the planet. Thick foliage surrounded us. Something that you would find in deep, dense forests where the sunlight barely touched the floors.



My first instinct was relief at having my feet on something solid for a change. It was soon followed by panic, because I have no survival instincts. Much less, in a strange planet, filled with strange flora and fauna. The cats made their gateway as soon as their carriers opened upon impact. Here I was, whistling to myself- the poor man's choice of faux consolation. The Ass* had left me stranded and gone back to Earth, after empty reassurances to be back. They won't be back.

After my hands stopped shaking, I gathered my equipment in one hand and a spear in another. Where did the spear come from you ask? I found it on the forest floor, Gingy. I don't know who Gingy is. NO MORE QUESTIONS.

Anyway, as I walked a few steps west, I heard murmurs and susurrous I knew all too well. Some people were talking behind my back. Was this all an elaborate prank by the Ass*? I turned around to a few blinking eyes hiding behind the bushes and the giant trees. I had to stop my breath, because I still did not know if this environment supported oxygen and because my own supply was running low.

I did find other people, or did I? What I think were people other than me, were just me from different mutliverses. There was a person for every other choice, the nature or I had made. There was even a female version of me. Turns out, in all universes, the Ass* found a way to dump us here.

Now that I think of it, was it because, we single handedly were responsible for the collapse of the multiverses? Meh, too far fetched.

Comments

Swati Singh said…
Wait, is it just a dream? Or a faux illusion of reality? Either way, very interesting!
20 September 2020 at 05:59

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