[2007: JAN-FEB] When everything revolves around you

[Nerreht]

All I can see is the void of space... So dark, so empty, yet so full of lights... Everything so still, yet everything moves... Or is it me moving? Yes, it’s me... I’m drifting away in space... I don’t even know if I’m going anywhere, but I know I’m spinning... As I continue to turn on myself, I begin to see one of the lights that is much closer to me than the others... And then, I see a much smaller sphere going around the light... Then another one... Then another... And another... And another... Many more join in the picture, describing circles around the light... Looking closer, each sphere is spinning on itself, a bit like me... It’s a wonder they don’t get dizzy turning like they are, much faster than I ever could...

As if it wasn’t enough, other smaller spheres are turning around the bigger spheres, and rotating on themselves too... Just like a ball of spheres... I know what those spheres are... planets... moons... and that light... a star... Everything so round... spinning... I can’t help but to join them in their cosmic dance... And just as I’m beginning to catch up with their pace, I get pushed back... Way back... I spin faster than before and I’m moving away...

And the further I go, the more stars and planets I see... All of them spinning like the ones I danced with... All with the same pattern... ‘round and ‘round... When I’m far enough, I can see groups of stars moving in the same direction... very slowly... so slow that we can’t even tell they’re moving... but I see them move... Pushed away further, I see it... the swirls of stars, spinning arms of billions of lights... Everything turning on a central point... the galaxy... that’s what it’s called...

That’s when I’m being pulled back... getting much closer... but I’m not going back where I started... No... Faster and faster, I’m heading straight for one of the stars... There’s nothing I can do... The light gets brighter... I can feel the light... its warmth... I can feel the pain...

- Got him!

Why do I feel pain, all of a sudden? I didn’t feel pain before... Not that pain... The light is so strong in my eyes...

- He’s still unstable!

What are those voices I hear? I didn’t hear any voices before... In fact, I didn’t hear anything before... The void of space was so silent...

- How’s his heart rate?

The light is beginning to fade away... I begin to see shapes... Some familiar shapes... The void of space is gone... but I’m still spinning...

- He lost a lot of blood!

No... I’m not spinning... The room is spinning... But not for real... It just looks as if it’s spinning... I feel dizzy...

- Activate the EMH, we need more people here!

I can see other forms... these ones are moving... they’re all around me, like the lights in space were... They’re going fast... ‘round and ‘round...

- Oh my goodness, is he counscious?

Some of the shapes stop moving and get closer to me... They’re blocking the bright light that was in my eyes... The shadow they’re casting on my face doesn’t allow me to see them clearly... Then, one of them waves a little light in front of my eyes... Very small light... but very intense... I have to close my eyes to avoid it... But as soon as I close my eyes, I’m back in the void of space...

*****

- How is he doing, Doctor?

The one refered to as “Doctor” turned towards the man who was lying on the bed.

- Honestly, I don’t have a clue... I think we were able to stabilize him, but time will tell...

The other person looked in the same direction, then back at the Doctor.

- Can you at least explain what happened to him?

- All we know is that he was hit by one of those smoke bombs they use on the planet... Without a proper sample, we can’t know for sure what it was... But one thing I can tell you, Captain, is that whatever they used in it wasn’t that harmful to their species, but definitely is for humans.

The Captain looked at the man lying down once again.

- Your reports says he lost a lot of blood. Care to explain that?

The Doctor walked up to a small screen and pushed a button.

- Basically, the chemicals in the smoke bomb entered his system and attacked his organism at a cellular level. Those infected cells were immediately attacked by his immune system, but everything that came into contact with the chemicals was recognized as a threat to his body. So his own defenses were attacking themselves. This thing is making his cells rebel against his own body, and he can’t keep up with the progress, so more of his organism is getting infected without being able to defend itself by its natural means. All of that fighting, if I can say so, is creating a lot of damage to his organs and it causes internal bleeding, some of the blood coming out every way it can find... Not a pretty sight, and it must be even worst to live through... He came back to counsciousness for a short moment, not long after we brought him back from cardiac arrest... If he’s feeling anything that’s happening to him, it’s a wonder he’s not screaming from the pain...

- Isn’t there anything you can do?

- Not without a sample of those smoke bombs.

- Find a way, Doctor... The situation has escalated on the planet to the point where the government is about to get overthrowned. It’s not safe for any outsider to get down there, so there’s no way we can get our hands on one.

- Honestly, we could be going in circles for a while and we wouldn’t get anything done even if we tried as hard as we can...

- Get creative and keep me posted.

The Captain walked out of the room and walked in a series of corridors for a while, took a turbolift and finally walked all the way to his office, where he stood in front of the window. He looked at the void of space, all the stars far away, little lights in the darkness... He only had to turn his head a small bit to see the planet the ship was orbiting... It was slowly turning on itself, as the ship was spinning around her... Soon, the Captain would be able to see the system’s star, its bright light beginning to show itself behind the planet...

If he was lucky, he’d be able to catch a glimpse of some of the other planets in the system in between the planet they were orbiting and the star... But for the moment, all he could see were the swirls in the clouds of the planet’s atmosphere... The planet where war was raging... Where people were fighting to make things change... Always using violence to make things change... The sad part was that they never realize that when you always do the same thing, you’re always repeating history... Going back to square one... Same story all over again... Running in circles for eternity... ‘round and ‘round...

Edited February 17, 2007 by Nerreht