Nothing But Ghosts

The Word Count, including this line, is 1997.

“Even this Universe is considered a Parallel Universe according to the other Parallel Universes. Each one thinks they are the main Universe. And the other thousand Universes are the Parallel Universes.”¹

“There are ghosts in every Universe - both the Parallel Universes and the main Universe. And there are a lot of ghost worlds in every Universe, and Parallel Universe, too. In fact, there are about five to ten thousand per Universe – and Parallel Universe. This is one of those worlds.”¹

Nothing but Ghosts

     A SpaceShuttle was shaking so bad it looked like it was about to fall apart. But it wasn’t. At least not on the outside. Inside control was another matter.

     Commanders Porlan and Neala were behind the Controls of that SpaceShuttle. And even though they were in the Protective Shells that protected their upper bodies, their lower bodies and their legs they were being tossed around a little because of the shaking the SpaceShuttle was going through at the moment. Even the Protective Shells protecting their arms, especially the lower half of their arms, was making it difficult to get the SpaceShuttle to stop shaking. But they did it.

     It took them about ten minutes to do it. But they did finally stop the shaking of the ship. Neala asked, “What happened?”

     “I don’t know,” replied Porlan. “Why do you go back and make sure the kids are okay while I check this out.”

     “It’s your turn to go check on the kids,” Neala said. “Besides, it’s not like they are alone. Effon and Lolia are back there.”

     “You don’t even like kids. I don’t know why you volunteered to go on this trip to visit the new Zillim Colony,” said Porlan.

     “The Units,” responded Neala. “I need the Units.”

     After another few minutes of talking back and forth like this Neale finally got up and headed for the back to check on the kids.

     As soon as Neala left Porlan turned on the overhead Monitor. The one above the Main Viewscreen. That Monitor showed the kids in the back. There was fifty of them ranging in age from eight to fourteen. Most of them were females, especially the younger ones, but there were a few that were male.

     Porlan could see that the kids were physically all right. But they were shaken up about the shaking of the SpaceShuttle. They were still pretty shaken up – but mostly they were in a state of panic. Effon and Lolia were trying to get them under control – when Neala enter the Passenger Bay. Neala might not like kids. But the kids sure do like her. If anyone can calm them down, it’s Neala.

     Once he realized the kids were safe, and would be under control again soon, Porlan started checking out that SpaceShuttle. He had already figured out what was wrong with it by the time Neala returned about a half hour later.

     “I know what’s wrong with the SpaceShuttle,” said Porlan as soon as Neala returned. “But we don’t have the parts to replace the ones that incinerated.”

     Neala barely had time to sit back into her chair when Porlan gave her the bad news. “So, what are we going to do? What can we do? We can do something – can’t we?”

     “There is only one thing we can do,” said Porlan. “We have to fix it. And we can do it in Space. What we need to find an inhabited planet. The more advanced the better.”

     “It’s that bad!” Neala leaned forward. And started looking for an advanced planet. “Why do we need an advanced planet?”

     “What I need to fix the SpaceShuttle can’t be found on just any planet,” said Porlan. “It can only be found on the more advanced planets.”

     “I’m looking for the more advanced planets in the area of Space,” said Neala. “But there aren’t too many planets in this sector of Space – advanced or not.”

     “Keep looking,” Porlan said. “We can float like this in Space for another few hours. But any longer than that and we are in real trouble.”

     Neala continued her search for a planet to land on. And after about fifteen minutes she found one. “I’ve found a planet. But we can’t go to it though.”

     “Why can’t we go there? We have to go there,” said Porlan. “Which planet is it – we can’t go to?”

     “It’s the planet of Lexxus – the forbidden planet,” said Neala. “Lexxus is a Ghosts planet.”

     “I have heard of Lexxus,” Porlan. “But I didn’t think that it actually existed.”

     “Neither did I,” said Neala. “I thought they were just ghost stories I was told when I was a kid.”

     “Me too,” Porlan. “In those stories they told of a world of nothing but ghosts. Who they were? Or how they got there no one knows.”

     “I heard they were the same as us,” said Neala. “What I mean is that Lexxus is just like Zillim – except they are ghosts instead of Humans.”

     Suddenly the SpaceShuttle started shaking again. But this time it only lasted a few minutes – because Porlan knew how to make it stop. And it wasn’t as bad this time either.

     “How far is Lexxus from here,” said Porlan. “We have no choice. It’s either Lexxus or we float dead in Space until we are found or we run out of energy.”

     “Lexxus is about a million miles from here,” said Neala as she looked at the power gauge. “We should be able to make it. But I can’t guarantee we will be able to land on Lexxus. And if we do we might not be able to leave – even if we can fix the SpaceShuttle.”

     Porlan didn’t say a word. He just set the route. Then he re-started the engines. And they were on their way – to the ghost world of Lexxus. “At this speed we should get there in about six hours. That’s six hours before we become ghost too.”

*******

     It took just over six hours to get to Lexxus. Before they land they checked out Lexxus.

     “Scan complete,” Neala said. “Lexxus isn’t that advanced. But it’s advanced enough for our needs.”

     “Does it have what we need to fix the SpaceShuttle?” Porlan was also looking at the Scan results.

     “Not exactly,” said Neala. “But they do have material that we can use to create what we need to fix the SpaceShuttle.”

     “Have you found a place for us to land? It needs to be close to the material we need,” said Porlan.

     “It’s close,” Neala said. “There’s a Wooded Area near a Community that has what we need. And there’s a pretty good size clearing that I think the SpaceShuttle can fit into.”

     “Good,” said Porlan. “Let’s get this over with as quick as we can.”

     “That’s what I am worried about,” Said Neala. “It won’t be quick.”

*******

     A few minutes later the SpaceShuttle landed on Lexxus. But none of the locals there saw them land - because just before the SpaceShuttle entered Lexxus, then landed, it disappeared.

     It was decided on what they were going to do once they got to Lexxus so that they could get off that planet as quickly as possible. They decided that Porlan and lolia would go into the nearby Community while Neala and Effon stayed behind to protect the kids.

     None of them thought that there wouldn’t be any trouble on Lexxus. But if there was then Neala and Effon were the best ones to protect the kids from it. They also decided not to tell the kids about Lexxus either.

     As soon as they made sure that Neala and Effon was talking to the kids about what was going on Porlan and Lolia left. They barely got out of the invisible SpaceShuttle when they realized they were wrong about Lexxus. That planet was a ghost planet. And they were just like their home planet of Zillim.

     Not too far from the hidden SpaceShuttle was a family of ghosts. At least they looked like a family to Porlan and Lolia. There were five of them. Two were adults. And three were children. Porlan and Lolia was very shocked about this. The ghosts looked Human. But there was a white glow all around them.

     Porlan and Lolia ducked behind a bunch of thick trees. At first they did it to cover them being there. Then they decided to watch the ghost for a little while. They did that for a couple of reasons. One was that they were curious about them. And the second reason was because they couldn’t get around them without being seen.

     The ghost family acted like they were on some kind of an outing. At least it did to Porlan and Lolia. Just then a low beeping sound sounded. It was a Communicator signal. Porlan took a small disk off of his clothing. And touched the top of it.

     “I thought we agreed you shouldn’t contact,” said Porlan in a low voice. “Unless there was a big problem.”

     “There is a big problem,” said Neala. “One of the kids saw the family of ghosts. Now all of them have seen them.”

     “What happened? I thought you were going to keep them away from the viewports,” Porlan said.

     “We were – until one of them wanted to see what the planet they were on looked like,” said Neala. “How soon are you going to get back with what you need to fix the SpaceShuttle?”

     “I’m not sure,” said Porlan. “The ghost family might see us if we leave right away. We have to wait until they leave first.”

     “Commander - look,” said Lolia. “The ghost family is going into some kind of a cloth structure.”

     “It looks like we are going to be able to leave now,” said Porlan to Neala. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

     Porlan an Lolia headed for the nearby Community. As they passed close, but not too close to the ghost family they could see into the cloth structure a little. “It almost looks like they are about to go to sleep,” said Lolia.

*******

     There were no other encounters with ghosts - until they reached the nearby Community. Porlan and Lolia couldn’t believe what they were looking at. What they were looking at was well build houses on a street of some kind. “How did they build them?” Asked Porlan.

     “I don’t know,” responded Lolia. “I’m just visiting here.”

     Most of the houses were pretty dark. But there was one they could see close by. So they went to check it out. Once again they were curious. They looked in a big window. And what did they see: An adult in a chair with a book in his hand. The book title was ‘Humans Are Not Our Friends.’ Right next to the adult there was a kid sitting on the floor. It looked like the adult was reading the book to the kid.

     Porlan couldn’t stop staring at that book. Finally, he said, “We better get what we need to fix the SpaceShuttle and get off his planet – fast.”

*******

     When they got back to the SpaceShuttle they were shocked again. The SpaceShuttle was visible. Not only that but there were about a hundred ghost surrounding it. All of them were adults.

     “Neala,” Porlan said into his Communication Disk. “Can you answer me?”

     “It’s okay Porlan,” said Neala. “We are all okay. In fact, we are better than okay. The ghosts here are friendly. They only want to help us.”

     At first Porlan thought Neala was being forced to say that. But then he realized she hadn’t given him any of the code words they used to warn him she was being forced to say that.

     “The SpaceShuttle has been fixed,” said Neala. “We can leave as soon as you and Lolia get back here.”

The End?

¹Excerps from “My Adventures” not yet Written by SpaceFaction aka PureSciFi.