Aquari by DD White
* * *
Begalius anxiously awaited the final preparations of the star-door. Thousands of mostly Eigalli spectators were gathered near the massive 100 mile wide star-door mountain for the power-up event. It had been a festive and friendly gathering with little protest at all. Even protests that did show up were peaceful. Begalius sensed that even the Incaprican youth who were determined to sabotage the event had repented in fear of the wrath of Goag Ralus. Goag Ralus however, had always been peaceful and merciful and not swift to harsh judgment. Goag Ralus had become accustomed to reasonable and highly evolved tenants. The star-door would soon be turned on to open the core of the galaxy up to the Poa star-door in the Carina arm, the one star-door it could still obtain contact with where a Golimechoid galactic civilization now thrived in the outskirts of Magphoreus. Aquari would soon find out why the Tze-Doldus-2 star-door in the Orion arm could not be contacted, and he would probably also connect this star-door with that one. Then there were the disappeared star-doors that apparently still worked and functioned for whoever the disappeared Nephapricans evolved into. Begalius figured the disappeared star-doors must have had an atom or two added to the molecules that made up a quanta-optic-bit of memory. The quanta-optic-bit had been stored in quantum states for atoms that made up a quantum byte molecule, which could be used for a star-door’s computer processing technology. Quanta-optic processing had been what the star-door technologies were based upon. Begalius shivered at the thought of the enormous task that recompiling the star-door programs to work with extra bits of byte data would be.
Begalius stood proudly next to the device that had the switch, which would at last turn the old Dol star-door back on. It had been so busy preparing the star-door that it still hadn’t programmed an Eigalli holographic form for the occasion as planned. Begalius still looked like a bald Nephaprican, essentially identical to the modern day Eagolim. Deliadre had not been in the least disappointed in the Begalius appearance since she evidently has a thing for Eagolim men. Begalius spoke to the crowd. “Soon the lands of Goag Ralus will be blessed with the most famous and valuable of all ancient Nephaprican achievements with of course the exception being The Great Goag Ralus. The star-door was the fastest form of travel ever created. It began at the base of technological evolution, spreading the galactic wings of a terrestrial species that began with only crude fuel rockets, plasma rockets, solar sails, and nuclear engines. Then the power of resetting atomic states evolved to revolutionize everything from computer processing with quantum bits, to nuclear energy by introducing a science that cleaned up radioactive waste. Then there would be the moment when a species of intelligent life realized that certain elements used with gyroscopic energy fields can create virtual particle currents that run counter to the established virtual particle gravity currents. With that development, a galactic species is likely to abandon the old means of space travel for virtual particle drives. Eventually creating vast amounts of anti-matter wasn’t so impossible and either antimatter engines or virtual particle fusion drives caught on. From there a galactic species could master faster than light warp drives that develop basically in two phases of evolution. Phase I drives begin the journey by accelerating space travel up to .65 times the speed of light. Then eventually Phase II drives would be made by the evolving beings, which use warp fusion strategies to attain as much as 1.02 times the speed of light. Then came Phase III at 2.009 times the speed of light in ships with carefully configured multi-dimensional aerodynamics.
It is however, on top of all that where the teleportation and wormhole technologies have dwarfed all those previous technological stages of galactic evolution. No other technology compares to a star-door’s instantaneous travel through warping time/space, and the ancient Nephapricans were fortunate to have caught a glimpse of this, way before their time. This is accomplished however, on top of all those previous stages that were essential to attaining instantaneous space travel, which can and has been used to cross the length of inner Magphoreus from one galactic arm to another, all in an instant.”
At that point the crowd began to cheer proudly for the technological achievements of galactic beings in the mighty Magphoreus. Begalius had more prepared words to say, but suddenly it became compelled to flip the switch right then to power up the old Dol star-door. The cheering crowed would not have heard him anyway over the cheers, colors and lights that were emanating from the Eigalli heads in the crowed along with loud psychic cheers that filled the head of even plugged ears. A hum began to build after the switch had been turned on. The crowd grew more silent as the hum grew louder. Above the mountain sized star-door complex the sky began to shift the light from side to side until it glowed with a fluttering aurora borealis that covered the star-door like a crown or divine halo. It appeared as a beautiful sight. A quanta-optic-nanocode being can’t cry, but Begalius found itself at that moment wondering what crying was like.
The crowd applauded while Goag Ralus, Deliadre, and Nieniel/Aquari stood close to the front with Nieniel/Aquari still advertising the image of Aquari on her horn head. They all were performing the near universal activity of applause by slapping hands together. There had been a mood in the air that felt like a new threshold of evolution would be about to open before them, and be crossed by this resurrection of a very ancient technology. Everyone felt that soon the unfathomable distance between all life in the galaxy would be about to get even shorter.
Deliadre leaned over to Nieniel/Aquari as they were leaving the ceremony. “You probably should return to home and change your clothes for your date tonight.”
Nieniel/Aquari rolled her eyes while letting off a telepathic groan. “Oh yeah, the date.”
Deliadre laughed knowing she was not supposed to have heard that groan.