As the mothership approached Olo, the sonic pulses became louder. It was not the proximity that made the difference. They were growing in intensity, and Flash realized that some major seismic activity was taking place.
Flash’s major concern was for the inhabitants of the planet, so he fine-tuned the high frequency sounds in order to hear what the voices were actually saying.
He could hear it clearly now… “Happy! Happy! We are happy and blessed” the voices bellowed.
Flash was confused by the message and tried to think of a way to intervene.
The dingy surface of Olo loomed. Flash looked out over the small planet’s craters and ridges which now trembled and quaked. He feared the inhabitants were doomed. Still, their melancholy refrain continued… “Happy… Happy…” they cried.
The surface of Olo began to show cracks that were visible even from orbit. Clouds of dust rose like smoke and Flash could only watch, stunned.
The voices were drowned out by the pulsing sound which grew louder and louder and mixed with the sound of tectonic plates creaking and cracking. As the debris clouds continued to rise, they reflected the light of nearby stars, creating a rainbow, visible from Flash’s vantage point high above the thermosphere.
The voices were lost in the din of an exploding planet, and Flash watched in indescribable sadness.
“Shepherdess,” he whispered, on behalf of those he was unable to help. After that, words failed him.
He wondered what could cause this destruction… What could possibly be the source of Olo’s unique sonic fingerprint?
As he watched, great sections of the planet split apart and rose, defying gravity, to further fracture and crumble, eventually obliterating his view.
“If only I had arrived sooner!” Flash lamented. “I could have saved some of them.”
The swirling cloud now enveloped the planet, filling the thin layer of atmosphere completely. The dusty terrestrial orb now looked like a larger, gaseous planet whose swirling vapors undulated now in distinct colors. Magenta, cerulean, emerald, azure and violet patches formed kaleidoscopic patterns, and Flash was transfixed.
Something was stirring within the colors. From time to time, Flash saw something floating, or swimming within the rainbow. Yes. There it was, surfacing and blowing crystalline spouts into the vacuum of space in low orbit. Another. A tail fluke slapped the churning surface and the sound of that impact reverberated through Flash’s equipment and his ship.
A whale, or something very much like a whale, breached. Its huge shining body glimmered in mid air, and then fell back, splattering a distinct pattern in chrome yellow across a field of indigo.
Flash had given up making sense of what he was seeing, and just stared, open mouthed at the glorious display below him. Time stood still (it has a way of doing that in outer space).
When it seemed nothing could ever surprise him again, one of the creatures breached, but did not plunge back into the vibrant sea.
It swam right out of the atmosphere, and Flash could see it clearly for the first time. Its white body scintillated and seemed to glow against the blackness of space. Others followed until a pod of a dozen or more whales swam up, pulsing with the same tones Flash had been hearing all along. The sounds were now much clearer, echoing only through the bodies of the whales, and no longer through the soil in which they had swum for eons.
The last two whales hung back, orbiting just above the cloud, gliding effortlessly.
Flash zoomed in on them and saw something… or someone… on their backs. They were people! Straddling the backs of the floating animals, two survivors rode.