64 Rainbow

Flash examined the earthenware vessel. It was simple, functional and beautiful.  It was glazed with natural minerals and appeared to be fired at an extremely high temperature.  This was a perfectly functional container. Part of it’s beauty came from imperfections in the glaze. Solidified drips were captured permanently by fire, and in one spot, sharp edges were left by a bubble that exploded in the intense heat. 

The object raised more questions than answers for Flash.

Who had made this?  And when?  How long had it been encapsulated in the ancient ice, and how did it get there?  Was anyone left from the race that created it?

It was hard for Flash to picture a kiln, burning red hot on that frozen planet. There were trees for fuel. He held the evidence in his hand, and reveled in the mystery. 

The depletion of elements due to the gift of lettuce was a serious issue, and needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.  Flash no longer had the luxury of a joyride through space, but desperately needed to find a planet with plant life. 

The table of elements had been designed as a closed system, where nothing left, but was continuously complete and rearranged. Restoring balance was critical for his survival. 

He set a course for another blue sphere orbiting a star ahead of him, and began scanning it for signs of life. It was surrounded by a delicate bubble of atmosphere, and below that, a planet-wide ocean of salt water. 

No continents interrupted the expanse of turquoise blue, but Flash was undaunted in his planetary selection. He knew that Earth’s oceans contained great forests of kelp, and his ship was airtight and durable.

He sat back in his chair with his cup and the Ololian book and nestled his toes into the deep wooly rug he had brought back from the ice age forest of his latest excursion. 

Soon, gravity held the mother ship  in orbit. The heavily clouded sky suggested evaporation and warmth, so Flash once again boarded the TNI2 and released it from its mooring. 

The pod fell away from the gleaming ship, and Flash skimmed the invisible border of the bubble before penetrating it and entering the thin air. He dropped through cloud layers into denser and denser gas.

Finally, his spacecraft plunged into the sea. A great splash of shining water burst in the air, and the TNI2 was immersed in the bubbling brine. 

The bubbles quickly rose back to the surface and the view cleared. Shafts of dancing light pierced the water, and Flash found himself floating through a liquid rainbow.