Flash felt like everything was coming together for him. He just needed to stay the course.
The mother ship sped toward Olo, and Flash enjoyed the trip. Lem and Peck kept him company, and they looked forward to seeing Olo for the first time.
Midway through their journey, Flash noticed that Peck was staring out the window. He seemed distracted, so Flash asked him What is it, Peck?
That is our planet, Ino, he responded with what sounded like a whimper. Flash looked out and saw a gray sphere. It looked forlorn. Lem did not join them at the window.
Would it be safe to visit? Flash asked.
It’s a dead place.
Is it safe? Flash asked.
Peck only shrugged.
We would be safe in the TNI2, Flash offered, Would you like to see it again?
And so it was decided that they would visit Peck and Lem’s former home.
Flash was curious. Peck and Lem were filled with cautious nostalgia.
The planet looked empty. Its gray surface reminded Flash of Earth’s own moon.
Peck looked forward to seeing the old place again, and talked excitedly about what life had been like there, in happier times.
Lem remained quiet, and told Flash I know it won’t be the same.
Peck described carefree days playing with his friends, the cozy house he shared with his family, the lush green landscape.
Flash had a hard time picturing anything living on the barren sphere they were approaching. Even the atmosphere was gone.
We won’t touch down, he announced.
Flash parked the mothership in orbit high above the bland stillness of tiny Ino, and couldn’t help thinking of the first time he saw Olo. What Flash took to be destruction then, turned out to be rebirth. He longed for something similar to happen here.
So much sadness enveloped this place. It hung in eerie silence. Flash and Peck prepared to enter the TNI2 to pay their respects. Lem would stay aboard the mother ship. She looked through the hatch as the other two readied the pod. She stared, frozen, when she saw the view of Ino scrolling by below them.
Lem, he said, and reached up to stroke her soft neck. She turned away, the hatch closed, and the two felt a soft bump as the pod was jettisoned. They dropped with no atmospheric friction, and cruised over a desolate expanse of gray.
I don’t recognize anything, Peck whispered.
They flew over a plain of flat rock that was broken up by what at first looked like boulders or mounds. Circling the area, Flash saw openings on the other side of the features, and realized that they were structures. Buildings.
That is my home, Peck stated. Or was my home.
Rows of vacant buildings stood, crumbling, with empty doorways and windows that looked out to the nothingness, like open mouths and gaping eye sockets.
A ping sounded, accompanied by a message on the computer screen. Here in the endless night through which Flash traveled, he was reminded that back on Earth, in the cycle of day and night of his home planet, it was his birthday.
My favorite day of the year. July 20. My birthday.
So on my birthday in 1969, something happened. It was either the greatest achievement of mankind… setting foot on the moon and returning safely back to Earth, or the most elaborate piece of science fiction ever created.
I am ok with either one! Both scenarios boggle my mind a bit.
For decades I accepted the reality of the moon landings. Now conspiracy theorists have cast doubt on that for me. But like Flash Meridian, I can live with some mystery. I don't need all of the answers. In fact, I would rather have an element of the unknown than to have everything solved, categorized and filed on the shelf to collect dust.