Decrees

Everyone has the right to travel if they wanted or needed to and it's a decree that even aliens supported or mandated themselves and their citizens. Though we aren't sure about other galaxies or universes aside from ours and Milky Way, it became our principle and utmost rule which all travellers human or not respects for many centuries until now.

Humans have machines to use for travel but I think it only takes them as far as Saturn and some scientists or astronauts were able to land on Pluto but soon died since it is extremely cold there and that part of the universe. Pluto is usually a planet of extreme weathers. No one can ever survive there even if we have the facilities just like in Aurea to handle the climate issue that plagues its lands and atmospheres. We just can't survive or even waste power or fuel (protons) for a planet which is difficult to predict or handle altogether.

Two months huh!? Then we will launch our first round trip ticket to Andomeda Galaxy and land on Sufi? Hmmm…interesting and I hope we will find highly equip and qualified applicants this year!, Lena said excitedly and Dan is just listening to her while pondering on how to talk her about the secret risks travelling to the other galaxy.

Why did you hide the fact that the Andromeda Project is indeed a suicide mission?, Dan said with a very serious and annoying tone.

Huh, you finally knew and I bet you also have the proof of the records about the project? You got me! I'm sorry we needed to hide it from you because we know you would disagree and ….

And what? Lena, this is my project and I have worked all my life for this to come true. And now that it finally transpires, I feel like an idiot to agree on this façade of a relationship, for what? For the fame or distinction? Lena, we will be sending travellers on another galaxy and it is our responsibility to bring them back home if not land safely on a planet if we can reach a planet from what I have checked we can't even reach the forefront of Andromeda galaxy from what our powers and protons can accumulate or generate. Haaa…Lena, Lena, Lena, you disappoint me! You are my beloved student, please, make use of the things you learned from me. Don't do this!, Dan cried and stood up to take his leave.

Dan, I really like you and maybe love you too. But this is what USN ordered for us to do and I can't back down now since we are just a couple of months away from the actual launch! I'm sorry! Nothing personal, just a job!, Lena said.

Hmp, I knew you're going to say that!, Dan smirked and waved his hand saying good riddance.

I'm such a monster and a liar, I'm beginning to hate myself now!, Lena thought sipping on the cup of tea Dan ordered for them. He paid from them too. Such a nice and smart man. I really like him a lot. Anyway, back to work for me! Yeah, here, ahuh! What? What about? A ship? Where?, Lena said and hung up her phone then ran to the parking lot to get her car back to the laboratory just a couple of minutes away from the café.

It has been twenty years since that horrible time when I travelled away from Earth trying to explore through-out the universe but accidentally flew into the abyss and landed near Andromeda Galaxy. I can still remember the aroma, the sumptuous, irresistable taste of a colleague since we needed to eat. We lost rations of food since we wanted to lighten the ship's load to float into the vast space and not stop abruptly. Every day it gets harder and harder to sleep thinking that it would be my turn or a friend's to die and get eaten. We decided, the majority decided to take turns in rolling a 45 caliber and when the bullet hits the nape or the head, we just need to clean the place up and cook him or her just to survive.

Then, the next day we will wait in agony for the next victim. Here we regret that when it is one of each other's turn we always wished to survive but then thinking that we needed to eat our staff, wife, husband or friend, it made us feel disgusting and eerie. We didn't have a choice but to survive the journey, I wish I have died too so I wouldn't need to blame myself for disobeying my superiors in risking my life and my team's lives for the scientific break-through I founded and now thinking about it, seemed useless. I felt that I just wasted my staffs lives for what, for fame and prestige of becoming the youngest scientist and of all people, Asian, to have first founded the connecting link of Milky Way and Andromeda and how it happened. I named my project, 'Infinity' which was what we called the loop where our galaxy is connected or attached to Andromeda for a reason. And the sole reason was, our gravity pulled Andromeda and all its planets to our solar system, but not to create chaos but unity which made exploration and distance from each other nearer.