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I have beheld exquisite beauty
in my rich, full life
but none so beautiful
as your eyes tonight”

this Artheo whispers
his breath warms
the tender lobe
of my eager ear

he presses his lips
softly to mine
with gentle passion
bids me farewell

now three hours past
I linger in the bittersweetness

I can still taste him

here I am
hurtling through space
standing on the aft deck
gazing

reliving the kiss
a sudden chill
shocks me sober

been here, done this
precisely this
in every detail

impossible

it’s my first time aboard

a foreboding grips me

I shiver as I watch
the jade-sapphire orb
grow smaller
less relevant

it now recedes
less visible
through the carbon-Lucite

zero-g frost
forms and obscures
this breathtaking view
of the lush planet

our home planet
Gaia

a place
some now on board
will not again see
for fifteen years

if they are
counted among
the fortunate
who do return

we race
exceeding light-speed
toward a distant
call for help

unknown destiny
in uncharted space
with no idea
what we will encounter

the call made it certain
no good lay ahead

I am Sephias
going to Topiarus
to return
in a year’s time

I am distraught

the anxiety
of separation

intense pressure
permeates the crew
who go the distance
to the edge of space
to answer
the cry for help

it is contagious
I feel this too

I feel ungrounded
each time I choose
to leave my man
to go on mission

my soul mate
Artheo

our love is deep

it has withstood
these essential
separations

we understood
when I joined Far-Worlds
that separation
came with the program

but knowing this
makes it no easier

my anxiety
is heightened further
given this mission’s
uncertainty

at Far-Worlds Corp
we are involved
in new-resources
exploration

we’re scientists
not trained spacetroopers

our expertise
not military

this ship
the Thadius
is a space schooner
solar-wind powered

a research vessel
not a fast and agile
battle cruiser

not suited
for space combat

the security force
we have on board
trained to defend
not to attack

they protect us
from known threats
on our journeys
through known space

this mission’s different

the unknown
makes this dangerous

the Dextorium
was an advance ship
sent to reconnoiter
9 months ahead

the Dextorium
did in fact carry
a battle-trained
spacetrooper force

but it has now
fallen silent
for many months

the green glow
of the interstellar
contact indicator orb
means they’re out there

but silence
not a word

to take my mind
off things disturbing
I drift to Artheo
to our last kiss

he presented
a calm brave face
at our goodbye

but I knew better

now together
two centuries
rest assured
I know my man

as decorated Primests
of the Science-Sect Elite
we are privileged
with three birthing cycles

to improve the human strain
a 40-year
no-birthing period
our second
now nears its end

soon
we will enter
our third
free-birthing cycle

we both welcome
the sabbatical
of twenty years
that it affords

we’ve begotten
families
in prior cycles
and love them both

we now dream
of this newest family
our near future
holds in store

this coming family
is most important
in our lives
Artheo’s and mine

state edicts dictate
3rd cycle families
caretake their fosters
as health declines

as we move closer
to our stand down
and cryogenic
hibernation

this new family
will be our comfort
as our current life-phase
draws to a close

as I reflect
I am disrupted

a sudden chaos

panicked commotion
on the foredeck

there is great alarm

I rush forward
in time to see
a startling scene
begin to unfold

there
directly in front
of our speeding ship
menacing fields of energy

they begin to spread
linking together
with apparent logic
forming a grid
blocking our path

acting intelligently
as though a sentient
living thing

they are immense
and they are many
as they assemble
into a spherical net
continually expanding
as far as one can see
it is there

spread far too vast
to travel around
their advancing speed
we cannot outrun

as we approach
the pulsing web
their acceleration
becomes exponential

no doubt we’re on
a collision course

suddenly
my senses jolt
I stagger back
in shock and awe

it is now quite clear
what fate befell
our advance party
and it appears others

they’ve been, well
they’ve been absorbed
by this horrific
electronic death-mesh

we are defenseless

we on the Thadius
can only stare
frightened
but spellbound

the crew’s emotions
now run the gamut
tears fill most eyes
as hell approaches

then I see more clearly
in the eerie violet
sphere of energy
closing upon us
tiny multi-color specks

captured life-energies
of the Dextorium crew
and countless others
that have come before

their vital essence
has been consumed
by this entangled nightmare
that now besets us

their images flicker
in and out of focus
trapped in the grid
held fast and hopeless

empty faces
of complete surrender
translucent
dead eyes
living ghosts

this thing is coming
this host of evil

terrified
I feel helpless
so confused
and so alone

its then I rush
to my solarcomm
to send a message
to Artheo

holding a Droon orb of light
bravely I begin
first sharing poetry
as is our custom

“we have walked quietly hand in hand
in the emerald meadows of Telma
sharing its golden angelfruit
sweet as our stolen kisses

we’ve heard the haunting call
of the coral winged Lellurt
in Droon’s violet skies
over teal Darpin Bay

now fate deems we part
see this Orb of Light
it is my true heart
when I am gone
it will shine on
sweet Artheo
it is my love
eternally”

“right now,
I want to hear
your soothing voice
my precious love.”

“I would give the world
to hear your voice.”

I am speaking
in a tone controlled
yet laced with longing
and melancholy

“I love you my dearest
but something bad
is happening now
here where I am”

“there’s a chance”
then I must pause
collect myself
to start again

“there is a chance,
I may not return
to you again,
to our sweet life”

here my voice quavers
and then it cracks
as I try to add,
“or — to our children.”

grasping for courage
I go on

“if this is
to be my end
it falls to you
to raise them now”

“please let them see
they’re loved forever
protect them well
and keep them safe”

it’s now a struggle
to form the words
but filled with love
I press on

“remember my eggs.
they are safely stored
at the Off-World Corp’s
Reproductive Center.”

“my surrogate
has been selected
she is tested
and bonded pure”

“you must see
our new family born
Zenus and Rennar — born

please promise me!”

choking back
so many emotions
I now fight
to conclude the message

this is the last
I will ever send
to my beloved
Artheo

these are the last words
he’ll hear me speak

“these children,
Zenus and Rennar,
will be the final connection
between you and I”

“remember forever
they are a part
of each of us
my darling one”

“he and she
will care for you
and see you through
your dimming years.”

“they will love you
as you’ll love them
give them my love
tell them about me.”

voice faltering badly
I rise to finish
and share with Artheo
my final words

“god, oh god,
how I want you
here in my arms
my one true love!”

with that,
my heart breaks
as I stare silently
into the screen

teardrops streaming
down my cheeks

12 hours later
the message arrives
on Artheo’s
commstation screen

he is gripped
by disbelief
at what he sees
at what he hears

consumed by horror
unable to move
he stands trembling

frozen by grief

as he sees
my message end
my image flickers
and then it fades

Artheo
falls to his knees
without sound
silent for some time

then
with a growing mix
of fear and sorrow
on his ashen face

he throws back his head
thrusts up his arms
straight and stiff
fists clenched in anger

clenched so tightly
nails
cut into palms
and bring forth blood

bloodied hands
whitened knuckles
stab at the stars

he keens and moans
then begins to wail

the guttural
heart-rending wail
of a man bereft
soul-gored
devastated