The Persephone Project: Keeper of the Traces


Rain dripped rhythmically into a nearby basin. Why wasn't it working? Not matter 
how many times Kevin tested the relay, it remained silent as before. The 
repeated wiring and unwiring was beginning to take its toll on his hands as well 
as the delicate circuitry. His mind was wandering now. It had been seven days 
since the last hint of sunlight, and he imagined himself walking through a clear 
green field speckled with yellow dandelions. Nearby, an irrigation ditch 
meandered mechanically between the rows freshly ripe corn. He was entirely 
enveloped in his own world free of frustration and pain. Working the last 
silicone chip free with a pair of tiny forceps, Kevin sat back and took in a 
deep breath of the country air. The wind playfully rustled his long wispy fur. 
He felt alone and free... almost.
"Son, it's time for dinner." His father called, as he peered into the large 
opening which was the barn door. "You'll work better on a full stomach."
His father was right. He was probably just hungry. And besides, he knew it was 
good idea to temporarily lay aside a problem and approach it later from a 
different perspective. Fragile old wiring. For a ship of such modern design, it 
certainly hadn't aged well. Perhaps that's why it had been abandoned in the 
first place. Kevin scratched his head as he tightened a loose panel. He knew 
what he was getting into from the start. It was simply a matter of patience and 
effort. But that would have to come later. Turning for the door, he put his 
wrenches down and headed for the house.

"Ok everybody. I have something to share with you!" Janell looked around the 
table nervously as mother and father carried on about the rising price of 
newspapers and the decline of quality entertainment. (Like Kevin, Janell and the 
rest of his family are best described as humanoid mainecoon cats with slightly 
longer muzzles.)
"The news used to be so much more exciting..." father remarked. "We used to hear 
about great things happening. Great men and women of character."
"Yes Dear, things were better then. Now all we hear about is the personal lives 
of dishonest politicians and celebrities." After father the brief exchange, he 
asked that all lower their heads and give thanks for the food. "Thanks be to our 
god Mezth, for providing us with food and shelter. May his blessing be poured 
out on all as our own. Amen.
Barely able to contain herself, Janell broke in.
"Sailus proposed to me last night!"

The family was overwhelmed with joy, and all hugged Janell, congratulating her 
on this wonderful news. Sailus was a nice fellow with a kind demeanor, a big 
heart, and as far as Kevin was concerned, an amazing knowledge of arcane history 
and literature. 

Kevin wasn't quite so lucky with the ladies. 

Fortunately he found solace in his hobby. A great white ship indeed.

Lowering the pneumatic driver, Kevin tightened the last bolt on the central 
circuit box. The computer was now functional, provided that none of the boards 
were cracked. Fortunately, they weren't. 

The ship was of average stature compared most spacecraft in his town. Average 
being approximately 80 feet long and18 feet tall, including the landing gear. On 
the dolly, it stood an additional two feet higher, which was just low enough to 
still clear the barn door. This particular barn was quite large, designed to 
house his father's two gargantuan combines. It was fortunate that one of them 
was on loan to a neighbor. Kevin had a nice place to store his project while he 
was working on it. An especially fortunate blessing considering the amount of 
rain they had been having. Wheeling, it out of the door, in tow behind his 
father's tractor, Kevin turned his gaze to the stars. As he lowered the ship off 
of it's dolly, he thought about the names he had read about in the computer 
databases. His knowledge of mythology was shoddy at best, but he had found one 
particular name which means "weaver of dreams."
"I christen thee The Persephone." Kevin spoke out-loud as he continued his 
skyward leer.

"What are you up to Kevin?"
"About 5'11." It was Janell, and Kevin's response didn't phase her at all. She 
was used to his banal sense of humor. Besides, this was an old one.
"Are you planning on taking the ship up tonight?" Janell questioned Kevin, still 
beaming about her engagement. "You realize that we won't have much time to hang 
out after Zairus and I are married. I'd love to go up with you if you'd like the 
company.
"Sure Janell. You can come along. By the way, would you mind helping me out? I'm 
going to be taking the ship to the twelfth Sector in order to collect some sand 
for my instrumentation.
"What are you talking about? What could you possibly need sand for. I understand 
how these ships work just as well as anyone." Janell looked confident and 
confused at the same time.
"Let me show you something." Kevin motioned for Janell to climb aboard the ship 
with him. She followed. And when they entered the cabin, Kevin walked over to 
the right left rear of the ship (facing the stern). There in the corner was an 
odd looking instrument panel and an extra seat which was identical to the pilot 
and copilot chairs.
"What's this for?" Janell's curiosity piqued. She was familiar with some of the 
hair-brained ideas he had been spouting since he was a small child.
"It's a dark-matter condenser anchor of course. You know how dark matter is so 
small that it doesn't have a half-life? Well, I have determined that dark matter 
isn't temporal at all. Time and matter move forward, while dark matter simply 
occupies space. Space is infinite, matter and time are not, as they are 
dependant on each other. If space is infinite, and dark matter is timeless, then 
by latching on to the exact location of dark matter, I can move the ship through 
time. I am not sure how time it's self relates to infinite matter, and I can't 
calculate destination precisely, but I can bring us back to where we started. To 
return to our present time, I simply press this button, and we arrive as though 
we never left. Of course we will have aged biologically dependent on our 
relative time, but that is of little consequence if we are not outside of our 
own time for long.
"What are you talking about my odd little brother? Are you suggesting that you 
can take this ship through time as in some sort of science-fiction story?" A 
look of distracted doubt flooded Janell's face... she was still beaming from the 
engagement.
"Well, somewhat. We can travel through time. Of this I am confident. But I'm not 
sure it will be glamorous. This is reality after all. If you're still in, grab 
your space suit. If not, I'll understand. Remember, I do not plan to use the 
dark-matter device tonight, but I will be taking her to the fourth moon of 
Idorus.  As far as I know, its sun is quite unstable."

"I'll get my stuff Kev. It will be fun. Don't worry, they've been saying that 
star would collapse for the past two hundred years and nothing has come of it. 
It seems perfectly stable to me." With that, Janell went inside to fetch her 
space suit.


***

After Janell returned, clad in her space suit and clutching her helmet, the two 
buckled themselves in and prepared to take off.
"You know Kevin, this ship may be beautiful but it certainly feels old inside."
"Yeah I know. But what can you expect for an abandoned spacecraft that I got for 
free?" Kevin was busily toiling at the controls. 
"Good point."
Upon liftoff, the ship remained in a horizontal position. Slowly rising, it 
turned first to the right, and then the nose began to point toward the starry 
canopy of the night sky. And with a clap of thrust, the Persephone hurled toward 
the heavens. 

Once the acceleration had stabilized and the autopilot had engaged, they were 
free to move about the cabin. Kevin and Janell talked about all sorts of things. 
Whether it was about the marriage, or an explanation that the sand was needed to 
coat the dark-matter device's sensitive mirrors. In any event, it seemed like 
time passed quickly, and they hardly noticed the trip, even with the jump 
engines were firing. Soon they were circling the desired planet, and made their 
descent.

The planet's surface was smooth and dark as a desert in twilight. However, the 
light was more of a diffuse glow, as the star's power had diminished, and the 
planet had drifted into a distant orbit. Day by day losing touch with the star's 
weakening gravitational field.
"This is the cycle of all creation" Kevin thought to himself as he donned his 
helmet, lowered the steps, and exited the ship. "Everything has a beginning and 
an ending. A birth and a death."

By now, Janell had left the ship, and was happily jumping from dune to dune. 
Sometimes a jump would clear 30 feet or more. Kevin put down his tools and 
gathering bins. He couldn't resist the opportunity to play with around in the 
low gravity environment either. Suddenly the light began to flicker... 
irregularities in the sun's surface began to distort further as it began a swan-
song that was as old as the universe. The star was collapsing.
"Kevin! Get back to the ship! The star's radiation field is beginning to 
flutuate. The exxposure will kill us if we don't act quickly!"
Running to the ship, Kevin picked up his equipment and gathered more precious 
sand before climbing the steps. After closing the hatch, Kevin resumed his place 
at the controls. They quickly began their horizontal ascent, a quick bank to the 
right, nose up, and with a clap of acceleration they were sky-bound.
"Janell! Take the controls. I'm going to see if I can get the dark-matter device 
on-line."
"Kevin, I thought you said you weren't going to use that on this trip. Why are 
you changing your mind?"
"Because if we don't, we will die. If the debris doesn't kill us first, the 
radiation will... it's only a matter of time. Now buckle yourself in, and grab 
onto something. Nobody's ever done this before. Well, here goes nothing."

And with a sudden jerk, the ship began to spin nose first. The stars and the 
planets passed by overhead. Light-dark, light-dark, spiraling wildly. The ship 
creaked and shook as the seconds stretched on into an eternity. They remained 
absolutely still as the Universe/time/matter moved about them. Then silence...

"Uh, are you ok Janell?" Asked Kevin as he looked about the cabin.
"I think I'm in one piece, and you Kevin?"
"I think I'm ok. Did you Just see that? I think my device worked. We're still 
alive. Woohoo!"

As Kevin and Janell dusted themselves off, checking for any problems with 
themselves as well as the Persephone,  they began to relax with the knowledge 
that they were far from the supernova that had threatened their lives just 
moments earlier.


***

Unfortunately, whatever peace of mind that they were looking for would have to 
wait. Over the starboard wing, Janell spotted a small dark object sillouhetted 
against the dim glow of a distant galaxy. It appeared to be growing 
exponentially larger by the second. In fact, it was an object... coming towards 
them! The object reveiled it's self to be a black spaceship. One that looked a 
bit like a black Earth sea-ray. Flanked by two smaller ships, the object passed 
by overhead... narrowly missing the Persephone by about two ship-lenths. Though 
there is no air in space, the silence almost echoed as the ships passed 
overhead. This seemed more of a lazy dream than an ominous specter. Kevin and 
Janell froze in their seats.

Alarms sounded as the mysterious ships opened fire on the Persephone. Kevin 
remembered the three torpedoes he had found in the cave. With Janell at the 
controls, Kevin rushed to the back of the ship and loaded the cumbersome weapon.

"Just try to aim as best you can Janell. I have no idea how this is supposed to 
work."

Lining up the front of the ship with the oncoming enemy, Janell depressed the 
munitions button, sending the torpedo on its way. After slowly floating away 
from the ship, the projectile roared to life. The enemy ship desperately tried 
to evade the incoming weapon, but to no avail. The torpedo changed course with 
the enemy ship! A large fireball lit up the sky... the other two ships were 
retreating.
"Let's get them Kevin... who knows if they'll be back."

"I'm not sure" replied Kevin, "We only have two missiles left, and if this is 
any indication of what we're up against, we'd better use them wisely. In the 
meantime, we can find refuge in the asteroid field. It seems large enough to 
provide protection, but with enough space for our ship to maneuver safely. Maybe 
we can figure out where we are!"


***

Kevin and Janell traveled further into the asteroid field. It was very large... 
perhaps this was the remains of a bygone solar system. In any event, it would 
provide them protection. It was ironic that a product of such mass destruction 
would leave behind this perfect refuge. Continuing towards the center, as best 
they could determine, our brother and sister began to realize the magnitude of 
what had just transpired.

"C-can we get back home?" Janell turned her head, face downcast, toward Kevin.

"I hope so Jan... I really hope so."

"What do you mean by "hope so"? I thought you could get us back to wherever we 
started from."

Well, I can... trouble is, if I get us back where we started from, we'll be 
vaporized instantly... remember the supernova?" Kevin couldn't look her sister 
in the eyes. His guilt was growing as he realized what he had done."

"Y-you idiot! Don't you realize that Zairus and I are engaged to be married! If 
I'm not there... he may find somebody else. I love him... we are... we were... 
soul-mates." And with that last thought, she began to weep uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry Janell, I had no idea this was going to happen... and besides, you 
wanted to come along. You could have stayed at home."

"Sorry is not enough Kevin... you and your machines. You have no idea of what 
it's like to be in love... truly in love. Only to see it pass before your 
eyes... light-years away.

"I don't know what to say" was all Kevin could come up with. He knew she was 
right to be angry... but she wasn't right to judge his personal life. In light 
of the current situation, he let it go. He had done enough wrong for the day. 
And besides, a large object was coming into view.

In front of them, the asteroids began to thin out revealing a clearing. Inside 
was what appeared to be a spaceship approximately three hundred meters in 
height, and nearly double that size in length and depth. It was old. Bearing 
damage on most of it's exterior it was clear that it had seen more than its 
share of asteroids. 

"What is it?" Janell looked up from her misery and pointed at the large object.

"I have no idea Jan." said Kevin who by now was running routine diagnostics in a 
vain attempt to scan the alien hull.


"Kevin, would you say that looks like a landing pad?" Janell's index finger 
pointed starboard.

"Could be."



When they had landed, the siblings donned their pressure suits and set out for a 
better look. Sure enough, it was a landing pad. In fact, "Landing Area" was 
emblazoned on a nearby airlock door...in several hundred languages no less. 
Kevin could only decipher a few before Janell pulled the door open and stepped 
into a small well-lighted corridor.

"Your move" Janell announced as Kevin stepped inside, closing the door behind 
him. 

In front of them was a waist-high shoebox shaped panel that protruded out from a 
locked door. On the top of the panel were six squares, and etched onto the six 
squares were different patterns. Neither of the two could understand the 
inscriptions, but both intuited it to be some sort of combination lock. Without 
thinking, Kevin placed his hand upon the panel and depressed four of the square 
buttons. Nothing happened. Maybe there's another route, sister said as she 
pushed the outer airlock door they had come in through. It wouldn't budge.

"Welcome travelers. We've been expecting you!" a somber (though sharply tinged) 
call echoed through the chamber. The effect was surreal as the Doppler curved 
voice ricocheted around their hears. "Please step inside."

The panel retracted, the door slid downward and vanished into a slot in the 
floor. On the other side of the doorway was a long desk. And behind that long 
desk sat a short-furred man in a topcoat. He was chewing limb of birch and 
looking down at a small object clasped between his thumb and forefinger.

"It's about time you two arrived. We were getting quite worried." The man did 
not shift his gaze, and gave the impression that he was speaking to the object. 
"Please make yourselves at home. You will encounter much here. In fact, you will 
discover more than you would ever have imagined. Allow me to introduce myself. 
My name is Rojtur an I am here to greet you. We do not get many visitors. Sephia 
and Asmond will give you a tour of our most humble abode. As he finished the 
introduction, two dark forms converged on the desk. One of the forms was that of 
a gaunt rodent-like man, the other form was that of a rotund shaggy canine 
woman. The man motioned to Janell while the woman motioned to Kevin. Apparently 
they were going to be split up.

"Do not worry, travelers. You will see each other soon enough. We are here to 
take you wherever you want to go. But your paths must part. When you were 
children, your parents raised you, but when you grew older you set out to forge 
your own destinies. You know these words to be true." Neither Kevin nor Janell 
was sure if Sephia or Asmond had spoken the words, but all heard and understood. 
Their paths must diverge.

Asmond was not only gaunt, but had almond fur and white hair on the top of his 
head. He had a funny way of walking too. His feet made flapping sounds as they 
struck the floor. Janell found it somewhat amusing that this man had flat feet. 
"peculiar" she thought to herself as she headed down the a dimly lit hallway.

He lead her to a door.

"Behind this door lies the..."