Beware of the Siren, my weary travellers

In Charon’s orbit (One of Pluto’s five moons) – 3950

“Oh dude, did you see that? I think she fancied me a lot!” Lorak cried out to his brother amidst the chaos.

“What?” Arak said, while trying to steer the levers. The spaceship had accelerated so much, and even though Arak was an experienced pilot, getting the ship back in his full control was not an easy task.

“I said, did you see she how she looked at me? Oh man, I’m such a smooth talker, aren’t I?” he burst out laughing. Lorak was not known for his modesty, and in this case he showed none.

“We barely escaped from all this mess YOU got us into, and this is the first thing that comes to your mind?” Arak said angrily. “And stop speaking like that. It’s not 3800 anymore and we’re not on Mars either.”

“How would I know that she was the Duke’s daughter? I don’t tend to ask for the full family tree, when I hit on a cute girl” Lorak said, trying to sound apologetic, but without making a real effort. “Plus, she started it.”

“That’s always your problem though, isn’t it? You just rush into a situation without assessing it first. Soon after, this situation turns out to be a huge “black hole”, and then you’re always expecting me to get you of it. Anyway, I think we’re good now. There’s no sign of them and their radar seems not to be working out here. Thank the Spirit for the dust storm. And thank Lorraine for being such a sturdy little ship.” he sighed. “Now, be a good sport and pass me a Stardust, will you?”

“Oh yeah, thank you … Lorraine” Lorak said with a smirk full of sarcasm on his face. He reached into the cryotube, picked a Stardust can and tossed it to Arak, who grabbed it with his newly modified arm.

“I’ve told you not to make fun of Lorraine. She’s a great ship and managed to save our asses numerous times so far.” Arak scolded his brother.

“Alright, alright, don’t start with this again. Anyway, I’ve been meaning to tell you about the new mod I found in…”

“Wait, do you see that?” Arak interrupted him. “It looks like a wormhole, but its colours are different”.

Wormholes – or at least the known to humankind wormholes – are black in colour. Sometimes the gravity field of a neighbouring star might add a splash of orange or green, but black remains the dominant colour. Once a dreary mystery to mankind, they now serve as hotspots for travellers or … rather fugitives, who use the wormholes to travel through deep space crossing vast distances in a matter of seconds. It’s always riskier to travel though wormholes, but when the Empire’s marshals are close behind you with their equalisers, the benefits greatly outweigh the risks.

“Why is it … red?” Lorak asked, as he was staring at the peculiarity on their horizon. They were getting closer now.

“I don’t think that’s a wormhole, and I’m not in the business of exploring the mysteries of the universe, so let me get us out of here, before we get too close.” Arak said and switched off the autopilot. He started the manual routing process.

“...My son...”

“Eh, did you hear that, Arak? Lorak tilted his head, while he kept staring at the red wormhole or whatever that was.

“No, nothing,” Arak said, as he was still trying to manually manoeuvre the ship. “Sit down, will you? you’re making me nervous.”

“I thought I heard something. A voice. It sounded so familiar. It sounded like … home.”  Arak didn’t hear him. He was too busy piloting and his focus remained steady on the task. Suddenly Lorak’s eyes opened wide with awe, as he shouted “Can you hear it, Arak? It’s beautiful.”

“What are you on about? I can’t hear anything and stop shouting for Spirit’s sake. You’re driving me mad and I need to concentrate.” Arak shouted back at him.

“…My dear son...”

Lorak ignored him, like he was’t even there and carried on “It’s wonderful. I’ve never heard of such a sweet song. The melody. The harmony. It’s so mesmerising. Can’t you hear it?”

“I’ve told you I can’t!” he shouted. “Wait.” Arak thought and paused for a second. Then it was his eyes’ turn to open wide, but not with awe. With terror. “I know what this is. This is certainly not a wormhole.” They had come so close to it now that Arak was able to see its colours clearly. It was bright red, with sharp rays of yellow. He’d never seen such colours in his travels. And his travels had taken him and Lorak to the far corners of the known galaxy. “But how come Lorak can hear the song? he shouldn’t be able to.” He muttered to himself. “Unless.”

“…My dear Lorak…come back to me...”

“This voice. I know who she is. And this song. No, it’s not a song.” Lorak was standing up straight, and his face was touching the starglass that kept them separate from the outer space. And safe. “It’s a lullaby. It’s the same melody our mother used to sing to us when we were kids. Do you remember, Arak?”

Arak had to move fast, in order to save them. He rushed and grabbed his brother from his shoulders. He shook him with all the strength he had. “Snap out of it, Lorak” he shouted. “Snap out of it and tell me, what did you do with your earwax mod? Why don’t you have it installed? Where is it?”

Lorak looked dizzy from the voices, the lullaby, and the shake by his brother. “…I…wanted to tell you before…I...traded it with another cool mod …I… found in the black market” He lost his focus again and turned his eyes towards the red and yellow fire ball that was coming closer and closer now. “Mother” Lorak whispered with tears on his eyes.

“…My sweet little boy…I’ve missed you so much…”

Arak loosened his grasp on his brother and sighed. He immediately turned his focus back on steering the ship. He had to quickly change their direction, if there was even a slight chance of escape. The levers trembled in his hands. “Come on, Lorraine.” he said. “Come on, girl.” The levers suddenly stopped trembling and the ship turned a bit to the left. This made Lorak lose his feet and fell back on his seat. Lorak looked surprised for a second, although his eyes and focus remained stuck at this extraterrestrial body. They were at such close proximity now that some of its features could be distinguished. It looked more like a small comet now. Its main head and body were engulfed in flames of bright red and gold. Its tail released gases of yellow and blinding white colours. It really looked like a miniature version of Solaris (or Sun as called by the natives of Gaia).

Arak’s sudden steering was enough to slightly change Lorraine’s course, yet not enough to evade danger, as they were still heading towards the comet. The levers began trembling again and the ship was as if it was rerouted back in its previous course. “How, why?” Arak grabbed again the levers with all his force and shouted at Lorak “Snap out of it you fool! Come and help me, otherwise we’re doomed!”

“She’s almost here, brother” Lorak now sounded fully hypnotised. “There’s no need. Everything will be alright.”

Arak turned to look at his brother. Lorak, or at least the Lorak he knew and loved more than anything in the universe, seemed all gone. His eyes were all white and blank. His face was empty of any feelings expressed by humans or non-humans. He felt despair rushing in and filling every inch of his body.

His eyes turned to look outside. He could now see it clearly. Not a wormhole, neither a comet after all. His father had warned him once, but when he was just a kid and he had forgot since then. Now it was too late. For him and his brother, “I’m sorry, Lorak.” he didn’t say it, but it was written all over his face.

“She’s here brother, look!” Lorak screamed in ecstasy, holding both his arms up high.

Arak decided to join his brother. He stood next to him.

“Look.” Lorak said with the biggest smile on his face. “Can you hear it now? Do you see her?”

Arak’s eyes opened wide. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, and whispered in shock “Mother?”

“…At last, I found you my boys…”