Gallarium

In just sixty seconds, even if you were to sit motionless, you would still be over a thousand miles away from where you started. Although everything around you would likely look and feel the same. In a single year, you will travel over one and a half million miles as you make your way around the sun.

For the first twenty-seven million miles of his life, seventeen-year-old Gabriel spent most nights looking up at the stars through his dad’s old telescope. There was a secret spot behind the library where he would often go to escape reality. Located near the top of a giant hill, it was an ideal spot for stargazing.

“Pyxis will be visible tonight” Gabriel announced as he set the table for two. He lived with his mother. “I’m going out tonight to get a good look, you should come with me.” He suggested, as she plated two golden chimichanga’s and sat down across from him. Anytime a new constellation or planet was visible, he would try getting her out of the house as they both often spent their nights alone.

The two of them used to stargaze a lot together when he was growing up. But as he became older and more interested in space, she feared that he would follow too close to his father’s footsteps. When Gabriel asked about what happened to his father, she told him that he died in a military accident during an experiment, hoping it would be easier for him to get through it.

However, Gabriel suspected something different as he often snooped around his father’s office and had never seen military pictures, or any other evidence supporting his mother’s story. Each time he brought it up, she would quickly change the subject because she felt this was the best way to protect her son. She would contemplate telling him the truth, but always found herself frozen with fear.

She just wanted him to live a normal, happy life. Unfortunately, he was far from happy because to him, his life was anything but normal. The only place he felt true belonging was behind the library, looking up through his father’s old telescope. The stars were strangely magnetizing, as if they were calling to him.

What Gabriel and the rest of the world didn’t know, was that an elite crew of scientists had colonized a new planet they call “Gallardo”. Eighteen years ago, a space phenomenon occurred shortly after a mission for the world’s first asteroid prevention system. Since then, one dedicated cosmologist has been desperately trying to send a message back to Earth, but not for the reasons you might think.

“This is it, Meg,” Ralph shouted as he quickly ascended the stairs to his laboratory.

On the way to her desk Meg flipped several switches. After glancing at her logs, she counted aloud, “…eight years, nine months, three weeks and—”

“No need to remind me! However, I must congratulate you on the remarkable upgrade you did to the Microcosmic Orientation Logistics Extrapolator, I am certain it will work this time. Well done, Miss Major!”

Meg shook her head in disapproval, smirking as she replied, “Just say MOLE. You gotta’ learn to appreciate the acronyms bro. Lemme’ break it down. Mole’s love worms, right? A-And worms make wormholes, so we’re—” Meg stomped her foot down, realizing Ralph stopped listening and exclaimed “Oh c’mon!”

Ralph took the handles of an elaborate, laser-like device after checking several instruments and gauges around the lab. A vibrant vortex of energy appeared on the monitor in front of him. “Do you think you can find him?” he looked over at Meg who was murmuring technical jargon and rapidly typing commands into her computer.

Rolling her eyes, she replied, “only if you start using my acronyms.” Having done this process every day for the past eight years, she unenthusiastically pushed down a worn-out button on her keyboard. In her best robot voice, Meg announced, “Transmission three-two-two-zero deployed”. She Picked up a little black book from the table and walked over to a locker labeled “A. Gallardo”. As she gently slid the book inside, ralph let out a deep sigh. She knew exactly what he was feeling, “ I miss him too.”

Back on Earth, Gabriel was at the library doing his homework when static filled his screen and a video started playing. Intrigued, he plugged in headphones and began listening.

“…a cosmologist for the Asteroid Prevention Corps”

Gabriel scratched his head, Is this a glitch? Did he say Asteroid? Is the world ending?

“I was advised by my colleague to inform you that this is not a ‘Glick’—"

“GLITCH” shouted a woman’s voice from off-screen.

“Please do not curse when I am recording! My apologies, Gabriel”

This guy’s a moron—wait a minute, did he just say my name?

“Where was I…my name is Ralph Eriksson. I worked with your father, Antonio Gallardo. This is transmission number three-two-two-one, reflecting the exact number of attempts to contact you.”

Worked with my dad?

Your father is an incredible scientist and more importantly, my best friend. I wish he were able to send you this message himself, but unfortunately, things happen for reasons unknown. Your father was one of the people who designed our deep space vessel, so naturally when things malfunctioned, he would suit up to make repairs.”

Gabriel finally understood his connection to space and for the first time in his life, he learned who his father really was.

“…. when a massive, blinding light surrounded our ship, we were pulled into freefall and our vessel shook violently. It became terrifyingly quiet, as if time had stopped completely. After what felt like weeks of silence, the sound and shaking returned as darkness consumed the light.

It suddenly hit me that your father was still tethered outside. After searching the ship, it was clear that he was no longer on board. For years, we tried to find the source of the light and mapped everything we could along the way. There came a time when we needed to colonize because our supplies were running low.”

My dad’s lost in space? Does my mom know? Is he alive?

“…we used everything your father taught us about colonizing a planet. Speaking of that, he always carried this journal. I would watch him write in it for hours, always curious as to what he was writing. After the accident, I decided to open it because I assumed it was his research notes. I quickly discovered that it was intended for you.

There should be a device somewhere in his office that looks like a modified collar with four antennas. Take it to an open field where you can be alone. We will launch a drone through the same wormhole that brought us here, and the device should guide it back to Earth…in theory. I hope this transmission finds you.”

Static filled the screen again and Gabriel began to question what he had just witnessed. He could not figure out why his mother never told him the truth. The only thing he knew for certain, was that he needed to find the device.

Gabriel arrived home to his mother frantically pacing in the kitchen.

“It’s after nine o’clock Gabe! You had me worried sick, where have you been?”

“I was at the library writing my English paper.”

“Oh, Is that true?”

“The truth… how about the truth? I’ll tell you the truth, but you first.”

“Well, I woke up and went to work. Then I- “

“Not about today. About Dad.”

“Sweetie, I told you- “

“You told me lies. Dad was NOT in the military.”

Realizing Gabriel may have discovered who his father was, she was completely paralyzed. She was flooded with memories of love, adventure, and exploring the unknown with her husband. She needed to tell her son the truth, but when she looked up, he was gone.

Under a new moon, it was pitch-black where Gabriel was sitting in his hideout. A green light slowly pulsated from his father’s device at the bottom of the hill. Feeling relaxed, he laid back to look at the stars.

All this for your journal? Mom won’t tell me the truth because she’s scared. Of what?

His mother’s voice pierced the silence, “You both look at the stars with the same… ‘I want to touch it’ look, and... I-I was the one who told him to go. Maybe if I asked him to stay, he would still be here- “

“But Earth might not” He interrupted, “Mom, you and dad might be the reason we have an asteroid prevention system…you both save tomorrow, every day.”

“So, you don’t hate me?” She said sarcastically. They spent the entire night laughing and talking until they fell asleep under the stars.

Several hours later, the morning sun woke Gabriel as it beamed into his eyes. As he turned away, he realized his mother was no longer next to him. He quickly sprang up to find her walking down the hill to where he had left the device.

“Hey, wait up! Where you going?” he yelled, while running after her.

“I tried waking you up when I heard something fall to the ground.”

His eyes lit up as he sprinted down the hill.

Once he was at the bottom, he noticed a reflective sphere resting on the device. He gently placed his hand on it as it opened to reveal the little black book. He had just picked it up when his mother finally caught up with him and nervously asked “What-What is that?”

“It’s Dad’s journal.”

“Where did...How did- “

“It’s kind of a long story, but dad really wanted me to have this.”

“Is he…you know, alive?”

“I don’t know” Gabriel replied. He went on to tell his mother everything about the transmission. “I was at the library…”

After bringing his mother up to date, he opened the book and read aloud. The first eleven pages were about the crew members and issues they encountered. From there on, he reads about his father having second thoughts about the mission and wanting to come home to start a family. He wrote about missing his wife and her amazing chimichangas.

On the very last page, there was a checklist labeled, ‘When I get Back’. Gabriel and his mother looked at each other with tears in their eyes. Looking down, he noticed a small hand-written note that had fallen from the journal and picked it up.

We don’t want this transport orb back, but you might find someone who

will value it, considering it’s the only piece of Gallarium on Earth.

– Meg and Ralph

“I got an idea” Gabriel said picking up the orb and starting up the hill. Once they made it home, he placed it in the trunk of his car. “I’ll be right back.”

As he drove away, his mother held the journal to her heart and closed her eyes. She reflected on how differently she felt since just yesterday. All the years she spent hiding who his father was, had also hidden a part of her too. Spending the night under the stars with her son reminded her how much she enjoyed that part of her relationship. Not only with her husband, but with her son too.

Gabriel pulled back into the driveway and honked twice. As she stood up from the porch swing, he called out “Hop in, we’re going on a mission”

“Ooh, a mission? Where are we going?”

“Well…I think we better get started on that list. What’s first?”

“See the Northern Lights up close. Where do we do that?”

“Finland, Sweden, or Norway. You pick”

“Gabe… that sounds lovely, but I don’t think we can afford-

“Actually…thanks to Meg and Ralph, I might have an extra twenty-thousand dollars. So, where to?”

She sat in the passenger seat and looked at her smiling son. With her best Swedish accent, “Take me to Sweden, Mr. Gallardo!”