Theme: Universe
They sat around the table. Sol was of course at the head, and the other nine planets seated in random order – Jupiter and Saturn near the back, with their sheer size taking up a few seats each. Sirius was sitting next to Sol – his green glow mixing with Sol’s golden rays and making the head of the table hard to look at. There were a few white dwarves and red giants, but these were just spectators – not part of the conversation that was about to take place. They were from other parts of the Alpha Centauri region but was nothing compared to the being seated at the far end of the table – as far as possible from the others. There was no light there – he was sucking it all into himself.
A few of the planets shivered at the black hole’s presence. If they strayed too near they’d be sucked in and unraveled, like potatoes being peeled over a sink.
“So I am sure you all know what we’re here for” Sol started. Sirius turned his green gaze on to the other planets. Neptune shifted in his seat, causing a few small streams of water to ooze out and form a puddle underneath his seat.
“Okay, good. For those who don’t know -” At this Sol turned towards the black hole at the other end of the table, “-the Boss upstairs wants to put life into one of us. We’re here to discuss who that planet will be.”
Nobody said anything for awhile.
“So, to start off,” Sol continued, “I’ll like to make it clear that whoever accepts this responsibility will have to tolerate whatever this new lifeform does to our surfaces.” Sol surveyed their faces, “Any volunteers?”
Pluto raised his hand. “I’ll do it. Its lonely at the outer ring, and at least this life should provide some entertainment.”
Some of the planets groaned at this.
“Are you kidding? Those poor creatures would freeze to death!” Jupiter said.
Sol looked at him imperiously. “And you would volunteer in place of Pluto?”
Jupiter coughed. “No – I’m far too dangerous – pure hidrogen and helium in a dense atmosphere is more than anything that the Boss wants to make can take. Plus take a look at my Great Red Spot – a complex storm that’ll last a couple mpre centuries at best.”
Sirius raised his eyebrows, bathing everyone in a brief green flare. “Who else?” He asked.
Venus, who until then was too preoccupied with a mirror, raised a delicate hand. ‘I believe the creatures could thrive on me. I am, after all, the most beautiful here.”
Gaia scoffed. “Well, if the creatures could survive the sulfuric acid clouds that make you so beautiful, why not, huh?”
Pluto, quite dissapointed at having being rejected, jumped in: “Plus your surface temperature – 482°C - you want to cook them or something?”
“Shut up, you refrigerator.” Venus snapped back.
The black hole chose that moment to speak up, his voice echoing great fear throughout the room. “You better decide something fast. The Boss sent me to make sure you don’t bicker too long. If the need comes I’ll suck some of you, yeah?”
All the planets visibly paled, save for Sirius and Sol. They nodded in agreement.
“I propose two hosts – Gaia and Mars. Which one?”
The planets stared at each other for awhile. “Mars is self stirilizing, isn’t he?” Saturn asked.
Uranus nodded. “He doesn’t like lifeforms, I think. Or else why does he allow such a high level of solar radiation on his surface?”
Mars didn’t say anything. He just stared ahead, as if he wasn’t there.
“So Gaia it is?” Mercury asked. “She has too many unstable fissures and active volcanoes.”
Gaia smiled calmly. “That can be taken care of.”
Sirius looked down at the people on Gaia. He raised an eyebrow again, bathing the planet in a faint green light.
“They’ve been hurting her, haven’t they?” He asked.
Sol, glowing as brightly as ever, nodded. “Pollution was one of the effects we foresaw.”
Sirius shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Gaia is a strong one. And even if she loses her life giving form, the ones that lose is the life on that planet itself.”
Both of them stood quietly for a while, gold and green rays mingling.
“I wonder what the Boss wanted to achieve by giving these creatures so much intelligence and free will.”
Sol laughed. “It’ll do no good to question His motives. Come, let’s go.” He turned towards the outer Alpha Centauri, gesturing for Sirius to follow.
From the earth, the sun and the brightest star in the mortal skies seem to fade for an instant.
Facts
- Sol, in Roman religion, sun god. An ancient god of Mesopotamian origin, he was introduced (c.220) into Roman religion as Sol Invictus by emperor Heliogabalus. His worship remained an important cult of Rome until the rise of Christianity. In this story Sol is used as a name for the Sun.
- Gaia, The goddess of the earth, who bore and married Uranus and became the mother of the Titans and the Cyclopes. Here the name Gaia refers to Earth.
- White Dwarfs is an astronomical object which is produced when a low or medium mass star dies, and are approximately the size of the Earth.
- Sirius is the brightest star seen from Earth and is actually two stars side by side, the bigger (and the one easily seen) is known as Sirius A. Sirius B is affectionately called ‘The Pup’, because Sirius has long been known as the Dog Star (it is the eye of Canis Major)
- Red Giants are stars of solar mass or higher which have exhausted the supply of hydrogen in their cores and started fusing hydrogen in a shell outside the core. The stars expand at a great rate, but become cooler due to the larger surface area. The Earth’s sun is expected to become a red giant in six billion years.
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