The creation of a star

Submitted into Contest #108 in response to: Write about a person or object vanishing into thin air.... view prompt

18 comments

Fiction Science Fiction Speculative

Some things in life are a given. For example, if you combine fire and air, they will morph together into something powerful. But if you combine water with fire, the flame will only shrink and die out. We all know the science behind how these simple elements work together. They are opposites. They can make each other thrive, or they can be the destruction of each other.

But there are things the world of science has yet to explore. Sometimes the unthinkable happens. Like when a single human managed to create something that should not have been possible. During his lifetime, a chemist named Goar Ledger had the world turned upside down.

Ledger studied science and chemical elements. Right after he finished his doctor’s degree at the University of Cambridge. He started the project that would be his life’s work. There was one thing he had always wanted to create. He wanted to artificially form a star. His idea was to use the star's tremendous energy as a power source. Replacing the insufficient and limited power supply that humans currently use. A star could act as fuel for the entire planet!

This project was everything he aspired for, and he put every ounce of his being into it. At the time he had never imagined what sort of disaster would unfold. He had a lot to overcome, this would by no means be easy to work out. As originally, for a star to be made it would require several billions of tons of hydrogen. Not to mention, It takes about a million years for a star to form on its own. So he would have to speed up the fusion process by an immense amount!

Yet, he still decided to go through with this absurdity, no matter what it would take. After 12 years of constant work, he had a revelation. Using a radioactive metal called francium, he changed how the combination of gasses worked together. The francium acted as a catalytic converter. And thus, drastically decreasing the time the process would take.

Now it was possible to create it on a much smaller scale. If his research was correct, the chemical reaction could decrease the timeframe so drastically. The star would form in mere seconds. He still needed to make a large number of preparations before that time would come.

He assured approvals and funding by the government. Ledger formed a group of prominent individuals. Who had equivalent knowledge and education as him. Engineers were working on constructing a space that could hold something of such force. The world eventually heard about their accomplishments and research. The public was greatly fascinated by Ledger’s work. No one had done anything like this before, and now they were so close to seeing it take shape.

Eventually, every component was finalized. They had a remarkable structure where it would all take place and a smaller container that would hold the star. It was built in a remote area away from civilization. The scientists were monitoring the scene by using drones and cameras. They were seated in a control room close to the nearest city.

The time had finally come to execute the plan. And the entirety of humankind was the audience. Some people were excited, celebrating the scientific breakthrough and a possible new energy source. Others were doubtful and scared, frightened by the unpredictableness of the affair.

But there was no going back at this point. Switches were flipped and buttons pressed. The whole world stood by in silence, holding their breaths. Then it happened. It was an absolute miracle. Astonishingly, a star was created.

The transparent container lit up with an incredible amount of light and energy. Every individual observing the event was awestruck and broke out into cheers. But the joy was short-lived. There was an error in Ledger’s calculations. A concept that hadn’t even grazed his mind. By speeding up the process of the making of the star, he also sped up the rate at which it would self-destruct.

The star was beaming, but for no more than a few minutes. Then, the unforeseen cataclysmic event took place. The star shimmered rapidly in a spectrum of colors. Until everything flashed a glaring white, and an ear-shattering blast demolished everything within a forty-mile radius. The explosion wiped out everything nearby and created a massive indent in the ground.

Nobody wanted to believe it, the star was gone just like that. But unfortunately, it wasn’t over just yet. The most peculiar thing happened, a purplish light flashed across the entire globe as the ground shook acutely. Then it all went pitch black. Everything running on electricity instantaneously powered off, and there was a shocking amount of pressure as if the earth was moving faster.

After a while of unnerving movement and shaking. everything became hauntingly still and the air grew increasingly colder. Everything was completely dark on one side of the earth, while on the other side there was a dim light, a sun observed in the distance. The sun seemed to be further away from earth than normal. They also noticed that the constellations and planets looked drastically different.

Nobody knew the exact cause of what had happened, they could only speculate. But the most probable reason would be that the star exploding, triggered a reaction. Creating something like a wormhole, swallowing the earth entirely, and sending the planet and everything on it to another galaxy. 

A week went by, and there was still no electricity and very limited sunlight. But they managed to uphold contact between countries through a battery-driven radio system. The space earth entered must have been packed with molecules to be able to transfer heat from a sun that far away. If not it would have had apocalyptic consequences, the earth would be consumed by ice and cold. It was a few degrees colder than it used to be, but fortunately, it did not have a deadly outcome. Another lucky thing was how the globe had smoothly entered an orbit around this sun.

One of the planets looked very distinctive, in the sky, it looked around the size of a baseball. It was a light blue, with a purple ring. They also quickly noticed that the earth had lost its moon. Throwing off the axial tilt of the planet and making the seasons change more variably and uncontrolled. The most immediate consequence was the weather changes.

There were massive tornadoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis forming all around the world. That led to the destruction of cities and in some cases, entire countries. That was how the world almost ended. Humanity was only weeks or months away from extinction at that point.

Astronomers were working on mapping out the space around them and trying to figure out which galaxy they might be in. Striving for a way to save humanity. But they found no loopholes. There were no previous records of a galaxy like this. Earth must have been sent several billion or trillions of miles away. Somewhere beyond what scientists had explored before. 

The days ahead looked bleak, the people that were left were starting to lose all hope. Until a large moving object was spotted in the sky over a country in Europe. The flying machine was closing in on one of the few countries that were still in one piece. A place that hadn’t yet been ravaged by natural catastrophes, Belgium. The unknown thing landed on the ground near a city named Ghent. 

Many of the residents had seen the oddity as it approached and landed. Some went immediately to investigate what it was. That was the moment humankind first met its savior. Mother nature had turned her back on humanity, she would no longer live in their shadow and viciousness. Even with uncertainty and fear, the humans had no choice but to trust what appeared before them. Soon many similar flying crafts were landing all over the earth. Bringing what was left of humankind towards a new era.

August 24, 2021 22:55

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18 comments

07:19 Sep 03, 2021

Started with scientific explanation is good.

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Michelle Gregory
22:37 Sep 02, 2021

Super cool! Imaginative and different!

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22:02 Aug 30, 2021

This is awesome! I absolutely love how it appeared as a nonfiction article, but then transitioned into a fiction type approach. The narration was very professional and I loved the details of the aftermath of the star, I even was surprised!

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09:17 Aug 31, 2021

Thank you very much!! Glad you enjoyed it, appreciate your kind words!

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Dhevalence .
17:50 Aug 30, 2021

Hi. Thanks for reading and liking my story. Whatever I may have been thinking has already been said, so I won't go there. What is so important is the talent you possess. It's shown in your words and the way you use them. You'll be surprised how good you are... just keep writing.

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17:58 Aug 30, 2021

No problem! Loved your story!!! You’re extremely talented! Thank you so much, that means a lot to me, i’ll keep practicing and trying my best:D Thank you for taking the time to read my story, appreciate it so much!

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Angela Kaufman
15:14 Aug 30, 2021

I loved the scientific angle of your story. It also has a fairy tale/factual vibe...like a legend passed down through the ages. Made me curious to read more

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17:18 Aug 30, 2021

Thank you very much!!! That’s so sweet of you, glad you enjoyed reading my story^^

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Annalisa D.
14:06 Aug 30, 2021

I really enjoyed reading your story. It was a fascinating idea. It held my interest with wanting to know what would happen next.

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15:01 Aug 30, 2021

Thank you very much!! That means a lot to me<3! You’re too kind^^

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Bruce Friedman
12:09 Aug 30, 2021

Very imaginative. Fascinating use of science. As a pure narrative, however, it may not necessarily hold the attention of many readers. Would it be possible to introduce some plot elements?

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Bruce Friedman
17:45 Aug 30, 2021

Just submit Part two as another contest entry when a prompt is published that is suitable. In your introduction to your Part II, you can refer readers back to our Part I for background.

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09:20 Aug 31, 2021

Thank you for the idea!! That would be really fun! Maybe i’ll do that :D

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12:44 Aug 30, 2021

Thank you very much for taking time to read my story!! Means a lot to me^^ Yeah I agree, would love to add more plot and characters. But it was difficult to incorporate into a short story like this one. I’ll think about this for my next story :D

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Bruce Friedman
12:49 Aug 30, 2021

Interesting dilemma re: addition of plot and characters. It seems to me that, despite the length limitation, you could discuss how the changes affected the third party narrator in some way. That could serve to "personalize" the story a little more.

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Jon R. Miller
11:03 Aug 30, 2021

Wow! There is so much packed into this. I enjoyed it. :> Artificially creating a star, worm holes, and first contact! I wonder if Goar Ledger will play an important role in humanity's encounter with the aliens? At the end I sort of wished we could have had a glimpse again of Goar Ledger and how he grappled with what he, unintentionally, caused. Thank you for sharing this. :>

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Kevin Marlow
06:42 Aug 30, 2021

I dig the idea. A human made star. The ending was unsatisfying though, I wanted Earth to end or be reborn. We all need finality or resurrection.

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10:15 Aug 30, 2021

Thank you very much:)! I appreciate the feedback! I thought about ending the world as well. But I wanted to give humans a second chance to redeem themselves and learn from their mistakes!

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