What's a Picture Worth?

Out beyond the distant galaxies, where unknown stars twinkled and unnamed wonders dwelt, a small spaceship with two brave space photographers soared by at hyper speed. Finnian, the courageous captain was at the helm, and his intelligent yet goofy co-captain Quixly was sitting nearby, looking through old books and scrolls. The two friends were on their way to take their greatest picture yet.

“These are some pretty crazy legends, Captain.” Quixly said as he was reading the scrolls. “Are ya sure this planet actually exists?”

“I’m pretty sure.” Finnian responded, looking down at the map on his control panel. “No one alive has ever seen it, and all the historical records differ in their accounts, but one thing is consistent through everything we’ve read: it exists. And I’m willing to try to find it if it means we can photograph one of the most amazing planets in all the universe.”

“Oh, if it exists, we’ll find it.” Quixly replied. “I’ve looked through every book and map and scroll that mentions it, and I’ve done all the calculations that can possibly be done, plus a few more just for fun. It’s either at the location we’re going to, or it’s nothing more than a myth.” Quixly continued to search the scroll he was looking at, completely unaware of how boastful that last statement sounded. “Also, Captain, do ya really think the planet is alive? What does that even mean?”

“First off, Quixly, you can stop calling me Captain. You’re my co-captain now, we’re equals in rank. Just call me Finnian. Secondly, I don’t really know what it means. I’m excited to find out though!”

“Me too, Captain.” Quixly said, still looking at his ancient scroll.

Captain Finnian was about to make another comment when he heard a beeping from their navigation system. “Oh, Quixly, we’re nearly there. Come on over here and help me find a good place to fly through. If this planet exists, then I’m gonna need your help getting to it.”

Quixly jumped up and ran over to the control panel. “Yes sir, Captain! What are we flying through?”

“Quixly, I’ve told you a million times, just call me Finnian.” The ship, following the precise instructions Quixly had uploaded earlier, pulled out of hyper speed in front of a huge wall of asteroids. The asteroids were all different shapes and sizes, and they were all moving in different directions and at different speeds. Both of them looked at the barrier in silence for a moment before Finnian answered Quixly’s original question. “We’re flying through that.”

“What!?!?” Quixly responded, nearly falling down in shock. “But sir, there are hundreds of asteroids flying in all different directions.” He looked a little closer. “Thousands! Tens of thousands! We can’t fly through that!”

“Sure we can.” Captain Finnian said, looking at all the asteroids. “It’ll be fun! Besides, no other captain alive has ever flown through it, we’ll be legends!”

Quixly, who wasn’t quite as competitive or ambitious as Finnian rolled all three of his eyes. “I’d rather be a living nobody than a dead legend. I say we fly around the asteroids.” He looked at Captain Finnian and smiled hopefully.

“We can’t go around it, Quixly.”

“We could go under it?”

“Can’t go under it.”

“Above it?” Quixly’s voice was shaking by this point.

“Can’t go above it.” Finnian replied. “We have to go through it.”

Quixly gulped in fear. “But why, sir? Why do we gotta go through a giant wall of dangerous, scary, horrible asteroids?”

“Great question, Quixly. The answer is simple. Because this isn’t a wall. It’s a bunch of orbiting asteroids. Think of them as tiny moons. They’re surrounding the ancient planet we’re going to photograph. The only way to get to the planet is by going through the asteroids.”

Quixly just stared at Finnian, and then at the seemingly impassible barrier in front of them. He had been too busy figuring out where the planet was to research the details of what orbited around the planet. Flying through those asteroids seemed way too risky. But he wanted to see this ancient planet just as much as Finnian, and he had a lot of trust in his companion’s ability to fly a spaceship. If Captain Finnian said they could do it, they could do it.

“Alrighty ighty ighty, Captain. I trust ya. If ya say you can fly through, then we can fly through. Wowza. I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

Captain Finnian smiled at his quirky green co-captain. He was grateful to have a friend and co-captain who trusted him that much. He didn’t plan on letting him down. “Thank you Quixly. Don’t worry, it’s going to be completely fine. And again, you don’t need to call me Captain anymore.”

“Yes sir, Captain!” Quixly said. Finnian rolled his eyes.

They both sat down in their respective seats and got to work. Captain Finnian moved the spaceship forward slowly, and Quixly started doing calculations on the size, speed, and direction of the orbiting asteroids to give Captain Finnian the best chance at getting through. They both silently wondered what the ancient, living planet would look like. No matter what it was like though, taking a picture of it would be unlike anything they’d ever photographed before. They’d be nearly as legendary as the planet itself once they had a picture of it.

As they got closer, Captain Finnian hit a button on his control screen that opened up the gunner’s control on Quixly’s screen.

“Captain,” Quixly said, “I think ya hit something wrong. You just pulled up the gunner screen on my end.”

“That was on purpose, Quixly.” Captain Finnian replied. “I want you to be in control of our laser guns as we drive through. You can blast any of the smaller asteroids that I can’t avoid. That’ll help me focus on the bigger obstacles.”

Quixly lit up at that news. “Wowza! Do ya mean it? You want me to use the guns!?” As a navigating assistant Quixly hadn’t been authorized to use the spaceship’s guns. His recent promotion didn’t have those limitations.

“You’re a co-captain now, Quixly. It’s well within your right to use the guns. And what better time to start than right now?”

“Sir, this is an honor! Thank you!” Quixly was so excited that he nearly forgot what they were about to do. He then looked out the window again and his eyes widened considerably. “But wait! I’ve never done this before! I don’t know how to do it! Shouldn’t we use the auto aim for the guns?”

Captain Finnian laughed. “Quixly, I trust you. You’re the most precise navigator I’ve ever met, I have no doubt that you’ll be precise with the guns.” He then looked at his own screen and pushed a few more buttons. “Also, I’m turning my guns on auto aim anyway, just to be safe.”

That seemed to be good enough for Quixly. “Alrighty then! Let’s show these giant space rocks who’s boss! Hi-dee ho let’s go!” With that Finnian pushed forward on the thrusters, and they entered the maze of asteroids.

The next 15 minutes were a crazy blur of activity. Captain Finnian had to maneuver around countless asteroids of all different sizes, some of them several hundred times bigger than their spaceship. Quixly was going berserk with the laser guns, blasting everything that got close to them, and many things further away too. Although they were too focused to talk for the most part, Quixly couldn’t help himself from yelling out the occasional ‘Wowza!’, ‘Gee wizz!’, and even an ‘Owabungowa!’ once or twice.

Finally, right when it started to seem like there was no end, they blasted through a final asteroid and could see the rocky planet in front of them. They slowed the spaceship down and looked at the ancient, historical, legendary planet. They looked a little longer. Then a bit more.

“I think it’s dead.” Quixly finally said.

“I think you’re right.” Captain Finnian replied, disappointment evident in his voice. The planet they were staring at looked like a gigantic asteroid. It was grey, rough in texture, and not as spherical as most planets. The only word Finnian could think to describe it was ‘anticlimactic.’ They had been flying through space for months in a search to find it, and it just turned out to be a gigantic rock. The legends said it was alive, but it sure didn’t look alive. It didn’t even look like it had any life on it. It was just a giant asteroid.

“Well, I’m sorry to have brought you all the way out here for nothing.” Finnian said to his green friend. “I suppose we can still snap a few pictures, but then let’s get out of here, what a disappointment.” He turned to go get one of his cameras when Quixly gasped.

“Sir!” He yelled, even though Finnian was standing right next to him. “It moved!”

“Don’t mess with me, Quixly. I feel bad enough as it is. And stop calling me sir.”

“No, sir, I’m serious! Look! It just moved again! I think it’s actually alive!”

Finnian turned back around to look out the window and nearly fainted. The entire planet was moving! It seemed to be unfolding itself very slowly. Before they knew it, the planet no longer looked like a rock, but it took the shape of a giant rocky man. It turned its massive head and looked at the spaceship curiously.

“Wowza, I was not expecting that!” Quixly said. He then waved at the giant creature. “Hello!!! We came to take your picture! It’s nice to meet you!”

Although the living planet couldn’t possibly hear or understand what Quixly had said, it somehow saw him wave through the glass, and it copied the motion, waving back at them.

“Oh my heck,” Captain Finnian said, finally getting through his initial wave of shock. “I need to take a picture!” He then ran back to the closet with all his cameras and threw the door open. After successfully navigating everything else on their journey that could have gone wrong, he couldn’t believe what he saw. On the floor in front of him were hundreds of broken camera pieces. He must not have strapped the cameras in properly last time, and the rough journey through the asteroids knocked them all off their shelves, destroying them as they crashed into each other. They were completely useless.

“My name is Quixly!” Captain Finnian heard his friend yell through the window, still unaware of the broken cameras. “What’s your name!?” Quixly then turned to face Finnian. “Sir, come quick, we need some pictures…..” his voice trailed off when he saw the broken cameras.

Captain Finnian slowly walked back up to the front of the spaceship and slumped down in his seat. Outside, the giant planet copied his motion, although he had no chair to sit in.

Quixly looked at his friend, looked at the broken cameras, and then looked at the living planet again. “Ya know, Captain,” he said. “I like taking pictures as much as you do, but this might be one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced. I plan on enjoying it, picture or no picture. And there’s no one else I’d rather do it with than you.”

Captain Finnian looked at his friend and smiled. Somehow Quixly always knew just what to say. He didn’t know how he was so lucky to have such a great friend as his co-captain. In that moment he remembered that life is about so much more than taking legendary pictures, career success, or becoming famous. It’s about good friendships and enjoying the moments, which is what got him into photography in the first place. Looking back out the window at the gigantic, friendly planet, he actually felt grateful that his cameras broke. Getting a reminder of what’s really important in life was so much more valuable than taking another picture, no matter how rare it was.

“You’re right Quixly, thank you. It’s a blessing to enjoy this moment. Thank you for reminding me of that.”

“Well, you know me, Captain, always pointing you in the right direction!” Quixly said. They both then looked out the window and continued to wave, make faces at, and try to communicate with the ancient, living planet. A picture might be worth a thousand words, but a moment with a friend is priceless.