The Relativity of Time and Banana Bread

At the uncharted edge of the known universe:

Rivia pulled back both thruster controls as the planet approached. The force of the deceleration sent the suspended flight capsule forward while the harness system began clicking and whirring, making minor adjustments to the tension on the straps and seat that cradled her body.

Why didn't we upgrade this suspension system earlier? She thought as she closed her eyes and let her body adjust to the forces that were pulling with their predictable but almost frightening power. 

When the deceleration was complete, the spacecraft was cruising at 50 miles outside of the atmosphere of Lambda IX.

“Dex, send a message to Marlon.”

"Okay, what would you like to say?" Dex, the AI operating system, replied brightly.

"I made it to Lambda. Everything is fine. I'll be back soon and don't forget to make banana bread. Love you."

"Message sent," Dex replied. "Transmission time, 5.9 seconds. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Are the comms and locations systems still up?"

"Yes, the research center is tracking with only a 3-second delay. All systems operational."

Great! Last atmospheric sample and then I’m heading home!

The spacecraft slowed even further and a small unmanned drone detached itself from the front. It dipped lower and lower until it was only a small gray speck.

Rivia manned the drone through her headset and a few other manual controls. It descended until dipping into Lambda IX’s atmosphere and immediately began sending back large amounts of data. This data was transmitted from the spacecraft back to Aristocles, the mobile space station research center that was home to over 300 scientists and pilots, including her husband Marlon.

Aristocles: 

Marlon felt his eyes glazing over as he looked at the final reports for the day. Exploring the depths of space was incredibly exciting, but like many jobs, it could become boring when you have been at it for over 10 hours.

Okay, shut down time.

The hive of screens went dark in unison as Marlon exited the chair. Trey, the couple’s beloved golden retriever, immediately came running into the room, sensing that the workday was over.

There were 14 dogs and 8 cats onboard Aristocles, but that didn't make Trey any less of a celebrity when he came along for the group workout sessions, the research dinners, or even the more formal joint conference meetings.

Marlon jumped back and forth, his brown hair waving and his glasses falling down his nose. Trey fell into a playful bow, his tail wagging.

“Come on boy!”

They both ran out of the small living space into the kitchen, Trey's paws skittering across the floor.

Marlon pulled out a loaf pan.

Lambda IX:

Rivia looked down at the green landscape.

What a waste. Such a beautiful planet right next to the event horizon of a black hole.

The planet had every sign of being a prime site for colonization, except for the fact that it would be a snack for the black hole within a few years.

Still, its data needed to be gathered. And so pilots, like her, would take samples, and scientists, like Marlon, would analyze those samples until some major discovery was made in the quest to find a new home for the human race. There were 5 other research centers similar to their own which were scattered across the universe, each working toward their common goal.

The drone was coming up out of the atmosphere now, its shape growing larger as it glided in sync with the spacecraft.

It's older than the rest of the ship now, Rivia thought.

Lambda IX was being affected by the gravitational pull of the black hole, meaning that the time within the atmosphere of the planet sped by much faster than in the space outside of its atmosphere. For every day that passed inside Lambda's atmosphere, only 64 seconds passed outside of it.

The drone docked and Rivia began the process of checking each system for the high-speed return to the mobile research center.

Fuel system? Check.

Power distribution? Check…

The craft managed its own diagnostics, but the manual check was a calming ritual that Rivia preferred.

She pushed both of the levers forward and there was an enormous lurch as the spacecraft began moving forward, its two rocket engines shaking the cabin.

"Huh?"

A bright red error message flashed across the main operations screen until it was overlapped by another and then another.

The craft began spinning.

"Dex, shut down the starboard engine!" Rivia pulled back both thruster controls, but there was no response, only a further acceleration. The spacecraft was spinning like a top, and Rivia felt her consciousness starting to slip as the streaks of light through the window became solid lines, then started to fade as the craft began to descend into Lambda's atmosphere.

Dex's voice finally came through the shrieking control dash. 

"Initiating eject sequence."

After this, there was only blackness and cold.

Aristocles: 

Marlon pulled two very ripe bananas off of the hanger on the countertop. 

These lab-grown bananas had been sitting on the counter for 3 months, but even genetically modified bananas don't last forever. He began smashing the bananas on a plate, stopping for a quick moment to look up at the time. It was 17:00. In about an hour Rivia would return from her debrief, bursting in the door like a streak of light.

Lambda IX:

She was swimming. She was back on earth, a little girl swimming in the neighbor's pool. Ms. Elway had made cupcakes and all of her friends from school were there, laughing and screaming and jumping into the water.

She smiled and sank deeper into the pool, her face slowly being covered by the water. She kicked her legs expecting to feel the slimy but firm bottom of the pool under her feet.

It wasn't there.

She began to panic, sucking in a big gulp of water as if it was air. Her nose and lungs began to burn.

____

Rivia kicked wildly as she opened her eyes.  She could see light and the white parachute far above, floating on the surface of the water. She rose far too slowly for her burning lungs that screamed with each upward stroke.

Soon she had crested the surface of the water and was gagging and spitting, looking for something solid.  A small island was ahead, covered in small green plants. She grabbed her emergency pack and swam with flailing arms as the shore got closer.

When she found the strength to stand, all that could be seen were hundreds of similar islands ahead, each surrounded by water. The islands were green and covered in small plants that were firm to the touch, almost as if the leaves were made of steel.

The mobile control panel on her wrist flashed with tiny red lights.

"Dex?"

"Yes, Rivia? What can I do for you?"

"Dex, where am I?"

"We are on the surface of the planet Lambda. One of the engines suffered a critical failure and I ordered the eject sequence as you were unresponsive."

"Lambda? But we were only taking atmosphere samples..."

"The aircraft has taken some damage in landing but may not be permanently disabled. In fact, odds are good that you may be able to repair it manually with the assistance of the onboard robotics system."

"Damage?" Rivia's oxygen-starved mind was slowly beginning to fire again. 

"Yes. I was able to guide the ship to a landing spot where I thought it would be safe. I also sent an emergency signal just before we descended into the atmosphere, but our communications are down and we have no way of knowing whether it was received. "

"Surely the command center will notice that we are missing on their diagnostic reports. They will send a rescue."

"Yes, they will. But as you know, time moves a little differently on this planet. By the time a rescue attempt is launched, even if it is only in a matter of hours, we may have been here for months. You have enough food for one month in your emergency pack."

"So I can wait here for months to be rescued or... try to repair the ship. That sounds like an easy decision. How far do I need to go?"

"A little over 200 miles from your current location."

"You've got to be kidding."

Aristocles: 

"What do we need first, Trey?"

Trey liked to “help” with anything going on in the kitchen, but he was forever getting in the way. Marlon stepped around him as he wagged his tail, looking up expectantly.

"Not now Trey, I just washed my hands.” he said, glancing up at the recipe on the monitor screen. “We need 1 cup of sugar, ½ of a cup of melted butter, and two eggs."

Lambda IX:

The first 40 miles took two full weeks. The gravitational pull was quite strong on the large planet which created the sensation of large weights being placed on her arms and legs as she moved forward.

She walked across each island in waterlogged gear, jumped into the water and swam to the next, and continued like this until she was too exhausted to walk another step. Then she would sleep for a few hours and begin again after a quick meal of hydrated mash.

On this side of Lambda, the days were 20 hours long. The sun illuminated the water with a brilliant light, and the temperature was fairly stable at 70-90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Her emergency pack contained a water filtration system intended to be used to recycle urine, but here on Lambda, there was no shortage of water to filtrate and drink.

The days blurred together, but Dex kept track of them and announced the time and date frequently with his consistent programmed optimism.

After about two weeks of moving at this agonizing pace, the islands began to grow closer together. The plants grew taller, but were still hard as rocks, Rivia found herself moving around them more and more as they would actually tear through her suit if she wasn't careful.

At the end of the third week, the first sign of life was seen. A tiny creature came flying by her once, then circled back and landed in her outstretched palm.

"Dex! Are you seeing this? This is the first sign of life we have found on an alien planet in over 50 years!"

Its head looked like a lizard but it had enormous back legs like a frog. Its wings seemed oversized and were covered in green and yellow streaks. It was slimy and cold but surprisingly heavy. Its head darted back and forth looking at her with a curious look before it flew off to another island.

"You might regret letting it go. Your food supplies will only last a couple more weeks, and at this pace, you may not make it to the ship for another 4 weeks." Dex said.

Alien life. Real, touchable alien life that was cold and wet in your hand. The scientists at the research center would have killed for just a small scale from the creature. 

Marlon would love to see this, all of it, she thought, looking at the hundreds of islands around her.

"The terrain changes a bit in the next few miles. We are reaching a more solid landmass that moves upward to the plateau where the ship rests." Dex said. “Be careful, other life forms on this planet may not be so small or welcoming.”

Aristocles: 

"Alright Trey, we have the sugar, melted butter, eggs, and one teaspoon of vanilla.” 

“Wait… did I put in the vanilla?"

The stand mixer was humming happily on the countertop. The spoon sat on the counter next to the open container. Marlon looked closely at it but couldn't tell if it had been used.

He added a teaspoon. Whoever complained about too much vanilla?

Lambda IX:

"Dex, I hate to ask again, but when do you think we will reach the ship?"

"Your pace has quickened since you found a natural food source. But there is still about 40 miles to get to the ship. Maybe in two weeks depending on the vegetation and terrain."

The plants were much larger now and almost impossible to push through in places. Some large trees were starting to show up as well, they grew in arch formations. Dex surmised that this was to compensate for the higher level of gravity on the island.

It had been another long, grueling four weeks of steady climbing through the vegetation.

The one bright spot was that Rivia had found a food source, a sort of fruit. It was a blue-green color and grew in bunches, each individual fruit almost the size of a fist. The flavor was strange and the fruit was very acidic, but Rivia found she could eat 20 or more in a sitting without being full. Her body was building large amounts of muscle to compensate for the extreme demands placed on it by the gravitational forces of the planet. The calories for this process had to come from somewhere.

A fog was rolling in, filling the spaces between the plants and obscuring the sun overhead. The air was wet and warm, and a strange sour smell hung in the air. 

Gradually, more and more of the arch-shaped trees dominated the views ahead until Rivia found herself alone in an alien forest with only her thoughts and her AI companion.

Aristocles: 

The dry ingredients were mixed and added to the bowl.

They were:

1 1/2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Marlon added the smashed bananas and 1/2 cup of lab-synthesized sour cream.

Trey had become bored and was lying in the middle of the floor, his ears pricking up occasionally as he watched to see if something would spill or drop into his reach.

Marlon poured the light, fluffy batter into the pan and popped it into the oven.

Lambda IX:

She was within 4 miles of the ship when they came crashing through the trees. Huge, hulking reptiles, each of them about 50 feet long with long snouts and teeth like daggers.

They had short legs but were wrapped in muscle from their time on the high-gravity planet and their green color made them hard to distinguish between the trees and the fog.

When Rivia first saw them she froze, hoping to hide as they passed through the jungle. They kept moving straight toward her with an alarming speed, and soon she suspected that they could sense her presence. They were tracking her somehow, and the only thing to do was...

Her control panel crackled on her wrist.

"Rivia, I'm sensing over 20 heat signatures. We do not have enough data to know if these creatures are carnivorous or..."

One of the reptiles roared as it darted toward her location in a small clump of bushes.

"Shut up Dex!" She half-whispered, half-yelled into the control panel as she began running through the jungle. 

Over the past two months, her body had adapted and she found herself gaining speed, jumping through the shrubs and around the trees, climbing upward to the plateau, upward to that inanimate hunk of metal that could bring her home. 

The monsters were close behind, bellowing in the fog.

As she pushed through the final mile she saw more of the hulking reptiles moving through the trees ahead of her on her right.

"Dex, I think they might be trying to cut me off!"

"You have attracted a few more of the creatures, it seems they are communicating with each other in some way."

She pushed herself harder, milking every drop of energy from her screaming muscles. 

As she reached the opening in the trees at the plateau, she had the distinct sensation that she was floating, detached from her human form as the trees fell around her, the monsters closing in on her side as she broke through the fog into the light of the plateau.

"DEX! TURN ON THE ENGINE!"

She jumped into a small ravine.

There was an explosion of light as the aircraft's engine came to life, hot flames shot over her head as the aircraft began spinning on the smooth, bare surface of the plateau. The deafening roar of the engine drowned out the roars of the creatures as Rivia covered her ears, pushing her face into the wet soil.

The aircraft continued spinning and slowly began to lift.

"SHUT IT DOWN DEX!" Rivia screamed into her wrist.

The woods were silent and still.

—

The banana bread was rising and spilling over the top of the pan as the top darkened into a golden brown.

—

Rivia closed her eyes as she streaked through the dark vacuum of space toward the research center. The comms equipment was still down, but the tracker on the ship was active.

—

Dozens of pilots in the early stages of a rescue attempt began removing their helmets and cheering as an announcement was made over the speakers.

—

Ten minutes later, she opened the door to the apartment and collapsed onto one knee as Trey came running to her. He wagged his tail as he sniffed the alien dirt on her shoes.

"Hey, Honey! How was your day?" Marlon was looking down as he flipped the loaf out of the pan.

The control panel on her wrist started squawking. The command center wanted her, and they needed to talk now.

"It was crazy," she said, her voice hoarse and low.

Marlon looked up at her. He dropped the empty loaf pan to the floor.

"Wha...what happened...?" he stammered.

"I'm going to be fine, really." She said, stepping forward and embracing him. "I've got to walk over to the command center, but before I go, can you cut a slice of the banana bread for me? It smells amazing."