Prologue – From Hubble Beginnings
7:00 AM on a dull Saturday morning.
"Do you think that the Dodgers are going anywhere this year?"
"Not likely, Mike. Anything past the—"
I shut off the radio. Awake but groggy, it was my weekend ritual to arise before the rest of my family. Why my alarm was set to morning sports talk radio I wasn't completely sure. I didn't much care for sports.
After lumbering to the bathroom and freshening up for the day, I proceeded down the stairs to the kitchen. Sneaking about so as to avoid waking the rest of the house, I got myself a green plastic bowl filled to the brim with cereal and milk. The morsels of food crunched deliciously, though all the mattered was getting enough nutrients to last me through until lunchtime at two.
Clearing the dirty dish and spoon to the sink, I gathered up my book of the day as well as a simple blue lawn chair in a canvas bag. While most weekends consisted of much the same, it was a calming, centering time to both reflect and expand my mind. Setting up camp in the backyard, I made an impulse decision. Not in my usual spot, I chose a patch of grass and unfolded my chair. Something in the air screamed to me: different.
Hello, Carl. Good to see you again.
I sighed into my seat with an old, raggedy copy of Carl Sagan's Cosmos. I picked it up at a yard sale a few years previous and from that moment forward, my life changed forever. My focus turned to science and the beauty of the universe in both my free time and my academic studies. I could never hope to be as brilliant, eloquent, or educated as Sagan was, but giving up before trying was a surefire path to failure.
I read many books on Saturday mornings, but my favorites, by far, were always those written by Sagan, Hawking, and Feynman. While waiting for holds to come in to the public library, I'd bring out selections from my personal library. Today, it was again time to "journey through the cosmos."
The hours slipped past as if by magic and I lost myself to the expansive reality into which all of humanity is born. More inspiring to me than religion or drug trips, reading outside was when I felt myself at peace; this was Nirvana.
As the sun began to lose its unchallenged dominance in the sky, I slowly closed the cover of my book and sat in an almost spiritual stupor. Thinking of all the amazing possibilities our universe presents to us, I made my way to the mailbox with my book tucked under my arm and my chair back in its canvas case over my shoulder.
Perhaps there will be something other than bills and catalogues today…
I had no idea.
Opening the door to the mailbox, I saw a small white box tied in golden ribbons pushed toward the back. I pulled it out with piqued interest and took it to the dining room table inside. Shrugging off the chair and its case and afternoon greetings alike, I pondered the package's contents.
"What could this be…?"
I mumbled quietly to myself as other paused to observe my strange package. Untying the ribbons and lifting up the white lid, there was but a small, blank golden ticket pressed into an indentation within the box.
"Whoa, what do you have there?"
"I don't know, Dad. I'm just as curious and bewildered as you are. It looks like some sort of prank from Willy Wonka. There isn't a return address label…Actually, there isn't an address label either. It must have been hand-delivered…"
I carefully lifted the ticket out of the indentation and found a further cubby underneath. Contained within it was a small but striking set of instructions.
"One golden ticket. Awarded to the one with pure dedication to truth and dreams as one. Permits one (1) trip anywhere in space-time. One guest is permitted: alive, dead, or fictional. Do not attempt to question the validity of this voucher. Either use it, or destroy it. The choice is that of the endowed and the endowed alone. Signed, Clans Wedra & Draga."
A pause. My mother broke the stillness with a question.
"Who the hell are Clans Wedra and Draga?"
"I haven't a clue, honestly."
"How do you accept the trip? I assume you want to at least play along?" My dad's comment rang true.
I flipped the message over and it gave details.
Write where you wish to go on the ticket. Also include travel companion selection, if any. You may travel alone. The ticket will take care of the rest.
"Ok then. I'm going to write what I want…and see how that goes."
My mom scoffed.
"I suppose I shouldn't expect you home for dinner, then."
"I'm not sure, Mom. I'm really not sure. I better figure out where to go and who to take with me…"
"Oh, honey. We both know that this story will inevitably unfold to be about you adventuring around the cosmos with Carl Sagan."
I froze and blinked slowly. I actually hadn't thought of that in all the racings my mind was going through, but I instantly knew that was the right answer. I frantically scribbled the words "cosmos" and "Carl Sagan" into the ticket and as my pen lifted after forming the letter N, the world went black.
