The Space Sieve Read online

YOU MIGHT WONDER WHY, if David took his hands off the Machine and it froze, how was it that the two boys were still alive? Why did the bubble of air that they were inside not vanish? The reason is because early on David had the prescience to set the Machine so that it would never take any action that would injure him, even if he made a mistake. And even when a person is not operating the Machine, it is still operating – it is never turned off.

  As David and Chip had swung around to face the triangular vessel behind them, the Space Sieve, in turn, was now behind them.

  And behind the Space Sieve, the other ship now dropped instantly into view. It was precisely spherical, perfectly reflective, and between the size of a basketball and a beach ball. It hovered, unseen by both boys.

  Surely you must wonder that given the only salvation available to these boys was the Space Sieve, then why did they turn their backs to it? This is because often, your kind allows emotion to rule your actions at the expense of reason. This is a good example of that.

  A single filament moved out from each ship and connected to the bubble of air around the two boys. As Chip and David watched the filament from the triangular ship (they had not yet seen the spherical ship behind them), the boys saw the filament grew thinner. It became gossamer as a spider’s web, and yet continued to shrink, becoming still finer. As Chip watched, he thought it was the most slender strand he had ever seen, and yet it became thinner still. Chip began to wonder how he could still see it, and he began to wonder if there is some limit on how fine something can get. No matter how thin something was, could it not still be half as thin? And then, could it not be half as thin again, and again? The seemingly infinite thinness of the line connecting the triangular ship and the bubble around the boys began to make Chip’s mind reel, even as the presence of the triangular ship continued to make his heart hammer inside him.

  When Chip turned to David he saw he was now working the Machine again. And then Chip jumped when he saw the spherical ship and the filament that was also connecting it to their bubble of air. David glanced at Chip for a moment, then immediately went back to working the Machine.

  Suddenly, both ships shot skyward. Their movement did not involve a period of acceleration as you are used to. One instant the ships were stationary, and the next, they were moving upward at high speed.

  Then the bubble around the Space Sieve lurched violently upward, throwing Chip to the floor.

  “Don’t worry,” David said apologetically, “I’ll fix it so any other movements will be compensated for so we won’t feel them. You won’t get thrown around like that again no matter how violently they pull us or no matter how we move. I should have done it before.”

  As the ground dropped away from them Chip sat on his stool and placed one hand on David and one on the Device. He saw the curvature of the distant horizon increasing, and then he could see the entire planet itself as it dropped away.

  And then there was nothing around them but blackness, points of light, and the planet’s distant sun falling behind them as it illuminated the two small ships ahead of them in a pale but harsh light. Although once the planet was out of view there was no point of reference, and therefore no sense of movement, they were nonetheless being pulled rapidly into Space.

  “Those ships are actually piloted by children,” David said, motioning dispassionately toward the two ships, having once again resumed something of the haughty manner that Chip so disliked. “Those ships are actually a lot bigger inside than they look from the outside. That spherical ship over there – it actually has a forest inside of it. They use a dimensional discrepancy to create a bigger space inside their ships than on the outside. That other ship there – the triangular one – can slip into inter-dimensional seams. That’s how they travel great distances. The triangular ship tows the spherical one into the seams. The spherical ship is used for lots of other things.

  “They’re towing us right now.” David seemed about as concerned as if he were watching movie that he had seen many times before.

  “David,” Chip began.

  David held up his hand. “Wait a minute. Watch this.”

  Suddenly the two ships in front of the boys lurched together then began to sway from side to side. Chip noticed that something seemed different now.

  Looking back, Chip saw that the planet was once again behind them and was rapidly getting bigger.

  “Now,” said David, “Guess who’s pulling who.” He had retaken control of the situation.

  “If we’re pulling them now they why don’t they just let us go?” There was a tremble in Chip’s voice.

  “Because I didn’t give them that option,” replied David, ominously.

  The planet continued to draw closer, and it soon stretched to either side of them.

  Momentarily, they had returned to the surface, where they came to a stop.

  “It looks like the spider is now the prey,” said David, raising an eyebrow. “I wonder what our friends there think now.” David looked at the two ships. “Who’s the boss now boys?”

  Chip looked at the two ships, then he looked at David, incredulously. “David let’s get out of here!”“

  “Don’t worry. I don’t plan to hurt them,” David said, “I just want to play with them a little.”

  Chip was urgent. “No I really think we should go home, okay?

  “Just wait,” said David, “Just let me show you this one idea I have, okay?”

  Chip paused. He knew he couldn’t force David, but concluded that right now it would be better to bargain. “Okay, one thing then we go, okay?”

  “Okay. Deal.” David operated the Machine. “What do you think would happen if they could no longer see us? There, done. Now, suppose they saw a very dangerous looking ship over there.” And as David spoke, a frightening new ship appeared on the opposite side of the two ships. It looked like a sea urchin – black, and a mass of spikes. Then suddenly, the spiked ship moved off and the two alien ships followed. David, Chip, and the Space Sieve followed as well.

  “I realized that these two ships aren’t actually ships per se,” said David, “They’re toys. The creatures in them are children. They’re just playing. Let them chase that ship I just made.”

  “You mean . . .” Chip started.

  David filled in the blanks. “They can no longer see us, I made that happen. Then I created that other thing for them to chase around so we can follow and watch.”

  When the triangle ship and the sphere tried to apply filaments to the faux urchin ship that David had created it veered and began evasive maneuvering.

  “Let’s have a look at their weapons,” said David. “They have directed energy weapons. Let’s sting them a little.”

  Suddenly, a dazzling white line connected the urchin ship to the spherical ship. The sphere pulled sharply to the side and three intense blue lines appeared, connecting the sphere and the urchin.

  “The white line was a beam I sent out from my urchin ship up ahead there. The blue lines came from the sphere ship when it fired back. The beams move at the speed of light so it just looks like lines connecting the ships. You can’t really tell which ship is firing, except for the color of the beam. If my information is correct, I think the triangle’s weapons are going to look red.”

  Just then, three fearsome red lines appeared, connecting the triangular ship to the urchin. In moments, the three ships were moving at incredible speed, their weapons firing relentlessly upon each other, with David and Chip trailing behind, watching. As they all sped across the planet’s surface, David and Chip matching the spend and movement of the three ships, the ground was beneath them, then overhead, then in front, then under, and then it began to swing wildly around them as the ships maneuvered and fired upon each other to the full extent of their considerable agility and speed. The two alien ships were, in their turn beside, then behind, then over, then under the urchin ship, attacking savagely with their awesome weaponr
y and being aggressively attacked in return by the urchin ship, all looking for any flaw to exploit in the defenses of their admirably able target. And as David’s hands moved upon the glowing keys, Chip’s eyes were filled with wonder at the sheer speed and power on display all around them.

  Then, intending to glance down only momentarily, Chip’s eyes locked upon the screen of the Space Sieve, and euphoria swept over him as he watched the strange, limitless shapes and characters appear and shift with mesmerizing speed, exactness, and intensity upon it. Although he didn’t understand it, it was as if there on that screen he could see himself, David, the Machine, and the three ships. He could see inside them all, and he could see their past, present and future movements, as well as the planet and all of space around them, all at the same time. As enthralling as were events taking place all around them, the intensity and totality of what could be seen on the screen of the Space Sieve was far more overwhelming to his mind.

  And yet, while it could have all seemed like a wild ride, there was no perception of movement inside the bubble around Chip and David. It was like they were watching a movie going on around them. And in spite of all of the frenzied movement, none of the ships ever missed. The blasts of light always connected their target.

  “Darn it,” said David, “You know, to really see what’s happening – to really see the power of their weapons – we need to be closer to the ground.” David operated the Space Sieve. “We have to get them to miss each other. Their ships are too protected. We need to see their weapons hit the ground.”

  With that, the urchin ship veered toward the planet’s surface, and everyone followed. As it neared the ground it pulled up and flew at breathtaking speed only a few feet above it. The urchin ship began to disappear and re-appear in slightly different locations.

  “A little phase shifting to stir things up,” said David, growing excited.

  The triangular ship disappeared, slipping into a dimensional seam, while the spherical ship continued to pursue the urchin ship, trading fire with it.

  And, due to the phase shifting of the urchin ship, the spherical ship’s beams occasionally did miss the urchin ship. Just as the spherical ship would fire, the urchin ship would phase shift – disappearing and instantly reappearing in a slightly different location resulting in the blue beams of the sphere momentarily missing and swinging aimlessly.

  “Good. Yeah. This is what I hoped would happen. Watch for the triangle to appear overhead, as it emerges from inter-space. There!” David pointed, and Chip watched.

  The air seemed to peel away as the triangular ship emerged from inter-space like an explosion out the end of a banana, and its three red beams blazed. But the urchin faded and re-appeared in a slightly different place. The scorching rays missed the urchin ship.

  “Yes!” cried David, and Chip did too this time.

  Rather than hit the urchin ship and have no effect, the beams contacted the ground. Volcanic quantities of rock, dust, and heat blasted into the air as the triangular ship turned to pursue the urchin, beams still aflame, cutting a vast canyon into the planet’s surface. The boys’ view turned to black as they traveled through the wall of expelled dirt and rock. When they emerged, the three ships had traveled a considerable distance away, weapons still blazing. The boys together with the Space Sieve held back, and they watched the ships speed off into the distance.

  “What do you think?” said David.

  Chip only nodded.

  “Glad you came?” David asked.

  Chip nodded again. “Yeah, and it’s good to be able to spend time with you again David. It’s been a long time.”

  Chip’s wide eyes searched his friend’s face, and then David looked at the screen of the Space Sieve. “They’ve gone back into space,” he observed. Then looking at Chip, he asked, “Do you want to keep going, or go home?”

  Chip paused, “Well, maybe we can do this a little longer.”

  David turned back to the keys and instantly they shot upward at such speed that the planet fell away from them and disappeared, and then they were once again deep in space, near the three ships which were still maneuvering wildly with their weapons still firing at each other.

  “You know,” said Chip, a little puckishly, “what would happen if they caught up with your ship? It isn’t real, after all.”

  “Better yet,” said David, smiling impishly, “Maybe our little ship up there is going to have a slight malfunction. Watch this.”

  Suddenly, the two ships – the triangle and the sphere – were cast in a stark light. Vividly in front of them, the urchin ship had detonated in a massive, blue-white fireball. In the silent darkness of space, the brilliant light spread until it seemed there was only the light and the black silhouettes of the two alien ships who, after pausing for a moment, entered the fireball. David and Chip drew closer, so they could see them when the light faded.

  As the explosion dissipated, David and Chip saw the two ships fixed in place, motionless. David secured a close-up picture of them on the screen of the Space Sieve. The point of the triangular ship was once again pointing in their direction. David jumped when he saw this.

  Chip’s hand once again fell upon David’s leg. “Okay, let’s go home now David.”

  David was pensive. “Yeah,” he said under his breath. “Yeah.” and he worked the Machine. “Ready?” he asked.

  “Let’s get out of here David, wherever ‘here’ is,”

  But it was not to be. A single filament once again emerged from each ship and the two filaments began to sweep around the general location where the boys were. Momentarily one contacted the bubble of air around the boys, and then instantly, so did the other. Then, as the two ships moved very close to the boys their filaments grew thinner once again.

  “Shoot!” said David. “I made us invisible! How’d they do that?”

  “David, you said we were going to leave. Now would be a good time, David.”

  “Chip I don’t know how they saw us. Wait! That’s it! Their ships use some kind of gravity drive for low speed maneuvering. They can’t see us, but since we have mass, they can sense our gravitational field around our ship! Of course! It’s so obvious . . .”

  “Well, David the thing is, I really think we should leave, because those stars over there – a whole lot of them – they’re moving and they’re getting bigger. Actually, almost all the stars around us are moving!”

  David looked up then chuckled nervously. “You know, I’ve got to stop looking when you say to look. I can really see a whole lot more looking right here at this screen.”

  As David was talking, Chip saw more filaments contacting the bubble around them. But now each time a filament connected the bubble around them, there was a faint rumbling sound.

  “There,” said David. “I’ve deleted our gravitational field, eliminated all electromagnetic fields around us, deleted our ability to reflect light (already did that) and our thermal trace. I’ve also eliminated some forms of sensory characteristics that are currently unknown to our science. We should be completely invisible now.”

  But Chip was looking around, not paying attention to what David was saying. “I don’t think so David.”

  Appearing around them now were many triangular ships, but these were vastly larger. These were over a mile in length, and their pointed ends were all directed toward the boys. Behind these ships, and all around them, was a constellation of massive spherical ships.

  Chip watched as the two smaller ships they had been taunting moved off and entered one of the larger triangular ships, and he spoke in a low tone, as if he really wasn’t talking to anybody in particular. “I think those kids we were teasing called for a little help. I know you said we’re invisible again, but I think they can still sense us.”

  Filaments continued to connect to the bubble around them, each time shaking it, and as the full magnitude of the fleet of massive ships became visible around them, C
hip’s voice drifted off. “I don’t think we’re going to fool anybody this time.”