Harper’s Rebuild (a sci-fi)

PROMPT: Write a story where the laws of time and space begin to dissolve.

As Earth is torn apart for a cosmic reset, Harper and her family float through the remnants of their world—until a strange encounter threatens to tear apart more than just matter.

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The leaves lifted one by one, cracking off trees, floating aimlessly toward the crumbling sky. Everything around Harper drifted in a mute slow motion. Deep greens and vibrant reds painted the emptiness, stark against the blackness of space. She imagined muffled and deep rumblings echoing from the earth’s core, shaking the concrete beneath her feet and knocking her down with their force. Heights that once towered around the town were sinking to eye level, and giant explosions tore the dirt apart like crumbs. The world was either exploding, or imploding, she couldn’t quite tell which.

Despite the display she heard no sound. Peering around she moved gently over whatever floating items would bear her weight or grip. Her fingers tightened around timber doors from neighbouring houses, garden chairs and the bumper of a rusty car that drifted across her path. A car tyre flung itself faster than any other items, making her dodge awkwardly in the state of gravity-less weirdness she now found herself. Everything that had made earth, earth, was disintegrating. She breathed heavily, creating a haze inside her helmet that made it hard to see.

Grumbling she dialled up the cool circulation of her suit. Within moments the fog cleared and she could see once more. She pressed ‘forward’ on her jetpack, adjusting the thrusters slowly and carefully towards her ship, now rolling in the emptiness of space.

‘Harper what ARE you doing here? I told you to stay on the ship!’ yelled a thin voice on her radio. She turned back toward the ship quickly, fierce eyes scanning her for any common sense that remained.

‘Mum it’s fine, I’m just looking,’ she replied, holding a tone she regretted when observing her mother’s reaction.

‘They’re dismantling space, not cooking a chicken on the BBQ. Get inside now!’. Her mother’s tone made it clear that this was not a request.

She floated toward the hatch, pulling it closed tightly behind them. Once oxygen had returned, they both undid their suits and moved to the main hull.

‘Where’s dad?’ she asked.

‘Coordinating section 74A, in the Ortallis region,’ her mother replied tersely, continuing her cleanup of the kitchen. Harper plonked down by the window, looking for any sign of her father.

‘Why do they do this again?’ she asked her mother, looking out the window at the shifting debris.

‘Space needs a reset. Last time they did this you were six, and much less wandery,’ her mother finished, eyeing her closely.

‘Why?’ she asked. Her mother continued preparing food for their dinner.

‘We get our power through the movement of matter in space, that’s what creates our energy to do everything—cook, clean, live. Can you pass me those?’ her mother asked, pointing to the vegetables lying in front of her. Harper leant over, grabbed them, and handed them over.

‘But the energy stores begin to lose power toward the end of each decade. Resetting the matter in the universe re-energises it all and we harness that energy for the next ten years.’

Harper nodded, her eyes returning to the window and the gentle destruction happening beyond. Looking closely she could see the ships of all their neighbours patiently waiting their turns to land on the newly refurbished planet, however long that would take. She wondered if they’d get to choose new houses, because if so she wanted a hammock in the garden this time. And maybe a pool if she could swing it.

Several days passed, and cabin fever set in. Her father came and went as required, disappearing into the darkness with his travel pod. She did crosswords, played with their dog and helped her mother do odd jobs around the ship.

They were now surrounded by particles, remnants of their home disintegrating and set to reform into some kind of new existence. She wondered how such a cloud of matter could be brought back together to form something, anything, new.

The day of reforming finally arrived, and personnel responsible for the rebuild lined themselves up around the perimeter.

‘Guess what, Harper? I’ve been reassigned! I’ll be working right here during the reforming. Reggie hooked me up with it, praise the stars,’ he finished. Harper had so many questions.

‘Ok wait woah, so how do you make all that floating stuff out there turn back into earth? Do you use an oscillating dialatron, or like a forcefield bender?’ She was pacing heavily around the dining table, trying to understand whatever her father could share.

‘You’ll see,’ he replied smiling, much to her frustration. ‘Oh, I better get moving. We make ranks in ten minutes.’

He tightened up his suit and headed out of their ship. Harper looked on, now glued to the window with the best view. Her father lined up along the perimeter of their zone, standing shoulder to shoulder with other workers preparing to carry out the same role.

Whilst looking through a window a flash of light caught her eye. Blinking, she tried to track it down again. Whatever it was moved quickly, and she was only just able to locate it amongst the slowly spinning debris. Their ship continued to float slowly and noiselessly.

Moments later it reappeared, now just metres from the window. She peered intently, eyes scanning the matter before her. Suddenly it smacked against the window: one large, beady eye analysing her from head to toe. She jumped in shock.

‘Mum!’ she yelled across the ship. But she wasn’t loud enough.

The creature continued to scan her, its intention unclear. Her dog ran to her, realising she was being observed. It barked madly in her defence, startling the alien for a moment. Harper tried to take a few steps forward, slowly. She wasn’t scared, quite the opposite. The creature seemed almost sweet. As she took her next step it pulled back off the window and disappeared from sight once more.

Leaning hard against the window she searched for her father amongst the reforming crew. Suit after suit was lined up, still shoulder to shoulder, holding large equipment in their hands. She had never seen anything like them before—large blasters with enormous canisters underneath that glowed with a vibrant green.

Whatever the creature had been she wasn’t sure, but she knew it wouldn’t fare well against the onslaught of energy about to be blasted across the field of debris. She waved her arms madly toward her father, desperate to get his attention, but he was too busy chatting with his team mates.

In a rush she ran to the hatch, madly pulling her suit from its straps and stepping in. Her breathing had quickened intensely, leaving a dense fog across her helmet screen. Frustrated, she dialled up the air inside her suit, wound the hatch open and flung herself into the freezing darkness.

A voice came in over her radio: ‘alert! Alert! We have a civilian in the field! I repeat, a civilian in the field!’

But Harper took no notice, she was searching frantically for the creature. Grabbing hold of whatever she could she looked for the flash of movement and light she remembered. It took several minutes of searching before she saw it, holding on to a floating dog kennel. Its deep eye peered back at her, bright and sparkling. She sighed deeply, relieved. She drifted over slowly, breathing steadily, arms outstretched.

But its face began to change. The roundness of its eye grew tall to a stark oval, deep depressions in its forehead folded to a frown and its gentle smile morphed into a razor-sharp grimace. Harper witnessed the complete transformation, realising this creature had been confusing her intentionally. Harper could not stop floating towards the now beast-looking being and she peered desperately towards her father and the men standing by each of his shoulders in the hope they’d come to her aid. Finally her frightened face connected with her father’s, who, calm and collected, raised his weapon to his shoulder. He mouthed the words ‘don’t move’, to which she nodded, and just as she was within reach of the creature’s arms a bright line of green laser flashed before her. The creature was sawn in two, seared flesh slowly unfolding right down the centre from its head to its feet. She quietly glided through where it had been, bringing herself to a stop on a passing tree.

She looked back at where the creature had been, her stomach equally repulsed and relieved.

‘Retrieving the civilian’, her father voiced across the radio network. With a graceful plunge he dropped down to her level, watched by all around. He reached her, held her close and turned to guide her back to the work line. Making space for her amongst the workers he offered her his blaster.

‘Now, lift this to eye level, stabilise and load. Ensure you’ve set the parallel shoot automation to form so it fires in line with the others,’ he said, as she followed his instructions, ‘that’s it. Now await my signal.’ She held her position.

He stepped back and prepared to instruct the crew. His voice travelled through all radio units.

‘Outer rim line 45e, activate.’

The workers either side of her moved into the same position as her, all weapons loaded and raised to shoulder height.

‘Rays set to form, seven millimetres, parallel engagement prepared. On my count—three, two, one, ENGAGE.’

All rays engaged in unison, large shields of silvery cloud descending on the matter that had once been earth. Instead of floating aimlessly the materials were beginning to draw together. Within minutes Harper could see a new shape forming, a giant round mass beginning to solidify—the new earth. Her eyes lifted seeing its sheer height. Minerals, dirt and water particles began to gather, creating huge mountains and deep oceans networked by long, winding rivers. The smallest seeds dug themselves deep. Harper’s heart thumped at the sight, full of awe and silent by the power before her. It wasn’t long before she was looking at a fully-formed earth, their new home. It was devoid of human constructions and cities, but it would be rebuilt.

Her father drifted back by her side.

‘Welcome home,’ he said, smiling. Harper smiled back, before lowering her blaster and breathing deeply. Home indeed.

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