Arrival

I shield my eyes from the blinding combination of the atomic explosion and the being made of light.

There is no sound from the bomb going off. Silence is all there is, and Cisca breaks it.

"What happened to it?" she asks.

I drop my hand in front of me to take a look. It's gone. They are gone. There is nothing there anymore except for the constant white void.

"I-I don't know, but it seems like I am safe? What the fuck was that?" I ask.

"I have no idea. It's a relief to know that everything is fine, at least," she says, ignoring the still sounding alarm and red warning flashes.

IS everything fine, though? I am still stuck in this white void and nothing is happening, but Cisca's is the only voice I can trust, or just listen to, at this point.

"Now I am reminded," Cisca says, "I do recall noticing an odd signal when I was analyzing world E-150, but it was so… unrealistic that I thought it must have been a computer error."

"Does it have anything to do with this?" I ask.

"Maybe? I don't know."

Something on the screen beside Cisca catches her eye. "Oh, it seems like your atomic bomb did the trick. The plane you are on is quickly destabilizing."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Uh… yeah, I think so."

Even though she tells me that, I see nothing change around me. Everything is still the white void that it always has been. I look around and faintly notice that the void might be gradually becoming brighter, but I am not sure if that's just my imagination.

The alarm stops from Cisca's side, and the flashing also ceases. At the same time, the void begins rapidly brightening up, to a point where I have to close my eyes shut.

"What is going on?" I ask while covering my closed eyes with my hand. It is definitely an odd feeling to still see things in my view with my eyes closed.

"You are now going through," Cisca says with a smile.

"Through what?" As I say that, I feel a strong force suddenly tug on my body as gravity loses its grip and a breeze blows on the back of my head.

"Open your eyes, Kris. I think you have arrived," Cisca says.

I take my hands off and open my eyes. Indeed, I am in a different place now, but I am still not sure what I am looking at. Instead of white, all I see is cerulean blue, a shade of it that I faintly remember seeing somewhere, but I can't put my finger on exactly where. It also comes to my mind that I am still floating.

"Where am I?" I ask.

"It looks like you are in free fall."

"What?"

Before I can brace for it, a strong impact shocks into my back through my body as I suddenly feel no longer floating.

"Fuck!" I curse from the pain. It didn't hurt that much, but it for sure caught me by surprise.

"Ooh," Cisca flinches, "That looks like it hurt."

"You… could say that," I say while grunting and trying to sit up. I can feel grass under my palm, which, back on Earth, is not a sensation one can get for free.

That is when I notice the blue I've been looking at is the sky. Oh, now I remember where I've seen it. When I take my private jet and fly above the perpetual smoggy clouds, this blue would come into view, but now, there are no traces of a cloud in sight.

And when I finally sit up, that's when it really hits me.

The green.

The endless green.

The endless green extending to horizons on all sides.

I have never seen such a view before.

It's beautiful.

The light green of the field of tall grass I am lying in,

the medium green blanketing the rolling hills in the distance,

the dark green of the dense forests scattered around in front of my eyes,

they are all beautiful.

"It's… amazing," Cisca exclaims while stunned by the scenery.

The breathtaking contrast at the horizon marrying the green to the blue has stripped me of the ability to speak.

What are those groups of little creatures roaming around over yonder, with no bars or cages confining their freedom? What is that harmony resonating from the lush leaves? What is the air that fills my lungs with not discomfort, but… happiness? Is this what Earth once looked like?

"We… have really arrived," I say as I take in a deep breath of this refreshing atmosphere. My chest still hurts a little from the fall, but it has been tossed to the back of my mind.

I get on my knees and stand up to take a better look. It still astonishes me to no limits, and from the hanging jaw of Cisca, I can see she feels the same, too.

Cisca shakes her head and gets her grasp back.

"Right, we still have a job to do," she says and types into her computer.

At the corner of my eye, I see a text appear.

"ANALYZING SURROUNDINGS…"

"What is it doing?" I ask Cisca.

"You will see," she says.

A second later, the text changes.

"TAIGA PLAINS: CHARACTERIZED BY GENTLE HILLS AND CONIFEROUS FORESTS. VEGETATION INCLUDES PINES, SPRUCES, AND LARCHES. WILDLIFE INCLUDES MOOSE, BEARS, AND WOLVES," it reads.

Wow. That's convenient. Having a little encyclopedia wherever I go is not bad.

Cisca says, "The information displayed is from Earth when it was in a similar period as you are in right now, so it might not be completely accurate, but it's a good place to start."

"That's fine. What about the climate here?" I ask.

Cisca presses a button and the text changes.

"DURING THE CURRENT SEASON, SUMMER, THE TEMPERATURE IS AROUND 15 TO 20 DEGREES CELSIUS. IT RECEIVES RELATIVELY LIGHT RAINFALL AT AROUND 38-85 CM ANNUALLY."

I haven't noticed until the text directly told me, but the temperature is oddly comfortable. There is maybe a window of one week on Earth when the temperature can stay like this.

"This is nice," I say, and the text in front of my vision disappears.

"Oh, more than nice, Kris. This the Garden of Eden," Cisca says, "But don't forget we are here on a mission. Are there any signs of civilization around?"

I look around and see nothing except for more green, miles, and miles on end. There is a river poking out of the forest and cutting across the plains beside me, flowing in a blue like I've never seen blue before.

"Doesn't look like it," I say.

Cisca notes something down and says, "Okay, let's do a little explora- wait, what is that on your left?" She leans in closer to the screen.

I look over to where Cisca is talking about, and amidst the tall grass reaching up to my waist, I see a glimmer of gold.

"I… don't know," I say as I walk over, "Let me take a look."

I wade through the grass to find, lying in the field, is a little girl.