Excerpts from Loren John Presley's Starship One.
The following narratives are excerpts taken from the Chapters of Starship One by Loren John Presley.
PART ONE
They finally made it to the Planetarium building. They could
see the pizza restaurant just next to it. When they all searched in
between the two, it looked, indeed, as if there wasn’t anything there; just a wall.
“Huh,” interjected Daryl.
“That’s weird,” said Robyn.
“Maybe Charlie was messing with us,” Tyler expressed.
“I don’t know,” replied Daryl with a thoughtful expression. “He
did look pretty excited about something.”
“Besides,” added Robyn. “He is the kind of person who means
what he says.”
Tyler nodded, an expression on his face that showed he, too,
was thinking.
Without another word, they all moved closer to the two
buildings.
They looked left and right at both the planetarium and the restaurant.
The least they saw was a restroom just behind the planetarium.
They all stopped together, looking about.
“There’s nothing here,” said Robyn.
Daryl continued to scour the surroundings. It was then that he
noticed that there seemed to be a short hallway in the wall between the
planetarium and the restaurant.
“What about that?” he asked.
The other two looked with him, and Daryl began walking up to it.
“I don’t know,” said Robyn.
“It doesn’t look like much,” added Tyler.
“Well let’s just see,” insisted Daryl, looking back.
Tyler and Robyn followed him.
When they approached the hallway, they could see that it
seemed to lead to another part of Star Park, that was just faintly familiar
to Daryl. He checked his memory and thought he might have seen it the
first year his family came to Avalon Park. Much of it resembled
something like a playground, but he didn’t want to call it a playground
for some reason. He couldn’t make out what the attractions even
were…the very glance at it induced a chaotic, bizarre sensation that he
was dreaming. Feeling a little scared, somehow, he looked away and
tried to ignore it.
The three strode into the hall, which was shaded and cool.
Robyn took a look back toward the hallway where they all had
glanced at the other side of the park. “Was any of that on the map?” she
asked.
“I don’t know,” said Tyler.
Daryl turned his head and happened to see that there was
another hallway to their right, lit by white lights in the ceiling. “What’s
down here?” he asked.
Robyn and Tyler followed him in curiously.
They walked down the hallway, which seemed rather desolate,
and they were wondering if maybe they weren’t even allowed here.
But as they walked, Daryl noticed some words appear on the
left wall of the hallway…
STARSHIP ONE
Daryl felt a strange jolt of energy leap inside him at the mere
words.
“Look,” said Robyn. “There is something here.”
“Well I’ll be…” Tyler added.
Just beyond the words on the wall, they all saw a corner turn on
the path. They walked closer and found that it led up a high, steep
staircase. And at the top of the staircase was a doorway, with black
plastic flaps blowing in a breeze that the three could feel from the
bottom of the staircase. Dim, purple lights were lit beyond the doorway,
which were probably ultraviolet lights. Music was playing from beyond
the doorway…deep, ambient, chilling music.
Daryl, Tyler and Robyn stood there, looking up with puzzled
expressions at the doorway at the top of the staircase.
“…Is this it?” asked Tyler, confusedly.
“I don’t know,” replied Daryl. “This might be it.”
It was hard to say. There was no line and no one around except
them. The music was playing rather loudly, deep and melodious and
chilling, with vast echoes and sudden instrumental jolts. The passage
beyond the doorway seemed very dark and the ultraviolet lights were
very dim. It seemed to lead into more of a laser tag arena than a line for
a ride…
“There’s no one here,” commented Daryl.
“Why would they put a ride right here, where hardly anyone can find it?” asked Tyler.
“I don’t know,” Daryl answered.
“That music is giving me the creeps!” exclaimed Robyn.
“Me too,” said Daryl. “It’s space music. A lot of it can sound
pretty creepy, but if you listen hard enough there’s sometimes a lot of
beauty to it.”
“Chilling beauty, I take it,” said Tyler.
“You could say that,” answered Daryl.
They stood there a while longer, looking up at the doorway,
high above the staircase, unsure of what to do or say.
Finally, Tyler said, “Think we should get a closer look?”
“I don’t think it could hurt,” said Daryl.
“Ooh, that music!” shuddered Robyn, half shivering with her
arms folded.
“I know. Maybe they could play it a little softer,” said Daryl.
“Well, let’s go,” said Tyler.
The three walked up to the staircase.
The moment Daryl took a hold of the rail, however, his legs
failed him. He felt strangely weak, and his legs felt as if they were made
of water. From the looks of it, Tyler and Robyn were having the same
experience. Nonetheless, Daryl focused himself, and began walking up
the stairs.
Strange, though; the stairs felt like they were made of bendable
rubber. Daryl looked down at them. They were made of bendable
rubber!
“These are funny stairs,” said Tyler.
“Why do they make them so floppy?” asked Robyn.
Daryl felt himself beginning to stagger. His entire body felt
liquid. Not only was it difficult to make his legs walk up the stairs, but
it was difficult to hold onto the rail, keep his head looking straight, and
stand up straight. He couldn’t help but move like a noodle.
Suddenly, he heard Tyler gasp behind him! When he looked
back, along with Robyn, he saw that one of the bendable steps had
made him stumble, and he was sliding down the rest of the staircase
back to the floor.
“Tyler? You all right?” Daryl called.
Tyler rose to his feet, seeming as if the watery weakness had left his
legs. “That was just weird!” he exclaimed, readjusting his glasses.
Daryl and Robyn looked back up to the doorway at the top of
the staircase, standing there above them. It stood there, dark with that
disquieting music playing loudly, the plastic flaps blowing chillingly in
the breeze coming from it.
Daryl continued up his way with Robyn, while Tyler tried to
catch up. But none of them got much further; Robyn slipped on one of
the steps and began sliding back down to the floor, and before Daryl
knew what happened, the same thing happened to him! After all that
work to get to the top of the staircase, he was sliding all the way back
down to the ground!
Tyler quickly jumped back onto the floor to move out of their
way, and soon enough all three of them were back where they started.
Daryl got back up, the strength suddenly returning to his legs.
Robyn did so too.
They all looked up at the eerie doorway, far above them.
“That was odd,” Daryl said.
“Let me try again,” Tyler said. He took hold of the rail and
began walking up the rubbery steps again. Both Daryl and Robyn could
easily see he was having difficulty. Before he got very far, the steps
folded under him and he came sliding back down to the floor.
Both Daryl and Robyn watched him get up.
Once again, Tyler readjusted his glasses. “What’s up with
this?” he exclaimed.
“Why is it so hard to walk up these stairs?” Daryl asked.
“Are you sure they’re even stairs?” asked Robyn, examining
them.
“Well if they’re not stairs, what are they?” said Daryl.
They all paused and looked up together at the doorway for a
silent, confused moment.
Tyler turned to Daryl. “Do you think we should ask someone if
this is even it?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Daryl replied. He looked back at the staircase
and studied it, baffled by its floppy steps. Then he spied something;
some small writing on the side wall of the staircase, just above the rail.
“What’s that?” he said, walking up to them.
Tyler and Robyn followed him and the three looked together at
what the words said. They were printed in the wall in small, brass
lettering:
NOT FOR THE FAINT AT HEART
Daryl gained a quizzical expression. “That’s weird,” he said. “I
wonder what they’re trying to tell us?”
Tyler looked back up at the staircase. “Why on Earth would
anyone make it so difficult just to get to a ride?” he asked.
“Beats me,” said Robyn.
PART TWO
They proceeded into the darkly lit hallway, where the eerie
space music was playing ever more clearly and adventurously. It was
playing with the most beautiful, ambient and dreamy vocal chorus and
flowing synthesizers. All while keeping the same touch of chill in its
soundscapes. If they listened clearly, they thought they could also hear
the exchange of astronaut messages playing from the hallway speakers.
"Sounds like we're getting close," said Daryl.
"Easy, Daryl you're walking way ahead of us!" Robyn called out.
Daryl looked back to see Robyn and Tyler trying to catch up
with him. "Sorry," he said, reuniting with them. "It's hard to see in this
dark."
The hallway continued to slant downward and took turn after
turn. Along the way, they noticed a fork in the hallway. One was
labeled with ultraviolet light text and read, "Emergency Evacuation."
The other path, labeled with the same lighted text, read "To Embarking
Station."
Then they came upon a part of the line that was lit brightly
with aqua-blue, florescent lights, and the walls had a different, snowy white
material. The music in the background now played very smooth
and steady, and every now and then a distant, echoing synthesizer ring
would sound. There was also the sound of a soft breeze blowing and
abruptly silencing, like inside a decompression chamber.
Soon, they came to what seemed like a hexagonal room with
six doors, one on every wall. The room was lit quite brightly by a most
peculiar dome-shaped bluish white light in the ceiling.
Upon entering the room, Daryl happened to look at the floor,
where there was the black text, "You Have Now Entered Main
Embarking Station." Daryl, along with his friends, looked at the curious
doors around them. One of the doors was opened and was labeled,
"Launch Module 1." The other doors were closed, and looked like they
were locked tightly, and were labeled "Launch Module 2," and "Launch
Module 3." The fourth door was labeled "Flight Control," and the fifth
door was very small and circular, and was printed with the words,
"Space walk Pressurization Chamber."
The music that played in the room was very quiet and very
unsettling. It consisted of steady ringings, suspenseful strings, and what
sounded like various beeps and whistles and eerie jingles.
"I guess we go this way," said Tyler, looking over at the door
leading to Launch Module 1.
"Yep," said Robyn. "Here we go."
Passing through the door, the music changed from the steady,
chilling mood it had been playing in the hexagonal room to something
so ethereal that Daryl felt all chilliness leave him. He felt like every step
he took brought him further toward the experience of a lifetime. He
kept it to himself of course, but his soul was beaming.
They walked a short way more until they came to small
chamber room, with only two other doors that read, "Launch Personnel
only," and "Emergency Evacuation." There was also the continuation of
the hallway that went on straight ahead, which was lit very poorly. Two
black screens also stood on the side of this corridor. Just before they
were about to continue further down, the two black screens lit up with
text, and a very loud, attention-getting music played that made them all
jump and shiver. An alarm began to sound in the room; it was an alarm
with a sound that the three friends were completely unused to. The text
on the two screens both flashed, "WARNING!" Daryl felt himself
freeze, and he began looking around the room, wondering what was
happening. He noticed that Robyn and Tyler were doing something
similar.
Suddenly the right screen lit up with the message, "Attention!
You must be physically and mentally prepared in order to embark!"
Then the left screen began to play a short video. The music began to
play a theme that was all the more foreboding, with deep howling and
echoing wind-like sounds and synthesizers. The music had an overall
atmosphere of forewarning and slight discouragement in it.
"Your attention please," said the same woman's beautiful, eerie
voice that they had heard while watching the schematics manifest.
"Starship One is a revolutionary vehicle that embarks on a fast and
unpredictable journey into deep space, involving high-speed plunges,
sharp turns, bank-rolling and swift ascensions. To embark on Starship
One you must be free of heart disease, back or neck problems, and
high-blood pressure, as any of these can affect your health and safety
during your flight. You should also feel comfortable in small, enclosed
places. You are warned; Starship One is still in its testing stages and
anything is possible on your journey. You are advised to embark on this
new, powerful space-vehicle only if you are physically and mentally
prepared for this voyage. We wish you the experience of a lifetime.
Godspeed..."
The video stopped playing and the screen faded to black once
more. But the music that had been playing during the video did not fade
out. It only seemed to grow more adventurous, suspenseful and
ambient.
Daryl, Tyler and Robyn all exchanged glances. "Well, we're all
young and healthy," said Tyler.
Robyn looked around and regarded the music playing, folding
her arms. Daryl could see goose bumps quickly forming on her. He
rubbed his own arm and felt that his skin was becoming drastically
prickly too. "Well come on," said Robyn. "Guess we should move on."
"Yeah, let's do this," said Daryl.
Tyler nodded and they proceeded very briskly down the
corridor, back into the poor lighting again. By now the music was
playing with booming drums and other dramatic instruments.
They walked through the dark until finally, finally, they found
themselves stepping into the upper level of a very large, elongated
room. Daryl looked up to see that this chamber was very high as well
and was lit high at the top with florescent black-lights along the ceiling.
Rows of windows high at the top showed the most realistic outside view
of the stars! The walls all around the chamber were white, gray and
black, and on the sides of the ceiling were rows of the familiar black
panels. An icy breeze was blowing in the chamber, which made Daryl
appreciate his jacket.
Daryl went to the edge of the ramp on which he and his friends
stood and peered down over the railing. Down below, he saw the black tiled,
bottom floor, lit with flashing purple lights that seemed to indicate
a runway or a track...
PART THREE
Daryl faced forward and prepared for the unexpected. In
seconds, there was a sudden hissing sound and the vehicle began to
move forward. Daryl sat all the way back in his seat while gripping the
armrests tightly. His heart pounded nervously and his arms tingled with
excitement.
The vehicle was positioned on the elevator platform, and there
it stopped. Daryl took deep breaths. The Starship remained where it was
for what felt like an eternity. Daryl looked left and right and saw the
staff personnel all working at their stationed controls, or walking from
place to place. Daryl thought he could hear them preparing their craft...
Then the elevator began to rise. Daryl gripped tightly on the
armrests and tensed up the muscles in his legs. He felt the restraint
holding him securely in his seat. Soon the Starship faced the black
portal. Daryl felt the icy wind blowing in his face and brushing his hair.
He could hear the wind howling from the round, pitch dark mouth of
the portal.
“Okay, this is it!” said Tyler, bracing himself.
Daryl grinned and looked back quickly. “Yeah, I know!” he
said.
In the background, Daryl could hear voices over an intercom
system in the walls. Some of the voices sounded like staff personnel,
and one of the voices was that belonging to the woman...
Daryl braced himself, looking head-on into the dark portal,
waiting for everything to begin.
Finally he felt the vehicle lift and lunge forward! Daryl watched
as he was submerged into the pitch darkness of the portal, feeling the
icy wind blowing gruelingly in his face. At that moment, music
sounded from the speakers inside the vehicle, like that of the high pitched,
loud voices of a choir of hundreds!
Daryl felt himself half close his eyes and just feel the wind! He
felt free... He felt the Starship ramp downward, still speeding
tremendously through the unknown...then he felt it slow down and stop,
right where it was in the darkness. The choir faded out steadily.
Everything was silent for a brief moment...and then the music
began playing a note that made you feel cold! With just the sounds of
an echoing, howling instrument, joined in by the steady rumbling of the
deep. Daryl felt somewhat alarmed and he wondered what was
happening.
Green lights began to appear on the display on the ship.
Lighting up the darkness. For once, Daryl felt truly, gravely afraid by
the way the music sounded...
“Please remain calm...” said the beautiful voice of the woman.
“Some problems have occurred while trying to launch your craft.
Remain seated with your hands and arms inside your cockpit while SS1
personnel attempts to correct the abnormality...”
Daryl took time to breathe. He just waited inside the darkness,
with no light except that of the dashboard displays. He just held on
tightly to the armrests of his seat.
“Okay...this is not good,” said Robyn frightfully from behind.
“Me too. Now I really am scared, a little,” said Tyler.
Daryl knew it couldn't last too long, so he kept still and put his
faith in the staff. While he sat, surrounded by the pitch darkness of the
portal, he decided to read what the lights read.
One light was lit with the words, “Astrophysics Computer
Standing By.” Another read, “Awaiting Star Charts Upload.” An orange
light was blinking along with a symbol, “Power Level at Minimum”
and another read “Life Support Systems Disabled.” There were many
others...
After a while of the deathly howling, the music changed to
something more celestial, with warping synthesizers and jingling
chimes. Daryl exhaled and lay back in his seat, warm in his jacket from
the frigid air in the darkness. He turned his eyes upward and gazed
dreamily at the darkness above him. He could already taste space in the
air. He knew he was close.
“It sure is taking them a long time,” said Tyler.
“It can't be too much longer,” said Robyn.
As Daryl continued to look around, he glimpsed a red panel
with a symbol on it, and a message above it:
CALL ENCASE OF EMERGENCY
The words were glowing in a scarlet, fiery red. Daryl decided to
keep the emergency switch in mind...