Radio Sphere by Devin terSteeg Read Free Book Online

the city air.

Zero
     
    The falling gyre that transfigured the Earth changed us too.
    You thought we were crazy.
    You thought we were alone.
    A universe empty to us.
    When we understood differently, you refused to. You tried to explain away the transmissions, but once we heard them, once we saw those alien images, once our planet was reduced and forced to reform, anarchy! A divide that became one sided and soon the
ones
like me had to make a decision. The many chose to ignore and live with ignorance in their hearts. We few chose differently. We chose to seek. We knew things would fall apart.
    It took two secluded decades for us to build the ships. Ten times four million of us could have come, but we could not find enough willing to explore: the first alien species and us without wonder. The creature’s transmissions show us their lives, their location, and their love of Lucy.
    We had no way of communicating with them prior to our arrival. We had no way of predicting their mentality, their acceptance, their understanding. The Earth was far less ready than we. Knowing there was more out there, among the stars, would change them, we only wanted to learn about them, to help temper the attitudes of isolationism and broaden the narrow views on both sides.
    We failed.
    — Zeal Prime

49.5 Part 2 - Elizabeth
     
    For some reason I was having trouble jumping on a trampoline for six hours in nothing but this cute red and yellow two—piece. I had only seen clothes like that in old magazines and photographs that were faded brown. It could have been longer, the jumping. At apogee I could see car races over the fence, but otherwise I was only surrounded by warm oceanic air. It was so nice, or it would have been if my legs weren’t burning from their constant exertions. The sky was blue like in paintings. I don’t know why I didn’t stop bouncing, especially as I began to sweat so much that it soaked the once strawberry red of my swimsuit into a more rosewood color that I wasn’t in the mood for since it grew dark, almost blood—like. The sweat glistened off my skin, which was gross, I couldn’t help but want to shower, and even though I wasn’t sticky from sweat yet I knew that was coming and I was already uncomfortable. It was nice to see a blue sky— I’d never seen that before. It was nice to see a yellow, soft sun— never seen that either. For once the chirps birds sounded melodic instead of frantic, clawing. It really was so nice, for a time.
    My belly growled as if in extreme hunger and from my mouth sprung the squeal of a rhino. All my body fat collapsed in on itself and I became a flesh skeleton, but as I did a back—flip the fat came back and more, my stomach distended like a pregnancy. I could feel my back and breasts ache. I coughed up blood. A stillborn fetus jettisoned out of me, bouncing with me while I wished it had lived at least as much as me.
    I returned to normal. I decided to focus on the sweat droplets as they flew off my body with each bounce into the open sky, through space and time, delving through long uncut blades of grass to splatter on fresh dirt.
    Real children require attention and care, all the time. You can’t even blink or they will get into something. In dreams they are an external expression of your inner change, or vulnerability, I had read. Dreams can be anything, can’t they, so why couldn’t I dream something new each night? Why did I have to feel alone when surrounded by people.
    There was something bothering me about everything biological, but I chose not to think about it. I didn’t want to think about that baby. I chose to be distracted.
    Chad had been missing for over a week. Eleven days. Dad didn’t utter an indication of his thoughts, but I knew he was thinking Chad jumped. I knew Chad would never, could never, I don’t know why, I just knew, but jumping was the easiest thing to believe, wasn’t it? Because: Do people love only eating bread and water in between dwindling