MIRA
\nby Keith B. Phillips<\/p>\n
Omicron (\u03bf) Cetus, Mira (related to the words “miraculous”, and “ad-mire”, from Latin mirus, “wonderful”), is described as a deep garnet colored star located in the neck of the Whale or Sea-Monster. \u2014 The Constellation of Words<\/strong><\/p>\n She was late, but he didn\u2019t mind. It was pleasant to bask in the heat of the sun on the beach, listen to the waves crashing, and feel the light breeze whisk the occasional particle of sand across his face. The gulls honked overhead like a misdirected orchestra of bicycle horns, and all the while the surf crashed and hissed over the sand. Crashing and hissing, crashing and hissing, with the hissing being as though he could hear all the grains of sand colliding with each other as the sheets of foam and water withdrew, dragging themselves across the beach, and sliding seductively back into the vast sea beyond, as if beckoning him to follow.<\/p>\n Jason was tired, and this was like a salve to him. It soaked into his soul and healed him. Healed him from the steel of the city, from the sterilized and manufactured world that imprisoned him each day, from the chaos and noise. But here, there was only the crash and hiss. He breathed to the rhythm, and it lent strength to him. He felt restored by the sea, and Mira was right. The ocean had power that went beyond the physical.<\/p>\n \u201cHello.\u201d A female voice, as if called into existence by his mere thought, sounded out.<\/p>\n He opened his eyes and squinted against the sun. She stood before him, catching some of those rays as they glowed through the thin flower-print dress that she wore, showing her curved and beautiful form as a cool shadow inside of a forge of glory. He stood up, admiring her long brown hair, which gleamed in the sun and cascaded over her shoulders. Her light hazel eyes sparkled brightly from the reflections on the waves about them. She was a vision; a beauty that took his breath away; a force of nature.<\/p>\n \u201cHi.\u201d He breathed this nervously, not sure of himself, and treading into uncharted territory. He didn\u2019t want to screw this up, and knew that he could do so very easily. She was a delicate, sensible creature, and he felt like a clumsy giant with club limbs. \u201cHow are you?\u201d He said lamely.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m okay. Isn\u2019t this wonderful? What an incredible place you live in! Everything is so bright and full of sounds.\u201d<\/p>\n He nodded. \u201cI was just thinking that myself. It\u2019s a beautiful day.\u201d<\/p>\n She approached and circled around him, looking him in the eyes as she crossed around front. He\u2019d gotten used to this familiar greeting and asked, \u201cHow\u2019s your mother?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s still very ill. My… family is concerned, but say that it will pass.\u201d Mira\u2019s sunshine face fell into shadow.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry. Does anyone know what\u2019s wrong with her?\u201d She had slowed to stand before him and he now followed her customary greeting and circled around her.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve asked your doctor to take a look. He said that he will bring a team tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s good. I\u2019m glad.\u201d Jason smiled, hoping to lift her spirits. \u201cI\u2019m sure they will find a way to help.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure. The older ones in my family don\u2019t trust them.\u201d<\/p>\n Jason nodded. \u201cThat\u2019s understandable. I wish it wasn\u2019t like that.\u201d<\/p>\n An awkward silence passed between them for a few heartbeats, and then Mira spoke. \u201cIt takes a long time to heal some things.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to think that we\u2019re doing that\u2014I mean, you and I.\u201d He reached out and put a gentle hand on her bare shoulder. She startled at the touch, but then relaxed and smiled at him.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s sit and let the sun soak into us,\u201d she suggested, and then sat down on the sand, taking his hand and pulling him down next to her. They sat there looking out into the waves. Far from the shore, the spout of a whale blasted a white mist into the air. It surfaced and rolled its back in the water, breaching and plunging back down into the depths.<\/p>\n \u201cBeautiful.\u201d Jason breathed in wonder.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you really think so?\u201d Mira asked.<\/p>\n \u201cMore beautiful than anything that I\u2019ve seen.\u201d He said, turning and looking into her eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels really weird.\u201d Mira averted her eyes from his. \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis extra space. It\u2019s like someone opened a passage to another valley in my mind. I can think things I\u2019ve never thought before.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s how the implant works. You\u2019ll get used to it. I\u2019ve had mine for a over a five years now. I don\u2019t even notice it anymore unless I think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all I ever think about now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes you more like us.\u201d Jason said.<\/p>\n \u201cI know, and sometimes that scares me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of what happened. Because of what you used to do to us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you\u2019re worried that you might become like that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n Jason shook his head. \u201cNo, that won\u2019t happen.\u201d He smiled. \u201cYou\u2019re wiser than we are.\u201d<\/p>\n The sound of running feet approached, and sand went dashing over them both. A young boy of about seven came skidding to a stop next to them and jumped up and down.<\/p>\n \u201cMira! Mira!\u201d He said bouncing around them.<\/p>\n \u201cRalph! Knock it off, you\u2019re getting sand all over us.\u201d Jason grumbled.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the sand is everywhere. Let\u2019s run. Let\u2019s all run in it,\u201d Ralf said, never ceasing to dance about them.<\/p>\n Mira laughed at Ralph\u2019s antics, and Jason said, \u201cIn a little bit. We\u2019re talking. Go run, and we\u2019ll join you.\u201d<\/p>\n Ralph took off down the beach, dashing through the occasional wave that reached out over the sand. \u201cHow smart will he get?\u201d Mira asked.<\/p>\n \u201cNot much more, I don\u2019t think. He\u2019s had the implant for about a year. The last time I increased his memory chip, he didn\u2019t use it fully. I think he\u2019s gone as far as he can.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI like him the way he is,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI like him too.\u201d He brushed sand from his shorts. \u201cMost of the time.\u201d She laughed. He liked the way her mouth curled around the sound.<\/p>\n The surf continued to crash and hiss around them and they watched silently while the whale rolled and spouted in the distance.<\/p>\n \u201cHow much further do you think I will go?\u201d She asked with a kind of anxious look.<\/p>\n \u201cYou, my dear, are as unlimited as the stars above.\u201d Jason smiled, then added, \u201cTruthfully, we don\u2019t know how far. We both have spindle neurons. And your brain mass is about five times greater than ours, a lot of which is used for sound processing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo what? I can think about sounds better than you. What good is that out here?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAh, but that can be re-purposed. Some of our smartest men thought by using pictures in their minds. Einstein, Tesla, Hawking. These men changed everything we know about the universe using the visual cortex of their brains. We think you can do the same, but using sound processing.\u201d She nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you think anyone else will volunteer?\u201d Jason asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know. I can see the advantage, but then I can think thoughts with the implant that they just can\u2019t. And, while there is good will toward you, there is also much mistrust.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat was another age, and another time. A terrible one, to be sure, but we\u2019ve both evolved. We want to move on and bring you with us, try to make up for the past.\u201d<\/p>\n Silence between them again as the world went on, the gulls crying, the surf pounding and sizzling, and distant barking.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m here.\u201d She said softly. \u201cI\u2019m here to take a chance on you. I can\u2019t speak for the others, but this is a start. At first, I wouldn’t expect a lot. Let\u2019s see how this goes.\u201d<\/p>\n Jason nodded. \u201cYou\u2019re right, of course. I just get excited about the possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n Mira smiled. \u201cI do too. Tell me more about the stars.\u201d She shifted to lean against him and he felt her strange heat.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have used them to navigate by, and so have we for thousands of years. Each one of those points of light is a sun just like the one that warms our oceans. And recently we\u2019ve found planets that circle them, some of which could even support life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI still don\u2019t understand how I can help. It is a hard…\u201d She reached for a word. \u201c…concept.\u201d<\/p>\n Jason laughed. \u201cIt\u2019s a hard concept for anyone. The math is incomprehensible to me, it\u2019s not really my area. I just work on the systems integration, but our physicists have found a way that we can open a hole in the spaces between the stars and travel through it. The problem is we don\u2019t have a computer powerful enough to handle the calculations such a trip would require.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I can be your computer. I don\u2019t understand how that works.\u201d She frowned slightly and her eyebrows furrowed in concentrated thought.<\/p>\n \u201cOur computers are quick, but they aren\u2019t smart. They can\u2019t learn like biologicals can. To make the trip to other stars, we need a brain that can learn and make very fast decisions. The place the hole in space leads to is a realm we call hyperspace, and it\u2019s very complex. It\u2019s a place where time and distance change in various parts of itself. It has eddies and currents, and it would be very easy to get lost inside there. Several of our unmanned probe ships never returned.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a dangerous journey.\u201d Mira pondered.<\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t tell you any different. Yes, it\u2019s a risk, and if you don\u2019t want to take it, no one would think badly of you\u2014least of all, me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou are going, though?\u201d<\/p>\n Jason nodded. \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not afraid to go into the currents of space.\u201d Mira said, pursing her lips.<\/p>\n \u201cI know. I just want you to be aware of the risks.\u201d Jason put his hand out to give her arm a reassuring squeeze, but his hand passed right through her. Damn glitches, he thought, and withdrew his touch. \u201cCome on. That silly dog is still waiting for us to chase him through the surf.\u201d He grinned.<\/p>\n Mira laughed and got to her feet gracefully. He took her hand, and they raced over the sand, down to where the image of a boy skipped through the surf, shouting at the waves.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n \u201cHow is she?\u201d Jason burst through the doors, his heart pounding from running.<\/p>\n Mira knelt by the edge of the mirror-glass pool of water, which contained an unmoving sperm whale. She looked up as he entered, but she didn\u2019t respond. Didn\u2019t need to respond. The tears were dripping down her face.<\/p>\n Dr. Franklin, the marine biologist in charge, came up and spoke in low tones to Jason. \u201cIt\u2019s not good, Jason. She\u2019s taken a turn for the worse. We\u2019ve identified red-tide toxin and oxygen deprivation. She was out there a long time. We have her on oh-two,\u201d he pointed to a tube running into the blowhole of the whale. \u201cBut it may be too late. As for the toxins, we\u2019re doing what we can, but she\u2019s a big animal. It will take some time and we may not have enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Jason nodded. His face felt cold, and his heart wrenched for Mira, who now started a low sob that was more like a keening moan. He moved to kneel beside her and put a hand on her very warm shoulder. \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d he said woodenly. \u201cThey\u2019re doing everything they can, Mira.\u201d He knew that wasn\u2019t enough. Would not fix it. It would not console her, but what could? Only a miracle, and the miracle maker had just told him that chances were slim.<\/p>\n \u201cThe oceans are sick, Jason.\u201d She said bitterly.<\/p>\n \u201cI know. Even when we realized the damage we were doing, we just kept doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n She stood and squeezed her eyes shut in pain. Tears slipped out between the lids and fell. He put his arms around her and held her close, let the heat grow until he couldn\u2019t stand it anymore, and then released her. When he did, he gasped for cool air. Holographic imagery capable of physical contact required a lot of energy, and that energy had to go somewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d He said, both for having to let her go, and for what his race had done. \u201cShe wants me to ask you a favor.\u201d Mira said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnything.\u201d Jason\u2019s voice broke. He sat down by the edge of the pool and looked at the enormous eye on the side of the whale\u2019s head. It was closed tightly and the grey flesh of the whale wrinkled up at its edges.<\/p>\n \u201cShe wants you to take me to a new world that has a clean ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n He rested his chin on his knees, and tears of his own flowed now. \u201cI\u2019ll do my best,\u201d he whispered to the eye. For a moment, the eye flickered to life, and opened a tiny crack. A window to the soul of the whale beside him opened, and then closed forever.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re ready to breach hyperspace.\u201d Mira\u2019s voice reached him from his place at the OPS station.<\/p>\n Jason\u2019s stomach was a tightly clenched knot of rope. Two years had passed since the death of Mira\u2019s mother. Now Mira was the heart and soul of the first \u201coccupied\u201d interstellar ship. The phrase \u201cmanned ship\u201d no longer applied, as there was a non-human crew-member with them. He looked to his left as she concentrated at the control panel. Her human holographic form standing there was beautiful. But her actual body\u2014the body of a large female sperm whale\u2014was enclosed in the special cargo hold below, submerged in water, with a layer of air at the top for breathing.<\/p>\n \u201cBrace for emergence.\u201d Captain Gelder announced from mid-deck of the bridge.<\/p>\n The ship shuddered mildly. Jason felt simultaneously stretched and nauseated. Then there was nothing but calm, and the view screens revealed stars once more instead of the energy charged plasma clouds of hyperspace.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere are we?\u201d Jason held his breath. There was no guarantee that they had made it to the planet of their destination. And if not, they could have just taken a ride to a long and drawn out death. If they had popped out of hyperspace in an unknown region of the Milky Way, there was no way they could get home again. And finding a place where they could survive would be near impossible if the navigation theories of traversing hyperspace had failed.<\/p>\n \u201cOne moment.\u201d Mira\u2019s voice spoke again from the console. She was so immersed in the data processors that her voice was almost robotic. There was a long pause, and then, \u201cWe made it!\u201d<\/p>\n Jason jumped to his feet and crossed the short distance between them. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her tenderly. He didn\u2019t care what the rest of the bridge crew thought. It was Mira\u2019s moment. A moment they had both worked hard for. She had brought them to this new world.<\/p>\n \u201cSir! I\u2019ve got a visual on the planet,\u201d the astrographer said suddenly.<\/p>\n \u201cPut it on screen, Mr. Williams.\u201d The captain said calmly.<\/p>\n Jason turned to face the viewscreen as the live image of a giant blue world was displayed. Wisps of white clouds swirled around an ocean of blue, and not one continent could be seen.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful.\u201d Mira said.<\/p>\n \u201cA new home for both our people.\u201d Jason said. \u201cAnd a new home for our children.\u201d<\/p>\n Within the cargo hold were frozen whale embryos ready to be thawed and implanted. Mira would soon be a mother to a whole new world of her kind. There was much to do. They still had to make sure this planet would be safe for them. What kind of life inhabited the seas? What challenges lay ahead? Jason didn\u2019t know, but he was excited about the possibilities. There weren\u2019t any guarantees, but in life, there never were any. They would take this opportunity and make everything they could from it.<\/p>\n Mira looked down on the blue of the ocean with the electron eyes of the ship. She probed the seas with her radar, analyzed the spectral properties of the light.<\/p>\n \u201cMother, I\u2019ve come home.\u201d Mira whispered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" MIRA by Keith B. Phillips Omicron (\u03bf) Cetus, Mira (related to the words “miraculous”, and “ad-mire”, from Latin mirus, “wonderful”), is described as a deep garnet colored star located in the neck of the Whale or Sea-Monster. \u2014 The Constellation of Words She was late, but he didn\u2019t mind. It was pleasant to bask in the heat of the sun on the beach, listen to the waves crashing, and feel the light breeze whisk the occasional particle of sand across his face. The gulls honked overhead like a misdirected orchestra of bicycle horns, and all the while the surf crashed and hissed over the sand. Crashing and hissing, crashing and hissing, with the hissing being as though he could hear all the grains of sand colliding with each other as the sheets of foam and water withdrew, dragging themselves across the beach, and sliding seductively back into the vast sea beyond, as if beckoning him to follow. Jason was tired, and this was like a salve to him. It soaked into his soul and healed him. Healed him from the steel of the city, from the sterilized and manufactured world that imprisoned him each day, from the chaos and noise. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/img_0592.jpg?fit=428%2C344&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s32u0F-mira","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":622,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=622","url_meta":{"origin":2613,"position":0},"title":"Pirates of the Crimson Sand\u2014Review","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"July 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Pirates of the Crimson Sand is a great little story about pirates, air ships and technical wonders. It sweeps you away to a sandy desert place that is best described by the book\u2019s own words (and I love this bit): \u201cRocks and cacti littered the ground like a demon\u2019s garden.\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3116,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=3116","url_meta":{"origin":2613,"position":1},"title":"A Place to Rest","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"April 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The little tree grew into an enormous tree. It loved the hill where it had grown up, extended its roots deep into the ground, and tasted the waters of the earth. In the spring, it dropped its cones; the seeds scattered around and the little ones were born. They sprouted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3047,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=3047","url_meta":{"origin":2613,"position":2},"title":"The Villain I Made","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"March 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I've not been good at villain creation. I've known many of them in my life, but I haven't ever made one. I guess my storytelling child author just assumed people are good or bad. But in reality people are all different shades, moving in and out of these shadows, transforming,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1309,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=1309","url_meta":{"origin":2613,"position":3},"title":"The Making of Villains","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"February 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"How do you make a villain that feels credible? Meet Baxter Hickman. Part man, part monster, and totally being used.","rel":"","context":"In "My Thoughts On Stuff"","block_context":{"text":"My Thoughts On Stuff","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1907,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=1907","url_meta":{"origin":2613,"position":4},"title":"Loss For Words","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"March 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Dad was always muttering under his breath. At first I thought he might be cursing. I would get up close to him, put my little hands around his neck and hold my face up next to his wiry whiskers. He'd laugh and ask me what I was up to. \"I'm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/img_0477.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/img_0477.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/img_0477.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/img_0477.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1261,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=1261","url_meta":{"origin":2613,"position":5},"title":"I Can Read With My Eyes Shut Tight","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"July 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was eleven, I was asked to be in a school play. It was about Gilligan's Island. And because I was skinny and had dark hair, they thought that I would be a good match for Gilligan. I loved that show and watched it whenever I could. I studied\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2613"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3046,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2613\/revisions\/3046"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}