Chapter I of Lands Beyond

     Honestly, I have no idea how it happened. One minute, I was getting myself strapped into my observation chair, the next minute, everything began to shake and shudder and then the shuttle rocketed forward at an extreme speed. I must have lost consciousness somewhere in there, for when I opened my eyes, the shuttle was floating easily along. I looked out through the porthole. I did not recognize any of the star formations around me, and the very essence of the universe seemed strange to me.

     Perhaps I should start at the beginning. My name is Brunhilda Von Schonhausen and I am from the lonely wilds of Montana, where our nearest neighbours were ten miles away. My father worked for a rancher some miles away, and he was rarely home. My mother was a frail woman, but had an unbeatable spirit. She home-schooled me in everything from mathematics to horse breaking.

     Her father had been an engineer and mechanic for an air-plane factory, and he had taught her much of what he knew, which she in turn taught me. As a result, I was often tinkering on some of our old machinery. She also had an old telescope that had belonged to her mother, and she taught me the star formations and navigation.

     These things were of extreme interest to me. Having grown up in a vast, empty land, the vast, empty space above me naturally drew me towards it. I was determined to learn as much about it as I could.

     The result of it was that I began to build a spaceship. My mother did not believe that it would ever leave the ground, but this belief did not deter her from assisting me in my quest. Her knowledge of aircraft was invaluable to me. I do believe that I would still be working on it if she had not helped me.

     By the time I was twenty, the spaceship was finished. It looked somewhat like a bullet in shape, with wings that housed the engines. It had landing gear that was similar to an air-planes’, for landing on the earth. Situated in the very back, in the form of a ramp, was the entryway. The only windows were small portholes made of the strongest glass that I could get. The wind-shield itself was very small, only as large as it needed to be for me to see out of it.

     The instrument panel contained a level of sophistication that my mother assured me would be plenty for my needs. I had included radar so that I would know when I came into range of some object in space. In the computer, I installed a complete chart of star formations, planet locations, and other celestial information. It would not do to become lost simply because I had drifted off course. I wanted to be able to find my way back.

     I took several test flights, staying inside of Earth’s atmosphere. I wanted to be sure that my spaceship was completely capable of flight within the pull of gravity. Once I had satisfied myself upon that score, I essayed to fly into space. It was a failure. I had not even exited the atmosphere before I became convinced that my craft would need much more work before it would be capable of space flight.

     It took some trial and error, but I finally made it into space. Years of hard work had paid off. I knew that it would take a few more years of hard work to make my spaceship safe to fly. It was now capable of flying, but as of yet, it was not completely safe to fly.

     During this time, my mother had been a pillar of strength. Even though her health had been failing for some time, she saw fit to conceal it from me for as long as possible. The first inkling I had of her ill health came while I was assisting her in the kitchen making blueberry pie. She had been a little slow that day, but I had assumed that it was because she was tired.

     We were talking and laughing as we always did, when suddenly, she froze in mid-step with a strained look on her face. I dropped my rolling pin and hurried to her side. She slowly set the bowl she had been holding on the counter before turning to me with an apologetic smile. “I am sorry, Brunhilda, but it seems as if I am not feeling like myself. I shall feel better after a short rest. Please, do not concern yourself needlessly.”

     With that, she went to her bedroom and lay down on the bed. Despite her reassurances, I was very concerned. I did not know much about diseases or medicine, but the little that I did know seemed to point to a stroke of some sort. Of course, I might have been mistaken. It is not always easy to tell. However, what I do know is that my mother became very ill only a couple days afterwards. My father was away from home and we had no telephone or cell phone. Even if we did have cell phones, we would not have been able to use them. There was no tower close enough to pick up the signal.

     My mother wished for me to find my father, but I wanted to get her to the hospital first. She tried to protest, but she was too weak. We had no vehicles, and the closest hospital was miles away, but I knew that we could make it in my spaceship. I had added rotors to give it hovering capabilities, so I knew that we could land very close to the hospital.

     I loaded her up into it and buckled her in securely. I started the rotors and lifted off using them, just to be sure that they worked. Once we were in the air, I lowered the wings and fired the engines before switching off the rotors. We made it to the hospital in record time.

     I suppose that it would be unnecessary to tell you that when I landed in an empty parking lot across from the hospital, I received several strange looks from passersby. I ignored them, as I had become somewhat accustomed to them from previous flights where I had landed in or near a town. (Once, I went as far as the southern tip of Texas at the top of my speed. I nearly burned out my engine doing it, though, and I had to loaf back home.)

     Anyway, the doctors saw my mother, but they could not figure out what the matter was. However, they all agreed that she needed to be admitted, so that they could keep a close eye on her. Once I was sure that she was safe, I left to go find my father and tell him what had happened.

     I found him fixing fence in a pasture that I was sure the owner had forgotten that he even owned. My father was surprised to see me, as I had rarely searched him out while he was working. I explained what had happened to mother and told him that I had taken her to the hospital. He looked at me in surprise. “How did you get her there?”

     I gestured to the spaceship. “I used that.”

     He shook his head mutely. He had never really approved of my hobby and had often complained that it was a waste of time. However, he had soon desisted when he realized that it kept me busy and that he did not have to pay for anything. Whatever needed bought, I paid for with money that I had earned by making things to sell and doing odd jobs for the few neighbors close enough to reach on horseback. We only had one very old vehicle, which he used.

     At first, he was averse to going with me, but when he realized that it was the fastest way into town, he stepped gingerly up the ramp and buckled himself into one of the passenger seats. Eager to impress him, I made the ride as smooth as possible, surprising even myself with the performance of the ship.

     Once at the hospital, my father unstrapped himself and hurried away. I followed him, but not before raising the ramp and snapping a padlock into place. You never knew who might get curious enough to snoop around and possibly break something.

     Inside, I found my way to the room where my mother was. They had her hooked up to several monitors, and she looked extremely white and frail lying between the thin and sterile sheets. My father was holding her hand and looking very uncomfortable. I do not know if it was because of the situation or something else, but since it was not my business, I refrained from commenting.

     The doctors had hope of her recovery, but could not say much beyond that. Unfortunately, my mother took a turn for the worse that evening. Everything that could be done for her was done, but it was not enough. She died before noon the next morning. My father withdrew within himself in just a couple of hours. Most of the funeral arrangements were left up to me, and I executed my responsibilities to the best of my ability.

     It seems that I did my job a little too well. I overheard several people tell my father that I was one cold fish. I did not start crying at the drop of a hat, I seemed to be in complete control of myself, every little detail was seen to, and I had none of the absent mindedness usually associated with grief.

My father believed them. Nothing that I said or did afterwards changed his mind. He believed that I was cold and heartless and undeserving of any future attention from him. That is how I happened to be in space that fateful day.

     I completed the work on the shuttle in record time, finishing it less than a year after her death. I took several test flights, staying away longer each time. When my father took no notice of my absence, I decided that it was time for me to take my leave and strike out on my own. I packed lightly, only taking things that were essential. I did take a few nonessential items, such as sketchbooks and pencils, a tightly packed crate of yarn, a small folding table, and a portable sewing machine.

     These things could easily be stashed behind the seats, and were fairly lightweight, so nothing was lost by taking them. They were mostly for my own comfort and peace of mind anyway, so I did not need to bicker with myself about it.