Six children arrayed themselves around the zero-gravity gymnasium. Their blue, red and green attire contrasting with the cream coloured walls. ‘Zero-G ball is the best,’ cried Teagan. Elbow bent, she held her mitten hand square to the first-base player.

The first-base player threw the bright yellow ball. Teagan watch the ball as it floated in a straight-line, and then heaved, sending the ball between the second and third base. Letting go her mitten Teagan pushed off to towards the far wall. In mid-flight she tucked her knees in and pivoted her body, her legs would be towards the wall, ready to spring into the next corner. 

David, a lanky boy, was on third-base. He leaped, intercepted the ball, touched the ceiling to stop and threw the ball to first base. Teagan made a sharp rebound.

‘Tag her!’ called one of the fielders as she passed the ball to the next base.   Teagan ricocheted off the next corner. The ball moved fast, but she had a head start. She touched the third-base, recoiled to absorb the impact and pushed off at right angles.

‘Just one more and we'll take the lead,’ Teagan thought. Each base added to her team’s score. David caught the ball and flung it. Teagan tried to change direction midcourse to dodge the ball. She huddled hopping it might miss. But the ball sailed straight.

‘Touch. OUT!’ called David.

‘Next round,’ shouted Teagan.

‘Enough,’ responded another child.

‘Me too,’ exclaimed another.

‘One more round,’ protested Teagan. But the other players were already moving toward the exit.

Teagan pushed at the floor in disgust and was propelled upwards.

‘Later,’ replied David, who then pivoted through the exit.

Teagan pushed off the side of the gymnasium, moving more slowly. One side of the gymnasium was transparent, and considered the best view on the ship. She twirled and stared at the stars spread out across the sky. Among these stars was a white disc. Teagan knew the disc was growing in size as it came closer. She shivered, and then shoved off towards the exit.

 *  *  *  *  *

Teagan strode to keep pace with her father. So engrossed was he in what he was
saying, he seemed unaware of her struggle to keep up.

‘We’ve been fleeing from the vacuum collapse for generations.’

Teagan dodged a couple, walking along the corridor, with heads bowed.

‘Dad, I’m eleven. I know all that. I want to know why?’

‘No one understands how we escaped the maelstrom. There is conjecture that we were caught in a bow wave effect and propelled ahead of it.’

She grasped her father’s hand. ‘No Dad! Why did we run away?’

‘What do you mean, Teagan? You know history. A band of space farers left Earth, setting out for a new home world in another star system. Then one day the ship's instruments indicated a massive event in the vicinity of Earth. Nothing but a bright light remained where Earth had been. The light kept expanding. They deduced that there had been a collapse of the space-time vacuum. Our best scientists still don’t know why!’    

‘I know our stories, Dad!’ Her voice changed, as though reciting lessons, ‘Vacuum collapse expands at the speed of light. The collapse propagates to infinity as the vacuum falls into a lower energy state.  Nothing of the old state, no trace of matter or energy or complex organisms can survive the collapse.’  She finished her mimicry.

‘But you still miss my question. Why bother fleeing?’

Teagan’s father stopped. ‘I guess to save ourselves.’

‘Dad! We aren't saving anyone; just putting off the end. When we’re gone there will be nothing. No evidence of our existence.  Even our stories will be lost.’

‘What would you have us do? Give up!’ Two men and then a woman push past Teagan and her father.  

‘Burn us up quickly or die while we run away, it all the same in the end.’

‘No, it isn’t. Generations have lived since we fled. That isn’t nothing.’

‘Dad, you’ve reduced the argument to emotion.’

‘Humans are emotional beings, Teagan. Some of those who witnessed the event were numbed and fell into despair. There were times when few children were born. But we survived, adapted and prospered.’  

‘Isn’t it true that some folk didn’t flee, but turned back towards the bubble?’

‘Yes, they believed that an alternate existence lay beyond the decay of the present vacuum.’

‘Might there be a alternate existence?’

He sighed and put his hand on her shoulder.  ‘Well, science would say there is only an unreality wave, a massive release of energy at the edge of the differing vacuum states; quantum level froth of particles whizzing in and out of existences. There is nothing to transverse. But that is a philosophical question.’

‘What do you believe?’

‘Such a question!  Humm. To me, living is goal enough. I want you to be happy. I would like you to grow older, to feel passion, love, grief and pain in your knees as you go to sleep.’ He started walking.

‘Do your knees hurt?’

‘It is just a little discomfort at times. I was generalising. Feeling pain is to be alive. Bruising yourself playing Zero-G ball doesn’t stop playing.’

‘Course not.’

‘Good. Play as much as you want.’

‘I wish I could, but the other children don’t want to.’

‘Well, I’m happy for you to spend time with mum and I. ’ They turned into another corridor—wider with more people.  

‘I like family dinner, talking, snuggling up. But other times I have to get away or I explode.’

‘Hormones. You’ll discover sex soon enough.’

‘What makes you think I haven’t!’

‘Masturbation doesn’t count.’

Teagan blushed. Her father turned to face her. A tear formed in his eye.

‘Dad. Don’t say you’ve been selfish in having me, and that I’ll never get to experience life. I’ve experienced my life.’

‘I wish I could offer an answer.’

‘Does there have to be an answer?’

‘I guess not.’

Teagan hugged her father.  In what was left of the universe, the ship raced on.

Authors notes: The early stages of the universe involved successive phases of intense energy at a quantum level, falling into ever lower energy or vacuum states, until it stabilised as it is at present. There is a scientific view that the Universe is not a true vacuum but merely a long lived metastable, false vacuum, and it could suddenly pitch from this higher order to a lower energy level. This would see a tiny bubble of true vacuum, expands at light speed, engulfing a larger and larger region, converting everything into true vacuum. Gravity, physical and chemical processes would be completely different in this new vacuum state. Reference: Paul Davis’ The Last Three Minutes, John Gribbin’s In Search of the edge of time and Stephen Baxter’s Deep Future.

Published in Coffee Break Collection Volume II, Readers World 2002

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