Torus

Delphi was reading in her bunk. The Captain had mandated 36 hours of rest. Their jumps around the universe had started to blur together and the Captain decided the crew needed time to recuperate. So the Khonsu 0 silently orbited a glass moon.

They rolled in on a wheelchair looking like an aged man. Wispy white hair clung to their head and a blanket covered their feeble legs. This didn’t surprise Delphi. They appeared and disappeared on the Khonsu 0 so often it felt normal now. They were part of the crew almost. Even when they weren’t physically present, a sense of being remained.

So Delphi did not look up from her book when the old man entered. How are you, She said. They parked next to her bed and smiled, Serene. That is how I am. Their gaze fell on Delphi’s left hand. It had been subjected to mutation and pineal eyes rested below the surface of the skin. How is your hand, They said. Delphi put down her book and closed her eyes, I see differently now. More. She opened her eyes in surprise and looked at their left hand. At a ring on their finger. Each incarnation of them wore the ring, but she didn’t give it a thought until this moment. Her other eyes saw in a different light.

May I see it, She said. They offered the old man’s hand to her. Delphi took the wrinkled fingers in hers and examined the jewelry. The band seemed to be made of a black metal and was set with countless minuscule white jewels. The gems were so pure they seemed to radiate light. As Delphi continued to stare, the mysterious torus began to fill more and more of her vision until it enveloped her. She was falling, tumbling into space, surrounded by stars. She could see everything. Every galaxy, every cloud of plasma, the pulse of dark energies, the song of each black hole, quarks up down strange all humming — it was too much. Black.

Delphi gasped. They had put a hand over her eyes and hid their ring beneath the blanket. She removed their hand from her eyes. She felt tears on her cheeks, but when she wiped them away she saw it was blood. Where did you get that, She said. I made it, They handed her a handkerchief. How long have you had it, She said. They smiled fondly, Eternity.