Episode 4: A Course into the Unknown

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The old map lay spread across the table, glowing faintly in the starlight that streamed through the big round window. Emil and Tom leaned over it, studying every faded line and curious mark.

Tom wriggled closer, peering hard at the strange shapes drawn in the corners. Then he paused.

"Emil," he said slowly, "look at these. These little symbols, here and here..." He pointed with the tip of his tail. "I'm sure I've seen some of them before. Long ago, in the old caves of my planet, there were carvings on the ancient road — the one we found with the old bearded worm. Some of these marks look just like them." He frowned. "But I don't know what they mean. I only know I've seen them."

Emil bent close and studied the symbols too — swirls and dots and tiny stars arranged in patterns he couldn't begin to read.

"Hmm," he murmured, scratching his helmet. "I haven't the faintest idea what they mean either. They're not like any writing I know." He sat back. "But there must be a way to figure out where this place is. Let's compare it to our own maps. If we can match the stars, we'll know where to fly."

So that's exactly what they did.

Emil switched on the ship's star charts, and at once the cabin filled with glowing blue maps that floated gently in the air — great shimmering charts of the whole galaxy, every star and planet the tomato-ship had ever recorded. The two friends held the old paper map up beside them and began, very carefully, to compare.

They looked for matching stars. They looked for matching planets. They turned the old map this way and that, upside down and sideways, holding it up to the glowing charts and squinting between the two.

But no matter how hard they tried... nothing matched.

"That cluster of stars there," said Emil, pointing at the map. "It's not on any of our charts. And look — this whole swirl of planets, this entire corner of the map... it's just not in our records at all."

Tom's eyes went wide. "You mean...?"

Emil nodded slowly, a thrill running through him. "It must be a part of the galaxy that nobody has ever explored. An unknown region. So far away, and so distant, that no map we have has ever charted it." He breathed out. "No wonder the pirate never solved it. This X is somewhere nobody has ever been."

For a moment the two friends just stared at each other. The mystery had grown deeper and more wonderful than ever. Somewhere out there, in a corner of space no one had ever seen, the great red X was waiting.

"But how will we ever find it," Tom wondered, "if it's not on any map?"

Emil leaned in once more, running his eyes slowly over the ancient paper. There were dozens of stars, all strange and unfamiliar. But then — his finger stopped.

"Wait," he said. "This one." He tapped a single star drawn near the edge of the old map. "This star... I think I know it. There's something familiar about it. The shape of it, the way the smaller stars cluster around it." He looked up, his eyes bright. "I'm almost certain I've seen this star before — far, far away, at the very edge of the galaxy. It's the only thing on this whole map that I recognize!"

Tom bounced with excitement. "Then that's where we start!"

"That's where we start," Emil agreed with a grin. "If we fly to that one familiar star, we'll be at the very edge of the map. And from there, maybe — just maybe — we can find our way to the rest of it. To the X."

He hurried to the controls and called up the navigation screen. After a moment of searching, he found it: a tiny, distant world glowing at the farthest edge of the known galaxy. It had no proper name — only a string of letters and numbers given to faraway places that no one had ever visited.

"There," said Emil. "The planet YX-53. That's the name — the only name it has. It orbits the star I recognize, right at the edge of everything we know. If we go there, we'll be as close to the unknown region as anyone has ever been."

But then Emil glanced at Tom, and Tom let out an enormous yawn, rubbing his sleepy eyes. Emil suddenly realized just how tired he was too. They had been awake for a very, very long time — flying, exploring the Fury, meeting the pirate, and puzzling over the map for hours and hours.

"YX-53 is terribly far away," Emil said gently. "It'll take a long, long time to get there — much longer than we can stay awake." He smiled. "I think it's time we let the ship do the flying."

He sat down at the control panel and began, very carefully, to program the autopilot. His fingers danced over the glowing buttons as he charted the long course — past a thousand stars, all the way to the distant planet at the galaxy's edge.

"Course set," he announced at last. "Destination: YX-53. The ship will fly us there safely while we sleep, and wake us when we arrive."

The navigation screen lit up with a glowing golden line, stretching far across the stars toward their faraway goal. With a soft, happy hum, the cozy red tomato-ship turned its nose toward the distant star and began, ever so gently, to glide forward into the deep.

Emil carefully rolled up the precious map and tucked it away safe. Then he and Tom dimmed the cabin lights until they glowed warm and low, like a nightlight.

"Goodnight, Tom," said Emil, with a yawn of his own. "Big adventures waiting when we wake."

"Goodnight, Emil," Tom murmured happily, wriggling off toward his cozy little room. "I can't wait to see what's at the X..."

They each climbed into their own snug beds, pulled up their blankets, and closed their eyes. Outside the windows, the stars slid slowly past, and the gentle hum of the engine sang them both to sleep.

And on through the endless, glittering dark flew the little red tomato-ship — two brave friends asleep inside, an ancient mystery rolled up on the table, and a long, long journey to the very edge of the galaxy just beginning...

To be continued...