The Proposal E-Book

Myung-hoon Bae

• Herausgeber: Honford Star
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 139

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

In The Proposal, a space opera romance set against the backdrop of a looming war between Earth and a mysterious adversary, a story of love unfolds through a series of intimate letters. This poignant novella explores how a space-born soldier's gradual involvement in an escalating conflict intertwines with a heartfelt proposal to his Earth-born partner, revealing the intricate dance of love and duty at the edge of an interstellar conflict. Translated by Stella Kim, The Proposal reflects on the distances that separate us—both physically and emotionally—and celebrates the resilience of the human spirit, ever striving to overcome these divides.

Leseprobe

The Proposal

BAE MYUNG-HOON

Translated by Stella Kim

Contents

Title PageTHE PROPOSALChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter SixChapter SevenChapter EightChapter NineChapter TenChapter ElevenCopyright

7

THE PROPOSAL

So, if I understand you correctly, you’re not interested in things like outer space? Because you’re exhausted and over-whelmed enough from just trying to survive every day in this world.

I’m sorry, sir, but this spacecraft called Earth you are on is orbiting around the Sun at a speed of thirty kilometers per second. Additionally, this star called the Sun has been hurtling through the outskirts of a galactic system for billions of years at an astonishing speed of 220 kilometers per second. Moreover, this cramped cabin called Seoul, situated near the 37th parallel north of the spacecraft Earth, is revolving around the spacecraft at a speed of about 370 meters per second.

Yet you have never experienced motion sickness, not even once? I believe that means you must be a born astronaut! So please don’t say that you are not a spaceman. And stop calling this confined cabin the world.

Now, let me ask you again. Why did you choose to board Earth? 8

9

1

Come visit me when you get some time off. The new vacation cruiser began service last month, and I think even you’re going to like it. It’s for people who want a vacation but can’t go all the way to Earth, so apparently there is a lot to do even during a long stay. I haven’t been myself yet, but everyone has been making a big fuss about how Earth’s gravity has been perfectly recreated on the cruiser. It doesn’t seem all that perfect to me, but all Earth-borns seem crazy about it. One of our operations soldiers went on and on about how he wanted to get married there, but between you and me he’s never even dated anyone. In any case, it’s a rather interesting vessel. Touring the cruiser itself could be fun, too, because of its unique shape.

To start, it has wings. Two adorable little wings, looking cool and carefree as they protrude from both sides of the fuselage, even though they’re completely useless since there is 10no air current to cut through in space. But when you keep looking at them, you begin to wonder if those wings are actually propelling the cruiser forward, rather than the engines. And they look as though they might start flapping really fast in an emergency. They’re really cute. The things that Earthians come up with!

But what’s more impressive is the pair of vertical wings on the back of the hull. They’re ridiculously small compared to the huge nozzle behind them, but the angle—my goodness, the angle—of the wings is fantastic. They look elegant, agile, and even romantic. They’re probably the most spectacular things in the entire fleet. That’s why it’s the most popular photo spot for people who come visit. Apparently, they’re going to make a new logo for the fleet based on those tail wings, and I think it’s a great idea. I’m sure they will be the most popular attraction in town.

I really like the new cruiser, too. It’s the only vessel with a distinction between top and bottom. Ever since the concept designs, every aspect of the cruiser deviates from other vessels in the way it immediately catches your eye. You know how some people say that one thing, one object, can make you see the entire world in a different light? There’s no greater compliment to a designer than that, and that’s exactly how the cruiser makes me feel. Whenever I look at it, it feels as 11though the wild imaginations of people who have never left Earth have become a physical reality and are spreading throughout the entirety of outer space. A bit cheesy to put it like that but intriguing aesthetics, I think.

Earth-borns apparently feel this affection more strongly. They almost feel nostalgia, because it’s the outer space that they’d dreamed of as children. Now you know, in a place unaffected by gravity, there is no distinction between up and down. That’s the honest truth, but that’s not the outer space that people dream of in their childhood. I think that was probably the reason they designed the cruiser this way—to have an obvious top and bottom even at a cursory glance. Top and bottom! Earthians and their silly imaginations.

On what could be called the “topside” of the vessel, two long decks are stretched out like runways, and those are the places where people plant their feet. Similar to land on Earth. The side opposite the decks—what you might refer to as the “underside” of the vessel—is lined with small nozzles that lift the decks upward at the speed of about eight meters per second squared. And by upward, I don’t mean an actual “up” but the direction that seems to be up based on the shape of the vessel. The ship gradually gains speed towards that direction. It’s far slower than the acceleration at which an object falls on Earth, but it creates a similar sensation to gravity. It’ll be 12much slower after the promotional opening period because it consumes way too much fuel, but that’s how artificial gravity is created. Like how you feel a bit heavier when the elevator starts to move.

I’m sorry if I sound like I think Earthians are stupid. But contrary to what you might expect, when the cruiser maintains a fixed speed, people on the decks feel as though they are in zero gravity. They grow anxious, flailing their arms and legs. But when acceleration is at a constant rate, people start to feel as though they are standing on solid ground and their faces become much more relaxed. You know what the cruiser looks like from another spacecraft when it’s accelerating? It looks like a free-falling object that is gaining more and more speed, about to burst out somewhere beyond the universe. In the opposite direction than what the people on the decks feel is the bottom.

But no need to worry, because there is no chance for the cruiser to shoot off to the other end of the universe. Not only is it impossible for it to accelerate that fast, but also it flips upside down after some time. The cruiser does half a turn so that its underside, the side with the nozzles, then faces the opposite direction. Once the ship has been fully inverted, the nozzles begin to spew flames again at the same rate of acceleration as before. That way, it gradually slows down. It 13doesn’t start going in the other direction, but rather it continues to go in the same direction as it had been moving, but with a decreasing velocity. That causes negative acceleration, but even then, people on the decks feel the same force of gravity as before. After a while, the velocity becomes zero and the cruiser begins to accelerate again, in the same direction, returning to its original position. Then it flips around once again. It goes back and forth that way, consuming all the fuel it holds.

Doesn’t this whole turning upside down remind you of something? The general staff of the fleet call it “wokking.” Because when you look at the cruiser from afar, it looks as though some being is sauteing people on the long decks over fire. You can’t actually see people inside the cruiser from other ships because it is too far away, but that’s what it looks like in the promo video. People going wild while they get sautéed. It’s fascinating.

But when you actually stand on the decks, you don’t feel the cruiser moving apparently. Except when the cruiser flips over. Instead, you feel a gravitational pull from head to feet, and it makes you think that the whole universe has the same sense of direction as you do. When you stand on the decks and look toward the fleet, apparently it looks as though the fleet is rising and setting over the horizon. A fleet 14of spacecrafts embroidering the sky instead of stars. Funnily enough, people think it looks romantic. Because the cruiser feels like a cruise ship, floating on the surface of the vast expanse of water called outer space.

Didn’t you say that there was a popular theme park ride on Earth that makes you feel like you’re in zero gravity? And yet, when Earthians come to space, they get excited about a ride that allows them to experience gravity!

I think what Earth-borns are nuts about is the fact that they can play soccer on the cruiser. It’s impossible to create gravity on such a large plane with the artificial gravity you can generate by rotating a vessel. When a round spacecraft is rotated, people feel that the side of the walls where they are standing is the bottom, which means that all walls in the spacecraft are the bottom, and therefore none of them are the “bottom.” But on the new cruiser, there is an agreed-upon bottom: the decks. Since dozens of people can stand on the same ground, they can play Earth soccer. Though the gravitational pull is weaker than it is on Earth. By the way, do Earth-borns really love soccer that much? I asked someone once, who told me, “Well, I don’t know. It’s strange, but I get this desire to play soccer whenever I put my military uniform on.” It sounded like a joke, but to be honest, I don’t get it.

In any case, Earth-borns are a strange bunch. When they 15stand with their two feet on the fake land resembling a frying pan, some people go wild over it to the point they tear up and shout. Saying that it’s a blessing to have up and down. Is that right? The most primal ethic that makes humans humanis not the taboos against cannibalism or incest but the ability to tell apart up from down, apparently. Something about how a human ear must hear the sound of gravity pulling their body long before they can hear the voice of their ego or conscience.

Whenever I’m told things like that, I never know what to say. The first time, I wondered what it meant, but these days, I think of you. That must be how you feel about the world too, right? I remember you saying that you couldn’t stand the space sickness you get in outer space because you lose all sense of up and down. I’d heard other people say something similar, but I’d never tried to understand what they were feeling because it wasn’t relevant to me. But after I learned that you feel the exact same way, it became relevant to me. I get startled every time I think that that’s the kind of world you are living in, that even though we live in the same galaxy, it feels as though we are living in two completely different universes.

It also leads me to think, “Ah, that’s why the UES—the United Earth Surface—and the Allied Orbital Forces Command are leery of space-borns like me!” 16

But that doesn’t mean I’ve come to understand Earth-borns. Why is it that we’re not trying to understand each other’s universes? There has never been a time when it was as easy as it is now to visit each other’s worlds!

You know what still makes me chuckle? That time I visited you on Earth, and I couldn’t stand up properly because I couldn’t handle the gravity and had to crawl everywhere. On the day we went to the falls with you pushing me on a wheel-chair, and your mischievous face as you scolded me rather sternly about how I dared bring so much luggage when I couldn’t even handle my own body in the sacred gravisphere of Earth. I did feel like I was an alien. I mean, that was the kind of look Earth-borns gave me. But from my perspective, it was the Earth-borns who were strange. Once, at the Moon Station, I was astonished to see Earth-borns running like they were nearly flying. How strong they were! To people like me, who haven’t heard the sound of gravity from birth, Earth-borns seem to have limbs that are much too strong. Do you know what I said upon seeing them at the Moon Station on that day?

“What the heck? They’re freaking aliens!”

A world inhabited by such strong people. I loved Earth. Though it was hard to get adjusted. I remember one morning, waking up completely forgetting that I was on Earth and 17struggling to push the bed to float to the center of the room as I always did in space. You opened your eyes a slit and let out a quiet chuckle. That face—your face—pops into my head several times a day. The sun pouring into the room. Or perhaps it was rain that was pouring down. I have thought of your beautiful back dozens of times between yesterday and today.

When you get some time off, you must come visit. There’s a room with a great view at the hotel on the new cruiser. During the last maneuver training, the chief of staff must have been in a great mood, because he gave out hotel vouchers as prizes. I should be able to rent a room for about 360 hours during peak season. I hope you don’t turn me down, and you do come visit for real. To get vouchers for that hotel from Earth, you’d have to be old friends with a former president at minimum. I’ll save mine for you.

I saw yesterday that the travel time from Earth to the fleet will be reduced to 130 hours. I heard how terrible 130 hours of space sickness can be for Earthians from an intelligence officer in the Inspection Force who recently arrived here from Earth. What with zero gravity and high-speed space travel. But once this combat comes to an end, our fleet will be stationed much closer to Earth, though I can’t tell you the details. 18

Once this battle is over, when this war is over, I plan to take dance classes on the new cruiser. If I learn to dance like they do on Earth, perhaps Earth-borns would be willing to understand me better.

19

2

Yesterday, I received a summons from the Inspection Force Command. I reported to the chief of staff and went to the Command Module, and they told me to write up a statement of reasons. The new cruiser that I mentioned in the previous letter actually came attached to this newly stationed Inspection Force. In fact, the cruiser is named the Liddellafter the Inspection Force commander. Anyway, our working conditions have gotten intense since the Inspection Force began their work. I mean, sure, I’ve been through a few operational readiness inspections in my time, but I always thought they were just to tick boxes on some document. Yet within a single month there’s been at least three times more inspections than I have ever received in my life. So when I was told to submit a statement of reasons, I had no idea for what since I didn’t know what they found on me. Seeing as how the Inspection Force is tightening the reins, I think this war is going to last longer than I had expected. 20

The official position of the Allied Orbital Forces is still that they will not prolong the fight. But who are they to say? If they had the ability to end the war swiftly, then why didn’t they do so a generation ago? Why did the UES go beyond creating a political coalition and establish a joint military organization called the Allied Orbital Forces? It’s evident that no one can predict the outcome of combat in space like this. Because no one has ever had any previous experience in this area.

I know that many people out there think that the UES Government knows something. Not just on Earth but here in space too. People who believe rumors, like how the enemy fleet may also be human made. But I don’t think so. Because there is no way Earth had the resources to build another colossal fleet like this. Earthians couldn’t not