Gray Universe

By Leon Guzenda

Gray Universe is a somewhat weird tale. Gray has been going through a rough patch in his life when a chance encounter with a talking object blasts him into an adventure that takes him through space and time. He encounters strange beings, is often in jeopardy, but gradually learns more about the inner workings of this Universe and others then he ever thought possible. The story combines fantasy and humor with proven science and sometimes outlandish conjecture.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Leon Guzenda
• Release date: Aug 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223003359

Leon Guzenda

The author grew up in the 1950s and 1960s on the Isle of Wight, just off the South Coast of England. It was mainly known for tourism and farming at the time. He studied electronic engineering at University and soon became a computer programmer. As a Project Director and Chief Technology Officer at the company he helped found, his work involved him in everything  from large scientific projects to banking, manufacturing and the intelligence community. He traveled extensively whilst he and his family lived in California, but now works from home near Las Vegas, Nevada, accompanied by his wife, Verna.

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Copyright © 2023 Leon Guzenda

All Rights Reserved

The characters , events and places portrayed in this book are fictitious.Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system for any purpose other than personal convenience. If it is stored, it must not be transmitted to any other party in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written permission of the publisher.

History, Acknowledgements and Dedications

This work was first published as 142 episodes made available exclusively on the Amazon Kindle Vella store over the period January 2022 to June 2023. 

I thank my family, especially my wife Verna, her sister Marsha, my sister Christine, my daughter Naomi and her son, Zach, for checking and reviewing the work for me, plus the readers who supported me on Kindle Vella.

I dedicate this book to my family, friends and science fiction fans everywhere.

Table Of Contents

FIREISE   5

THE SANCTUM 20

NEW FRIEND 35

MIND GAMES 49

BOOTED ABOUT 65

GETTING SERIOUS 80

TEAM EFFORT             95

THE FIRST BATTLE           111

FIRST ENCOUNTER           127

STRANGE EXPERIMENT           144

NEW THREAT           161

ENEMIES WITHIN?           177

WAZZOOPPIES           193

STEALTHY MISSION           208

OFF TO WAR           223

MASSIVE ASSAULT           255

PARLEY           270

ELLYLON           286

U-TURN           302

AMPHIBIANS           318

ARESITIA           333

HONORS           348

STRANGE NEW BEGINNINGS           364

APPENDIX A - Space Propulsion Technologies.    383

APPENDIX B - Battle Fleet Components           388

APPENDIX C - Locations and Characters           392

FIREISE

The flames looked eerily menacing as they danced towards me. I couldn’t understand why they hung from the clouds like crazy icicles. Should I turn and run, or wait to see if they were simply some kind of electrical phenomenon, like St. Elmo’s Fire or an Aurora Borealis?

The spectacular explosion of the gas station ahead of me shoved my brain into top gear. The steering wheel jerked itself counter clockwise and my hover-car did an elegant pirouette before accelerating back down the hill. That’s when I hit the Rolls Royce. I hadn’t seen it behind me and the driver was distracted, aghast at the conflagration heading our way. Both engines died together, entwined in a final embrace - Detroit 1, Crewe 1.

Run! Run!, I’d yelled as I leapt out of the twisted metal carcasses. "Ride! Ride!, I heard now as we careered down the hill on the bicycle I’d grabbed in our hasty retreat. We were children now, daring the laws of physics to prove us wrong. There’s nothing like being the Master of Your Own Universe. The wind tearing at your hair and shuttering your eyes down to tiny slits. Heart thumping, adrenalin glowing, mind buzzing FUN! Every new G force overcome by the adroit manipulation of handlebars and bodies. Calamities circumvented at every twist and turn. Disaster diluted and banished. Two escapees on a bike, for now at least, outrunning that unholy fire.

We were soon safely screened from the threat by a large, derelict building. I introduced myself. I’m Gray, Gray Universe, I said. Angela, she replied, holding out her hand. It was soft but her grip was strangely strong. I wondered how long it would take you to notice the Fireise, she said. You’ve seen this before?, I asked incredulously - Fire ice?. No. It’s spelt F.I.R.E.I.S.E. German or Scandinavian, I suppose. Either way, it’s always bad news. It destroys everything it touches. They must really want to get you. Are you ready to tell me why?

Without thinking, I replied, I think it all began on the day that the carrot started talking to me. I’d been for a walk on the beach at the end of my garden and I fancied a raw carrot. I picked a nice one and washed it before reaching for a peeler. Hey! Put me down!, I heard. I looked around, then at my hand and brought the carrot closer to my face. You’d better put me down right now if you know what’s good for you, said the carrot. I dropped it in dismay. Ouch! Can’t you be more careful? I’ve had a rough couple of days.. That made two of us! I wasn’t sure if it was all my fault or not, so I hesitated before saying Sorry! I was looking for something to...  Actually, I can make a cheese sandwich. Fancy one yourself?

Before I imagined that the carrot had been talking to me I was embroiled in a deep fit of The Blues. The love of my life had left me a while ago and I was still struggling to deal with it. My work bored me to tears. My brand new luxury hover-car was history, used as a part of the settlement agreement. I loved my house, but would have to sell it soon. Without thinking, I sat down on the sofa, only to end up flat on my back on the floor. The slip cover was draped over a couple of boxes! Darn! Gone to the charity store, I bet! I didn’t remember agreeing to that. So, now I was without a bed too.

As I hit the ground there was a big bang and I was blown forward towards the space where the TV and my hi-fi had been milliseconds before. A blinding white and greenish blue light scintillated all around me. I rocketed through the wall and out over the beach towards the ocean. What a ride! I was reminded of something an astronaut had said about his first flight into space. What was it, exactly?

Floating around in the ocean was a poor substitute for ending up in orbit. Some of the remnants of my house floated around me. That darned carrot was bobbing around in front of my face. I’d never heard a vegetable swearing before. Then I was tossed in the air by something huge and that was the end of that little adventure. I’ve always blamed the carrot, but maybe the feelings were mutual.

I knew now that I must be dreaming, so I decided to drift along with it. I’ve always enjoyed the feeling of flying free as a bird, soaring high over the sea or hills, floating like a dandelion seed in a gentle breeze. It’s usually ended abruptly by the alarm clock, but not this time. I was flying out to sea, far from land. I tried to turn back, but I was being drawn by a steady force. I could see bright blue turtles surfing the crests of waves, like dolphins.

How big were they?, she asked. I couldn’t really tell at the time, but later I saw some that were over twenty feet long. Were all of them blue? No, all the colors of the rainbow, but mainly blue. Black ones and white ones, too? No, I don’t think so. No, I’m sure. She paused, then said That may be important. Please continue.

I wondered why it might matter to her and that made me vaguely worried. Who was she? Whose side was she on? The monster sea creatures? The Fireise controllers? The fruit and vegetables, maybe? No, she seemed human and hounded, like me. I continued my account. I described how it was hours before I saw an island on the horizon. It was perplexing. There are very few significant islands between California and Hawaii. I’d been flying at low speed for a couple of hours. I estimated that I was more than forty and less than sixty or seventy miles offshore. Then it hit me! The sun should have set an hour or more ago. It was after seven when I arrived home and I’d been flying with the sun off of my left shoulder or ahead of me. It was September and I was lost.

I decided to wake up, but I couldn’t. Maybe I was under sedation after the blast, or worse. I let that thought go away as I realized that I was descending towards the island. I was still hungry. Dinner would be good. I made a mental note to steer clear of carrots.

Nobody took any notice of me as I landed. Tall sand dunes undulated and rippled ahead of me. Off to my right a group of gorillas huddled over a flickering fire turned my way then studiously ignored me. I could smell grilled fish, making me even more hungry. Dusk was approaching fast now. Off to my left I could see a largish boat moored halfway up the beach. I plodded off towards it.

One of the gorillas spat in the fire. I’d swear that it waved a Get-outta-here kind of goodbye. Perhaps they were escapees from a California zoo. I found it easier to walk near the surf. Only a couple of hundred yards to go. There was no sign of life on the boat, so far. Maybe I could sleep in it tonight. It looked intact.

As I drew closer to the boat it became harder to make any headway. I seemed to be going slower and slower. I was feeling tired, practically exhausted. Soon I could see the name Dark Energy on the stern. If I had known what it meant I might have stayed clear. As it was, I plowed on.

It was like walking in molasses - the harder I tried, the slower I went - so I relaxed and slowed down. I was immediately sucked towards the Dark Energy and I almost ran into the towering hull. A docking bumper cushioned my headlong careening. I sat down abruptly in the sand and pondered my plight. It was a lot bigger than I had thought. How could I board it?

How big?, she asked.  About twelve feet high to the gunwales and a hundred feet long., I replied. That’s similar to the one I saw,'' she said. It was called ‘Auntie Matter’ and it was a strange pink color. Charming in its own way, I suppose."

I walked towards the stern. If I kept close to the hull I had no problems, but if I tried to move away I was immediately drawn back to the boat. My heart skipped a beat when I found a steel ladder running down the stern. I noticed that she had no propellers! There was also no sign of any exhausts or water jet outlets. I decided to board her.

I couldn’t remember seeing a rudder, now I thought about it. That worried me a bit as it dawned on me that the whole thing might be a sham. Maybe it was some old thing that Hollywood had created and abandoned. I rushed forward to the cockpit. It was protected by a very expensive looking darkened plate glass door. It was at least eight feet high and fifteen feet across. There had to be a switch somewhere, but it wasn’t anywhere obvious.

A woman's face appeared behind the door. She was stunningly beautiful. I stepped back to avoid affronting her. Password?, she whispered. Carrot, I ventured. The door shimmered and was gone. She stepped sideways and I faltered forward, my eyes trying hard to adjust to the darkness.

It’s...  Yes, most of my visitors are surprised. The hulk is a good disguise. Most people investigate and then move on. I only reveal the door to my guests. Welcome! She glided up a helical aquamarine glass staircase and I followed in a daze. I felt strangely light. If she hadn’t been ahead of me I think I could have skipped four or five steps at a time.

The bridge, or cockpit, in retrospect, wasn’t what I had half expected as I careered up the staircase. There was a bunk inclined at a crazy sixty degrees to the floor. For’ard of it was a huge indigo ellipsoid that seemed to hover midway between the ceiling and floor. It wasn't solid. Small ripples undulated across its surface. Could it be some kind of liquid? I couldn’t see past it as the back of the room was in darkness. She motioned me towards something resembling a lounger. She sank down gracefully onto one to my left. Two black objects resembling dandelion clocks rose from the armrests and glided to her hands. ``Situation Update imminent!", she half whispered. I lay still. The egg started to glow. I still felt hungry.

The roof split open like an eggshell heft apart by an adroit chef. The sky was jet black! How could that be? It was barely dusk when I came aboard a few minutes ago. The indigo egg glowed green and then it seemed to explode into a million parts that rocketed out into the sky. A perfect ellipsoidal dome formed, maybe a mile across, with a  myriad of whirling and pulsating objects in it.

My hostess controlled our view by rotating the spheres. The objects in the dome whizzed across our field of view and then settled down. Some of them drew nearer. A blue pyramid appeared around one of them, high in the sky, straight in front of us. This one is a problem, she said. What is your plan? Plan? Why should I have a plan? What would happen when she found me out to be an imposter? Not a deliberate imposter, but one nonetheless. I’m hungry. Let’s assess the situation over dinner. She turned and looked at me in a quizzical glance that changed immediately to an amused acceptance of my suggestion. Good idea, Jiri is an excellent chef. May I ask him to bring us five or six of his choice courses? It was agreed. I tried not to look relieved.

The first course - some kind of seafood and pickles - went well. I asked about life here on the island, but my hostess simply laughed and said that she’d never been outside. Then disaster struck. The second course was a vegetable soup, trimmed with a pretty garnish of carved carrot. I put a small piece in my mouth and it promptly jumped right out again, but only after rattling my teeth and giving me one heck of a fright. What was it with carrots?

I don’t recall falling asleep. The meal went well, I think. I woke up floating in a shimmering cocoon. I was suspended in midair. I gingerly put a hand through the cocoon and stepped out - a big mistake. I tumbled over and over in total darkness, so shocked that I couldn’t even scream.

After what seemed a lifetime I gradually slowed and landed on my feet in something that felt like soft sand. Almost immediately, the light came back, starting with a dim glow and growing to soft sunlight. The sand was a light blue and I could hear, but not yet see, the ocean. Small creatures scuttled hither and thither very busily. On crouching down I could see that they were some kind of anteater, with long noses ending in trumpets and large, shiny blue eyes. Each carried one or more hedgehogs, each with spines of one of two colors, neatly partitioned down the middle of their back. The hedgehogs seemed to be riding the anteaters, rather than being captured.

I looked around but could see no sign of the Dark Energy. Was I still inside that strange boat, or had I fallen out somehow? I decided to move towards the ocean and follow the shoreline for a while. That turned out to be harder than I had anticipated. Every time I took more than a few steps the sound of the ocean came from a different direction. It was as if I was hearing sounds reflected off of a rotating cliff face. Then it dawned on me that I was on something that was rotating quite quickly, but not enough to throw me off balance.

I decided to take a few steps towards the sound, wait then carry on. It took about a minute to turn full circle, but the ocean was getting louder as I progressed. After what seemed like an hour I could see the ocean, but the horizon was curved, low in the middle and higher off to the sides. Even more puzzling, the ocean was above the sand that I was traveling on and seemed to occupy about a fifth of the horizon. The edges were a blur and I couldn’t yet figure out exactly what I was looking at.

As I puzzled over my predicament I suddenly realized that the small creatures were rushing past me in hordes, headed for the ocean. I turned around and froze. A large orange blob was oozing over the horizon and was moving rapidly towards me. It glowed and wobbled, but there was no doubt about it. The orange blob looked menacing and it certainly scared the creatures running away from it.

I wasn’t sure that I could reach the ocean before the orange blob was upon me if I carried on moving the way I had, so I fell in behind the fleeing creatures and tried to catch up with them. I soon got the hang of it. I leant a bit to the left and pretended that I was running around a curved track. It worked! Soon I was jogging along with the crowd, whose members completely ignored me, and putting some distance between the orange blob and  myself. I had to hope that the ocean didn’t hide anything dangerous. The legends about lemmings crossed my mind as I ran.

I was so busy trying to keep up that I careered straight into the ocean before realizing that I was actually there. As I slowed and gasped at the coldness of the water, I was pushed over from behind and started to swim. Unfortunately, I was now underwater and the mass of strange creatures’ bodies above me prevented me from getting to the surface. I told myself not to panic and wondered how much longer I could hold my breath.

Just as I thought that I was about to drown I realized that I probably had, as I was breathing water and swimming along as if I were a fish! The current was also pushing me deeper, so I was resigned to the fact that I was headed to the same destination, if there was just one, as the other creatures around me. I stopped worrying and became aware of a strange purple light some way ahead of us. There was also a green glow above, but not below us, shaped as if we were swimming in a glass tunnel. I could occasionally see ghostly shapes passing in all directions, though I couldn’t make out what they were. It was vaguely reminiscent of being in a glass tunnel under an aquarium. I was glad that I was inside of it, rather than out there encountering whatever was curious about us. Perhaps this was some kind of pathway to wherever we were headed.

As I swam I started to take stock of my companions. The hedgehogs, which had been riding on the backs of the anteaters with trumpet-like noses, were now swimming freely, but they had all become much larger, or I had become smaller. There were also other creatures that I hadn’t seen on the beach. They were mostly similar to things that I was familiar with, including fish with four to ten legs and lobsters with claws at the end of every leg. I made a mental note to stay away from them, if I could. Some of the creatures swam in pairs, but some were alone and unlike anything that I had ever seen. There were transparent creatures shaped like ferrets, but with phosphorescent horns and two tails. I wondered what all of these creatures were doing here and what would happen when we arrived at our destination.

Remarkably, I wasn’t at all tired, despite having swum for what must have been hours. I wasn’t cold either. In fact, I felt quite comfortable in what I knew must be very cold water. We were also deeper than I could imagine, which should have crushed me, and there was no sign of the bottom even though we were swimming deeper all the time. The only thing that I could discern beyond the green walls were the strange shapes and the orange glow in the distance. It didn’t seem that we were getting anywhere close to it, so it was either huge or moving ahead of us.

In my fascination, I hadn’t paid much attention to the sounds around me. I could hear a continuous background of the noise of countless creatures propelling themselves through the ocean, but every now and again I heard other sounds in the distance. Some slow, drawn out and eerie, perhaps the sounds of whales singing, others high pitched, maybe from shoals of fish or dolphins. There was something else though. An occasional rhythmic pulse, like the sound of a bell ringing underwater, if that was even a possibility.

After I next heard it I started mentally counting, waiting for it to occur again. It happened after about one hundred seconds and was slightly different to the previous event, though I couldn’t quite explain the exact difference. I carried on counting until it occurred again. After a few  more repetitions I worked it out. It was a sequence of five notes at two different frequencies - ding, dong, dong, dong, ding alternating with dong, ding, ding, ding, dong. I continued listening to it and was sure that it was definitely a pattern.

I wondered if it was a beacon, marking the spot that we were traveling to, or a lighthouse, sounding a warning to stay clear. I quickly realized that we were constantly moving towards it with no signs of any fear, so it must be some kind of summons to gather at a specific place. Whilst I had been trying to understand the rhythmic pulse, I hadn’t noticed that the orange glow was much larger now, filling an almost ninety degree segment of the ocean ahead of us. I assumed that we must be close to reaching it, but what then?

We were getting very close to the orange glow. The creatures swam more slowly. I resisted the urge to overtake the slower ones to get closer. They seemed to be waiting for something. I could see some kind of shape immediately ahead of us. It was indistinct, but the creatures were gradually entering a narrow, transparent portal. I followed, noticing that the water was warmer and that I felt a bit lighter, so it must be more dense too.

After about a minute we came to a halt, floating in a large group consisting of thousands of creatures. I looked all around me, also turning to see behind me. Everything behind me had stopped too. I could now make out what looked like shimmering, slowly undulating glass walls, forming a large cube. It was as if we were in a fish tank. I hoped that this wasn’t inside a restaurant, where the patrons could pick their meal and have it cooked to perfection. That thought wasn’t made any better when I noticed what looked like large shark-like fish outside of the cube. They had extremely long, sharp teeth and looked very menacing. Thankfully, each fish seemed to come towards the cube, look inside, smile at me, then swim away, perhaps realizing that I wasn’t its next meal, hopefully.

I noticed that the other creatures were moving around slowly. I took no notice at first, then it became clear that they were assembling in groups. I couldn’t see the hedgehog or anteater variants any longer, having instead been partially surrounded by miniature giraffes with gray hair mottled with blue patches. They seemed friendly enough, though they were keeping their distance. The creatures were all pointing in the same direction, towards the end of the cube away from the entry portal.

I looked behind me and found that a group of raccoon-like creatures had assembled there. They were various combinations of two colors from a palette of gray, black, blue, pink and yellow. They were all pointing in the same direction as the giraffes. I assumed that they were waiting for the next step with the same anticipation as me. There were no signs of fear, which was encouraging. Perhaps they’d been here before. Oddly, given previous events, I didn’t think of asking them and they certainly weren’t volunteering anything.

The rhythmic notes stopped abruptly and I could sense a change in the attitude of the assembled throng. There was a loud ping behind me and I turned to see that the portal was now gone. At that point the water started to drain from the cube, quite slowly at first, then more rapidly, but not fast enough to cause any movement of the creatures. We weren’t going down the plughole, at least not yet anyway.

We were still underwater, with the creatures above me gradually sinking to my depth. I wondered what would happen as the water drained away. Within a few minutes I found out for myself. We all gradually settled down to the floor of the cube. As my head came above water I coughed a few times, anticipating expelling the water from my lungs, but nothing happened. I just carried on breathing as I had done before we entered the ocean. That was a huge relief.

The floor of the cube was level and soft yet firm, mottled in shades of green, blue and purple. It was like standing on a sandy beach just after a wave had retreated, but without leaving any footprints behind. When the water was all gone I bent down and touched the floor to see what it was made of. It wasn’t sand but had a slightly rough, plastic-like texture that yielded very slightly if I pressed hard. That made me think that this wasn't a natural phenomenon but something that had been manufactured. The truth would be revealed soon.

THE SANCTUM

There was a sharp report somewhere out of sight ahead of me. The creatures started moving forward, towards the source of the sound. Several minutes later I could see yet another portal, this one long and low, with a soft orange glow coming from it.  I thought that I could feel some warmth coming from it. A few minutes later I reached the portal. It was about fifteen feet high and very wide. Every creature so far had passed through it without having to stoop. I hesitated before crossing the threshold, but jumped forward after the animals behind made somewhat threatening sounds. They were impatient to enter the chamber beyond the portal.

Once inside it was impossible to tell how large or even what shape the area was. I looked back, but, apart from the portal, all that I could see was the orange glow coming from what might be the walls. I moved forward, stopping only when a large flying creature, similar to a hummingbird but a thousand times larger, pointed its four-pronged beak to the left and the group in front of me moved off that way. The bird, if that is what it was, completely ignored me, so I decided to move straight ahead. It seemed unconcerned with my decision. I looked back to see the group behind me being directed off to the right.

I still couldn't work out where we were headed. I soon caught up with a group of six-legged squirrels with short bushy tails. One of the smaller ones turned round, took stock of me and ran forward into the safety of her group. Moments later the group sped up, so I tagged along in the hope that they knew what was coming next. After all, nobody had been hurt so far, so I was curious to find out what was in store for us.

I didn’t have to wait long because I could see a long, low structure with hundreds of creatures standing against it. As I moved closer I could see that they were picking up food and tucking into it. I suddenly realized how hungry I was. We had been traveling for a long time, perhaps a day or more. I found a space at the table and gasped when I saw the food being offered. It was traveling slowly past me in thin, transparent dishes floating in midair. I saw something that looked like a large boiled shrimp and reached for it. To my surprise, it moved swiftly to my hand and the dish disappeared. The shrimp was unlike any that I had ever tasted before, succulent and delicious, with hints of honey and paprika, but not enough to overpower its shrimpiness.

I reached out for another treat and soon found that I only had to point to something for it to appear in my hand. I wondered if we had been sorted into groups that ate fish, vegetables, meat or something else exclusively, as I had only seen fish or shellfish so far. Almost immediately, I was presented with a variety of fruits. I picked something resembling a large gooseberry, a fruit that was hard to find where I lived. It was juicy and tasty - tart but with a hint of some unknown, sweet perfume. Everything that I chose was flavorful and I was hoping that the feast wouldn’t stop soon.

I had just downed a beaker of an amber colored liquid that was reminiscent of root beer when I saw some vegetables appearing at the table. I passed on the bright blue leafy things that my neighbors seemed to relish and settled on some snow peas followed by edamame beans. Each was plump and very tasty, so I tried something that looked like lettuce that turned out to be similar in texture and taste to bok choy. It was then that I made a very bad mistake. Without thinking, I reached out  for a raw carrot…

My action had unexpected and dire consequences. I never had the chance to taste, or even feel, it. With no warning at all I was sucked into the space behind the table, which had been obscured by a low mist. I fell, screaming a bit at first, for what seemed like ages. It took a while to orient myself feet first, just in case there was to be a harsh landing.

I needn’t have worried. I could see a greenish glow below