Paul pulled the car up onto a small hill with a clear view of the horizon. The light had gone out of the sky and the stars were brilliant in the moonless night. They got out and walked over to a large flat boulder, a comfortable vantage point for viewing and for stretching out.
“Now let’s see. We’ve got to get oriented.” He flattened the star map down in front of them on the rock. “Here we go, this is it,” he pointed to the map and then to the sky.
“Where?” Danny said.
“You have to use your imagination. The constellations are sort of filled in pictures that help recognize star formations.”
“Okay. Where is it Dad?”
“That’s Sagittarius over there. You see that tree in the distance? That way,” he pointed.
“Sure.”
“Well, just look right above it. Now see those stars up there? Compare them to the star map.”
“Oh. I see. This is that one over there,” Danny pointed.
“Right. And if you use your imagination, you can see the man. He’s a great warrior. Holding a bow. Sometimes people imagine his lower body to be that of a horse.”
“Like in this picture?” Danny pointed to the star map.
“Right.”
“I think I see him Dad.”
“Now look at the direction he’s looking in. That’s the direction of the galactic center.”
“I see it.”
“And you know what else it is?”
Danny smiled and nodded.
“That’s where I’m from little guy. In that direction. About 5,000 light years from the center. The Zygorian Empire.”