“Adrift” by Joseph Spezzano* 2nd Place

Adrift 2nd Place - Short Fiction

Joseph Spezzano*

Alone, weightless and spinning; this was all I could care to feel right now. Most people’s reaction to such an ejection would be one of fear, fueled by a primal sense of self-preservation. I, however, felt nothing. “Stabilizers engaged,” the familiar, vaguely feminine, robotic voice remarked from the speakers embedded into my ears. Now I felt something –the weak thrusters on my suit slamming me to a complete and utter stop. From here, the blackness of space wasn’t as dark as I had originally thought. Past the drifting chips of white paint and tangled mess of what was once the ASP-RL0128 were hundreds –no thousands–of twinkling stars. They were far, not impossibly far; but definitely greater than the distance my outstretched hand could reach. “Suit energy critical: Non-vital functions are now offline. Re-establish a connection with the nearest power tether immediately.” The voice spoke once more, and the small, white LED illuminating the inside of my padded helm shut off –as did the four displays just beyond my peripheral vision. It was rather amazing how much light those flat rectangular displays emitted, but it was even more astonishing how much of the universe they concealed behind their polluting glow. Just as my helm had plunged into darkness, a new light began to shine from the rosy, pink puffs and swirling aqua marine clouds that snaked through and around the drifting celestial bodies. Exo planets, either blue or unremarkable shades of grey, were all tangled in this parcel of stardust. Embedded within the exotic nebula surrounding the star system were glittering flakes of ice, riding along what I could only describe as long white locks of silky hair, which flowed throughout space. As for where they came from, that was far beyond where my eyes could currently see–and so, I craned my neck and looked up. “Warning: Anomaly detected,” my suit chirped unnecessarily, and I was now face to face with what I could only describe as her. Those puffy pink clouds, with their swirling green curls, blotchy blue seas and silver tendrils weren’t just a nebula, but a body; a body that belonged to none other than the universe herself who had humbly graced my insignificant, primitive self with her presence. Before me was a face, featureless beyond the two silver eyes looking down on me from above the event horizon they peered out from. Just like that, all three years of not just my own work, but that of all seventy-six crew members aboard the station was discarded –as the gem encrusted planet known as Solitude-22A and the black hole hugging

it were not just ordinary objects challenging our understanding of physics, but rather they were part of an elaborate, celestial necklace hanging over the heart of the very being who created the universal laws which we had no choice but to abide by. I was admittedly blindsided by such a sight, so much so that I ignored the cosmic hands filled with countless, tiny stars cupping beneath my minuscule self. I had only realized I was being raised up towards the heavens once I stood face to face with the pulsating eyes of the universe. She was smaller than I, yet larger than life itself. How could such a being exist let alone be paradoxically manifested at both ends of such an extreme scale? I had no idea, but I did know that I could simultaneously flick the barren, galaxy filled face in front of me away and be crushed within its other worldly, ethereal hand –which I did not stand atop of; but rather had been submerged into. Before I –or she -could muster any words; she faded away into the darkness of space, leaving behind the shattered, crystalline husk of Solitude-22A and its parental black hole. Despite her absence, her impossible image was still mentally engraved in the glowing nebula before my now alight visor; and my suit’s A.I. proceeded to scream every possible warning message it could into my inattentive ears. “Warning: Suit thrusters have misfired. Warning: Radiation levels are critical. Warning: Suit energy fluctuation. Warning-” The robotic voice systematically rambled onwards to me,and the ensuing verbal bombardment only ceased because of an interrupting static hiss from my suit’s radio transmitter. “...please respond. I repeat; this is Captain Ludwig Baring of the ASP- Hopeful. Unknown crew member of ASP-RL0128, we have picked up your suit’s emergency beacon and are en-route for extraction. We are reading that all of your suit’s functions are fluctuating uncontrollably, and I ask that you respond immediately.” The static infused, emboldened voice of the young captain rang in my ears. “I have stared into the eyes of the cosmos, and she has stared back,” I replied, my attention still fixated on what was once before me –or maybe, was never even there to begin with. Regardless, the Captain did reply to me, but I could care less about what he had to say. Right now, I was fully absorbed in a deep trance, and I could do nothing but wait for reality to reel me back in. Until then, I was once more weightless and spinning. However, now I am no longer alone –not because of the Captain and his rescuing ship; but because she had never left my shattered mind. *