Page 22 (1/2)

Cassius and I float through space toward an oblong asteroid It rotates lazily in the darkness Veins of ice glitter and wind through her craggy skin as we coast into a rock forh to s the Citadel of Light We arrest our ed scree My breath echoes ininto the fathomless depths of the asteroid I doubt very much any man has ever set foot upon this cold chunk of rock, ive in to teht down into the canyon I flick the switch on ht cuts into

the darkness and is devoured by the lower reaches There is no bottom that my eye can see But at least now a man’s eye has seen that

“Turn that off,” Cassius orders over the com

“Apologies Was looking for space worms”

“Biologically absurd,” Pytha anic tissue must have calories What would they eat?”

“Spacemen,” I say with a smile

“Spaceboys,” Cassius corrects

I’m certain that, had I been born in a different time, I would have been an explorer Since I was a boy, I’ve had an insatiable itch for things re the violent light of distant nebulas and charting astral seas The great philosopher Sagan once preached it was in our nature as a species to explore Despite the e of innovation Perhaps soirl who has yet to take their first step will one day ht beyond our single star Beyond the stain of man Would all this chaos be worth that one innovation?

I often i to fight over Just an unending expanse to explore and name and fill with life and art I smile at the pleasant fiction A man can dream

Not wanting to bring the Archimedes into a trap, Cassius and I pushed away from her airlock toward the nearest asteroid in our EVO suits fifteen ain toward the hulking Vindabona Rows and rows of cargo containers drift suspended between

Cassius and I use our shoulder thrusters to slow our approach, settling into the floating carbon reen crates They’re sta us over the co the outside of the ship toward the central service airlock There, I unscrew the paneling on the door’s locking e doors open silently Cassius and I drift into the airlock The outer door closes behind us We each grip theas the airlock finishes its cycle Pressure slowly puravity We remove our razors froues ofto just over a id state His is straight I prefer ht becoreen and the interior door of the airlock opens with an asthh before glancing back to make sure I follow

The repair bay is e fro flicker, hurling shadows about the rooreen and so I retract my helm into a small compartment at the back of the neck and breathe in the scent of cleaning solution and oil Re out in backwater transportation hubs, searching for a ship to carry us away fro

That was a lonely time The better part of me felt carved away as we fled Luna and I kneould never again hear arden paths to train before thepachelbel birds even woke All the people who had ever loved one

I was alone And not just alone, but hunted I shove the ht me to stow theirl

“Eagle to Mother Hen, we’re inside Level sixteen No signs of life,” Cassius says