Keep Talking

“There’s some dust on my visor. It might be a skin flake, although it’s probably dandruff. I mean, after the course of the last couple of days I haven’t had much time for hygiene. It’s annoying me slightly now, It’s the only speck I can see that isn’t moving. Am I moving? I’m not sure. I’m rotating slightly I know that, the stars are passing by. Not too fast, I’m not feeling nauseous or anything, it’s just disorienting, I don’t have any points of reference. Any luck?”
...
“Keep talking.”
“Okay. It’s difficult, I’ve got to manage my resources, so I’m sorry if I slow down to save on air. I’m feeling slightly claustrophobic. Odd that, I never had anything like this in training, and now I’m surrounded by infinity I feel closed in. The suit could be a bit more spacious though, I’m starting to get wrist cramp holding this button down, I know that. Any luck?”
...
“Keep talking.”
“I’m running out of things to say really. Do we know what happened yet?”
...
“I still don’t know what to think of it. It was almost as if... Where did she come from anyway? We weren’t expecting a pick-up for the next month or so. Well, that’s what the logs said, and since when has McHollister been right? Is he there, did you pick him up? I hope so. I mean he can be a bugger at times but I wouldn’t wish anything on him.
“Saying that, he got injured didn’t he? He tried to touch her when she went all... how would you say, silhouettey? Sort of like she was multiplied, more of herself, like a time-lapse. That was when the klaxons started off. Oh, that reminds me, what’s that thing where a sound goes past you and gets lower? It happened with ambulances back down, if I remember. Oh, now I’m thinking about it, it’s not gonna come. Nah, it’ll come to me later. Any luck?”
...
“Signal’s gone again, I suppose. Any chance...”
“Keep talking.”
“Ahh, there you are. Thought I’d lost you again. I wonder how you get so much interference out here, I mean there’s nothing to get in the way. I suppose there’s a fair amount of radiation. I’ve kept that filter on, I hope you don’t mind, although I have turned down the heating. It’s getting a bit cold, mind. God knows where the nearest sun is. That one looks quite bright. Do you remember where we were headed anyway? I think it was CB something... CB41X maybe. I don’t know, I wasn’t a navigator or anything. What was I? I don’t know, my head’s all gone a bit fuzzy since then.
“I got thrown across the room too, actually, same as McHollister. I think so, I’ve got a dull pain in the back of my head. I might have concussion actually; what is it you shouldn’t do when you got concussion? It’s sleep, isn’t it? Hah, fat chance of sleeping in this thing. I hope you’ve got a spare bed on your rig, I’m knackered. Any luck?”
“Keep talking.”
“I hope you like listening to drivel,’cause that’s all I’m gonna give you. Doppler, that’s the thing where the sound goes weird. Anyway, when she walked between me and the klaxon that happened, the sound went down. And not by a bit, I mean a lot. You know when you’ve got a really deep bass note playing on subs, right, and you can actually feel yourself vibrating with it, it was like that. It was like she was warping the sound somehow, like whatsit... dark matter does to space. I think that’s what dark matter does. No, wait, it might be light. Yes, light bends round it, or something, that’s why we can’t see it. Any luck?”
“Keep Talking.”
“Righto. Bloody hell, what was that. Sorry, something just flew right past me at god knows what speed. If it were slightly to the left it would’ve gone through me. You guys had better hurry up, it’s dangerous out here. I still don’t know whether I’m moving or not, maybe the rock was still and I’m moving that fast. I did get pushed out of there with some force. By the way, I think I’ve turned all the way ’round now, I’m facing away from the ship, if that helps.
“Actually, no. Shit, McHollister’s dead. He got hurled into the heating system. Oh fuck, why didn’t I remember that? Oh that’s horrible. Oh his head got... No, I’m gonna talk about something else. Erm... Have you guys been back down since we left? We went in the summer of 2318 I think. Do they still have that ice cream with the weird fluffy sugar balls in them? It was made by Gorster’s, I think, in London. I used to walk past them every day on my way home from work, before I got posted up here. I put on a bit of weight back then, let me tell you, I wouldn’t fit in this suit, that’s for sure. Any luck?”
...
“Gone again, eh. Well... Getting a bit close here, warming up in a musty sort of way, like sticking your head under a pillow. I assume the air’s getting low. Any luck?”
...
“I’ll fill in for you, ‘Keep talking’. Well hurry up, give it any longer and I won’t have anything to talk in. I still don’t know which direction you’re coming from. Oh god, Jesse, I completely forgot. I haven’t had time to phone, they have no idea. To be honest neither do I. Any luck?”
...
“ Keep talking, yeah, I know... Oh that bloody dandruff’s getting right on my tit. There should be some sort of mechanism to wipe the inside of your visor. Remind me to recommend that to the company when we get back. Yeah, Jesse... We’re so far away, it’s really quite odd. I suppose you never notice it until you’re out... here. Air’s getting low guys. Any luck?”
...
“Still not there. I bet you’re bloody... heading in the wrong di-”
“Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk ”
“Hello? Ooh, that’s weird, that’s... that’s like the thing that... the doppler whatsit back on... on the ship. Oh fuck no...”
“Kkkkkkkkkkeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ”
“Is she between... us and you, or did you pick... her up? Come on, answer!”
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...”
...
“Hello? Hello... Escariot VI, do you read?”
...
“Escariot VI... Shall I keep talking?”
...
“Okay... I’ll just... keep talking...”