They were an engine drilled into the surface of a comet. When the ice was gone, they would grind up the rock and use it for reaction mass. When the dust was gone they would coast, an engine and a life-bubble headed past the point where the solar wind gave way to the void.
No one had ever been this far out before. The people they were running from had long since stopped chasing: it would have been a stern chase of years and a spectacular waste of resources.
They weren't coming back. They couldn't even if they wanted to.
I'm not sure i follow. Perhaps it's simply the opening line...how can "they" be an engine?
ReplyDeleteThey meaning the ship... I'm saying the ship isn't really a ship per se, it's an ad-hoc affair.
DeleteIt is a bit hard to follow what exactly is happening without more context. However, this doesn't detract from your deft skill with creating an overall sci-fi mood.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I kind of accept that readers inexperienced with hard SF aren't necessarily going to get something like this right off, and that's fine. :-)
DeleteI read a lot of Sci-Fi and I loved this. A fatalistic endeavor to keep going, if only to maintain sanity... at least that's how I read it.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for reading and commenting!
Delete