Falling

Can one fall through space?

The initial answer would be no. Space is three dimensional, a vacuum, with no sense of altitude and no sense of gravity. Falling is from one point to another. In space, points, or really anything in its void are few and far between, and one cannot fall to them…mostly. Because there is the point where space meets a planet's exosphere, the point where the boundary between void and air is breached. That then, could be called falling. That then, is the fate that awaits a 337 model emergency escape vehicle…and those who dwell on it.

It would be a matter of minutes to let the force of gravity and propulsion take its course. Launch the lifeboat from the crippled USS Sulaco to the nearest inhabitable planet, then let the laws of physics do the rest. Laws of physics that Fiorina "Fury" 161, situated in the Neroid Sector of the Outer Veil, was no exception to. Nor was it an exception to the fact that carbon based life required water…and plenty of it. However inhospitable it was, Fury had that welcome mix of hydrogen and oxygen in abundance.

And the EEV was falling towards it.

Fifteen minutes…how long the four passengers had until nature decided their fate. Perhaps it had already decided for them. One a synthetic, not birthed by Mother Nature, yet still headed for her arms. One a marine, scarred by nature's bastard offspring. The two others, two daughters of Eve…unscarred in body, but not in mind. Four bodies, three souls, only one would have to wait to ascend…

…the EEV hit the water.

The one scarred physically died instantly, impaled in a mash of bone and steel. The child would be next. A hole in her cryo-chamber, a breach in the membrane…a death sentence in Fiorina's cold, uncaring oceans. In one sense, drowning. In another sense, as life slipped away, as consciousness evaporated, as Nature embraced her child…

…falling.

Always falling.