Life Giver

[Bob Clay]

Eve had died sometime early in the flight. It’s an eight year run from the central systems to the Rim, eight years in a sleeper, but I estimated she’d been dead for seven years at least, perfectly preserved, but still dead, some kind of hibernation malfunction.

Out here I’m surrounded by trillions of miles of emptiness, ten thousand light years without so much as a cry in the night, a truly endless night, yet that was as nothing compared to the abyss of loneliness that was now my heart.

Still groggy from my years in the box, I checked my position, out here far from the centre I can see a young star and nine newly formed raggedy planets, normally I’d be excited at witnessing the birth of a new system, but all I could think about was the sleeper in the corner with the remains of the only thing I have ever loved tightly sealed within it.

The third planet had promise, a still primitive atmosphere, but there was water, and where there is water there can be life, so I decided to bury Eve there, fire her pod down through the turbulent atmosphere into some newly formed sea, send her to some unknown world out here on the Rim, somewhere that just might have a future.

There were still billions of living cells in her body, preserved by the sleeper, perhaps some of them would take in this freshly born sea, perhaps some good would come of it I thought as I crawled back into the sleeper, I would never see her again and I almost hoped I too would never wake up, but I suppose there was some chance that far in the future, some remnant of Eve would wake up on that lonely Rim world, wake up to a bright blue sky and a warm life-giving Sun.

[Joe Gensle]

major domo out-of-this-world (no pun) good, Bob. It picked me up and carried me along through his thoughts and feelings and observations and delivered me right back to where I was all along. Whatta journey, wow.

[Michael Brown]

This sounds like a much more plausible Genesis to me than the one many of us have come to rely on for so long. And yes, the pacing in your telling is excellent. The story flows gracefully from start to finish, and appears to be complete. Nice work.

[shauna mcclure]

gut-wrenching and beautifully told.

[Robert Crisman]

Bob, this one was great.

[Bob Clay]

I should point out that although I've accepted all the arguments about Pluto not being a planet and agree technically with the de-classification, I'm too old a dog (dog ? Pluto ? mmm) to say goodbye to that remote little fellah just yet, so I stuck with nine as the count.
(Although I haven't a clue what our solar system was like 4 billion years ago).
Well .... it's just a story.

[Angela]

I thought the story was very meaty. It felt like so much more than six sentences and the flow was excellent. I never stumbled. I think the mood was perfectly conveyed as well. Superior.

[Sandra Davies]

I had to search the bookshelves and then Google it - but this also reminded me of Brian Sykes 'Seven Daughters of Eve" - another reason to mourn her death ...

[Sissy Anderson]

Fantastic story, just loved it. Such an interesting theme, Life Giver.

[Teresa]

I'm grieving for Eve. See what you did? You succeeded in making me mourn a fictitious character. Wouldn't you call that excellence? I would. It isn't just that -- this piece is also about a new world which reminds me that we're killing the old one.

Gorgeous six.

[Sandra Davies]

I'm not a great SF fan but this is exactly the Heinlein-type piece that does affect me - almost to tears, beautifully told.