Lurching in
and out of relativistic space,
sensors
sweeping continuously,
the ship
ranges ever further from its
long-abandoned,
long-forgotten point of origin.
Passing
close to a fading red dwarf
her alloyed
skin shows gaping pock marks
and a multitude
of tumorous growths – remnants
of her
self-repairing subsystems – fins
and struts
bared like wasted ribs.
Impatient,
implacable, the S.S. Mary Mellon
carries on
her endless explorations,
impelled by
cryptic lines of code imbedded
deep in her
control systems, her voyage guided
by a single
remorseless purpose.
In her
wake, a thousand points of light
mark her
slow passage, a million alien planets
remember
her kiss, wither and die.
(Originally appeared in the anthology Just
One More Step from Horrified Press)
