Neu Gothik by Mark Teppo & Jessie Kwak & Andrew McCollough & Kate Ristau & Jeb R. Sherrill & Mark Teppo

Author:Mark Teppo & Jessie Kwak & Andrew McCollough & Kate Ristau & Jeb R. Sherrill & Mark Teppo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Underland Press
Published: 2021-10-26T14:57:06+00:00

Uninterrupted Solitude

Erik Grove

Day one.

Alexei, the bathrobed madman with a scraggly tangled beard and one bleached eyebrow, ended his tour of the Gathendi Research Station in a room he introduced as the Pod on account of its egg-like shape. Observation windows on the seamless wraparound wall and top of the room looked out at an alien vista gently kissed by the first static storms of the season. The surface of Gathendi looked like a two-hundred-year-old low budget science television show; mostly dim, lots of rocks, flashing lights.

"You'll spend a lot of your time in here, I imagine," Alexei told Veder in a thick accent that might have been fake. He scratched himself under the bathrobe and pointed at a media console opposite the entry hatch. "Couple thousand classics on media stick. Lots of comedies, you know, laugh laugh. Some sad ones. And pornography, obviously." He winked and gestured at a basket of media sticks on a shelf. "Different varieties. What do you like?"

Veder blinked. "Comedies maybe?"

Alexei smiled conspiratorially. "You think you start out with good content. Quality things, yes? But soon, days blur, and you think why not? There is no one else here." He moved his arm briskly under the bathrobe either in pantomime or demonstration. "My personal record in thirty-four times."

"Thirty four?" Veder repeated and immediately regretted it.

"Da." Alexei winked. "That chair mostly." He pointed at a lounging chair.

Veder made a mental note to never sit in that chair and then stepped back toward the entrance hatch. "I don't think I will be in here all that much actually," he said.

Alexei chuckled. "Time is the devil's hard-on, my friend." He slapped Veder on the shoulder. "It will fuck you."

Veder managed a polite smile. "I think your shuttle is waiting for you."

"Come," Alexei grabbed Veder by the hand and pulled him along like a wayward kite. "I was a different man when I came here. Let me tell you of my journey."

On the way to the shuttle bay Alexei told of his journey, which mercifully did not include much more about masturbation.

"It may not seem like long at first," Alexei said, standing in front of the shuttle that would take him off Gathendi. "In the beginning the peace and quiet may be soothing even, yes? Like lullaby. But you start to long for the world and its noise. You start to wonder if you are awake or if you are dreaming and you may make choices with bleach that are very unfortunate."

"I'm looking forward to it actually," Veder told the maybe-Russian. "I'm writing a novel."

"Novel?" The concept seemed initially confusing to Alexei.

"Yeah. It's like—have you ever read Beyond the Once Tranquil Sea? It's—"

"No," Alexei interrupted. "I have not. We are in outer space. We do not read books. We have centuries of pornos on media stick and a comfortable chair."

"Well, either way," Veder said, eager to pivot the conversation again. "Five months of uninterrupted solitude is exactly what I need right now."

The blood drained from Alexei's face. "Did you say five months?" He shook his head and tugged at his tangled beard with both hands.

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