Review: Fermi's Prism

I don’t normally do reviews, especially short story reviews, but I think I’m going to start.  The world could use a little more short story.

So I guess I’ll start with Fermi’s Prism from Cosmic Horror Monthly.

Why?  Because it’s a kick ass story, that’s why:  a short Lovecraftian space romp with hints of Alien and Event Horizon and just a dash of military sci-fi.  The title is an homage to Fermi’s paradox, but I won’t go into the details of that.  I’ll just let Wikipedia do the splaining.

The story can be a bit disorienting to read at first though because half of it takes place on an asteroid in zero gravity.  They use magboots to walk around, so it’s hard to tell up from down.  But that’s OK.  Because once you get your bearings you’re in for a special surprise.

Yes, of the Lovecraft variety.

I’ve long been fascinated by the concept of a universe that does not hold our best interests at heart.  And so has David F. Schultz, apparently.

The cast of characters seems pretty typical for military sci-fi, even though it technically isn’t.  We’ve got Harley, the communications specialist, Deacon, the obligatory ship’s med (who even manages to say “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” in what appears to be a nod to Star Wars), Eev, the ship’s operations manager (they’re all on contract) and Mason, the ship’s lone security detail, an arrogant S.O.B. and something of a bad ass.

They all work for some unnamed company, sweeping star systems for something, anything, that might be a sign of intelligent life.

But mostly they just salvage scrap for a percentage.

Until they find a strange signal coming from an asteroid that’s jamming their transmissions.

Very early on in the story we can hear Eev speculating:

Eev: “wondered which possibility was more frightening - that we were alone in all this blackness, or that we weren’t.”

This part, right at the beginning, really gets to the gist of the story. Which is worse, really?  You’ll have to read the story to find out.

The Best Character Award here goes to Mason. To be honest he carries the story, taking an otherwise cut and dry premise (and I mean that in the nicest way possible), by driving it forward, no small feat for a supporting character in a short story no less. I barely remembered the protagonist’s name on my first read through. That’s how cool Mason was.

He’s even cooler at the end, but that’s a spoiler.

Some key Mason quotes:

(Eating what passes for ice cream in space):  “They got the ice part down.  You can really taste the frost burn.” 

And (from an exchange with Harley):

Harley: you think we’re going to war or something?

Mason: like I’d go to war with you fuckin’ pussies.

All in all this is a story worth reading.  Twice even.  And it won’t take long.  It’s a short story after all.

So go forth and read the story already.

Then be afraid.

Be very, very afraid.

Because in space no one can hear you scream.