A beeping alarm woke Flash Meridian as pressure was relieved from the cryo-tube. Consciousness slowly returned while his body was completely relaxed. He just lay there for a while, eyes closed and completely still. The alarm sound continued in the background though Flash’s awareness of it faded in and out.

Opening his eyes, Flash slowly took in his surroundings, though in the beginning he found it difficult to focus.

The computer screen read the current date, 1-14-2114. Could it be? Had he slept ten years? If so, where was he? What could he piece together?

Switching the alarm off, he reached for his radio. “Come in, alpha control”, he said, doubtful that there would be a response.

“Alpha Control” a voice answered. “Your reanimation is nearly complete.”

Flash was perplexed and he tried to remember. He could recall his recent ascent from earth to test the practicality of warp travel… His training which prepared him for the solitude of space… The ship to which he entrusted his life… Everything else was a blur.

The light hurt his eyes and his body felt limp, his mind groggy. Still, he tried to remember. 2114. Could it be?

“Welcome back, Flash Meridian,” came the voice through his headset again. “Relax, it continued, you are on auto-pilot, and we will bring you in.”

Hazy images presented themselves to Flash’s mind, but disappeared before he could recognize them. Like a dream, or the dream of a dream, details eluded him leaving him to wonder whether he was even now, waking or sleeping. In this way, his dream continued to dream him while crews on earth worked around the clock to bring him back.

He continued to hear voices from the control room. Muffled conversations, often overlapping each other. Static, clicks and tones mingled with the heaving of his ship, and he knew he was re-entering earth’s atmosphere.

The number was emblazoned on his retinas… 2114.

Suddenly Flash thought he remembered something. That voice. “Ash?” he asked simply into his radio, it was all the energy he could muster.



“Yes,” said the voice of his friend. “it’s me.” Flash only smiled as Alpha Control, with Ash Lander at the helm, orchestrated his descent.

The next thing Flash knew, he was in a hospital bed, fully awake and feeling fine. He reached for the remote control and turned the tv on. A news clip showed his ship, the Trans-Neptunian Interloper, looking worse for wear after it’s unprecedented voyage. The exterior of the ship was discolored and looked burnt. The craft had served him well over the past ten years. The newscaster reported that the TNI would be refurbished and put back into use, retro-fitted with state of the art components.


Flash was also given a clean bill of health. While he had aged a decade, the cryogenic freezing process made the time seem to pass in an instant.

When he finally talked to Ash Lander again, there was only one thing on his mind. “I want to go back”.


The men talked at length together about their lives, and their unique experiences of space travel.

Flash told Ash about HollyGram. “It seemed so real”, he said, “not like a dream at all”. The fact that Flash was alive and back on Earth was proof of some higher power’s intervention.

“If the universe is truly infinite,” Ash said, “then possibility is limitless. I also had an intervention that I can’t explain. What this tells me”, Ash continued, “is that the greatest adventures and mysteries still await us.”

“When will my new ship be ready?” Flash wondered aloud.