Flash seemed to hover, as he often did, between the waking world and the realm of dreams. He looked out, from the vantage point of his comfortable chair, thinking about how light the universe was.
Before he ever broke free of Earth’s gravity, he had imagined space to be very dark… Pitch black. It was anything but that!
He was startled by a call coming in over his radio. At first, he thought he was dreaming. It had been so long since anyone had attempted to contact him.
He jumped up from his seat still feeling sleepy, and excitedly answered the transmission.
“Hello! Hello!” he nearly shouted into the microphone.
All he heard in reply sounded like panting, and so he said again, “Hello! Is anybody there?”
Now, garbled sounds came through, sounding like an alien language. The call had an air of desperation, so Flash Meridian did not give up.
“This is Flash Meridian,” he said, “do you read me?”
The sounds changed again and again, each time they responded to his voice, they were slightly more intelligible, as if someone was learning from his voice.
At last, he could understand the words. It was a cry for help.
“Can you understand my speech?” She asked.
“Yes, perfectly,” Flash replied.
“Good. I will now instruct my people so that they may also communicate in your tongue.”
After a moment of silence, Flash heard other voices, only this time they were not coming through the radio. They were coming from within the cockpit. He turned and saw that the two creatures who had joined him earlier could now speak to him aloud.
“Our queen has granted us the gift of your language,” said one of the creatures.
“My name is Peck, and this is Lem,” he said, motioning to the white creature with its migrating spots.
“Wonderful!” Flash exclaimed. It had been a long time since he had had a real conversation.
“We’ve lost our home,” they told him, “we’re not wanted anywhere.”
“I want you here,” he said, “You’re welcome to stay. I only wish there was more I could do for you.”
He wanted to erase their pain, to make up for all of the suffering of their people.
As time passed, Flash grew very fond of his new companions. He enjoyed their company, and they enjoyed his. Sometimes they talked, but most of the time they just enjoyed each other’s presence in silence. During these times, they seemed to communicate telepathically, or at least non verbally.
In spite of this, Flash longed for something more. “What you really need,” said Peck one day, “is another of your own kind. We can accompany you, and we are grateful that you took us in.”
Lem chimed in, “We will be loyal and love you in our own way, but we are so different that our relationship is limited.”
“There are none of my kind here,” Flash answered wistfully.
“How can you be sure?” Lem asked. “You are here. You are made of stardust. Who is to say that other stardust has not formed itself into something like you?”
“It’s so unlikely,” mused Flash.
“So are you,” came the creature’s reply.
This thought filled Flash Meridian with a new sense of hope. He had always believed in the power of visualizing potential… in asking the universe for what he wanted or needed. Perhaps if he wished hard enough, his dream of companionship would be realized, even out in the depths of space. Or maybe he simply needed to ask. What did he have to lose?
“Dear Universe,” he began, “if it’s not too much trouble, please bring me someone like me, to love, and to love me in return. Thank you very much for your cooperation in this matter.”
Flash glanced at Lem and Peck, who stared at him quizzically.
“It works,” he said, and shrugged.
He felt a little silly, asking for something so grand, so… unrealistic. Still, he was happy to have witnesses.
“I’m putting positive energy out there,” Flash explained, hoping he would get points for making himself accountable.
“Now what?” Peck asked.
“I guess we wait.”