The Ice and the Fire That Fades

And I see all there is to see, and I know all there is to know. Truths are my bones, and knowledge is my blood.

And where is my body? Ah, down there. It is smaller than I remember. Small, and shivering, and fading. And yet it contains me. Constrains me. I can see beyond the veil, but sight alone cannot stop the fading. And if I fade-

No. I will stay here. I will endure. For separation is an illusion, and distance is relative, and I am infinite.

But it's so cold...

"Steer, uh, steer left. I mean port. Port. Port! Port!"

There was a noticeable lean as the ship veered portside, and Hannah cringed as she watched a technicolour mist phase through the floor of the bridge and completely engulf a technician manning radar. A second later it passed into the far wall and disappeared, leaving the technician untouched.

The ship stabilized, and Commander Rein looked to her.

"Did we hit it?"

"Uh, yeah."

There was a moment's pause.

"It doesn't look like this one did anything, though." She added. "So, uh, no harm done, right?"

Rein grunted and turned back to the front. "A little more warning would be much appreciated next time."

"This one just came out of nowhere." She cringed as Rein shot her a look. "No, really, it did!"

"If you say so."

Hannah's mouth clamped shut, and she kept her eyes fixed on the sea ahead. Yep, if she said so. This entire ship depended on her say so.

This wasn't what she had in mind when she joined the Coast Guard, just saying. Most people were not commanding ships six months out of basic training, but thanks to the Emergence, Hannah was not most people. No, thanks to the Emergence there were people going missing and fairy-tale monsters only a select few people could see. She was one of them - she and some guy called Rick, but he was transferred away to help on another ship.

She missed him. Now she had to point out things nobody else could see all by herself; to say she'd gotten some skeptical looks would be an understatement. Stupid Emergence.

"Do you see anything?"

"What?"

"Do you see anything?" Rein repeated, an edge to her voice - no guesses as to where most of those skeptical looks were coming from. Hannah straightened and took a long look out of the window.

Ice. Lots of ice. Black water that caught white glints from the ship's lights. Nothing too unusual; there were those thin strings in the sky, but every time she mentioned them she'd have to specify that no, she wasn't talking about the aurora – they looked like actual strings, like, you know, in a violin? – and anyway, they didn't seem to do anything, so she'd sort of written them off.

No sea monsters. No weird mists. For the time being, it looked clear.

"Nothing out of the ordinary, um, Commander."

"Are you sure?"

Hannah nodded. She could see Rein's eyebrow twitch upwards for a moment before she reached over and picked up the intercom.

"Alright everyone, we're approaching the research station. Twenty five of the world's best and brightest are waiting to be rescued, so let's stay focused, do our jobs and bring them home. That's all." She turned to the crew on the bridge. "We're going to start heading directly for the station. Plot the course."