Weightless

Out here things were different.

Out in the infinite void of space of all places he found peace. If he hadn’t been so entranced Lancaster would’ve laughed at himself, but he was busy. Eyes wide open beneath the helmet, the Spartan trainee inhaled deeply, drawing in the processed air from the suits oxygen reserves, and letting the sheer vastness sink in.

Infinite stars and infinite possibility lay in the starry abyss before him, laid out in perfect view as he floated, tethered to the orbital station Class II had been taken to for EVA training. It had quickly become his favorite of all the Spartan-II’s many exercises, it gave him the relief he thought was non-existent.

Out in the silent, dark, endless void, 205 was free, weightless both figuratively and literally. In the silence of space he there was no way for Nolan Bryne to bellow at him, no combat drill where he had to be the distraction and be pounded with TTR so that Jason and Marcus could execute whatever plan they had in mind, there were no classes, no stress, no burdens, no pain. Where others looked out into the abyss and felt fear of the unknown, Lancaster felt the weight of the world lift from his shoulders even if only for a few moments.

He knew he’d have to return soon, Jason could only distract Byrne from noticing his absence so long before the old man caught on like always, so he made the most of what time he had left. Stretching out his limbs the boy marveled at the twinkling of a star lightyears away, eyes wide in wonder as he floated, exhaling slowly as his breath left his lungs.

Lancaster had already begun counting the seconds until he was wretched away from his place of solitude, drag him back into the chaos that he was bound to live in forever. He wondered if somewhere out in the infinite sea of darkness if there was a place for humanity, safe from the Covenant, someplace so utopian that it might even keep humanity safe from itself out there. There had to be, somewhere in the black.

On basic HUD of the ‘borrowed’ hardsuit, he saw the status light of another suit wink green three times. That was his que to pull himself in, but he found himself immobilized a moment longer. Just a few more seconds, just a few more. Even with Reach hanging beneath him, his eyes never once looked down to take in the majesty of the world below him, he could practically feel it’s gravity trying to pull him down, back to a life he hadn’t chosen and didn’t want. Despite his feelings, this was his lot in life.

Taking one last breath in before beginning to pull himself back into the station, he relished the spectacle of the great beyond, and the feelings it brought. No war, no burden, no obligations, nothing. Only here was safe. Only here was he…

Weightless.