Catching Pieces of a Falling Sky by snarkydame (Mature)

[turlough]

Fandom: BANDOM
Pairing: Mikey/Ray, Frank/Gerard
Length: 20,990 words
Author on LJ & DW: snarkydame & theladysnarkydame
Author on AO3: snarkydame

Why this must be read: Ray and Frank are the only survivors of the Jersey Queen, an independent freighter hit by pirates. In the chaos, the doomed ship took a blind jump through the hyperways, leaving them stranded in a dark and lonely quadrant of space. Mikey and Gerard are the last remaining crew of a legendary "ghost" ship, the Ravenkroft, which has been lost for the fifty years since the War that Broke the Stations.

I have a big weakness for space AUs and this is one of the best I've read in a very long time. It's got absolutely fantastic worldbuilding - you believe in this universe. Believe that it has a coherent structure and history, you just don't know them yet. It also has excellent characterisations - I particularly like the way Mikey and Gerard's relationship is written.

What really stands out for me in this story however, is the mood and atmosphere. There's a bittersweet, almost lyrical quality to large parts of the story. It's heartbreaking but not tragic and at the end you feel that there's real hope for them all.

Excerpt from the story:

"Want to try the 'ways again?" he asked. They took to the hyperways sometimes, when the silence of normal space got too oppressive. Before, the 'ways had been a necessary ordeal, something to endure with tranquilizers and restraints. Now, they were... still very weird. But interesting. He could feel them, in ways that he found hard to describe, like strange music thrumming under his skin. Gerard said it was like hearing colors, like sending themselves through a prism - a rainbow of sound and sensation. [...]

"Where should we go? It's been a long time since we went toward inhabited space. Might be nice to see the lights."

"Last time, we jumped right into a Gunner fleet. We almost got penned in." All those scarlet ships, bright as a school of lethal fish in the light of a blue giant star. It had been blinding - he still brought up the image, sometimes, when space seemed especially dark.

"No way. They thought we were a ghost. You heard them, all 'arrgh' and 'aaahh' and 'Oh god, that's the Ravenkroft.'"

"And then they started firing and nearly took off the port stabilizer."

"Whatever. The bots repaired it."

"I almost think you enjoy being the boogie man, Mikey."

He tugged Gerard's arm a little closer around himself. Actually, he just remembered the hungry look in his brother's eyes when they heard other people's voices on the comms. But what he said was, "Sure I do. We're legends."

"Fucking right," Gerard said, but his smile was sad.

Mikey almost said something else, wanted to say something else, but the thought was wiped out of his head when the Ravenkroft's alarms started up - a startled, almost embarrassed yelp of sound.

Gerard shot to his feet, and Mikey felt him tense.

"Proximity alert." Gerard announced, as if he didn't already know. "The Gate's opening."

"Out here?" No one used these 'ways. They were old and scattered, and uselessly far from the shipping lanes. No one used them but the Ravenkroft. Other smugglers used to, but they hadn't come across any for years.

Gerard's eyes were closed, but the alarms had gone quiet, and the ship was broadcasting nothing but a vague curiosity, so Mikey knew they were out of reach.

"Huh," his brother said. "It's Viking class."

Mikey frowned. It was harder for him to 'see' with the ship's sensors than it was for Gerard. All he could tell was that it was a ship, a little smaller than the Ravenkroft, and running silent - the constant sub frequency radio broadcast proclaiming the ship's name and origins was missing.

"What are they doing?" he asked. Coming out of this Gate, silent - they were either smugglers, or drifting. If they were drifting...

Gerard's shoulders hunched a little. "Nothing. It's dying."

Mikey swallowed. Dying ships were part of space - a normal, horribly shitty part of space. It didn't always mean 'hopeless'. "We should see if there's any crew on board."

"Mikey..."

"No, Gerard." He kept his voice firm. Gerard would have dreams about that ship if they didn't investigate. So would he. "There might be survivors."

Catching Pieces of a Falling Sky (on AO3) or here (on DW) or here (on LJ)