David Brin's "Bubbles" (short story, weird physics, free)

Caution: This is not a story for novice genre readers. You need to have some experience reading science fiction.

In Hindu mythology, our universe is cyclical & is run by a trinity of gods: Brahma creates the universe, Vishnu runs it, & Shiva eventually destroys it - so the cycle can repeat. Here we see science fictional treatment given to an intelligent entity that might be a simpler form of Brahma.

We also get an explanation of where all the dark matter of the universe might be hidden.

Story summary.

Serena, a planet sized living entity that carries "gifts" between galaxies, has had a traveling accident that moved her close to location of her universe's Big Bang (in the story, universe comprises of many "bubbles" with their own Big Bangs)! She's stranded for eternity; there is no way she can go back to civilization.

Here she'll meet an entity that might be instrumental in creating next iteration of the universe, & discover that she's not the first one who's accidentally wandered here.

Fact sheet.

First published: Byron Preiss (ed)' "The Universe" (anthology, 1987).
Download full text from Lightspeed. [via QuasarDragon]
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of David Brin; weird physics.