The space behind the whole in the wall was pure vacuum. There was nothing on the other side ,not even the deadly nebula with its metal – munching organisms, according to Jo’s data computer she had attached to her belt before leaving Reaper . This was somewhat of a relief as we entered through the wide gap. It was also pitch black. I have never known anywhere as dark and foreboding as this place. Our lamps made hardly and indentation on the sheer blackness. For about five mizuras we just flew through the void, lamps trained forwards, hoping we found the wall before it found us, and all the time following the LFL readout. I had presumed by now that this was no other tunnel, to not allow even the particles of the gas field in there must be literally nothing in here. So that explained the healthiness of the LFL signal. Whatever this thing was, it will be immaculately preserved with the huge nothing to gnaw away at its hull for all eternity. Whatever was on the Low Frequency Locator was just a few meters ahead now. I could feel the sweat running down my forehead and into the collar of my helmet. When this was over I would welcome a stazura in the Samarkand’s hygiene pods. The thing appeared, briefly, caught in the dim light of either mine or Jo’s lamp. A white glint startled us; the ship was just a little to our right. We would have flow straight past it if the light hadn’t reflected; it was so dark in here.
We both turned to get a good look at the ship. We were at the front end of whatever this ancient ship was. The gleaming white surface arced away gracefully to plume out into a wide wing that started just behind the nose and ended about four meters out from the main body at the tail. The body itself, if looked at straight on, was flat underneath, probably to aid as a heat shield with the wings on re entry to a planet. The underbelly was also jet black, so black it looked as if it wasn’t there because of the dark cavern. The body continued up and around in what effectively was a long cylinder with a cone end. The cylinder’s flat underside made it, head on, look like a circle with one segment below the chord removed. The cone, or what I presumed, the flight deck end of the ship had a black area, right at the tip of the nose, which came up and circled round before going back down to link to the black underside. There were a neat row of small rectangular windows across the front of the cone; the main view ports and an emblem was encrusted on the side of the command deck along with some writing in bold italics. I jetted over cautiously to the markings and angled myself so my lamp directly over them.
“NASA, Pathfinder ” I repeated…
Mystery of the Scorpion
Moderators: TheElf, Moderators for English X Forum
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KiwiNZ
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Neat description, so Pathfinder it is? 
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RSDark_Angel
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RSDark_Angel
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The ship had been preserved because the nebula was not inside the cave. I made my way down the length of the hull. There were no view ports in the wall that I could look through, so I carried on jetting gently down the ship, looking for an airlock or something. Then I saw one, the outer hatch was swung wide open. I came up on the airlock and looked inside, my dim light only illuminated as far as the other side of the airlock chamber, the door on the other side was sealed, but there was a space suited form floating next to a console. I Drifted into the chamber and looked at the suit. Something dragged me away however; several lights on the console behind the suit were blinking green! Impossible, I thought, the ship can’t be pressurized; the air would be almost a millennium old!
“Jo come and look at this” I said down the comm.
“On my way” Jo’s voice crackled in reply. I checked and rechecked the airlock readout. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It said the inner compartments were sealed and airtight.
“Oh my…” Jo had entered the cramped airlock “The ships pressurized!”
“Yeah” I replied, suddenly snapping out of my gaping trance, I straightened up as best I could in a non gravitational atmosphere. “Come on, those bugs are eating away at Alpha 1 and Reaper every second we waste stood here. We can come back for this.” I turned to leave but Jo stopped me.
“Wait Joules, look” she pointed at the suit. Come to think of it, I had thought the markings were familiar. The suit was an old Argon space suit marked with the dark green shoulder lines of the GSS uniform. The name stitched into the breast made my heart stop; Senior Paymaster Chianna Danar . I looked at the suit, not able to believe my eyes. Here he was, my old friend, the man we had set off to find thirty nine hours ago. He was here and his suit was intact. It didn’t take a genius to work out he was dead, but I checked the oxygen tanks anyway, only to reveal they were empty.
“I’m sorry Joules” Jo said sympathetically, placing a servo-motored glove on my shoulder. I tried to squash down the depression inside me. Jo suddenly stooped; using me as a pole she squirmed her way around my bulky form and brought something back up with her when she returned.
“Looks like he’s left us another message Joules” she held out her hand, another palmcomp nestled into the bloated fabric of her glove. I looked at the palmcomp through my visor for a sezura and then took it from her hand. I clipped the palmcomp to my belt and grabbed Jo by the arm.
“Come on, were leaving” all of a sudden I had gone ice cold. I wanted to be away from this ancient ship as soon as possible. We exited the airlock and I gently closed the outer hatch. Silently whispering “I’ll be back for you Chianna” Then I turned back to the homely beacon of Alpha 1 and jetted across into the blackness as fast as my suit could go. My lamp lit up the space before me, but it was hardly helpful in this pitch black cavern. I still had Jo’s arm held tightly in the grasp of my gauntlet and let go for fear of ripping the fabric. Jo yelped in surprise and I quickly found her wrist again, but this time I held her hand, as much as the space suits would allow, rather than gripping her forearm. We reached the cavern edge and felt nothing but solid wall. A sudden wave of icy panic washed over me; what if we couldn’t find the gap? I tried not to scream as the darkness flooded in around me, swallowing up me, Jo and our puny little lamps. I frantically jetted across to another point in the black wall, still solid rock. I turned around and looked out away from the wall. Jo clamped herself onto my suit and I held both arms around her tightly, nothing but the color black everywhere, surrounding us. I felt the pressure building, the claustrophobic sense of being trapped miles inside a humongous asteroid in a system where no one could find you, surrounded by nothing but endless black. I held on tighter to Jo, my head spinning. I was so wrapped up in my own fears I didn’t even hear her sobbing her heart out into the comm.
“Jo come and look at this” I said down the comm.
“On my way” Jo’s voice crackled in reply. I checked and rechecked the airlock readout. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It said the inner compartments were sealed and airtight.
“Oh my…” Jo had entered the cramped airlock “The ships pressurized!”
“Yeah” I replied, suddenly snapping out of my gaping trance, I straightened up as best I could in a non gravitational atmosphere. “Come on, those bugs are eating away at Alpha 1 and Reaper every second we waste stood here. We can come back for this.” I turned to leave but Jo stopped me.
“Wait Joules, look” she pointed at the suit. Come to think of it, I had thought the markings were familiar. The suit was an old Argon space suit marked with the dark green shoulder lines of the GSS uniform. The name stitched into the breast made my heart stop; Senior Paymaster Chianna Danar . I looked at the suit, not able to believe my eyes. Here he was, my old friend, the man we had set off to find thirty nine hours ago. He was here and his suit was intact. It didn’t take a genius to work out he was dead, but I checked the oxygen tanks anyway, only to reveal they were empty.
“I’m sorry Joules” Jo said sympathetically, placing a servo-motored glove on my shoulder. I tried to squash down the depression inside me. Jo suddenly stooped; using me as a pole she squirmed her way around my bulky form and brought something back up with her when she returned.
“Looks like he’s left us another message Joules” she held out her hand, another palmcomp nestled into the bloated fabric of her glove. I looked at the palmcomp through my visor for a sezura and then took it from her hand. I clipped the palmcomp to my belt and grabbed Jo by the arm.
“Come on, were leaving” all of a sudden I had gone ice cold. I wanted to be away from this ancient ship as soon as possible. We exited the airlock and I gently closed the outer hatch. Silently whispering “I’ll be back for you Chianna” Then I turned back to the homely beacon of Alpha 1 and jetted across into the blackness as fast as my suit could go. My lamp lit up the space before me, but it was hardly helpful in this pitch black cavern. I still had Jo’s arm held tightly in the grasp of my gauntlet and let go for fear of ripping the fabric. Jo yelped in surprise and I quickly found her wrist again, but this time I held her hand, as much as the space suits would allow, rather than gripping her forearm. We reached the cavern edge and felt nothing but solid wall. A sudden wave of icy panic washed over me; what if we couldn’t find the gap? I tried not to scream as the darkness flooded in around me, swallowing up me, Jo and our puny little lamps. I frantically jetted across to another point in the black wall, still solid rock. I turned around and looked out away from the wall. Jo clamped herself onto my suit and I held both arms around her tightly, nothing but the color black everywhere, surrounding us. I felt the pressure building, the claustrophobic sense of being trapped miles inside a humongous asteroid in a system where no one could find you, surrounded by nothing but endless black. I held on tighter to Jo, my head spinning. I was so wrapped up in my own fears I didn’t even hear her sobbing her heart out into the comm.
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Captain Chris sTc
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KiwiNZ
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RSDark_Angel
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I clenched my fists, there was no sense in losing it after we had come this far. My mind raced, thinking of all the possible solutions to our plight. Jo was still sobbing uncontrollably, probably due to my brief lapse of concentration. I held her tightly around the waist, hoping that the pressure would feel comforting through the bulky suit and not painful.
“Come on Jo, we can’t lose our heads now” I tried to sound reassuring “We have to think”
She didn’t reply but at least the sobbing ceased a little.
“Shush, listen, maybe I can get Alpha 1 on remote control.” I loosened my grip on Jo and she drifted away slightly, but stayed within an arms length. I unclipped my own palmcomp from my belt and activated it. The reassuring blue glow added a little more light to our tiny circle. I skimmed through the list of commands until it reached remote ship control. I activated the little icon and two ships came up as in range; Alpha 1 and Scorpion . I thumbed the controls until I had direct control of Alpha 1. My heart sank as the image that blurred to life on the miniature screen showed nothing but a cloud of static. There was probably interference in the rock wall; some minerals affecting the signal. I moved the palmcomp closer to the wall and was rewarded with a very grainy image of Alpha one’s interior, looking out at the wreckage of Scorpion. I gently manipulated the controls until Alpha 1 was almost touching the wrecked M4. I then, as gently as I could, maneuvered the Nova around the Scorpion and angled her nose at the gap in the wall. The cavern was suddenly filled with a powerful corridor of light that cut through the darkness bringing hope to me and Jo. I looked across the cavern to discover its true size. The beam from Alpha one’s floodlights cut across the length of the cavern, illuminating the other side which was quite some distance away. Also the creamy hull of Pathfinder lit up like a beacon in the middle of the cavern. The Earth ship looked more like a bizarre pencil rather than a millennia old Starship.
I turned my helmet to face Jo. At least she had stopped sobbing now.
“Are you okay?” I said as tenderly as I could.
“Yeah, I just got…I just got a bit scared that’s all”
“Ok, I understand, no worries.” I smiled at her space suited form through my visor even though I knew full well that she couldn’t see me. I put the palmcomp back on my belt and took Jo by the hand. For a mizura we just floated, looking into each others tinted visors. I could make out the shape of her pretty face behind the artificial screen.
“Come on” I ushered “Let’s get out of here”
We rocketed across the expanse of the cavern toward the gap as fast as our suit thrusters could manage. When we reached the gap, I took one quick look back at Pathfinder as Jo got on board Alpha 1 and followed her in. I didn’t bother to shut the hatch; I simply went over to the controls and sat in my seat. Alpha 1 whined with some unknown stress as I turned her through 180* and flew carefully past Scorpion . I took one final look at the shadowy form of the M4 as she drifted by out of view and then slowed down so Jo could disembark. I turned round to face her.
“You go first Jo, Reaper’s heat sensors are still working, follow our engine trail back out to the surface, I’m going to deploy Navigational beacons to help us get back to Pathfinder ”
“Right, good luck Joules”
“I’ll be will you every step of the way” I replied as she dropped out of the hatch. As soon as she was out of view, I unclipped another distress pod from the wall and activated its homing beacon manually. Alpha 1 had no proper Navigational Relay Satellites on board so distress pods would have to do. I dropped the pod from the hatch and floated back over to my seat. I checked on the scanner that the beacon was transmitting and rested my hand ready on the throttle control. I saw Reaper’s onboard lights flicker to life and the battered Bayamon turned on her axis and flew back around the corner. I throttled up and followed…
“Come on Jo, we can’t lose our heads now” I tried to sound reassuring “We have to think”
She didn’t reply but at least the sobbing ceased a little.
“Shush, listen, maybe I can get Alpha 1 on remote control.” I loosened my grip on Jo and she drifted away slightly, but stayed within an arms length. I unclipped my own palmcomp from my belt and activated it. The reassuring blue glow added a little more light to our tiny circle. I skimmed through the list of commands until it reached remote ship control. I activated the little icon and two ships came up as in range; Alpha 1 and Scorpion . I thumbed the controls until I had direct control of Alpha 1. My heart sank as the image that blurred to life on the miniature screen showed nothing but a cloud of static. There was probably interference in the rock wall; some minerals affecting the signal. I moved the palmcomp closer to the wall and was rewarded with a very grainy image of Alpha one’s interior, looking out at the wreckage of Scorpion. I gently manipulated the controls until Alpha 1 was almost touching the wrecked M4. I then, as gently as I could, maneuvered the Nova around the Scorpion and angled her nose at the gap in the wall. The cavern was suddenly filled with a powerful corridor of light that cut through the darkness bringing hope to me and Jo. I looked across the cavern to discover its true size. The beam from Alpha one’s floodlights cut across the length of the cavern, illuminating the other side which was quite some distance away. Also the creamy hull of Pathfinder lit up like a beacon in the middle of the cavern. The Earth ship looked more like a bizarre pencil rather than a millennia old Starship.
I turned my helmet to face Jo. At least she had stopped sobbing now.
“Are you okay?” I said as tenderly as I could.
“Yeah, I just got…I just got a bit scared that’s all”
“Ok, I understand, no worries.” I smiled at her space suited form through my visor even though I knew full well that she couldn’t see me. I put the palmcomp back on my belt and took Jo by the hand. For a mizura we just floated, looking into each others tinted visors. I could make out the shape of her pretty face behind the artificial screen.
“Come on” I ushered “Let’s get out of here”
We rocketed across the expanse of the cavern toward the gap as fast as our suit thrusters could manage. When we reached the gap, I took one quick look back at Pathfinder as Jo got on board Alpha 1 and followed her in. I didn’t bother to shut the hatch; I simply went over to the controls and sat in my seat. Alpha 1 whined with some unknown stress as I turned her through 180* and flew carefully past Scorpion . I took one final look at the shadowy form of the M4 as she drifted by out of view and then slowed down so Jo could disembark. I turned round to face her.
“You go first Jo, Reaper’s heat sensors are still working, follow our engine trail back out to the surface, I’m going to deploy Navigational beacons to help us get back to Pathfinder ”
“Right, good luck Joules”
“I’ll be will you every step of the way” I replied as she dropped out of the hatch. As soon as she was out of view, I unclipped another distress pod from the wall and activated its homing beacon manually. Alpha 1 had no proper Navigational Relay Satellites on board so distress pods would have to do. I dropped the pod from the hatch and floated back over to my seat. I checked on the scanner that the beacon was transmitting and rested my hand ready on the throttle control. I saw Reaper’s onboard lights flicker to life and the battered Bayamon turned on her axis and flew back around the corner. I throttled up and followed…
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KiwiNZ
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RSDark_Angel
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We flew through the winding tunnels a lot faster than we had on coming in. I occasionally stopped to drop off a navigation beacon for the return journey. Reaper spun and twisted around corners ahead of me, Jo was quite a good pilot, I thought as we sped through the catacombs. I was frequently catching Alpha one’s protruding parts on the walls, knocking off rock and scratching paintwork. I just hoped I didn’t do any damage to the exposed GHEPT. Then I thought what the heck, its power cables have probably been chewed through by now by those bugs. I spun Alpha 1 around a bend and suddenly got a familiar feeling. The inside of the tunnel, illuminated by the floodlights of Alpha 1 and Reaper was smooth, as if some one had polished it. We were in the first tunnel we had come through, the one that led back out into space. I throttled up as Reaper began to pull away. Jo was eager to get out of this hellish place, and I wasn’t one to disagree with her. I was almost flying at full speed now, which was about 50kpm. Alpha 1’s engines must have been dessert for the bugs. Reaper was going a bit quicker than me at about 60kpm and was slowly pulling away. I edged in my seat as a tiny speck appeared beyond Reaper at the end of the tunnel. I gripped the control stick and the throttle lever tighter as we sped as fast as we could down the long thin corridor. It WAS getting thinner; the sides seemed to be getting narrower by the sezura. If I wasn’t careful, I would end up snagging either of Alpha 1’s guns on the walls and swinging the ship inward towards the wall. At this speed, that would be a pretty nasty crash. I gritted my teeth, concentrating on the tunnel before me. I was staring so intently at the width of the passage that I didn’t notice Reaper’s right arm snag on an outcropping, dragging the ship inward towards the wall. When I noticed something was amiss, the M4 was already turning towards the wall. Reaper smashed into the wall at full speed, I didn’t see what damage that did but I could pretty much guess. The starboard arm was pulled free and flew back into the path of Alpha 1 . The arm missed my ship by inches but the detached Particle Accelerator Cannon bounced off the nose and up over the cockpit with a loud clang. I pulled the throttle back hard, jarring Alpha 1 into a crazy spin. I tried to control the ship as sheets of metal and other debris bounced and pinged off the view screen. I stared in horror as Reaper was spun through 180*, the shattered cockpit facing me. I yelled as Alpha 1 hurtled towards the rapidly disintegrating Bayamon. All that filled the comm. was Jo’s scream of terror as she saw the nose of an Argon Nova descending on her fast. With a nasty crunch, Alpha 1 plowed into Reaper , full on in the cockpit…
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KiwiNZ
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fegnoid
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Raptordraco
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RSDark_Angel
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I shut my eyes tight as my Nova tore through the remains of the stricken M4 and emerged through the centre of where the three remaining arms were connected. Alpha 1 continued on through the wreckage and finally stopped a couple of hundred meters away from the awful accident. Not a sound escaped my chest, even though I wanted to scream all the way back to Argon Prime. I scrambled out of my chair, colliding with the wall due to the lack of gravity and dived for the hatch. After levering the doors open and scrabbling with my propellant unit, I jetted out of Alpha 1 and pushed the propulsion unit to max to get back across to the wreckage. Chunks of debris floated everywhere, silently spinning through the tunnel. I inwardly screamed, praying to whatever gods there were that Jo had somehow escaped unharmed. I pushed aside a large chunk of hull and searched the scattered remains frantically. I jetted down to the ‘floor’ of the tunnel and heaved aside one of Reaper’s ex-arms. There was nothing, not a sight of Jo’s space suited form. For a horrible sezura I imagined her impaled on one of Alpha 1’s guns but then I saw the prone form drifting through space, the Space suited body gently spinning head over heel in an eternal cartwheel.
“JO!” I screamed, too blind with fear to check the life signs readings. Her body was still in one peace, fortunately but there seemed to be no sign of movement on the other side of the visor. I felt myself sicken as I noticed the dark splodge on the inside of the visor. It wasn’t the blood that made me queasy, but the thought of Jo’s head splattered on the inside of the helmet. I suddenly thought to scan for life. The small belt attachment vibrated in my hand, which was unusual as it never made any sound or movements normally. A great heave of relief went through me as the readout showed Jo’s vital organs were undamaged and she was still breathing normally. She must have taken a blow to the head however, as no matter how much I shook her, I got no response. I checked the suit all over for obvious ruptures and, seeing none, did a quick scan of her suits schematics. There was a hole. I felt my blood freeze as a sense of dread washed over me. I grabbed Jo’s body and powered my suit up to full, heading back over to Alpha 1 . I hurled her body up into the cabin and followed swiftly, closing the hatch behind me. Jo’s body, after bouncing off the ceiling, came back down to rest in my open arms. I thought frantically, she had miraculously survived the collision but her suit was ruptured. Of course! The bugs! They must have chewed through a join seal or something. That worried me. I had spend long enough out exposed to the awful nebula. Was my suit punctured too? A quick analysis showed otherwise and that eased the tension slightly. But what was I to do with Jo? Should I pressurize the cabin, swap suits and then depressurize again? No that would be insane, the sudden pressure on the inside might burst the already weakened hull and if I donned her suit, I would not live long enough to get her back to safety. Then she would be left a victim of the bugs as they slowly ate the ship and then my suit on her. There was only one thing I could do, pressurize the cabin and keep it pressurized. Of course that ran the risk of blowing out the ship completely but it was a risk I would have to take in order to keep Jo alive. Decided, I manipulated the control console from an angle, scanning the hull of Alpha 1 for breeches and then activating the pressurizing sequence. The sudden rush of air pressed on the outside of my suit as the air particles rushed through the vents and a familiar hiss reached my ears through the helmet as the particles began to vibrate. The hull began to creak and groan. This is it, I thought, she can’t take the strain. But the tough little Nova held together and the pressurization monitor chimed in the green. I yanked off my helmet and breathed in the somewhat fresh air. It was like drinking a cup of water after a long time in a desert, breathing in that air. It filled my lungs with freshness and a renewed hope. I unclipped Jo’s helmet, pausing, thinking about the state of her face. As it turned out she had hit her head and had had a mega nosebleed. Her eyes were closed and her head lolled gently to one side. I gently raised her up, already drifting as she was, until her head was parallel with mine. The right half of her face was wet with red blood, her hair was messy and much of it had come out of the neat bun she had previously tied it into and her pale skin was covered with a thin layer of perspiration. But my mind put all of these facts aside and I stared into that peaceful face for the first time since we left Samarkand . I stroked her cheek with my thumb and kissed her softly on the lips.
“It’s going to be alright” I whispered. “I’ll save you, I promise”
I nestled her into a gap between an empty crate and a tool box behind the command seat so she wouldn’t drift around freely and floated over and down into the chair itself. With nothing on my mind but the hardened resolve to get Jo out alive, I throttled up to full an left the remains of the valiant Bayamon Reaper behind in the dark depths of the asteroid…
“JO!” I screamed, too blind with fear to check the life signs readings. Her body was still in one peace, fortunately but there seemed to be no sign of movement on the other side of the visor. I felt myself sicken as I noticed the dark splodge on the inside of the visor. It wasn’t the blood that made me queasy, but the thought of Jo’s head splattered on the inside of the helmet. I suddenly thought to scan for life. The small belt attachment vibrated in my hand, which was unusual as it never made any sound or movements normally. A great heave of relief went through me as the readout showed Jo’s vital organs were undamaged and she was still breathing normally. She must have taken a blow to the head however, as no matter how much I shook her, I got no response. I checked the suit all over for obvious ruptures and, seeing none, did a quick scan of her suits schematics. There was a hole. I felt my blood freeze as a sense of dread washed over me. I grabbed Jo’s body and powered my suit up to full, heading back over to Alpha 1 . I hurled her body up into the cabin and followed swiftly, closing the hatch behind me. Jo’s body, after bouncing off the ceiling, came back down to rest in my open arms. I thought frantically, she had miraculously survived the collision but her suit was ruptured. Of course! The bugs! They must have chewed through a join seal or something. That worried me. I had spend long enough out exposed to the awful nebula. Was my suit punctured too? A quick analysis showed otherwise and that eased the tension slightly. But what was I to do with Jo? Should I pressurize the cabin, swap suits and then depressurize again? No that would be insane, the sudden pressure on the inside might burst the already weakened hull and if I donned her suit, I would not live long enough to get her back to safety. Then she would be left a victim of the bugs as they slowly ate the ship and then my suit on her. There was only one thing I could do, pressurize the cabin and keep it pressurized. Of course that ran the risk of blowing out the ship completely but it was a risk I would have to take in order to keep Jo alive. Decided, I manipulated the control console from an angle, scanning the hull of Alpha 1 for breeches and then activating the pressurizing sequence. The sudden rush of air pressed on the outside of my suit as the air particles rushed through the vents and a familiar hiss reached my ears through the helmet as the particles began to vibrate. The hull began to creak and groan. This is it, I thought, she can’t take the strain. But the tough little Nova held together and the pressurization monitor chimed in the green. I yanked off my helmet and breathed in the somewhat fresh air. It was like drinking a cup of water after a long time in a desert, breathing in that air. It filled my lungs with freshness and a renewed hope. I unclipped Jo’s helmet, pausing, thinking about the state of her face. As it turned out she had hit her head and had had a mega nosebleed. Her eyes were closed and her head lolled gently to one side. I gently raised her up, already drifting as she was, until her head was parallel with mine. The right half of her face was wet with red blood, her hair was messy and much of it had come out of the neat bun she had previously tied it into and her pale skin was covered with a thin layer of perspiration. But my mind put all of these facts aside and I stared into that peaceful face for the first time since we left Samarkand . I stroked her cheek with my thumb and kissed her softly on the lips.
“It’s going to be alright” I whispered. “I’ll save you, I promise”
I nestled her into a gap between an empty crate and a tool box behind the command seat so she wouldn’t drift around freely and floated over and down into the chair itself. With nothing on my mind but the hardened resolve to get Jo out alive, I throttled up to full an left the remains of the valiant Bayamon Reaper behind in the dark depths of the asteroid…
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KiwiNZ
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RSDark_Angel
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Alpha 1 crawled through the dense nebula, the microscopic bugs eating away at her hull constantly. The cooler had failed almost 10 mizurae ago now and we were slowly cooking inside the cockpit. The ship was on autopilot, headed for the Rhy’s Desire gate at full speed, SETA and all. This however, was not fast enough and the bugs were chewing on the outside of the hull, forever getting nearer to a breech. I floated above Jo, gently mopping her brow with a damp towel. I had cleaned her face of all the dried blood and checked for broken bones. She had miraculously escaped with two broken ribs and a bruised kidney, or so the medical computer said. I wasn’t too sure whether to trust it as it was only a medical computer for a fighter and it might have had several parts eaten. Jo’s face had gone pale, if she had been knocked out or simply past out because of the pain she was in I simply could not tell.
How long was this going to take? I had sent my single remaining distress pod through the gate, hoping that Samarkand had for some reason come to the gate but I feared the worst for the little pod. Maybe the Split were waiting for us on the other side. If so then we were doomed, Alpha 1 was in no condition for combat. The moment I thought that, the system integrity icon on the console blared to life, warning me of a shield failure, typical. The bugs had munched on the shield generator, leaving me defenseless with no operable guns, no shields and half a hull that could burst any minute.
Alpha 1 was crawling at an immensely slow pace, her engines on the verge of expiring. I had no idea how far off the borderline of the nebula we were and how long it would take for us to reach the gate. I let my arms float free, letting go of Jo, who simply floated there like a corpse. All of my strength was falling rapidly away from me. The blistering heat from the lack of coolant made me dizzy. I slowly drifted to the back of the cabin and bumped into the wall. My head was swimming about me, I couldn’t see straight. I tried to will my arms to push me towards the console but my tired muscles had finally given up. Ah, I thought, who cared if the hull was breeched now? Jo’s unconscious and I soon will be, we’ll both pass away soundly. My only thought was one of dismay as I couldn’t fulfill Chianna’s legacy. My mind swam with images of what I had seen today, the ruined gate, the debris field that was once the A.P. Hunter , the huge labyrinth of tunnels inside the asteroid, Scorpion , Pathfinder , the list went on. It all seemed so long ago, even though I knew we hadn’t been here less than a mazura. My view of Jo’s floating body slurred and ran away from my eyes as they drooped into unconsciousness. Alpha 1 ploughed on rebelliously through the nebula. Heading toward the gate, the bugs forever gnawing at her hull.
How long was this going to take? I had sent my single remaining distress pod through the gate, hoping that Samarkand had for some reason come to the gate but I feared the worst for the little pod. Maybe the Split were waiting for us on the other side. If so then we were doomed, Alpha 1 was in no condition for combat. The moment I thought that, the system integrity icon on the console blared to life, warning me of a shield failure, typical. The bugs had munched on the shield generator, leaving me defenseless with no operable guns, no shields and half a hull that could burst any minute.
Alpha 1 was crawling at an immensely slow pace, her engines on the verge of expiring. I had no idea how far off the borderline of the nebula we were and how long it would take for us to reach the gate. I let my arms float free, letting go of Jo, who simply floated there like a corpse. All of my strength was falling rapidly away from me. The blistering heat from the lack of coolant made me dizzy. I slowly drifted to the back of the cabin and bumped into the wall. My head was swimming about me, I couldn’t see straight. I tried to will my arms to push me towards the console but my tired muscles had finally given up. Ah, I thought, who cared if the hull was breeched now? Jo’s unconscious and I soon will be, we’ll both pass away soundly. My only thought was one of dismay as I couldn’t fulfill Chianna’s legacy. My mind swam with images of what I had seen today, the ruined gate, the debris field that was once the A.P. Hunter , the huge labyrinth of tunnels inside the asteroid, Scorpion , Pathfinder , the list went on. It all seemed so long ago, even though I knew we hadn’t been here less than a mazura. My view of Jo’s floating body slurred and ran away from my eyes as they drooped into unconsciousness. Alpha 1 ploughed on rebelliously through the nebula. Heading toward the gate, the bugs forever gnawing at her hull.
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KiwiNZ
- Posts: 3512
- Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
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RSDark_Angel
- Posts: 124
- Joined: Sat, 25. Jun 05, 12:33
I must have been unconscious for quite a while because when I woke up the cabin was dark and most of the lights on the dashboard were winking and blinking quite normally. I looked over to Jo where she drifted in the air. I tried to move but my body wasn’t quite up to it yet and I ended up floating to the ceiling of the cabin and painfully banging my head on a protruding piece of hardware. For a moment I just let myself float, slowly regaining my senses. At least it wasn’t blistering hot anymore. In fact, it was quite cold, very cold actually. I had goose pimples running all the way down my arms. I shivered, I thought the cooler was down, I mused to myself as I gently maneuvered myself around and over to the console. Hull was down to 45% and we were scrawling along at a new record for slow paces. The engines were outputting at about 30kpm now. I did a quick scan of the ships integrity. All of the outside heat sensors and cameras were down, chewed up by the bugs. Both the BHEPTs were out of action and the shield generator was kaput. I sighed and eased myself into the chair. I rested my head on the rest built into my seat and closed my eyes. I had a killer headache and wanted to take a painkiller tablet badly. I opened my eyes again to stare out into space. Space! I sat bolt upright in the chair to look further out of the window. We were surrounded by tiny specks and clusters of stars. That’s why it was cold; we were out of the nebula! I almost whooped for joy but my headache said otherwise. I couldn’t believe it, we were out of the nebula and into deep space. I wondered how far we were but just at that moment the autopilot pivoted Alpha 1 around and I saw the beautiful circle of the Rhy’s Desire jump gate looming up ahead.
“Jo, JO” I turned around and shook her, no movement. I turned back to the gate, excitement written all across my face. We were going home. A small pyramidal object spiraled idly around the gate, seemingly practicing spins and dives. Prometheus! I clumsily fiddled with the communications console and opened the Khaak M3 audio channel.
“Prometheus, form up” I said and then to my horror remembered that Helios was still waiting patiently by the asteroid. I had forgotten to order her into formation. Will a eerie sense of dread looming in the background, I checked the system map for Helios. There was the gate, and the wreckage of Hunter . And there, by the large asteroid sat the small green square indicating Helios. I quickly accessed her data bank and checked all systems. I sat back in my chair and gasped. Helios was 100% in the green. Not a scratch on her bodywork. Her hull must be impervious to the bugs, I thought, and then they are alien ships, perhaps the material their made from isn’t metal, or at least, not digested by the bugs. I cursed to myself; we could have changed to Helios and set the autopilot. Oh well, what was done was done.
“Helios, move to location, east gate, and await further orders.”
The icon blinked once and I averted my gaze to the swirling vortex that would slingshot us halfway across the galaxy in a matter of seconds. The jump gate loomed ahead, swamping Alpha 1 as she gradually closed the distance between her and the gate at a snails pace. I got out of my seat and drifted back to where Jo floated. I pulled her down from the air and rested her head against my chest. “It’s going to be okay Jo” I said to her “Were getting out of here” I rested my chin on her head and waited for the vortex to swallow us.
“Jo, JO” I turned around and shook her, no movement. I turned back to the gate, excitement written all across my face. We were going home. A small pyramidal object spiraled idly around the gate, seemingly practicing spins and dives. Prometheus! I clumsily fiddled with the communications console and opened the Khaak M3 audio channel.
“Prometheus, form up” I said and then to my horror remembered that Helios was still waiting patiently by the asteroid. I had forgotten to order her into formation. Will a eerie sense of dread looming in the background, I checked the system map for Helios. There was the gate, and the wreckage of Hunter . And there, by the large asteroid sat the small green square indicating Helios. I quickly accessed her data bank and checked all systems. I sat back in my chair and gasped. Helios was 100% in the green. Not a scratch on her bodywork. Her hull must be impervious to the bugs, I thought, and then they are alien ships, perhaps the material their made from isn’t metal, or at least, not digested by the bugs. I cursed to myself; we could have changed to Helios and set the autopilot. Oh well, what was done was done.
“Helios, move to location, east gate, and await further orders.”
The icon blinked once and I averted my gaze to the swirling vortex that would slingshot us halfway across the galaxy in a matter of seconds. The jump gate loomed ahead, swamping Alpha 1 as she gradually closed the distance between her and the gate at a snails pace. I got out of my seat and drifted back to where Jo floated. I pulled her down from the air and rested her head against my chest. “It’s going to be okay Jo” I said to her “Were getting out of here” I rested my chin on her head and waited for the vortex to swallow us.
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bladeuk
- Posts: 2063
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KiwiNZ
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Captain Chris sTc
- Posts: 991
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