The ship had been doing nothing but piercing the blackness before it came to an abrupt halt. It shuttered as it fell out of flux and back into a material shape. Their bodies and the ship around them returned to corporeal form. The lights on the panel flickered furiously to inform her of what was supremely obvious to almost everyone on board. They were certainly more than a stone’s throw from the docking platform orbiting Zenda. The locator beacon informed them, in the hopes of being more specific, that they were definitely in an unspecific location.
“It does seem that we are in a might bit of trouble captain!” shouted Zack, who was rushing onto the bridge, with his younger sister in toe.
“Told you we’d die on this ship,” Tetlee, Zack’s younger sister, followed up casually.
“Not yet, but I’ll let you know if that changes,” Ammash responded, hoping the quarreling adult siblings would leave the bridge soon.
“Can’t this bucket burn any harder?” Asked Tetlee, in her characteristically contemptuous voice. She did have a point, though Ammash would never admit it. This wasn’t one of the newer slip stream cargo haulers. It was an older cargo bulk from the pioneer days. Its brutishly tough hull could hold a little more freight which was what Ammash loved about it. Even Ammash had to admit more thrust would have been a boon at this time.
“Either get off my bridge or be useful! Get eyes on the starboard side. The Navs gone all haywire jumping out of flux!” Teltee took the first of the two options which didn’t surprise anyone. An emergency on the bridge was significantly less interesting than her pillow.
“That’s one hell of a sun were drifting into,” mentioned Zack who had extended the inadequate parking sensors to gauge the planet’s distance.
“I’m pushing her, but if we drift any closer I’m going to have to pop the engines. Get back to the engine room and be ready to put her out if I need to blow,” ordered Ammash. Zack immediately sprung into action.
“Send us drifting?” he asked, while dashing out of the bridge.
“I’ll take a burned engine over a burned ship,” she barked. That was good enough reasoning for Zack. He hurdled himself through the length of the small cargo ship towards the engine room, while brandishing a comically bright red fire extinguisher.
“We’ve got to pop it,” he heard over the intercom. Without delay the engine began to glow a bright orange before letting out an expected burst of light.
“Oh, I do hate this part,” said Zack with a grin that betrayed his true thoughts. Any man who didn't like a good explosion was a liar, not a bore.
WRUSHH POP
Zack crouched behind the door shielding his eyes, and the small ship jumped forward in space. Upon lowering his arm Zack could see the engine room was wholly engulfed in flames. It was a task which he was almost well suited to handle.
On the bridge Ammash watched as the crippled ship blew past the sun and slung around the far side of it. The engine was exhausted. The ship hurdled away from the sun towards a small spec which lay unremarkably on the other side. A small planet sat alone in the dead of space not at all awaiting its oncoming visitors.
Without an engine worth its metal the whole crew, except one, regrouped at the bridge of the ship.
“How the hell did that man sleep through the jump?” Ammash asked to no one in particular.
“He’s a medical wonder,” commented Tetlee.
All they could do for the next few minutes was to wait for their ship to hurl helplessly through space. It was beautiful in a way, they had to admit. The engine pop had sent them in a gentle spiral dancing through the nothingness which lay between them and something.
That something became clearer as they came closer to the hazy brown ball.
“We back yet?” asked Rath, in a foggy voice. He had just awoken and the situation had not yet become understandable to him. Having nothing better to do, they informed Rath of the occurrences of the past few minutes. The startling report seemed to fall on ears dampened by apparent disinterest. It may have just been the few remaining drops of the brain-melts he had been gulping down the night before which were clouding his response.
“Zack, take the controls. We’re going to break through the atmosphere in a few minutes. All we've got is the manual control so just try to keep her steady. I've got to see how the engine’s holding up,” Ammash ordered.
When Ammash was off the bridge the ship began to rock aggressively as they came into the planet’s reach. Zack held uncomfortably to the controls.
“Get off it!” demanded Rath who was slowly coming out of his own haze.
“I was tasked with piloting!” Zack quickly responded, while being shoved aside.
“Ya, only because she thinks I’m still drunk. Look, sober as a clam!” shouted Rath.
“How many times have you crashed this bird?” retorted Zack.
“Sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of me saving you!” he howled while stabilizing the ship through the turbulent descent.
Zack was unsure if Rath’s amusement was reassuring or discomforting. He quickly decided it was both but really wished Rath would avoid whooping while he did it.
“It does seem that we are in a might bit of trouble captain!” shouted Zack, who was rushing onto the bridge, with his younger sister in toe.
“Told you we’d die on this ship,” Tetlee, Zack’s younger sister, followed up casually.
“Not yet, but I’ll let you know if that changes,” Ammash responded, hoping the quarreling adult siblings would leave the bridge soon.
“Can’t this bucket burn any harder?” Asked Tetlee, in her characteristically contemptuous voice. She did have a point, though Ammash would never admit it. This wasn’t one of the newer slip stream cargo haulers. It was an older cargo bulk from the pioneer days. Its brutishly tough hull could hold a little more freight which was what Ammash loved about it. Even Ammash had to admit more thrust would have been a boon at this time.
“Either get off my bridge or be useful! Get eyes on the starboard side. The Navs gone all haywire jumping out of flux!” Teltee took the first of the two options which didn’t surprise anyone. An emergency on the bridge was significantly less interesting than her pillow.
“That’s one hell of a sun were drifting into,” mentioned Zack who had extended the inadequate parking sensors to gauge the planet’s distance.
“I’m pushing her, but if we drift any closer I’m going to have to pop the engines. Get back to the engine room and be ready to put her out if I need to blow,” ordered Ammash. Zack immediately sprung into action.
“Send us drifting?” he asked, while dashing out of the bridge.
“I’ll take a burned engine over a burned ship,” she barked. That was good enough reasoning for Zack. He hurdled himself through the length of the small cargo ship towards the engine room, while brandishing a comically bright red fire extinguisher.
“We’ve got to pop it,” he heard over the intercom. Without delay the engine began to glow a bright orange before letting out an expected burst of light.
“Oh, I do hate this part,” said Zack with a grin that betrayed his true thoughts. Any man who didn't like a good explosion was a liar, not a bore.
WRUSHH POP
Zack crouched behind the door shielding his eyes, and the small ship jumped forward in space. Upon lowering his arm Zack could see the engine room was wholly engulfed in flames. It was a task which he was almost well suited to handle.
On the bridge Ammash watched as the crippled ship blew past the sun and slung around the far side of it. The engine was exhausted. The ship hurdled away from the sun towards a small spec which lay unremarkably on the other side. A small planet sat alone in the dead of space not at all awaiting its oncoming visitors.
Without an engine worth its metal the whole crew, except one, regrouped at the bridge of the ship.
“How the hell did that man sleep through the jump?” Ammash asked to no one in particular.
“He’s a medical wonder,” commented Tetlee.
All they could do for the next few minutes was to wait for their ship to hurl helplessly through space. It was beautiful in a way, they had to admit. The engine pop had sent them in a gentle spiral dancing through the nothingness which lay between them and something.
That something became clearer as they came closer to the hazy brown ball.
“We back yet?” asked Rath, in a foggy voice. He had just awoken and the situation had not yet become understandable to him. Having nothing better to do, they informed Rath of the occurrences of the past few minutes. The startling report seemed to fall on ears dampened by apparent disinterest. It may have just been the few remaining drops of the brain-melts he had been gulping down the night before which were clouding his response.
“Zack, take the controls. We’re going to break through the atmosphere in a few minutes. All we've got is the manual control so just try to keep her steady. I've got to see how the engine’s holding up,” Ammash ordered.
When Ammash was off the bridge the ship began to rock aggressively as they came into the planet’s reach. Zack held uncomfortably to the controls.
“Get off it!” demanded Rath who was slowly coming out of his own haze.
“I was tasked with piloting!” Zack quickly responded, while being shoved aside.
“Ya, only because she thinks I’m still drunk. Look, sober as a clam!” shouted Rath.
“How many times have you crashed this bird?” retorted Zack.
“Sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of me saving you!” he howled while stabilizing the ship through the turbulent descent.
Zack was unsure if Rath’s amusement was reassuring or discomforting. He quickly decided it was both but really wished Rath would avoid whooping while he did it.