The Mingus Chronicles

Chapter 7: 'Shit happens...'

Chapter 7

'Shit happens...'

"Man overboard" was never something anyone wanted to hear but there it was; just hanging in space as ominous as this whole worsening situation after Frank announced it. "Three points to your starboard, Captain, two clicks out; are you getting my signal?" Davenport was already en-route to Tabby's pod as he engaged his grappling arm.

Charlotte zeroed in on the coordinate, "Copy that, Colonel, thanks for the 20", and she whipped her pod around using a two second burn. After executing the maneuver, the bright yellow exhaust trails dissipated shortly after streaking towards Tabby. Tabby's broadcasts were choppy and filled with static interruptions. It was clear by what little broadcasts she could receive that Tabby's tone of voice was strained, as if she was pulling on something that wouldn't give. It also sounded like something which might preclude something very bad.

"Aww shit, 'looks like we got a G-well going on down there...", Frank adjusted his viewscreen and enlarged to see the effects this thing was having on Tabby's pod.

Lewis immediately got a sinking feeling as he scanned his screen and saw two different gravity anomalies. This whole thing was getting too close to home especially after having been trapped in a man-made to a gravity-well before, himself. Lewis pulled himself away from his screen and half-stood in his seat; looking out every view port as he scanned the zone for engine segments from the ship they collided with. If they were drifting and tumbling, they were inert, but he saw the thing he was hoping not to see. Two huge sub-light engines still bolted to the horribly bet engine mount were being locked into place...perfectly still and emitting a tone of radiation and negative, well...space.

Attempting to grapple with one of these bad boys would be a rookie scraper's first and last mistake. It's one of the first mistakes Lewis almost made as a greenhorn scrapper, too. He was physically knocked away by a veteran crew chief and was made to repair both pods afterward. It was far better than being physically torn apart from inside his pod. So, lesson learned; "Never grapple the only stationary item in a debris field. It WILL kill you" Since then, Lewis had enough scenarios thrown at him during enforced Fleet training programs after that incident, but he'd never seen two of them opposing each other like this. It was like watching a tug of war but Tabby's pod was the rope. It was clear that Tabby was getting fatigued while the pod tumbled in several directions; all the while her propulsion units were getting pushed to their limits. With the exhaust ports starting to phase from a blue hue to an orange, reddish glow, well...let's just say this was "bad". The exhaust streaks which, usually, were a pleasant shade of yellow, were becoming the same color as the hot exhaust ports and they were getting darker red. This was also bad. That the unspent fuel remained in space longer than the telltale yellow ones would was VERY Bad.

It would take an unusually strong counter-force to knock Tabbs' pod away from this monster. A natural gravity well was something someone could boost away from with some effort, but these man-made ones that occasionally opened up behind sub-light engines which weren't powered down properly were damn strong and were the cause of many fatalities during its nascent technology phase. Anyone who was involved with the testing of any space faring propulsion system can appreciate the magnitude of force a manmade gravity well produces.

"Okay, kids, thoughts?" The Colonel asked while scanning the site.

"We got two statues, Colonel. They're locked and Tabby's right in the sweet spot, She's right there" Lewis jammed a finger in Tabb's pod and just as fast, jammed the finger against the viewport window in the process. Shaking his hand and sucking the forefinger for a second, he realized he couldn't be seen pointing. "Just follow me".