Beyond Sol

Chapter two

I sat in my seat on the small bridge, Muhammed Was up above us in the TFA-75, As an escort in case of collision chance. Essentially everyone else was sleeping, One of the screens blared red. I tapped it. It pulled up a camera feed with the words "FIRE< FIRE< FIRE< FIRE". I slammed the alarm down, As an alarm blared throughout the Spectrum. The fire suppression system had already exhausted itself. I got up from my seat, Floating over to the glass box, I smashed it. I grabbed the fire extinguisher and launched myself, "AETHER" I called "Where is the fire location?" I waited, Not getting a response, "AETHER Is down, It's in the engineering bay then." I started moving there, Grabbing handles and firing myself at it. I slid the door open, The bay in flames, The other crew were already there, Slowly putting it out. I ordered everyone out, Before using the pad to override the lock and shut it down, There was nothing that could fall. I got on the radio, "Muhammed, Pull open the engineering bay, Effective immediately." The bay groaned as Muhammed attempted to open the bay door, I launched myself to the hanger, A bay over, I Grabbed an EVA Suit, Equipping it as fast as possible, and launched myself back to the engineering bay. I opened it, Locking it again behind me, I launched myself down, Right by the hatch which kept groaning as Muhammed pulled on it with the Jet. I whipped out a key, Heading up as I put it in, The bay swinging open, I was pushed by the sudden depressurization, Getting launched out. I tried to grab my cable, There was a massive cargo plane hooked to the Spectrum behind, Like a AC-130 I didn't know this was there, I hooked my cable to one of its props while zipping past it face planting into my helmet, My water tanks started to leak into my helmet, "Crap" I retracted my tether, Throwing it at the Spectrum, Latching on, Seeing became hard. I retracted the tether, Pulling me in. I thumped on the hard steel as I could barely see, I navigated my way in by touch, I memorised the entire layout of the Spectrum by now. I thumped as I fell into the hanger, Instantly unlatching the helmet as all the water drained out. I heard thumps and banging from the closet, Blood draining through, I swung it open, the bloodied ape looking at me with dead eyes, he somehow had a rifle "Oh" I slammed it shut, Pulling down the titanium cover as it locked, Swiping away blood. Clanking was heard, AS well as a hiss as AETHER came over the PA "REBOOT STARTED, STAND BY'' I sighed. Another alarm went off. "Come on." Eliza came over the PA "All crew report to bridge ASAP" I launched to the bridge, Sliding the door open, Sitting in my seat. I squinted "Ceres," I grabbed the PA "CERES INBOUND CERES INBOUND, REPORT TO HANGER IMMEDIATELY '''' I shouted, 3 Stayed in the bridge, Emma, Eliza And Amelia. Us 4 floated down to the hanger, "You know the drill boys." We already had our flight suits on, I popped the ladder as it folded out. I climbed into the cockpit, Sealing the hatch, "Facial ID, Fingerprint ID Matched, Starting systems" The Jet announced, "Cat 1,2,3,4 Locked onto your front wheels boys, Prepare to launch" I announced over the radio. "Launch Launch Launch" The hook on our front wheels shot us forward, Right out of the hanger "Move towards the rear" "Dropping cables" I said. The cables hooked onto the rear of the vessel, On the engines, "Clipped, Full power" Muhammed announced. The Spectrum began slowing, Capturing it into a high Ceres orbit. A final burn was done, Sending the Spectrum on a sub-orbital trajectory. Me and the 3 others disconnected the cables, Manoeuvring to the top of the vessel. We connected the cables to the gravity rings and the hull, The Spectrum falling, 60 Thousand feet. The Spectrum deployed ' ' Landing Gear ' ' "Vertical Thrust full" The AC-130 Plane makeup was falling behind up top, We weren't worried though. Ceres had absolutely NO colonies and remained uninhabited, Still footsteps everywhere as it was a common pitstop. "Venting the helium from the uranium, Hydrogen and excess oxygen." The gas flew out, Crystallizing essentially instantly. The Spectrum would have to roll for about 2 KM before stopping "1 Thousand feet" I muttered in a slightly worried tone, There was a worrying amount of red flags, We bugged it off. The wheels slammed into Ceres's surface, Kicking up hundreds of pounds of dust, Leaving a trail behind. The Spectrum deployed a long metal rod that dug into the surface, Creating more drag it was slowing rapidly. "Disengage cables" Muhammed shouted, All 12 cables breaking off, The 4 Jets zipping past, The Spectrum stopping. The fuel line was pushed through, And the drill as it started mining the surface, The rocks of Ceres being liquefied. The liquid dropped into the massive tanks on the exterior. I brought my Jet in for a soft landing next to The Spectrum, Immediately jumping into the hangar, Running to the closet on the side. I lifted the sheet of Titanium, Bashing the door open, Grabbing the bloodied ape. I jumped back out again right back out the airlock. I had a hammer, Little picks and ropes in hand. He was at the front wheel which was just behind the bridge, He placed the pick on the ground, Hammering it in. He did the same for the other side of the wheel and on the back wheels on the hanger. He cut the ropes in evenly and tied it onto the landing gears to the picks, The Spectrum was now tied down. I had jumped up to the Spectrum 20 Metres up, Ceres had pretty weak gravity, Hence tying it down. I had checked out the Poseidon up top, Making sure the docking port was holding tight. The extending docking port had retracted when the Poseidon docked in LEO, Straps overtop the Poseidon. I checked the integrated digital watch on my wrist "TANKS: 62% FILLED" It read. I looked up, The Spectrum had a sudden rumble, It threw me off "Agh" I belted out. The Spectrum was sinking into the soft Ceretian ground. I jumped into the hanger at the rear, The ground collapsing behind me. I sub-floated to the Bridge, Occasionally pushing myself up, I sat in the seat. "AETHER Tank percentage." I waited, It said in a glitchy voice cutting out occasionally "Ninety Two Percent." I sighed "Ignite engines, 10%" The engines fired a 400 Metre long plasma trail. The Spectrum's wheels were spinning but not moving, The ground gave out the Spectrum...Falling? There was a massive cave 200 metres tall. What looked like a city with rivers and lights below, Little figures. The external cameras snapped several photos "One hundred percent throttle AETHER" The engines fired the 4 KM plasma trail, The Spectrum breaking the ground above shattering. The 3 Other Jets flying into the hangar as it burst out. I flew at high speeds barley above the surface with The Spectrum. The little tube on the back collecting the rest of the needed fuel "99%" AETHER Said, I was ready to yank the stick back. It flashed green "100 Percent." It said, As I absolutely yanked the stick back, The Spectrum slowly went up. We did a full orbit before burning the engines to hit Europa in 4 months. I went to my quarters in ring 1, Opening my closet to find my cryo suit. I put it on, Closing my closet. I opened my door, Closing it behind me, I walked past the other 6 Dorms, Opening the door to the kitchen. I walked past the messy 3 tables, With crumbs all over the hardwood tables. I opened the steel door now, Climbing down the ladder. At the bottom I let go, Now weightless as I wasn't in the spinning ring anymore I floated down to the cryo pod module. I tapped on the pin pad on the wall "6491." I tapped into the pad. The pad folded in, A cryo pod coming out. The glass lifted as I stepped in, The glass closed. The others had already been in their pods, In stasis, Water filled the tube as I closed my eyes, Falling into stasis. The rings stopped spinning, The Solar panels made sure to point at the sun, All lights went dark, All systems shut down.
3.9 Months later, Europa Orbit.