Love, Against All Odds

I - Epilogue

Carefully the shuttle entered the Pacifica's bay and hovered over its usual docking location, next to the second craft. Becca switched on the magnetic anchoring system that drew the vessel down to the bay's hull. While she shut down the shuttle's systems, the bay pressurized, filled with oxygen, and a rush of hot air warmed the room.

Becca stepped out but left the pilot's door open since she, Starr, and Raakor would return to Kander for the darakar. Most likely all of the crates would fit in both shuttles; otherwise, a second trip would be necessary. For the rare fuel, it was worth any number of trips and would save Becca thousands of stills over time.

But first, Becca needed to call Sallarus and find out what job he had for them. If their luck hadn't run out, then it would be a quick, easy job. Grinning to herself, she became excited to start another adventure soon rather than surviving on empty. As she passed the galley's open door, she noticed a metal mug and plate sitting on the counter. She hummed low and ducked into the galley, finding nobody around but knowing it was Starr's usual breakfast but half gone. Touching the mug, Becca frowned at the now cold tea and found it rather strange.

Becca left the galley and approached the cabins, noticing the serenity of it all. She tapped on Starr's quarters first and hollered, 'Starr, I'm back!' After no answer, she picked up the pace and beelined to the cockpit. 'Raakor?' she yelled while walking the short bridge to the cockpit.

An electrical pop forced her to sprint the rest of the way until she nearly collided with a swinging head that was tied to the top of the fuselage. Becca ducked but slipped on something wet and toppled to the floor. She slid another pace before a slumped body stopped her from hitting one of the cockpit seats. Directly in front of Becca was the decapitated body of Raakor.

'By the gods,' Becca breathed, and alarms rang in her head. She reached for her handgun, then jumped to her feet, nearly falling from all the blood smeared across the metal floor. Looking over her shoulder, she confirmed it was Raakor's head lightly swinging back and forth, red droplets falling from it. 'No. No. No! No! N-n-no!' Her heart fell into her gut before it started pounding wildly.

'Starr!' Becca took a cautious step toward the bridge until a sharp beep from the cockpit caught her attention. She peered over the pilot's chair and grew wide-eyed when a single word popped up on the panel. It simply said 'RUN' in bright red letters, then it vanished after a minute and was replaced by a smaller RUN in the upper left corner of the panel followed by a second one then a third and one after another until the panel was filled with the word. Like a virus, it spread to the co-pilot's panel and silently screamed at Becca.

'What the fuck is going on?' Becca growled and moved between the chairs, but she stilled when the screens went black again. Another loud beep echoed in the cockpit, and then the time 1:53 filled both the pilot and co-pilot's screen. After a moment, it started counting down at one Earth second, closing in on zero. At 1:45, the Pacifica's internal alarms sounded throughout every room, and every soft light turned eerily red.

'Self-destruct sequence has been initiated. Time until self-destruct is one minute and forty seconds,' the Pacifica's computer announced over the audio system.