SIREN

Chapter Six

I felt a pair of hands grip my shoulders. Captain Maximova's slim body flew over my chair and landed in my lap. She gripped my chin and shouted. 'Shut up, Fletcher! Shut up! Calm down and talk to me!'

'Buh! Wuh? What?' I felt sweat spurt down my back, 'Captain! What's happening?'

'We're going through the Kuiper Belt.'

'That's bad.'

'Yes, Fletcher, thank you for pointing that out,' she sighed. I felt a jab of pain as the Captain dug her fingernails into me, 'do you think you can reboot the computers? Maybe change the mood lighting?'

'Why can't Hoshi do it?'

'She's passed out,' she said, getting me out of my seat.

A number of asteroids pelted the hull, making me flinch. 'Bloody Hell...'

'You can do it, can't you, Fletcher?'

'Why can't you?'

'Because I'm going to be checking on the rest of the crew.'

Another rock crashed into the Pangaea. This one caused the room to tilt. The floor was now slowly becoming a wall.

'Damn it!' the Captain cried, 'damn it all!' She shoved me and got back to her station. 'Get to Hoshi's desk and do what I told you!'

'Yes, Captain!' I said. I lowered my body and crawled towards Hoshi, swearing as I went. She was slumped in her chair with a trail of spit leaking out of her mouth. I bumbled past her and got to work.

'This is Captain Maximova, does anyone read me?' the Captain called out. 'I hope this thing is working, because I'm going to be—'

'Yes, Captain,' Sam's voice came from a nearby speaker. 'I'm reading you.'

'Still no Robbie?' the Captain asked.

'Can't find him, Captain. I was on my way to look for him but the banging distracted me. What's going on?'

'We're passing through the Kuiper Belt, Sam. It's not going to be pretty. You've probably noticed that the ship is turning.'

'Yeah, I did notice a few odd things going on...'

'Bonjour Capitaine,' Jaq said, cutting through their conversation.

'Jaq, give me good news,' Captain Maximova laid her head on the desk with a bump, 'please.'

'Tout est cassé, que vais-je faire?'

'Fletcher?'

'She's saying everything is broken and she doesn't know what to do.'

Our Captain rolled her eyes. 'Jaq, speak English.'

'I wasn't joking, Captain,' she whined, 'it's all beyond repair. I can't fix any of it. The belt has damaged too much.'

'Jaq, you're the most talented mechanic I know, surely you can do something?'

'I'm afraid not, Captain. Our engines are worthless. I can't even cannibalise the Eagle engines because they're too small. We're adrift!' I heard her throw something to the ground. 'I can't fix anything!'

'Fletcher, update on the computers?'

I shook my head as I hit every button I could find. Even the switches under Hoshi's desk ignored me. 'Captain, I'm sorry...'

'Okay. Right.' The Captain's eyes glazed over and she licked her lips. 'We know the intercom is still working, so that means either the virus bypassed that system, or it couldn't break it. But, on the other hand, The Eye is offline, the lights are out and our oxygen pumps might not be working. Oh, and an asteroid belt just smashed our ship up.' She planted her palm against her desk and leaned into a microphone. 'Okay, everyone get to The Eye as soon as possible. This is a priority command. Leave whatever you're doing and come to me.'