Alacrity

Shipp

Shipp stands in front of the bathroom (if you could even call it that) mirror with his overused disposable razor in hand. He rubs shaving cream across his beard, he runs the razor over it with a skilled hand. Shipp misses having time like this, he always seems to be running around with no chance to sleep, or be by himself. He wipes the remaining shaving cream from his eyes stubble and sits down on the side of his bed.

He unzips his grey overalls that have 'Dylan Shipp' embroidered in small letters on his breast pocket, and 'Alacrity' in large proud lettering on the back. He kicks the unwashed fabric off his legs and retreats under the covers without turning off the lights.

His dreams are littered with nightmares from his past, despite that he doesn't wake up until he's supposed to be on shift.

"Damn it Shipp, open the door!" An irritated male voice yells from outside the door. Shipp groggily opened his eyes and walks over to the wall panel to turn on the lights.

"Ya, coming." Shipp presses a button on the door panel, and the door slide open with an industrial click.

"Wow, you look like a mess." Howalk chuckles once the door is open. "Get dressed, and meet me on the bridge."

Shipp closes the door once Howalk begins to walk away and pulls on his second, questionably cleaner, pair of overalls.

_______

"Shipp, you look half awake!" Someone yells as he enters the flight deck.

"Huh?" Shipp responds drunkenly with a sip of coffee.

"I've never seen you this tired before. Were you up late?" Simon pats him on the back, "any girls?"

"Oh, shut up." Shipp groans. Simon lets out a hearty, energetic laugh and collapses into is chair. Shipp sits heavily in his chair and sets his cup onto the desk, some sloshes over the side and lands on Shipp's leg.

Shipp watches over the flight deck from the supervisors chair. Simon takes his seat at the pilot's desk and lets out a audible gasp.

"Guys, strap in." Howalk says while a loud siren blares across the freighter. Shipp pulls the restraints over his arms and buckles them at his chest.

"How fast can you get us moving?" Howalk asks anxiously.

"We're not a fast moving ship, I might be able to get us to four g's, tops." Howalk says.

"Woah, slow down. What the hell is happening?" Shipp yells over the commotion.

"The ships have increased to fifteen g's, they'll probably be caught up in two or three days." Howalk replies.

"What's the nearest port?" Shipp says.

"There's a commercial port on Oberon, but it's not owned by us." Simon says.

"Well, who owns it?" Howalk asks.

"Uh," Simon pauses "it says that Plareon corp. They also own the station there"

"Who are they exactly?" Howalk says confusedly.

"I-I don't know. Do you want me to attempt communication?"

"Sure, how long do you think it'll take us to get there?"

"Maybe two days at this, if they let us dock."

Howalk increases the speed to four g's and Shipp's body is pushed into the shock absorbing gel of his seat and headrest. Shipp's monitor moves up into his line of sight and he watches the space between them and the pirates close slower. He wonders what their feeling now, being injected with something that keeps their blood vessels from being crushed while finding a perfect balance so they don't burst. Extra adrenaline pumping through their veins, preventing them from blacking out and dying.

A white notification bar flashes in the top right of the monitor and Shipp fights against the g force to tap a button that open the message. The message from the comms deck opens, stating that the ship had been approved to dock at port on Oberon. Shipp lets his muscles relax sinks farther into his chair, he notices Howalk relax as the communications disappears from his monitor.

_______

After about half an hour, Howalk slows the ship down and most people slouch forward in their seats, the stress on their body now forcing them to collapse despite their best efforts.

Simon is the first to sit up, he stretches and looks around. "Hey Howalk, how close are we to the station?" He says. Howalk responds with a grunt and taps his screen.

"About 16 hours away." Howalk replies after a few minutes.

"And the ships behind us?"

"They seem to have given up." Howalk says.

"Isn't that a tad bit suspicious?" Simon pitches in.

"Earthers." Someone grumbles.

"Not really, we are quite close to the station. It would be hard for them to claim salvage with so many witnesses, and plus, they can't wipe out an entire station unnoticed." Shipp says.

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So here's chapter two, after about forever and a half. So, I hope you enjoy it, comment if any editing needs to be done.

Thanks
-Jumping_Chicken