Titans

[29] Merc

The Stelliferous Era [234:45]
Location: The Hermes Starship

I'm walking down the hall to the observation deck when something explodes

Straight away, the ship begins to tilt, veering off to one side. I move quickly, looking into the rooms as I pass by. No one. "Guys!" I yell.

"We're here," Cal says. He and Lilith emerge from the mess deck. Looking in, I can see they'd been playing cards, but now the cards have slipped off the table, sliding down the room. The ship has tilted at least 45 degrees already.

"Where's Atara," I say.

"Not with us. With any luck, she's already in the pilot's chair. If not–" The ship grumbles, the vibrations ringing through me. The ship feels as though it's on the brink of breaking apart.

"Control room," I shout. "Now."

They nod in agreement and together we rush down the corridors. The problem is, the control room is on the other side of the ship, and the slant of the ship makes running much harder. I feel a stab of fear; we're not going to make it in time.

Another grumble. The ship tilts further. I'm running along the walls now more than on the floor.

Suddenly, there's a deafening roar, too loud to be coming from the ship. I ram my palms into my ears. "What is that?" Lilith shouts. Or mouths. I can't tell.

I look at Cal. He shakes his head.

We keep moving. Something slams into the ship and it jerks roughly to one side. I'm thrown into the roof where I bash against a ceiling light. Bright pain explodes in my ribs, sizzling across my side.

Without a word, Lilith helps me back to my feet. We're still only halfway to the control room and now I'm running completely on the wall, jumping over doorways. I suffocate the voice that screams at me to give up. Nothing is over until it's over.

There's another explosion. The ship squeals and finally the alarms start ringing. But just when I feel the ship rolling onto it's back, it rights itself. Violently.

Instinctively I wrap an arm around my side, doing my best to protect it from the fall. My ribs still scream in pain when I land hard on the floor, the air slammed out of my lungs. The ship is flying steadily now and I take a deep breath. Cal has already gotten to his feet and he stands over me, offering a hand. I accept it, holding my other hand to my side.

The alarms fall silent. Cal looks up at the nearest one, which was once flashing a bright red but is now still and dull. "Looks like Atara made it to the control room," he says. "How are you doing?" He nods at the hand I hold to my ribs.

I take another breath and wince. "I'll be alright."

"Good thing you're a doctor."

"I think that's stretching it."

He shrugs. "Maybe."

Then there's a thunderous rumble, just like before. Again I clamp my hands over my ears, feeling as though someone's shoved a knife into my eardrums.

"What the hell?" Lilith says when it passes. "I thought Atara got control of the ship?"

Cal is shaking his head. "That isn't the ship. Come on."

We run the rest of the way to the control room. Every step is jarring, with sparks of pain dancing across my chest and down my side. Slowly, however, it get's easier to ignore.

We arrive at control and just as predicted, Atara sits in the pilot's chair. She looks back at us when we enter. "Finally. I thought you all must have been knocked out or something."

"We were at the other end of the ship," Cal explains quickly. "But that noise–"

"You heard it too?"

Lilith looks at her like she's crazy. "No, it was too soft."

Cal moves forward, looking over Atara's shoulder at the controls. "Is there any way we could see what's beneath us?"

Atara thinks for a second, then nods. "Actually, yeah. This camera here looks at the ground." She points at one of the large screens above her. It displays only darkness. "The ship has high power beams on all sides. We can use them to light up what's below. Hold on, I'll just get them going."

We wait, our eyes focused intently on the screen. The rumbling and booming continues to sound, and as the time passes I find myself growing anxious. What is going on out there?

That's when Atara gets the lights on. Cal breaths in sharply. Atara forgets all about piloting the ship. All our eyes are locked on the screen.

Beneath us, the planet is splitting, quaking. Massive ridges like the one our ship got lodged in crack open all across the surface. The ground is a rolling wave – only it's made out of rock, not water. My heart's beating so fast I fear it might burst.

Lilith says what we're all thinking. "Holy fucking shit. It's being ripped apart."