Solar Date: Tuesday, December 19, 2197
Mission: Day 1535
The ship jerked, sending Roger off his bed. He fell, his head smacking the metal side table. "Arghhh fuck!"
His hand jumped to a large cut, his fingers wet with the oozing blood. The ship shook again, nearly knocking him off his feet once more. He stammered, his head pounding as he quickly dressed.
He stepped out the door into darkness. The lights flickered, then flashed scarlet in alert mode.
At the end of the dim hall something caught Roger's eyes. The wall moved, slightly, like a wave.
"What the fuck?"
The ship trembled, its metal supports creaking like old joints. Roger took another gaze at the distortion. It grew. He stammered back, immediately turning around. He pounded on Tevra's door.
"Tevra!"
He banged again.
"Tevra!"
The door opened. The Valmirian rubbed her eyes, dressed in her nightgown.
"Wha-"
Roger yanked her hand, pulling the half awake girl out of the room.
"We have to leave! Now!"
"Why?"
Roger pointed. "That!"
The distortion grew, now encompassing the whole end of the hallway and part of her quarters, warping the solid metal walls like taffy.
"But-"
"You can't go back and get dressed, Tevs! It's not safe!"
The distortion swallowed up the rest of her quarters as the ship shook once more. Roger pulled her hand as they took off.
* * *
Zarra rubbed her temples in frustration. "Are we stuck?"
"Engines are down."
"Shit. What is it?"
"It is a spatial distortion," Prill answered, entering the bridge.
"What kind?"
"Not good. The mess hall is bent."
"Bent?"
"Space is completely warped in there."
"Can we use the FTL drive to stabilize space?"
Holloway turned from the console. "No. We don't have enough power."
"What about artificial gravity? It doesn't seem to be effected."
"The system will eventually overload from compensating."
Holloway spun around in his chair once more. "What if we shut down gravity on the uninhabited decks?"
"Good thinking. That'll buy us some time. Most of the stuff is magnetized anyways."
"Inform the crew to evacuate all outer sections and head towards the center of the ship."
Holloway shook his head. "Not good. . . not good."
"What is it?"
"The ship-wide intercom system is inoperable. There's too much interference for wireless communication."
"What about the built-in one?"
"It has a one-way activation. We can't get a message across without someone there at the other end listening to it."
YOU ARE READING
Astray Among The Stars
Science FictionNovember 17, 2197. Mission: Day 1503. The teen raced down the alien passage way, sizzling plasma bolts flying past him. He ducked and dodged, running like a wounded and hunted animal. He had to escape. He had to find the others before it was too lat...
