The Bridge: A Science Fiction Survival Story

Chapter 80

A vibrating hum sounded from below, and around the departure vehicle, my hair stood on end. Or rather, straight up, as my stomach lurched into my chest, and our environment transformed from normal gravity to a force pushing straight up. Beside me, Airomem reached up to gather the strands now scattered above her head into a single knot, tightening them with a flick of her wrist. The lights above dimmed as the feeling intensified, and I heard retching from ahead, turning just in time to witness a stream of vomit streak upwards to splatter on the ceiling. Quickly, I averted my gaze as others joined in, and regretted that many of them had sat together in close groups while so many seats had been available.

"Your people," said Airomem, distracting me. "You can start them gardening? You can lead them in that aspect, as well as a portion of my own."

"Maybe not physically," I said, raising my bandaged hands, "but I can instruct. I plan on instructing them in far more than that, however."

"Of course," she responded. "I'm sure Prometh will be happy to assist. But first, critical-to-life skills must be prioritized."

"Agreed," I said. "And we better hope that there is some food available on arrival. What we brought will not last long, and while there appear to be prepackaged rations on this ship, we have yet to take stock of them. Or to see if they are still edible."

"Take however many of my people you need, then," she said, her voice growing strained as the upwards force increased marginally, "except for the soldiers. They'll leave the vessel first, and we'll need to make sure there are no threats ahead."

"Be careful; let's have a better interaction with whatever is down there than we did when we first met," I responded. "If there is anything down there."

Then, before she could continue the conversation, the gravity field increased further, making the blood rush to my face, accompanied by a headache. I struggled to grip the edge of my seat, the bandages preventing me from finding a handhold, and Airomem taking hold of my forearm to steady me.

I lost track of time in those moments, the edges of my vision turning red, fighting to keep down the nausea that threatened to make me join the dozens with already empty stomachs. And when I looked up, the vessel was silent. Gravity felt like normal – well, slightly heavier than normal, but not by much. I swallowed to pop my ears and jumped as I heard a sound behind me.

The whoosh of two doors opening, accompanied by a bright light that flooded into the back of the ship.