Lightyear

Chapter 3

I thought I heard dogs but it was soldiers barking so furiously one could not distinguish their voices. It took seconds in my sleepy haze to realize my surroundings and the danger I was in. Seconds I did not have.

The doors opened suddenly. It was the young guard. "Hurry!" he ordered and I rose. "We have to get you to safety." I took one wobbly step and almost lost my balance. The drugs hadn't worn off yet.

" What's going on?" I asked. "Why are we leaving?" He put a hand on my back and guided me to the door, stopping only to pick up my meager belongings. I stopped. A fearful thought had interrupted my dazed state. I could now think clear as day. "Aren't there guards outside those doors?"

The young guard (or whatever he was) didn't hesitate instead dragged me along with him by my middle. "We don't have time to worry about that. We need to get you strapped in." With that my heart sped up.

The sliding doors opened exposing us to all who stood outside. The bright flashing lights hurt my eyes after being in the darkness of that room for a few days. "There is no time to explain! Get her a seat. Now!"  my guard yelled. He left me there sprinting off in another direction.

The group stared at me for a second. I stared back thankful that I recognized none of the faces.  Suddenly the ship shook violently, and our moment was stolen. I nearly fell when a guard caught my arm. The shouts rose up again. Soldiers hustled from one station to another. The one that caught me hurried me in the direction my guard went.

We ran together. He ran in an orderly flashing, shouting commands to passing people in silver uniforms, clutching my arm. I staggered using all my strength to not slip when the ship took sudden lurches or vibrated mercilessly.

Finally he pulled me into a large round room. All in the room men women and children were strapped into belts and large white contraptions that made resembled steel life vests. They resembled what you would wear on twenty first century themed rides.  Roller coasters. I think that's what you call them. I have never been on one.

"Get her into a pod!" the soldier shouted shoving me forward. Another guard, a female one, came forward to get me. The ship lurched dangerously turning on its side. The guards grabbed onto hand rails on the walls. I couldn't reach any . I fell sliding towards the wall, slamming into my already damaged knee cap. A deafening roar sounded out drowned out only by screams and the sound of sliding metal.

The female soldier used the handrails to swing to me. She grabbed my hand and helped my stand. "I'm sorry! We have no pods left in this room!"  The other guard swung to me and helped me grab on to the rails.

"I don't care!" he shouted over the near deafening noise. "She needs a pod. Did you check the wall station?"

" Affirmative. Everyone has signed on.There are no available civilian pods except maybe on the bridge."

" I need to get back to my task force! Can you take her?" the roar increased, the squeal of metal increased, drowning out the last of his voice. You could barely hear anything.

"Yes." She took my hand and helped me inch my way out the room. "Are you ok?" She asked.

I nodded but I felt nauseous. Finally after what felt like hours the ship stopped shaking. We jumped off the rails, which intern sank back into walls.

We took off sprinting. She was young, fast, and in very good shape. I. . . am more of a long distance runner but the adrenaline kept me running.

"We need to get to the bridge before another launch."  She called between breaths.

We turned a corner so deftly I grazed the wall. "Launch?" I huffed. I could feel my muscles tightening. They were already sore from medication.  I couldn't stop. I went faster pushing myself faster, faster ,faster. 

She didn't answer my questions. We turned more corners. Finally we ran through doors, automatic but continually open due to the people rushing through them.

The room was enormous. Easily bigger than the cargo deck. It was filled to the brim with frantic Star Force officers . There were wall tablets at every station. Thin black lines snaked across the ceiling attached to hanging pear-shaped white chairs. The communication troopers sat in them tapping tirelessly on walkways. They were strapped to the white chairs and used the  black cords to slide about the room.

There were pods lining the room just like in that room except these were empty. There was a huge wall screen above a dozen little ones all picturing images moving faster and faster.

She pushed me passed Officers and troopers towards the empty pods that lined the oval shaped room. I sat in one. I slid the seatbelt across into the holder and waited for the automatic protection to finish the process.

"I'm leaving. I'll try to come back." She yelled over the plethora of voices. I could barely here her over the white noise of the commands and the buzzing of my Auto Protect falling into place.

She bolted for the door. But then there was shaking in the ship and falling and confusion. There was sliding and the sounds of skulls colliding with machinery and blood, lots of blood.

The woman had lost her balance and slammed against the sharp edge a wall screen, which was glitching and smeared with blood. The attendee of the screen yelled for a Nurse or a shuttle. The Emergency Response Troopers came in quickly and ushered her out on a Hover Stretcher.

It all happened fast. Then she ship shook and lurched again. It felt like it was spinning in a dozen different directions, so fast it was hard to breathe. My head pounded and I closed my eyes. All the people connected to the white chairs slid to one side of the room. The officers standing at the wall screen grabbed the handle bars which rose up in front of them.

Finally it stopped. "What are you doing here!"

My guard, the young one who saved me, raced to my side. "Are you hurt? Why are you on the bridge"

"Why are you on the bridge?"

  He looked at me after I asked that. His eyes narrowed.

" I asked you first. anyway I'm supposed to be here. I am needed. I have to help my father."

"I thought you were a guard."

"I told you I'm not a guard. I'm the captain's son. I'm a Student Officer-in-training."

I looked at him closer than ever before. I could finally see how young he was. He couldn't have been much older than me.

The ship turned and he grabbed onto a handrail to avoid swinging into the wall.

"What's going on!" I asked. The loud sound rang out again. He used the rails to get closer.

"I really shouldn't be telling you this but our maps were compromised. The update didn't come through. So our cargo mission is. . ." He trailed off and gave a weary glance toward a man standing in front of the flashing wall screens. He looked like the guard. He was older and had wrinkles around his forehead and lines in the corners of his frown. He stood holding his hands behind his back staring with commanding stature. His brown hair was graying at the ends and thinning in spots but he looked middle-aged. The Captain.

"Is what?!"

" . . .Delayed"

She ship lurched and spun again. The sound increased. I closed my eyes trying to swallow and grit my teeth. I gripped the outside of my Auto Protect. After seconds it cleared.

"That's it! That's all your going to tell me!"

" It's not supposed to be spread around."

"Look around. Who am I going to tell?"

" We. . .we took a detour."

"C'mon."

"Look our GPS was faulty and we stumbled into. . ." he looked down still reluctant to tell me but I was tired of secrets. Especially ones that affected me, personally. I gave him a look. He swallowed. " a war zone."

" A war zone?!"

" And. . . we were spotted." The ship shook violently. " by Chilean warships." He sighed. "This wasn't supposed to happen. I mean we can defend ourselves but not for long."

"What are you talking about!"

"I'm sorry but. . . this ship is under attack."