OGENUS EARTH 🌎 🌊 {Dystopian Sci-Fi Adventure}

The Ghost of Tom Jode

Olivia glanced around at the rest of the cramped space hurriedly. There weren't any more chairs to strap themselves to, so she snatched up the sheet on the bunk, rolling Meg to one side.

Olivia dove for her new chum, catching her with enough time to keep Meg on the bed. Her hands flew as she knotted one end of the sheet around Meg's petite waist, tugging twice to be sure the knots were sound, then, tied it off on the wall.

Before she could complete her own, the ship rocked abruptly to one side, tossing her into the wall with a thud.

Meg strained against her harness, grasping for Olivia's fingers to pull her back to safety. Olivia groaned in anguish but managed to wriggle across the floor enough for Meg to slip a blanket down to her. They worked together to fasten the knots from above and below as the ship lunged at another blunt angle.

"Hold on!" Harrison screamed from the cockpit, his voice booming down the halls and filling them with alarm.

Olivia cried out when she tried to lift her ankle, it was already swelling. Meg tried to offer her ice pack, but it jettisoned out of her hand with yet another dangerous roll.

Up front, Big Joe was concentrating on restoring the equilibrium of the ship, while Harrison started evasive maneuvers.

"Perhaps Chantilly wasn't happy with the new amount you worked out with her client?" Big Joe suggested with a hint of sarcasm.

"Nah." Harrison brushed off the idea with his boyish smile. "But she probably isn't too happy that I cut her out of the deal altogether."

"Oh scheisse!" Big Joe laughed out loud. "She's going to cut your balls off."

"She's probably going to cut yours off too." Harrison reminded him with a smirk.

"Amputation by association." Big Joe shook his head woefully. "I like my balls where they are! Where I can see them."

"You sure you can still see those things with that gut?" Harrison was cackling now, the mania helped steady his nerves. "Besides, you won't miss much of anything if you're dead."

"Who said anything about dying?" Big Joe sputtered back. "I'm not losing my life, or my balls, to a ship like Odysseus. Not today!"

Harrison grinned as Big Joe took control. He was one of the most gifted way-finders Harrison had ever come across, not that you would know it to look at him. Big Joe's enormous paws and swollen limbs made him look like a lumbering galoot, but behind the prow of a ship, he was as crafty as a dolphin.

Odysseus was gaining speed, and they had Harrison's ship bested if that were the only horse he had in this race, but they had one huge unknown advantage to exploit.

"What's going on?" Midge called out to them from the back.

"Uh folks," Harrison's voice came over a speaker that seemed to pipe to the whole ship, "we're going to be experiencing some unexpected turbulence. Please remain in your seats until the captain has switched off the panic light."

Midge's butt cheeks clamped together tight enough to let out a tiny squeak of air as the rest of them braced for the worst. The ship veered again, hoisting everyone up off of their seat for a moment.

Without the use of steady sight, Meg was disoriented enough to throw up as they rolled and bounced around cruelly. She pressed her lips together to keep the vomit from rocketing out of her and shut her eyes tight to stop the spinning of the room.

Big Joe did not have the benefit of closing his eyes, and even he was beginning to feel a bit seasick with all of this motion. He shoved the joystick that controlled the motion of the ship away from him with all of his force (which was quite a lot) sending them into a torpedoed spiral toward the ocean floor.

The sudden drop in pressure seized the walls of the ship, meaning to tear it limb from limb and everyone could hear the screams of the metal protesting. Meg could feel the ship moan against the plummeting speed and the darkness of her world exploded into light.

Hastily, she untied the rag from around her waist, ignoring the protests from Olivia and the others. Meg knew she had to get to MAX, he was programmed with protocol to reroute systems and keep the ship from fracturing. As soon as she was free, Meg's spine was flung into the ceiling, knocking the wind (and puke) out of her.

Her gurgled cry of pain was sharp, but she was determined to get to MAX. Peeling herself up, she tried to block out rolling nausea as she crawled towards the humble bot sleeping peacefully in the corner.

Her palm slapped down on the wake button sending a shock of astonishing pain through Meg's injured arm. MAX awoke to her agonized screams and quickly scanned its assessment.

To her surprise, MAX shot out a thin grapple that zinged past Meg's waist and boomeranged back around twice more before socking her in the gut with its edge. 

The ground gave out beneath them and Meg felt herself freefall until a painful tug tried to yank her skeleton out of her skin. Above her, MAX dangled with its arm still fixed in the ship's outlet, the bot was bleeping erratically against the two forces trying to pull it apart, but Meg couldn't hear that.

We need you to reroute power to the defensive shields, Meg directed with her hands. 

If MAX had extra digits to spare, the bot would have answered that it wasn't possible to sustain their current speed in that event. However, in the interest of time, MAX followed protocol and attempted the task. 

The ship slowed up in response, but it didn't manage to right the balance. 

Two hands slapped the wall below Meg followed by Harrison's head popping up over the makeshift ledge. 

"What the hell are you doing to my ship?!" His yelling wasn't necessary as the sounds of keening metal being ripped apart had dissolved, and Meg wasn't paying attention.

"She's having MAX reroute power to save this rusty tin can!" Olivia shot back.

"Hey!" Harrison yelled out. "This ship might be small, but I'll bet it's not nearly as rusty as your-"

"Harrison!" Big Joe's voice sounded like a booming cannon to those who could hear. "I need you!"

"ATTENTION LITTLE, TINY, INSIGNIFICANT..." A female voice drowned out Big Joe's bellowing, seeming to reverberate through the walls.

"Who you callin' insignificant?" Harrison cried out to no one.

"...HUNK OF JUNK TO EVER CRAAAAAWL THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN..." The omniscient voice continued.

"Now that's just hurtful," Harrison muttered to himself as he rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh before dropping back towards the controls.

Hello Advantageous Adventurers!

This was a short chapter, so this week, I'll be posting two. THANK YOU so much for reading along :D