A Breath of Mars [Open Novella Contest]

03 | Impossible Predicaments

The alarm flared, the noise deafening. Daria winced and slammed her hands down on her ears. Her heart skipped a beat, but she remained calm. Captains were always calm. Daria set off back to the Bridge at a rapid pace. She passed no crew members on her way, so they were either ignorant to the alarm or deaf as a post. Daria thought the former to be more likely considering none of their medical records stated any hearing impairments.

When Daria emerged on the Bridge, the room was in chaos. Orders were flying through the air while control panels were covered in scrambling hands. The flashing red lights were beginning to give her a headache.

Daria had to raise her voice considerably to be heard. "Would someone please turn that fucking alarm off!"

Aine flicked a nearby screen and the shrieking alarm finally ceased. A few audible sighs were heard. The red lights stayed, however. It was protocol that they remained until the hazardous conditions were avoided, to alert any other crewmen of the situation.

"What is going on?" Daria demanded, in a much more controlled voice now that the Bridge had fallen into silence.

Ravi, the older of the twins, answered. "We're experiencing very strong gravitational fluctuations."

Daria started at his words. "That's impossible." She trekked to where Ravi sat and bent over his shoulder to view the ships schematics. They were, in fact, being pulled down by Mars. Daria had to think quick.

"Tallie, boost all the thrusters and keep an eye out for overheating. Aine, help Tallie if needed. Ravi steer us out of the pull. Kasen, alert the rest of the crew about the situation. And Zarel," Daria turned to the charcoal-skinned man standing in front of a hologram of the solar system, "Find out how far this field has effect." Pike, the only one she hadn't given an order to, stood by the far wall with his arms folded tight across his chest, surveying the scene.

Daria jumped back into her chair and pulled up a live hologram of Mars. They were still considerably far away from the red planet. Daria started to get the idea that maybe it wasn't Mars that was affecting the ship. There was, however, nothing else nearby but black space.

The module began to shudder.

Daria looked up from her hologram to the team in front of her. "What's happening?" Daria had to grip the arms of her chair to stop herself from tumbling out.

"Thruster three has gone offline. Thruster two is close to failure." Tallie informed. "I've never seen anything like it, Captain. Mar's gravitational pull is extreme. Our thrusters aren't equipped for this kind of pressure. We're a scouting ship, not a war ship!"

Daria rubbed at her face. This wasn't good. "What about our FTL drive?" Daria asked.

Ravi swivelled in his chair. "Offline."

Of cause. Of cause they wouldn't give her a functioning FTL drive. Daria was running out of options, and if she didn't do something soon, they were going to connected with Mars. Forcefully.

"Kasen, order everyone to the Bridge immediately. Tallie, keep those thrusters on for as long as you can but don't let them burn out. Ravi, you know how to do an unassisted landing?"

Ravi threaded his fingers through his beard. "Unassisted, as in no AI help?"

"As in no thrusters."

Ravi turned white. "Arr..."

He wouldn't have a choice. Daria slipped her necklace out of her jumpsuit and ran her fingers over the dove for good luck. Neiko had gifted her with it during an anniversary dinner, the only jewellery she tolerated. Neiko . . .