Star Wars: the Covenant

Chapter 12

The shaking only continued to get worst as the Covenant cruiser plummeted toward the planet below. Jason and the others were fighting to keep their balance aboard a rumbling bridge. Jason ran over to a consol and sat in the oddly shaped chair, trying to get an understanding of what was displayed on the screen. It took several seconds but eventually he understood that he was looking at the ship's orientation in comparison to the planet.

"I think I got it!" he yelled over the roar resonating throughout the ship. Helen tumbled over and gripped the back of his chair, heaving herself back onto her feet.

"What now?" she yelled in his ear. Jason looked down at the blue holographic controls. There were two small pointed circles and a big vertical line sitting in the middle of the keyboard. Jason looked around but found no other controls or hints as to what the line and circles did, but he had a hunch he knew what they were for.

He looked at the display of the ship on the screen. It was beginning to aim down toward the planet surface. Jason reached out with his hand and slid it up the line. Jason was surprised to see a reaction so quickly. The entire bridge shook uncontrollably while the monitor showed the ship was starting to level out. He slid his hand back down the line and the ship went back to how it was before.

"Why did you put it back?" yelled Helen.

"If we kept it like that the friction would have ripped the ship apart!" He responded loudly, "When we get closer to the surface I'll pull the ship out of the dive so the rear of the ship will take most of the impact." Flying 101 he thought with a grim smile.

Jason watched the ship displayed on the screen. It was starting to tip slightly on its right flank. Jason put his hand on one of the circles and gave it a slight turn counter clockwise. Once again the ship responded very quickly and reoriented it self as it fell through the atmosphere. Helen glanced around the shaking bridge, spotting Keelu and Trepid sitting rigid in two of the weirdly shaped Sangheili chairs.

Helen pointed to several symbols in the top left hand corner of the screen, "altitude and speed?" she asked in his ear.

Jason shrugged, honestly having no idea. The two of them watched as one group of numbers increased while another decreased, answering Helen's question. Jason held his hand over the blue line while slightly adjusting the ship's roll, waiting until the decreasing alien numbers dropped to three digits. When they did another wave of adrenaline shot through his already agitated body.

"Hang on!" he yelled to the others as he slid his hand up the blue line. The shaking got even worse, nearly throwing Helen from the back of Jason's chair. She reached over and gripped his hand. Jason held her close as the monitor showed the ship pulling its nose upward. The air now felt hot and sticky, a by-product of the intense friction heating the underbelly of the ship.

Helen held onto Jason for dear life, hoping this moment wasn't going to be her last. She looked into Jason's rugged face and did something she knew she would never regret. She leaned in close and kissed him. Jason was taken by surprise, but chose not to resist and kissed her back passionately. He had never experienced something so wondrous in his entire life. Even in their last moments, he wanted nothing more than to be with Helen. And then, as Jason kissed Helen, believing their lives were over, they hit Abian IV's dusty surface.

The collision was explosive. It threw Jason and Helen clear from the chair. He called on the force and created a shield around them both, protecting them as the crash sent them soaring across the bridge and into the walls. Jason and Helen closed their eyes, hoping on hope that the force shield would hold.

And then, as suddenly as it began, all was quiet. Jason opened his eyes and peered into Helen's dark blue eyes, hardly believing they did it. They survived. For what seemed like a blissful eternity, they laid there, still wound in each other's embrace.