Into the Unknown (A Shortney Story) (Discontinued)

Friction

Courtney:

Ten days. That's how long we had been travelling.

The night Shayne and I had our conversation, we packed up our stuff and started to head out. Night was bitter cold, but it was easier to move under the light of the moon and the stars than it was to move in the sweltering heat. Once the began to rise, we would set up camp and retreat to our quarters. It took Shayne three days of checking and rechecking, but he managed to get the solar powered AC fixed to cool down the "Smoffice".

Those three days were hell, but the worst part is we barely made any progress. We had to divert from our destination to find a source of water because we were running dangerously low. It frustrated the hell out of me to get off track, but I knew it was necessary.

I know I had promised, but I still had mixed feelings about going with me. For multiple reasons. I wasn't going to be totally sure if I could get any of the ships at this base off the ground, if they were even working that is. I also would be working with three very inexperienced co-pilots. I couldn't even generously call them novices either, they were about as useful as a cactus.

If I were being honest with myself, I didn't want to take them because I didn't want them to get hurt. I wouldn't call any of them my friend, although I did like them for the most part.

I guess I could say that selfishly I just wanted to have the knowledge that if I failed and crashed back to Earth, they could save me again.

Might not be ideal, but it was kind of a backup plan. Although what I said was true. I did owe them one. I felt I could trust Shayne, in the sense that maybe all those books he read would make him a good navigator. Olivia was weird, but in a good way. She was also scarily flexible. When I played Twister with the group a week ago, she bended like a pretzel. If we have to, and have the equipment, we could send her out to make any repairs that might need made. Just in case.

And Keith was the most serious one. He could probably talk me down if something serious happened. He could be my co-pilot.

While we traveled, I stayed quiet. I ran through every terminology and classification I could remember to try to prepare myself for the endeavor we were about to undertake.

I had studied Flight Control on the Oasis. My dad was what we called a Firefighter. Our history books told us that firefighters on Earth were typically called upon when a disastrous... well... fire happened. They would come survey the scene and take care of it. So to speak. The Oasis needed certified men and women to make repairs every once and awhile. When it was first created, technical issues and oversights led to some fires and dangerous conditions. They were called Firefighters, just like old times. Then the name just kind of stuck.

Then, came Flight Control. Flight Control's job was to maintain security on the ship. If the ship were to be attacked by pirates, for instance, Flight Control would take charge to defend the ship and its citizens. If we were caught in an asteroid belt, Flight Control would fly ahead and use its technology to give the Oasis the best flight pattern to avoid any critical damage (the ship was typically too big not to take damage).

On the Oasis, every able bodied citizen had to take on a job to keep everything running smoothly. I came from a large family. I had two brothers in Flight Control, as well a sister. One of my other sisters was a Firefighter. I looked up to my sister, Kairie, and she was one of the top Flight Controllers. Unfortunately, you had to wait until you were 20 to become a FC, and I was just a year away.

Before everything happened. I kept waking up to nightmares. I would hear a scream, my name, then an explosion and then... nothing. No matter how hard I tried to remember, it was always the same thing. The same nightmare repeating on repeat over and over for the last week or more. Now that I think about it, the nightmares only really started the night after I listened to the transmission Danny left me.