Solacium

Ch 1: Vorian

Shit.

I cursed as the blaring red light flashed at me again. The loud wailing of my ship's alarm only intensified the pounding in my head, no doubt an unfortunate remnant from my recent hyperspace jump.

My hands shook as I reached out to my ships control panel in an attempt to try to set a course back to my own star system. Pressing the button to engage the course set function of my ship, I was greeted with yet another blinding flash of red light followed by a warning from the robotic voice of my ship's computer intelligence system.

WARNING.

NAVIGATIONAL SYSTEM MALFUNCTION.

RETURN TO FLEET FOR IMMEDIATE REPAIRS.

"That's what I'm trying to do!" I yelled and smashed my fist on the control panel. The sleek silver panel vibrated beneath the force of my clenched fists. The metal was cold against my fists, and I sucked in a sharp breath to collect myself.

I could not become emotionally compromised, not yet. I repeated to myself, focusing on slowing my breathing.

To distract myself, I let my eyes wander out the viewing panel of my ship, looking out at the endless expanse of space ahead. I could see myriad groupings of stars out in the distance, none of which patterns I recognized. I closed my eyes in frustration, pinching the bridge of my nose as I thought of potential solutions to my predicament.

Only one came to mind, and it was not the most favorable considering my deteriorating physical state. Yet, after further mental deliberation, it was clear there was no other suitable option.

Fine. If I must, I will navigate my ship manually, I thought after a moment, shifting to lean back in my seat. Taking a steadying breath, I straightened my back and grasped my ship's navigational toggles.

"Computer, disengage autopilot," I commanded, bracing myself to steer.

AUTOPILOT DISENGAGED.

With a click, the toggles loosened in my grasp and my ship was violently pulled to the right. At the sudden change in trajectory, I barely managed to hold on as the ship tilted, slamming my body into the side of the ship. At the impact, I felt my blaster dislodge from where it was loosely strapped to my thigh, flinging to the floor at my feet. I watched it go only for a moment before I grit my teeth, yanking the toggles as hard as I could to the left. The blaster slid across the floor barely missing my boots as the ship violently rotated to the left, straightening back out.

Letting out a breath, I glanced back down at the blaster. After everything, the last thing I wanted was to loose my blaster.

Bracing myself, I let go of one of the toggles to reach for my weapon. Once again, the ship immediately jolted to the right, yet not as violently as before. My remaining hand strained against the toggle as the ship tilted, sending the blaster sliding across the floor and toward the far end of my ship. I only had seconds to secure it.

Quickly leaning forward, I grabbed my blaster from the sleek silver floor in front of me just seconds before it hit the wall. Letting out a breath of relief, I struggled to sit upright before securely tucking it back into the holster on my thigh. This time, I made sure that it would stay there.

Once my blaster was secure, I placed my hand back on the navigational toggle, trying to regain control of my rapidly drifting ship. Tightening my grip, I thrust them back to the left to straighten out. Then pressing forward, I engaged the toggles to change my course. My ship shook and groaned under the pressure of my attempted change in direction, but my efforts were in vain. I could not correct my course. Whatever force was pulling my ship in this direction was too strong.