Sapphire Star

Chapter 10 Hanger

After gathering my backpack and lighting another flare we set out along the bottom of the ravine following the path it made. The walls on either side seemed to expand and contract menacingly in the flickering magnesium red glow of the flare held in my hand. The chasm seemed to move on forever. I felt like we should be reaching the edge by now. Then after about another fifty yards and I saw the wall. As it loomed closer I could see two doorways leading off into the ship. One on either side of the monolith-like wall at the end of the chasm. I turned to Pacifica. "Left or right?" I asked. "You choose she said looking unsure. I chose right for no other reason than OCD compulsion as both paths were identical. As the path slopped downward gradually in the pitch-black tall hallway I could see rooms on the left and right at even intervals.

We stopped at a room on the right-hand side of the hallway. The doorway was just like the one where the path forked at the bottom of the chasm, tall and arching. As I held up the light it cast a glow into the modest-sized room. I could see what looked like ledges on the wall, perhaps counters, that ran around the room. There was a large black orb in the middle of the room supported by a cone-shaped base made of the same opalescent metal as the floor and walls. I could see the wall behind it. We got closer to investigate.

There was a series, of what appeared to be, levers against the wall. They were the same metal as the wall but raised off of it and appeared to be insulated from the wall slightly. The lever was a metal A-framed arm with a metal orb at the end. Against the wall beneath every arm stood a metallic receiver. It looked like a small metal clasp that appeared to be spring-loaded. It appeared that the arm would snap down on the receiver end locking into place. They were all in a line facing either up or down. Most of the arms were down, but many of them stood up unclamped. I reached out to touch it. Sure enough, it was spring-loaded, and so was the receiver. I had observed everything I could and with nothing left to go on, I took the first arm that was open and closed it down on the latch. Nothing. I tried the same for the next one. Same result. As I got to the last one I held my breath as I locked it onto the receiver. As I did it made a humming noise, but then nothing. "Did you hear that?" I asked. "I heard it too," Pacifica said.

The room was still black. Disappointed we turned to leave. As I did I saw something. A single red light against the wall! "Pacifica!" I said excitedly. As I ran over to it I could see what appeared to be a very small quartz-like crystal in the wall. It glowed with a soft red light. The light was next to what looked like a series of weird seashells in rows and columns. These must be toggles I thought to myself. I reached forward to press one but paused my finger just shy of the button.

I turned to Pacifica. "What do you think, should we give one a shot?" I asked. "I hope we didn't just come all this way to stand here, Dipstick." She said her one eyebrow raised. Then a subtle grin reached the edge of her lips. I shook my head smirking. I then pressed the button.

The ship shook with a massive quake. It felt like an upheaval! Then as suddenly as it had started it stopped. "What was that?!" Pacifica said her deep blue aquamarine eyes wide with start. "I don't know," I said. I listened to hear if there was any noise. I could hear and feel a draft. "Can you hear that?" I asked Pacifica. "I can hear it too," she said. I took her hand as we exited the room following the source of the noise. As we followed the maze of a tunnel I could hear the sound of wind a little louder. Then I saw a faint glow. I tossed the flare into a nearby empty room as it was almost spent anyway. Now I could more clearly make out the source of the faint light. We walked down the hall our footsteps echoing strangely off the odd walls. As I got close I realized I could hear birds chirping in the distance.

As I rounded the corner the breath escaped my lips as I saw the room before me. It was massive, at least fifty yards tall. It was twice as wide and not quite twice as deep. The roof had appeared to cave in leaving a skylight in the ceiling. I noticed the hole was square, and then I saw the doors hanging loosely on either side. "We must have opened a hatch door," I said in wonder. I realized now that beneath the rubble was what looked like some kind of craft, or what was left of one. "Awe man!" I said. "We find a smaller ship...and I destroyed it. Just great." I put my head in my hands rubbing my eyes. "Uh Dipper," Pacifica said. I immediately looked up quickly at alert. I saw she was pointing to the shadows. I looked and saw three silhouettes. I then noticed they were in formation. My excitement surmounted! They looked like scout ships. I had accidentally crushed the fourth one closest to the hanger door.