Unbreakable

Space Sledgehammer

"Do you like farm fish grown in the hydrogen-rich atmosphere, Maynard?" Captain Gerald Bostaph asked the Navigator of Space Cruiser Unbreakable. "I really enjoy the delicate texture of trout grown at Nu Indy-2 Space Habitat. Delicious, unlike this crap we are eating now. You should try it. The trout, I mean."

Captain Bostaph, Navigator Maynard, and First Mate Lukic were having lunch in the ship's Dining Room, discussing various delicacies and cuisines of different cultures. Unbreakable was on a mission, transporting a shipment of low gravity ostrich eggs from a farming colony Mbuni 12-651 to Bola Api 8-0, a recently colonized world on the frontier.

"No, sir, I never ate this trout," Leslie Maynard said. "But looking forward to it, I am sick of this food, too."

"Well, Navigator, we cannot afford it. Not yet. Maybe, after a few cross-galactic product deliveries like this one, we could save enough money to have a feast, let's see," Captain responded, smiling.

"What are we having for lunch today, anyway? This does not look like anything," Lukic asked.

"I am not sure..." The captain said, peeking into his compartmentalized container filled with some grey jelly substance and what looked like slimy red stems of some exotic plant.

"I talked to Chef Stroganov earlier today and saw the menu," Navigator Maynard said. "This grey...thing...is...let me try to remember exactly what was in the menu...compacted extraction of edible bio-material taken from various sources on Mbuni 12-65 and...from our ship."

"From our ship? What edible bio-material can our ship provide?" Captain wondered.

"Well, we have a Hydroponics Unit...maybe Chef is growing plants, veggies, or herbs," Maynard suggested.

"And the crew generates bio-waste! Perhaps not all of it is a complete waste!" First Mate exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Lukic, this was a completely unnecessary suggestion..." Captain Bostaph put his utensil aside. "What are these red stems? Maynard, do you know?"

"Eh...this is not quite...stems, sir. These are the tails of giant rats people had domesticated at Mbuni 12-65. This stuff is so tough you have to subject it to very high pressure, temperature, and some chemicals to cook. While being processed this way, the tails generate slimy substance, which serves as a sauce."

"I have lost my appetite," Lukic announced.

"First Mate, there is nothing else to eat...unless you want more of this...bio-waste mass..." Maynard shrugged.

"No, thank you very much, Leslie. I think I'll pass," Lukic put his hands on the table.

At this moment, the whole ship shivered, and the invisible force threw everything in disarray, as though they suddenly hit a wall. Rat's tails covered in bio-material flew all around the table.

"What the hell just happened?" The captain said slowly.

"Feels like the ship hit something," First Mate responded. "Perhaps it is that universe edge again. I'll go grab my javelin..."

"Sit, Lukic! I have a feeling something bad happened to the engine," Bostaph frowned.

As if to confirm Captain's hunch, Senior Engineer Chen ran into the Dining Room. His face was red and covered in sweat, he was short on breath and very agitated.

"Chen, what is going on?" Captain asked.

"Sir, we are not moving!" Chen announced, taking a breath.

"I can guess that," Captain grunted. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Space Compressor is not working, sir. We might have run into something we did not account for when chartering the course."