Padawan
I woke to the sound of something scraping violently against metal. For several seconds, I didn't understand where I was. I lay still in the unfamiliar bed, staring into darkness as another deep shudder passed through the ship. The vibration traveled through the mattress and into my bones, followed by a series of muted clanks somewhere beyond the walls. Then the emergency lights flickered. Once. Twice. And then they went dark again.
I sat upright. My heart was already beginning to race. This wasn't the gentle hum of a ship traveling through hyperspace. There was no familiar vibration beneath the floor, no steady thrum of the engines. Instead, the vessel seemed almost unnervingly quiet between each shudder, as though it were struggling simply to remain alive.
"Hello?" My voice sounded strangely small in the darkness. I reached toward the bedside panel and pressed the controls. Nothing happened. I tried again. Still nothing.
The emergency lighting finally flickered back to life, bathing the room in a dim amber glow. I slipped out of bed and crossed toward the door, keeping one hand against the wall when the ship suddenly tilted beneath me. "Whoa..." I caught myself against the frame. That wasn't right. Ships weren't supposed to tilt in space.
I hurried toward the viewport. Outside, there were stars. But they weren't the stars that I recognized. There was no familiar streaking of hyperspace beyond the glass. No distant glow of a nearby system. Just an immense field of darkness dotted with unfamiliar points of light.
And then I saw it. A planet. It occupied an enormous portion of the viewport, far larger than any world should have appeared at this distance. It's surface was shrouded beneath swirling clouds and bands of strange coloration, illuminated faintly by the distant light of it's star. For several moments, I simply stared. I had never seen it before. I wasn't even sure that it was supposed to be there.
A sudden jolt threw me against the wall. Somewhere deep within the ship, an alarm began to sound. I turned toward the door, trying the door controls. They were dead. My stomach tightened. "Open please...." I pressed the control again, harder this time, as though that might somehow convince it to cooperate. It didn't.
Then the realization slowly settled over me. I was locked inside. I stepped back and looked around the small quarters. There wasn't much here that could help. A bed. A small storage compartment. A table bolted to the floor. A viewport. And a door that apparently no longer had any intention of opening.
Another violent tremor shook the ship. This time, something crashed in the corridor outside. "Hello!" I shouted. I hurried to the door and began pounding against it with the palm of my hand. "Is anyone out there?" No response. I struck the door again. "Can anyone hear me?"
The ship groaned around me. I paused, listening. For just a moment, I thought that I had heard something. A voice? Footsteps? Or perhaps simply the ship settling around me. I pressed my ear against the cold durasteel. "Please!" I called again, louder this time. "I'm trapped in here! If anyone can hear me, I could really use some help!"
I stepped back from the door, waiting. The emergency lights flickered. Somewhere beyond my quarters, something metallic gave a long, ominous groan. And beneath it all, almost too faint to notice, came another sound. A warning repeating over the ship's failing intercom. "...gravity well... proximity warning..." Then static swallowed the message.
I stared at the door. Whatever had happened to this ship; we were running out of time.
Tags: OPEN
I sat upright. My heart was already beginning to race. This wasn't the gentle hum of a ship traveling through hyperspace. There was no familiar vibration beneath the floor, no steady thrum of the engines. Instead, the vessel seemed almost unnervingly quiet between each shudder, as though it were struggling simply to remain alive.
"Hello?" My voice sounded strangely small in the darkness. I reached toward the bedside panel and pressed the controls. Nothing happened. I tried again. Still nothing.
The emergency lighting finally flickered back to life, bathing the room in a dim amber glow. I slipped out of bed and crossed toward the door, keeping one hand against the wall when the ship suddenly tilted beneath me. "Whoa..." I caught myself against the frame. That wasn't right. Ships weren't supposed to tilt in space.
I hurried toward the viewport. Outside, there were stars. But they weren't the stars that I recognized. There was no familiar streaking of hyperspace beyond the glass. No distant glow of a nearby system. Just an immense field of darkness dotted with unfamiliar points of light.
And then I saw it. A planet. It occupied an enormous portion of the viewport, far larger than any world should have appeared at this distance. It's surface was shrouded beneath swirling clouds and bands of strange coloration, illuminated faintly by the distant light of it's star. For several moments, I simply stared. I had never seen it before. I wasn't even sure that it was supposed to be there.
A sudden jolt threw me against the wall. Somewhere deep within the ship, an alarm began to sound. I turned toward the door, trying the door controls. They were dead. My stomach tightened. "Open please...." I pressed the control again, harder this time, as though that might somehow convince it to cooperate. It didn't.
Then the realization slowly settled over me. I was locked inside. I stepped back and looked around the small quarters. There wasn't much here that could help. A bed. A small storage compartment. A table bolted to the floor. A viewport. And a door that apparently no longer had any intention of opening.
Another violent tremor shook the ship. This time, something crashed in the corridor outside. "Hello!" I shouted. I hurried to the door and began pounding against it with the palm of my hand. "Is anyone out there?" No response. I struck the door again. "Can anyone hear me?"
The ship groaned around me. I paused, listening. For just a moment, I thought that I had heard something. A voice? Footsteps? Or perhaps simply the ship settling around me. I pressed my ear against the cold durasteel. "Please!" I called again, louder this time. "I'm trapped in here! If anyone can hear me, I could really use some help!"
I stepped back from the door, waiting. The emergency lights flickered. Somewhere beyond my quarters, something metallic gave a long, ominous groan. And beneath it all, almost too faint to notice, came another sound. A warning repeating over the ship's failing intercom. "...gravity well... proximity warning..." Then static swallowed the message.
I stared at the door. Whatever had happened to this ship; we were running out of time.
Tags: OPEN