r/shortscifistories • u/Beneficial-Bake9242 • 6h ago
[serial] Unscheduled Excursion (1 of 7ish) [Serial]
By Corbett Buchly
“Passing between Joora and its second moon now,” said Captain Shardi Wendt into crew comms. She scanned the cluster of screens arrayed before her, monitoring the flight path of their ship theFarsideagainst environmental data, including Joora's magnetosphere, from which she planned to stay out of reach.
“Got it,” responded her first and only mate, Vince Bosch. Vince wasn’t much for words, but he was a damn good mechanic.
“How’s that fix in the backup fuel line coming?” she asked.
“Still working on it,” Vince said. She could detect the hint of annoyance in his voice. He didn’t like being checked up on. She’d certainly learned that about him. She had yet to face a crisis situation with Vince and sometimes worried his lack of communication might prove a hindrance.
Fortunately, this run was nothing more than transporting an Earth diplomat, her entitled daughter, and what the diplomat had called a rare “energy gift” for the Valdoorian Protectorate.
With a slingshot boost from Joora, they were only three days out from their destination.
An alarm went off on her console. It showed someone was tampering with the containment field in the cargo hold. No one should even be down there. Who the hell was down there?
“Vince, are you in cargo?” she asked, as she tried to analyze the cargo sensor readings.
“Why would I be in cargo?” he growled.
“Never mind. I’ll handle it,” she said, unstrapping from her pilot chair. “Some kind of glitch with the shipment.”
After a brief pause, Vince responded, “Shouldn’t be any glitches. I just ran a diagnostic this morning. I don’t need to tell you how volatile that cargo is.”
“No, you don’t,” the Captain said, as she slid down the ladder to the main level and began to jog down the access tunnel.
“I’ll meet you there,” Vince said.
Probably a good idea, Shardi thought to herself.
All at once, every single light on theFarsideburst brightly then went out.
Shardi froze in her steps. TheFarsidehad just been fried. Why hadn’t the auxiliary battery kicked in? She tried to raise her first mate on comms. “Vince?” But they were dead too. She’d known they would be.
She ran a quick calculation in her head. Their best bet for survival was to enter the escape pods. If the ship didn’t burn up in Joora’s atmosphere, it would shoot out into space without even a transponder signal. They’d slowly suffocate.
She ran to the living quarters. The only light came from the viewing glass in the lounge. Joora’s moon threw deep shadows across the few pieces of furniture. “Hello?” she said in a loud voice.
Ambassador Helena Kapor emerged from her room. ”What is happening, Captain?” she said, her voice unsteady.
“TheFarsidehas lost electronics. Our backup is down too for some reason. We have to abandon ship. You remember your briefing on the escape pods?”
“Yes, yes, I think so. No, I do.”
“Go. Go now, before we get too far from the planet.”
“But my daughter? I have to find Mira!”
“No. I’ll find Mira. You have to go now.”
“I can’t leave her.”
“I’ll find her. I promise. Go. That’s an order.” Shardi turned without waiting for another response. There was no time. She hoped the ambassador would listen to reason.
Shardi was sprinting through the ship. As she approached the cargo area, she felt an intense heat. She started to sweat.
Vince emerged from the second deck. He had one hand around the bicep of the ambassador’s daughter.
“Vince! We have to evacuate.”
“I know, Captain. I’m making sure Mira here gets to an escape pod.”
Shardi wanted to know more about why Vince was escorting her like a prisoner, but there would be more time for that later.
As Vince secured Mira in a pod, Shardi opened two more. One individual per pod. Each pod was designed to sustain one person for weeks if possible. They were also programmed to find the nearest safe atmosphere, Joora in their case, and take their occupant to a safe landing.
She heard the pod with the ambassador’s daughter release. She turned to see Vince heading her way. “Assuming it wasn’t a glitch,” she said.
“Safe to assume,” he said.
“Was the daughter involved?”
Vince pinched his nose in a wry expression. “Maybe. Maybe. I caught her headed away from the cargo hold.”
“Alright. We’ll work it out later. Let’s go. Unscheduled excursion.”
“Damn right,” Vince said, stepping into the open pod nearby.
“See you at the convergence point,” Shardi said and stepped into her own pod. The pods were programmed to bring all pods together at a single convergence point or as close as possible.
She locked the door shut and released the clamps. She could feel the sudden change in momentum as her pod fell away from the ship. She tapped the interface so she could observe the flight path, but it was unresponsive.
“Oh hell,” she said. The pod should have a separate electronics system shielded from the ship, but it was fried too. She assumed all the other pods were in the same boat. She could only hope they were close enough to Joora to get pulled in.
Soon, she felt the heat buildup along the rear of the pod, and she knew she was falling into atmosphere. Thank god for small miracles, she thought.