Page 31 of Across The Stars
“All passengers, brace for FTL,” it said.
“Are you kidding me?” Quinn barked. “They’re going to fucking kill us.”
“Why would that kill us?” I asked.
“Because we’re already compromised. FTL would tear us apart. This pilot is a fucking joke. It should have been me on the bridge!”
Suddenly, the rumbling beneath our feet screeched to a stop and went completely still. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know the engines were dying. Guess there wasn’t going to be a jump and clearly we hadn’t reached the highway.
“Escape pods activated,” the computer said.
Quinn spun to face Omar and the others, hanging onto the crate with one hand while she pointed with the other.
“Get Penny to the pods!” she ordered.
She was clearly made for this kind of action whereas I was completely dazed and Sam was curled around a seat on the floor like a drunk college student hanging onto a toilet.
Omar nodded at Penny and he and two others carried her unconscious form away to what I assumed were escape vessels.
“What are we going to do?” I asked as the ship strafed to the side again. The engine roared up once more, but it didn’t sound right. Something was definitely wrong.
“Escape pods are designed to go back toward the Nexus as soon as they launch,” Quinn said. “Hopefully, someone will pick us up. We need to get on one.”
Her eyes searched the giant cargo bay when the computer spoke up again.
“Pods 8 through 11 are damaged,” it said. “Consider max capacity on remaining pods.”
“Shit,” Quinn hissed.
“Now what are we going to do!” Sam screamed.
A loudboomthundered from the front of the ship, making the walls quake. I watched in horror as one of the crates broke free of half its restraints, sliding a foot to one side and knocking another box. My life flashed before my eyes, but it didn’t explode.
“We need to get out of here,” Quinn said, stuffing her hand into her pocket and pulling out a silver ID card. Her eyes darted toward the back of the cargo bay where a large object was covered in a white tarp. “There. We need to get there. It’s a transporter. It’s meant to enter planetary atmospheres.”
There was no time to argue. Quinn released the crate and started stumbling toward the vessel while I pried my fingers off the straps and tripped toward Sam. I grasped her under her arms, pried her from the seat, and started hauling her toward the transport.
“Oh my god, we’re going to die,” she said.
“Shut up!” I said, tugging her forward until her legs worked again.
Quinn yanked the tarp off the transport and I saw that it was just a tiny ship, hardly large enough to hold half a dozen people, but it would do. Swiping her ID badge across a control panel at the back of the vessel, she activated a loading ramp that lowered down on thick hydraulics. She sprinted up it, bracing every time the cargo ship jostled. Looking back, I saw the sypher crate break free of its restraints completely and slide across the floor, hitting the far wall.
“Shit!” I screamed, pushing Sam onto the transport.
“Come on!” Quinn yelled.
As soon as we were in, she slammed a hand on the interior panel and called the ramp back up.
“Buckle in,” she said, rushing to the front.
A digital screen rose from a triangular platform where she sat herself down and she started speedily swiping her fingers over commands. I shoved Sam into a seat and tightened her buckles before practically falling into a seat of my own and strapping in.
“You got this, right?” I asked shakily, watching Quinn power up the transport.
“Let’s just say I’m glad I got a priority student badge last week,” she said.
I felt the purr of the ship’s systems warming up and gripped the straps across my chest.
