The Crew of the
Tempest Class Freighter, Tornado, unanimously decided to leave the Androsinian
system after hearing the news that the agents of Prefector Collis of Ghambra,
Maxil Weltz and Vint Reganus were still after them, bent on revenge.
The Scorpion, carrying
their pursuers, was a fast ship but it wasn’t fast enough to outrun a Tempest
so as long as they kept going they would continue to increase the distance
between them.
So, on the morning
after the decision was made everyone started the process of getting the ship
ready for a lengthier voyage than had previously been planned.
First of all, Shiyne
drove Bagg back into the city to increase the size of his orders several fold,
including more cured meat canned fruit and vegetables, in fact a lot more
provisions than they would normally stock.
Over a three-day
period Pulsat and Vanzyl completed their maintenance routine and serviced the
Stroller.
Merri and Malena
meanwhile formulated a plan to work their way out of the Androsinian System and
managed to secure enough cargo to keep them working for almost two months,
culminating in them picking up three pods of Thermalium mineral ore for delivery
to Eikon Major.
Everyone else prepped,
checked and tested every system and circuit aboard until four days after they
got the news about the Ghambran’s they departed Androsin Prime and set off for
pastures new.
Merionwen Strong,
owner and Captain of the Tempest Class Freighter, Tornado, sat in the pilot’s
seat and her friend Malena Endia sat beside her as they circumnavigated the
Ariadnean worm hole, which was equidistant between the Androsinian system which
they had departed from four months earlier, and the populous Eikon system,
which was at least a three months journey ahead of them.
It was a long boring
journey but a necessary one, their destination was known as the Eikon Cluster,
which was due to the high number of M class planets and moons in the Eikon
solar system.
Because of that it was
a busy and prosperous system and one which would keep them gainfully employed
for some time to come.
They had to take the
long path as there were no hyperspace routes through that part of the galaxy
due to the worm hole, which was an inherently unstable phenomenon, so there was
only one option and that was to take the long way around.
But as boring as the
journey was, a few days later the crew would have embraced such boredom, rather
than the unwelcome excitement and adventure that replaced it.
The day began much the
same as every other day since they picked up the cargo of Thermalium with the
crew going about their duties in the usual routine.
Merri and Malena had
done the early watch and after being relieved by the Skeet brothers made their
way hastily to the mess room for one of Bagg’s epic breakfasts.
They had just finished
their satisfying repast as the Tornado was just passing the last planet in the
system, Mangium.
Although it was
capable of supporting life Mangium was an unpredictable world and because of
its proximity to the worm hole it suffered from an unstable orbit and a lot of
seismic disturbances, as a result the indigenous peoples had long since
relocated to other worlds and the only people remaining on the surface were the
outcasts, the lawless and the desperate.
One of the other
hazards crossing that part of space was space debris attracted by the pull of
the Black Hole.
The area was also
affected by a fluxing magnetic field which could affect communications and
navigation so it was necessary to be extra vigilant when traversing that sector
of space.
The debris field was a
fairly predictable feature and was generally easy to avoid but every now and
then a rogue piece of space rock would follow a different trajectory on its way
to the same phenomenon.
It was one such random
chunk of ancient space detritus that took them by surprise and struck the
Tornado on the portside just below one of the jump engines, buckling the skin
of the hull, and although the external integrity of the superstructure was
maintained the impact caused some internal damage and ruptured a fuel cell
which caused an explosion that blew out a bulkhead on the upper deck a few
minutes after Merri and Malena had left the mess hall.
“Oh shit” Merri
shouted as a tongue of flame ballooned down the corridor towards them.
“In here” Malena said,
as the only way for them to escape the fire was to hide in an escape pod and
the door closed behind them just in time as fire blackened the window.
“That was close” Merri
said
“Very close” Malena
agreed
And then there was a
muted explosion and the life pod was jettisoned into space
“That’s not good”
Merri exclaimed
“I didn’t launch it”
Malena said defensively
“The fire must have
melted the control panel and shorted out the circuit” Merri said
“Is the transponder
broadcasting?”
“Yes” she replied
“Ok make yourself
comfortable, the boys will be here soon to scoop us up” Merri said reassuringly
“I do hope so” Malena[PC1]
said quietly
Merri’s reassurance
might well have been true had the “boys” been aware that the life pod had
launched, they were too busy trying to get the fire under control.
They were approaching
the blaze from the flight deck end of the corridor while Pulsat and Vanzyl
tackled it from the other.
The rest of the crew
were trapped in the mess room and were unable to contribute anything to the
firefighting effort.
It took an hour before
the four of them finally put the fire out and when they had the corridor was
full of noxious smoke.
“We need to open the
valve to vent the corridor” Zerrad said and Vanzyl became very animated,
rapidly clicking and whirling.
“What’s he saying?”
Lyris asked and Pulsat turned to face him before he responded
“He say we must vent”
“I just said that”
Zerrad said
“No “we” must vent”
Pulsat emphasized
“Oh ok” Lyris retorted
“Valve behind this
panel” Pulsat said and pointed “I open”
“No don’t touch it”
Lyris shouted “We need to cool it down first”
“I can do hot” he
replied
“No, it’s superhot”
Zerrad said
“Pulsat Rad can do
superhot” he said, “I Prinsloo”
His reply was
significant because the Prinsloovian’s were a reptilian race from a searingly
hot and arid world so Pulsat opened a panel and reached inside and then turned
the nob to open the valve and then there was a hissing sound as the as the
noxious fumes were vented into space.
While the fire was
being dealt with, Merri tried to raise the Tornado on the comms but to no
avail.
“We’re getting very
close to Mangium” Malena said, “and I don’t think they’re going to get to us in
time”
“I think you’re right”
she said and began tapping on the control panel on the bulkhead and set the
autopilot.
“I’ve set it to full
auto, it’ll get us safely into the atmosphere and land us on the surface” Merri
said a moment before the rockets fired.
“Here we go, Buckle up”
As soon as Pulsat had
vented the corridor they turned their attention to the mess room door which
locked and sealed when the fire broke out, and because of his tolerance to heat
he opened easily.
“Friends ok?” Pulsat
asked
“Is everyone alright?”
Zerrad asked as he rushed past Pulsat
“We’re fine” Bagg
replied as Lyris followed his brother into the room
“Asti!”
“I’m ok” she reassured
him as she ran towards him and they hugged
“What happened?”
Shiyne asked I couldn’t get a reading from anyone.
“We were hit by a
large piece of rock” Lyris said “I think your inability to read is due to our proximity
to Mangium the fluxing magnetic field is messing with our instruments which is
why we didn’t see the rock coming”
While he was talking
he looked around the room and then asked
“Where’s Malena and
Merri?”
“We thought they were
with you” Bagg replied
“No, we haven’t seen
them” Zerrad replied “I’ll go and check their quarters”
“We fix mess” Pulsat
said and he and Vanzyl went to fix the damage.
“I’ll help them” Parse
offered wanting to keep himself occupied, in an effort to stop thinking the
worst
“Good idea” Lyris said
just as his brother reappeared
“No sign of them” he
panted
“Ok everyone get
searching, they may be laying injured somewhere” Lyris said and everyone spread
out, just leaving the engineers to their grimy task.
Half an hour later
everyone was back in the mess room and as each searcher entered they shook
their head
“Where the hell are
they then?” Lyris asked
“Pod missing, pod
missing” Pulsat shouted
“What?” the Skeets
responded in unison
“Life pod gone” Pulsat
replied
“Ok, that explains it,
Shiyne, Asti, with me to the flight deck” Lyris said
“Doc, get to sick bay
and get ready, Zerrad and Parse help Pulsat and Vanzyl”
“What can I do?” Bagg
asked
“Do what you do best, cook and pray” he replied
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