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 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
