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A Writer's Dozen - Space Sci-Fi
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The vastness of space is often understated, it takes a whole lot of bad luck to bump into a celestial body. Especially so if a whole control room packed to the brim with specialists, whose sole purpose was monitoring of the station and anything in its vicinity, was working tirelessly on preventing anything unexpected happening to it.
Navigator Daniel knew that all too well, including the fact that his own well being didn't figure into any of it. If his dead body could be used to protect "the cargo" from harm... well he'd bet his last credit that they wouldn't even stop to check his pulse first. So when he initially heard the shrieking sound of the alarm he did not think much of it, getting back to the dashboard to him was just a part of the protocol.
But Daniel had never seen, or even heard of, anything like the phoenomena that greeted him when he arrived back at the dashboard. It looked like the northern lights, but when was that ever a sight to see in deep space?
An automated voice blared over the ship's communication channels.
"Alert. Alert." it chimed, almost cheerily.
Daniel continued to ignore the alarm, instead focusing on the panel in front of him that was blinking frantically. The glow from the sight before him was hypnotic. He yearned to just stare, but there was too much at stake.
" Hull integrity, seventy-eight percent." The voice said.
He began to perspire now. Small beads of sweat dotting his brow. It annoyed him more than the shrieking sounds and rising panic around him. "Secure the cargo!" someone screamed. At that Daniel's hands froze. He couldn't seem to move any of them. Nausea flooded his senses and he could taste bile in the back of his throat. He knew what would come next.
A horrifying cat-like shriek rang out. Everyone stopped moving. The sounds of metallic claws scraped against the floor.
"Hull integrity, seventy-seven percent." The ship comm channels continued. The sound was thunderous in the now silent room. Daniel closed his eyes. He felt more than heard the Cargo Sentinel enter the room. Felt the warm beam of its scanner on him as it passed. No one dared to breathe
"Daniel Nenge, ID number KE 5329-4361. Proceed to the evacuation capsule." The lack of tone in its voice underlined the futility of arguing or resisting. The sentinel's arrival helped Daniel to snap back to reality, he averted his gaze from the pulsating cloud that was now close to enveloping the spacecraft. Evacuating the station made absolutely no sense to him, the hull's integrity was nowhere near critical. It must have something to do with whatever the hell was going on the outside. However the call wasn't his to make and what followed next was exactly what he was trained for. Upon the possible (now "possibly imminent") destruction, it was up to him to ensure the safety of the cargo.
The sentinel guided him silently through corridors towards the shuttle with the station AI making sure that nothing impeded their progress. Within minutes they found themselves in front of the loading bay hatch.
density * orbit * radiation *
rocket * rations * gravity *
Mod
Navigator Daniel knew that all too well, including the fact that his own well being didn't figure into any of it. If his dead body could be used to protect "the cargo" from harm... well he'd bet his last credit that they wouldn't even stop to check his pulse first. So when he initially heard the shrieking sound of the alarm he did not think much of it, getting back to the dashboard to him was just a part of the protocol.
hull * asteroid *
density * orbit * radiation * AI *
rocket * rations * gravity * phoenomena*
message 4:
by
Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning
(last edited Feb 07, 2020 06:51PM)
(new)
Mod
hull * asteroid * navigator * solar filter *
density * orbit * radiation * AI *
rocket * rations * gravity *
An automated voice blared over the ship's communication channels. "Alert. Alert." it chimed, almost cheerily.
Daniel continued to ignore the alarm, instead focusing on the panel in front of him that was blinking frantically. The glow from the sight before him was hypnotic. He yearned to just stare, but there was too much at stake.
" Hull integrity, seventy-eight percent." The voice said.
He began to perspire now. Small beads of sweat dotting his brow. It annoyed him more than the shrieking sounds and rising panic around him. "Secure the cargo!" someone screamed. At that Daniel's hands froze. He couldn't seem to move any of them. Nausea flooded his senses and he could taste bile in the back of his throat. He knew what would come next.
A horrifying cat-like shriek rang out. Everyone stopped moving. The sounds of metallic claws scraped against the floor.
"Hull integrity, seventy-seven percent." The ship comm channels continued. The sound was thunderous in the now silent room. Daniel closed his eyes. He felt more than heard the Cargo Sentinel enter the room. Felt the warm beam of its scanner on him as it passed. No one dared to breathe.
density * orbit * radiation * AI *
rocket * rations * gravity *
Mod
The sentinel guided him silently through corridors towards the shuttle with the station AI making sure that nothing impeded their progress. Within minutes they found themselves in front of the loading bay hatch.
density * orbit * radiation *
rocket * rations * gravity *
Here's vocabulary for us to play with:
hull * asteroid * navigator * solar filter *
density * orbit * radiation * AI *
rocket * rations * gravity * phoenomena*
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