Deep Space.
The Breach hurtled through the black void at a factor of seven on the warp scale.
The ship was built as a travel shuttle to ferry passengers from Earth to the various space stations across the galaxy. It could hold sixty-eight comfortably with only a crew of fifteen.
With its warp drive enabled, the shuttle could make the trip from Earth to Space Station 7756 in only two months.
But for the passengers on board, two months seemed like an eternity.
–
Sophia Jordan woke up in a cold sweat again, her heart beating out of her chest. She looked around in the darkness and finally remembered where she was.
“Computer, lights on,” she said.
The cabin overheads illuminated to an almost blinding brightness. Sophia blocked the light with hand until her eyes adjusted.
The passenger rooms on The Breach were tiny to say the least. A twin-sized bed, mini-fridge, and bathroom were all the comforts of space travel. If only she could've afforded one of the first-class cabins then maybe she'd have a TV.
Sophia rolled out of bed and the holo clock on the nightstand read three-thirty in the morning. After a month she still hadn't gotten used to the time difference. She dragged herself to the bathroom and stared at her sweat-ridden face in the mirror. Dark bags hung below her eyes and her short blonde hair was a mess.
She applied makeup with the auto brush that could do your face perfectly in minutes and put on jeans and a t-shirt.
The small porthole in her room gave her just enough of a view. At first, she couldn't could keep her eyes off the beauty of space. The stars were so dazzling but so far away. After awhile, the beauty faded away into loneliness. Now she did her best to avoid the porthole.
The nightmares never stopped. Ever since she first stepped foot on this vessel, she couldn't kick the feeling that something bad was going to happen.
Every night it was the same: a break in the hull and the entire spaceship imploded on itself.
But space travel was one of the safest ways to travel. There hadn't been a major accident in almost a century.
There were of course the occasional suicide or murder. Being cooped up in a sardine box for months at a time would make any sane person go crazy.
Sophia was as sane as they come but even she was feeling cabin fever.
Sophia found herself exploring the ship at night. Walking its pristinely white empty hallways, thinking about what a new life on Space Station 7756 would be like.
New friends, new jobs, new experiences. The possibilities were endless. Being on the edge of the galaxy meant her problems were far away.
There was nothing left for her back on earth. Sophia's parents were both dead, her boyfriend of six years broke up with her through a single text message.
She had no family or friends left.
Sophia was ready for the next chapter to begin.
–
Sophia roamed through the various bulkheads with no destination in particular. It was better than reliving that nightmare again.
She found herself on the bridge where the pilot and his crew controlled the shuttle.
A giant window looked out at the vast expanse of space. Stars stretching out as far as the eye could see.
At this time of night only one crew member stood at the helm.
McCready tried to keep his eyes open at the viewscreen. He was always on the night shift and was used to the late hours. Plus it paid a lot more. He looked straight out of space boot camp with his crew-cut hair and pristine blue uniform.
“Can't sleep again, Sophia?” he asked.
She nodded and took a seat at one of control panels next to McCready. “This damn ship is making me crazy. How much longer to Space Station 7756?”
“Computer, travel time to Space Station 7756?” McCready asked.
A female robotic voice announced, “Current travel time is calculated at six days, thirteen hours, forty-five minutes.”
Sophia sighed. “I don't know if I can make it much longer. I feel like I'm suffocating.”
“If you want I can have the doctor give you something to sleep the rest of the way.”
She shuddered. “Six days of nightmares that I can't wake from sounds like a brilliant idea.”
McCready chuckled. “Suit yourself.”
Sophia and McCready had been talking with one another every night since the shuttle left Earth. She saw the way he looked at her but she wasn't the least bit interested. Especially not after a recent breakup.
She needed to start new and not be attached to anybody.
McCready looked at his control panel that suddenly turned to red. “That can't be right.”
“What is it?” Sophia asked, leaning over to see.
“The control panel is telling me there's an error in the engine room.” McCready pushed some buttons but the red light remained.
“Aren't these shuttles supposed to be error-proof?”
McCready ignored the question. “Computer, verify error in engine room.”
“Quantum Core Two not responding. Can not diagnose.”
McCready frowned. “Computer, reroute functions to Core One and Three.”
“Unable to fulfill request.”
“Computer, elaborate.”
The female voice casually said the same thing over and over again like she was taking a restaurant order. “Unable to fulfill request.”
“That's can't be good,” McCready said. “Better wake the Captain.”
He pushed some buttons on his console and a little blue hologram of the Captain showed up. “This better be good, McCready.”
“Sorry to wake you, Sir, but the computer is telling me that Quantum Core Two is not responding.”
“That's impossible. Did you try rerouting functions?” the Captain asked.
“The computer was unable to do it,” McCready replied.
“I better get down there,” the Captain said. The hologram disappeared.
Sophia stood up. “I better go and leave you to it.”
McCready was too busy to respond.
Before Sophia had a chance to leave, the computer announced, “Power failure imminent.”
A second passed and all the lights in the control room shut off.
Crippling fear choked Sophia. Was her nightmare going to come true?
“What's happening?” she asked.
“Don't worry, back-up power should come on in a minute.”
Dim lights turned on and the whole room was bathed in red light. Sophia tried to leave but the automatic doors wouldn't slide open.
“I'm having a little trouble leaving, McCready.”
McCready looked back at her with a face full of fright. “We have a bigger problem than that.”
The female voice came on again. “Critical failure imminent.”
“If what the console says is true. You need to sit down and buckle up.” His voice left no room for argument.
Sophia hesitated for a moment, her palms sweaty. She sat down next to McCready and put the black heavy straps over her chest.
McCready punched some buttons on the console. “Computer, disengage control room. Authority code: Alpha Gamma Seven Six Eight Three.”
Sophia turned to McCready. “What are you doing?”
McCready smirked. “Saving our lives.”
The Breach was built to break apart into two separate pieces in case of an emergency. It'd never been done before.
The nose of The Breach broke apart and shot forward leaving the rest of the large shuttle behind.
Sophia felt the sudden force as she was pushed against her seat.
“Computer, put The Breach on the viewscreen,” McCready said.
The window of space suddenly changed to a view of the space shuttle. But now it was missing its nose.
Sophia wanted to leave and go straight back home. Maybe space wasn't the right decision.
“Are you going to tell me what the fuck is going on around here?” she asked.
McCready didn't have time to respond. The Breach exploded into a fiery ball.
Sophia watched silently, her jaw dropped.
McCready tried to find something to say.
Hundreds of people had just been killed in their sleep. All of them looking to start a new life on the space station.
The escape pod flew further and further away from the wreckage until it was just a speck of dust.
McCready turned his attention back to the computer console. “We need to make sure we're drifting in the right direction. Hopefully a long range scanner or another ship will pick us up.”
“And what if they don't?”
“Then we die,” he replied.
Sophia gulped and clenched her hands. She already knew the chances of surviving out here were infinitesimally small. “Ever hear of stranded ship being rescued?”
McCready shook his head but kept his attention on the computer console. “Which is why we need to save ourselves.”
Sophia leaned in. “How?”
“Computer, put up a map of our location.”
The viewscreen changed to show a flat map of the star system. A green blip pinged the ship's location.
“See that planet to the right of us.”
Sophia nodded and focused on the green looking sphere. “Looks promising.”
“Very. It's uncharted but sensors tell me that the atmosphere is breathable.”
“Well what are we waiting for? Set a course,” Sophia said.
“There's just one problem. The sensors could be wrong and we land there and suffocate instantly.”
McCready knew there were actually a million different problems that could go wrong. The main one being the ship might implode on reentry. But Sophia didn't need to know that.
“What's our other choice? We stay here, drifting in space until our life support fails and we suffocate in this tin can.”
McCready was glad she saw it that way. “Laying in a course. The computer will auto pilot the rest for us.”
“Even the landing?”
McCready nodded. “Especially the landing.” He knew these escape pods were not made to land on the surface of a planet. But that was another thing Sophia didn't need to know.
The two deserted passengers sat in the cramped space trying to find anything to talk about that wasn't about their predicament.
But small talk only goes so far.
Sophia's thoughts turned to what would happen after they landed on the planet. How would they survive? Would they ever be saved?
But those thoughts only scared her more.
The female computer voice came on. “Approaching planet.”
McCready glanced over at Sophia. “Here we go.”
What was left of the The Breach proceeded on its final trajectory towards the alien planet. Sophia and McCready could only watch as the computer took over navigation.
As The Breach entered the planet's atmosphere, it looked like a fireball streaking through the sky. The heat shield was taking a beating. The vibrations inside the shuttle were almost too much to handle for the passengers.
But The Breach didn't disintegrate on reentry.
The viewscreen lit up with greens and blues. The lush forests and oceans of the planet filled the window.
“Oh my god. It looks beautiful.” Sophia said.
McCready couldn't pull himself away from the console. “We aren't out of the woods yet. The computer was damaged on reentry. There's no more auto pilot.”
“Can you land this thing?”
“In a normal situation, yes. But the thrusters have also been damaged,” McCready said.
Sophia gripped her seatbelt. “So what does that mean?”
McCready cracked his knuckles. “Means I'm going to have pull a miracle out of my ass.” A rectangular steering wheel popped out from under the computer console. His hands wrapped around both sides and the shuttle mirrored his movements.
The Breach soared through a blue sky and white puffy clouds, barely intact and falling helplessly towards the surface. Green forests flew by below.
McCready pointed to the ocean on the viewscreen. “There's no open place to land. I'm going to try and shoot for the water.”
Sophia sank further into her seat. The thought of drowning somehow seemed worse than suffocation.
The steering wheel rumbled in McCready's hands. “I'm losing altitude.” He pulled on the wheel as hard as he could. The Breach brushed against the top of rainforest-like trees. “We're not going to make it to the ocean. Brace for impact.”
Sophia made sure her seatbelt was securely fastened and closed her eyes tight. She couldn't watch anymore. She didn't want to see how it all ended.
The shuttle bounced around as it broke through the green canopy of the forest. Chunks of the ship broke apart as it connected with the strong trees resulting in multiple explosions.
Sophia's head slammed into the back of the seat and she blacked out.