Skip to main content

HMSS Pangolin Prime Chapter 5

Chapter 5
The lights on the interior dimmed to red and the security lady, I now knew to be called Marshall, announced that we had arrived. I got up from my seat and made my way to the pods. We each stood by one and once the all clear was given, climbed inside. The actual pods are situated inside the wall on one side, and you have to slide into a small airlock/hole in the floor next to the wall, where you can then climb into the pods. The pods were rugged and claustrophobic, meant to withstand atmospheric re-entry. I pulled the harness tight and locked myself into the pod. I pressed the button above my head which told the pilot I was ready. I heard the pings of the other members readying up. A countdown started on the small screen in front of me.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
FOOSH

A large force pushed us out of the ship, after the G’s normalised, the screens turned on and I could see the others pods falling into position ahead of me. I could see the target approaching, appearing behind the debris field.  Shards of metal and sections of rooms shot past me as we approached the target, keeping up as much speed as possible. I was just glad that these things had avoidance computers on board to stop me becoming Space-Pancake Sam. The ETA reached 30 seconds and we started to decelerate, the target was in full view now, the nasty hole in its side open like a mouth, ready to eat us. The first pod went in with no issue, as did the second and third, but when it was my turn, a large piece of debris came from behind and knocked me off course, the impact sent a shockwave through me and the pod, the screens were shouting warning signs as I span away, from the landing zone. I heard some static come through the comms but no more. I was too close to the ship to avoid it and my trajectory sent me careering into the side of it. I saw the silver sheen of the exterior just before the impact knocked me unconscious. I woke up a little while later, and the first thing I saw was that the door to my pod had fallen off, and was floating away down the hallway I ended up in. The screens of the pod all showed static and fizzed softly, where the hinges of the door used to be, the bare electrical wires were sparking to each other. My helmet had-auto deployed so that I didn't suffocate, there was a small crack on my visor, but it seemed to be holding. I tried to radio my location but the comms unit was offline, so I decided that I would try and make my way to the others. I pressed the emergency release on my harness and it sprung off, the movement shifting the pod slightly. I pulled myself free from the pod and saw that it had become wedged in the hole it had made, its rugged exterior covered in scratches and dents. I checked my vitals and it surprisingly said that I was unharmed, however I had spent 2 hours or so worth of oxygen and it read 32% remaining. The ship’s interior was clean and simple, similar to the design of the larger ships in the docks, however, the writing was in another language that I did not know, the signs and directions meaning nothing to me, I moved along the corridor, making sure to stick to the sides so I didn’t get stranded in the zero G environment. The power was off but sunlight was coming in through a window, providing light, I pulled a torch from my belt and  shon it down the corridor, I pushed myself off and floated down to the end. It turned into a T-Junction and split off into two more corridors. One heading deeper into the ship, one ending in a hole, that lead to space. I headed further in, I couldn’t go outside, since I didn’t have an RCS Pack on me. I confirmed my decision with myself and headed off into the ship.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

OLD - Week 1 Day 7 Morning

Seth shook Ellyn awake and held a hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t make a noise; he put a finger to his lips to tell her to be quiet. He moved off her and she looked around, the others were crouched low, the fire had been kicked out. About 50 metres from where they were, Ellyn could see a group of the tan uniformed men, moving between the trees, they hadn’t see them yet,  Julian signed to move away, into a set of nearby bushes, that would conceal them. They slowly pushed through the line of bushes the sound of twigs snapping was worryingly loud, but the patrol seemed to not notice. They waited on baited breath so see if they noticed them. There was a shout, the patrol turned to them, and ran over towards them but they stopped at what was left of their camp. “Looks like they were here, they must be somewhere nearby!” one of the men said Ellyn started to shuffle back but Dahveed stopped her and shook his head. “No shit num-nuts” one of the men said to the other. “Let’s ...

OLD - Week 1 Day 7 Evening

Week 1 Day 7 Evening Everyone sat around the fire, staring into it their expressions grave. Ellyn had tried arguing a rescue out of them but Julian said that the risk was too great and Seth would understand. The look that Seth had given still haunted her. They had made their way back to the building, without being spotted but decided to not stick around. Acorn was exited at their return but had kept looking in their group for Seth, Ellyn tried to tell him that Seth wasn’t there, but either he didn’t understand or didn’t care, he sat on her shoulder and kept looking for him. Ellyn had barely eaten anything, she had no appetite for anything, she just sat staring into the fire, trying to think of a way around the problems, but she just didn’t know where he would be or even how they could get there, they had the cart but only Julian knew how to operate it at a basic level so it wouldn’t be much good for longer journeys. They had set out with the setting sun, moving away from the...

Artificial Ignorance - Part of the Casual Collection of Catastrophes Volume 2

It was my 143rd birthday, the holo cake still managed to fit all of the candles. I stood in the lounge with my friends and family, my parents came all the way across the ocean to my habitat just to celebrate my birthday. They had to hire a special drone to fly them across, they did live 50 years before the singularity after all. My sister made the joke that they are nearly more nanomachines than person at this point. The act of giving gifts at birthdays phased out a long time ago, since everyone lives so long now, even my grandmother, who lived most of her life before it happened, made it to 203rd birthday! I mean, they cured cancer within the first five years after the singularity. The year is now 127 PS, PS standing for Post Singularity. The oceans have risen and most of the 12 billion people of the earth live on habitats which float on the surface of the ocean. The lunar bases are restricted to qualified professionals ever since the “Grey Lung” epidemic of 120 PS and the few space...