"H" (Writers of Kern A-Z Blog Challenge)

Space by Kehlee

“Punch it, Martin! Go!”

Martin already had the accelerator pressed firmly up against the top of the console, but he pushed even harder at the Captain’s command. The screen in front of him showed two large asteroids about to collide. They filled up the entirety of the display but for a small, ever closing gap directly in their path.

“We’re not going to make it, sir!”

“Yes we will! We have to. Gun it!”

“We’re at top speed already, there’s no going faster.”

“We’ll make it.” The captain said with finality. It’s either that or we turn around to face the Mulacc’s. He thought. No, we’ll make it. We have to. The ship can’t handle another open-space battle. We need to make it home.

A bolt of energy whizzed past on the screen. Two more followed close after, dissipating into the asteroids with little explosions. Then the ship jerked as a fourth missile hit the ship.

“They’re on us, sir! We can’t handle much more of this! The ship’s going to fall apart!”

“There’s nothing else to do! Keep her straight; we need to make it through!”

The monitor showed the gap in the rocks widening as they got closer but the captain didn’t let that perception fool him. Martin was right; it was going to be close. It was going to be really close.

“Everybody, brace for impact.”

The ship rocked violently as it collided with the lower asteroid. The impact caused the ship to bounce up into the other and begin to twist around. Sheer momentum brought the starship the rest of the way through the gap and out into open space. As they spun wildly afterwards, the screen briefly lit up with the picture of the two asteroids crashing into each other and shattering apart, little rocks rocketing out in all directions.

“We made it!”

“No sign of the Muloccs, sir. Shields are down and central power is about to shut off.” There was a loud beeping of alarms and then the lights on the bridge went black. “There it goes; we’re without engines, sir.”

“Have the crew file into decks one and two. Once they’re all in, reroute power from life support on decks three and four to thrusters and get us moving again, or at least stop this spinning. The Muloccs will be back on us in a few minutes. I don’t think out little escape is going to hinder them much.”

“We’re so close, sir!” Hellen said pointing at the screen. Everybody on the bridge looked up at the monitor where a small round shape was moving across the display like a satellite across the night sky.

“I know, Hellen. We’ll make it. Just get me that power supply.”

“We’re so close!”

The rest of the crew was silent, nodding in agreement. And then the screen showed the two asteroids again, slightly separated. There was a brief flash of light from the right side of the rocks and two small space ships flew into view.

“Here they come!”

“Where’s my power? I need it now!”

“The crew’s almost evacuated; just a few more.”

“Have them hold their breath, there’s no more time. Give me the power!”

The lights flared up on the bridge and Martin stabilized the ship and accelerated towards the small planet.

“How long until we get there?”

“Five minutes, max.”

“Make it four. Hellen, is there anything left for shields?”

“No, sir–”

The ship rocked again as it was hit and two more missiles that had missed flew ahead of the ship.

“We’re in range of The Fleet, sir!”

“Hail them, quick!”

The monitor flashed over to the face of Admiral Wilson.

“Admiral! We’ve got two Mulocc ships firing at us. Ours is badly damaged. We’ll be coming in hot.” The man on the screen nodded and the display switched back to the planet, much closer now. “Do we have any weapons operational?”

“No, sir. All the power’s tied up in engines and life support–” There was a blaring alarm that sounded around the room. “Scratch that, we’ve lost life support on deck two.”

“Damn it!” The Captain said. “What are my options?”

“Not many, sir.”

“Alright, cut the engines, but keep us drifting forwards. Get those support systems up and running.”

“Sir, the Muloccs?”

“Let them come. There’s nothing we can do now.”

“Here they are!”

Two shining, white spacecraft arched over top of monitor’s display to park themselves between the ship and the planet. They had external guns on either side of their wings and both were pointed directly at the bridge.

“What do we do, sir?”

“Try hailing them.”

“… No answer.”

The two ships’ guns began to glow bright pink.

“They’re charging their lasers!”

“Alright boys, it’s time for something crazy; ‘Bout to get really hard to breathe in here. All power to the engines! Evasive maneuvers! Get us passed them!”

A heavy silence fell upon the room as the life support systems were turned off. All the air in the bridge – and the rest of the ship – went stagnant and began to warm up. The ship banked to the right sharply just as the Mulocc ships fired. All the shots missed and the space ship swung around their flank and accelerated towards the planet.

“How long can we make it without air circulation?”

“There should be enough for sustain us for maybe a minute, sir.”

“Everyone keep calm. Pass it on to the other decks. We’re so close to home; we just need to hold out a bit longer.”

On the screen, Admiral Wilson popped up. “Captain! We’ve got ships coming your way to help. What’s your position?”

“I can see Earth, sir.”

“Good enough, we’ll be right there.”

The Admiral blinked away and the planet filled the screen, its greens and blues and whites promising salvation if only they could make it into her warm arms. Four small space ships zoomed passed the starship.

“They’re here!” Cheers rose up over the bridge.

“Can you show me the Mulocc ships, Martin?”

“I think so, sir.” The screen flashed to a battle reminiscent of little birds fighting off a crow who had tried to invade their nest. They flew around in circles around it pestering it with laser shots. It didn’t take long for the Mulocc ships to explode under the pressure.

“All stop, Martin! Hellen, power up the life support! Hopefully we didn’t lose anybody. Make sure all the doctors are scouring the decks for the fallen.” The captain turned back to the screen, where the planet shone brightly before them. “Home, boys. I think we made it.”

"H is for Home"