Lost In Space
“Activate Warp Drive” Lionel, the captain of the Manta Mothership ordered.
“Activating Warp Drive” replied one of his crew members as he pressed a button labelled ‘HyperSpace’.
The Manta mothership, named after the Manta Ray, charged up its Warp Drives. Its crew strapped in their seats, and the captain monitoring its instruments.
“You gonna miss this place?” said a female voice. Captain Lionel looked to his right, it was Cordelia, his Co-Pilot. She was not an Earth human, she was from the planet Nyxon II“Yeah. This place brings back my memories” he said as the ship warped out of Sector 12. Lionel stayed in Sector 12 for a long time, although he was not originally an inhabitant of that Sector. After becoming a mothership captain and leaving Sector 12, he frequently visited the place.
The mothership shook violently. Through the cockpit window, the crew can see that the ship is starting to move faster, and faster, and faster. The tiny stars they can only see as dots, started to elongate until they were white, straight lines. They were warping space. Suddenly the whole cockpit window turned white, then strange colors start appearing in front of them, looping like in a tunnel. The lights were green, blue, red, all with a white background, changing as they progress.
“I was never a fan of going Lightspeed” he said
“Why?” Cordelia asked
“Going through a wormhole-” he began
“Einstein-Rosen Bridge” Cordelia corrected “use the correct term please”
“Yeah, yah whatever. Anyway, going through those were always disorientating”
“The official term for this is ‘tripping on acid’”
“That’s dumb”
“That’s what you earthlings say right?”
Captain Lionel let out a sigh “you Nyxons are very annoying
Cordelia let out a chuckle “only you say that”
Captain Lionel rolled his eyes and sighed once more.
Suddenly, the cockpit went dark.
“Wha-what happened?” captain Lionel asked
“I… don’t know” Cordelia answered. Outside the cockpit window was pitch black. Captain Lionel looked baffled “Look out the window” he said to Cordelia
“It’s… space” she said “why?”
“We exited the wormhole” he started “we must have lost power”
“Was the power cell full when we left?”
“Positive it was”
“Positive it was”
“That’s weird, try the backup generator” she gestured toward the back
“HEY, ANY OF YOU GUYS BACK THERE” Lionel shouted “GET THE BACKUP GENERATOR UP AND RUNNING”
“Aye sir” one of his crew answered
“Damn,” Cordelia started “you shout really loud”
“One of my talents” Lionel said, with pride
“Shouting is not a talent”
“Backup generator offline” said the crew member
“This is a problem” said Cordelia
“What now?” asked Lionel
“I don’t know, you’re the captain”
Lionel leaned back in his chair, his arms dangling at the sides “why did this have to happen?”
Lionel leaned back in his chair, his arms dangling at the sides “why did this have to happen?”
“I don’t know, but if you don’t act now, we’re going to get stranded”
“Alright”
“What do you mean alright? Aren’t you going to do anything?”
“I’m kinda tired, lemme recharge my batteries”
Right then, Cordelia realized something “the backup batteries” she said, softly
“Wha?”
“We have backup batteries, I just remembered!”
“Oh yeah” said Lionel with a monotone “the batteries”
“Be serious!”
“What? I am being serious”
“Sometimes I doubt your ability as captain”
Lionel sat up “ok, what do you want me to do?”
“Turn on the backup batteries”
“Alright… backup batteries” he muttered as he searched for the backup batteries trigger
“It’s the lever to your right” Cordelia said
“Pfft, I knew that” Lionel said as he pulled the lever. Instantly, some of his instruments flickered back to life
“It worked!” he exclaimed
“Not for long, the batteries have a limited life”
“Okay, then let’s see what’s wrong with the ship” he said. Then, he activated a screen and pressed a few buttons. The screen then showed a diagram of the ship. The part that said Power Cell was red.
“There’s been a rupture in the power cell” Lionel said “how do we fix it?”
“You need to close the rupture up and find an alternate power source” said Cordelia
“How do I do that?”
“You have to go to the power cell”
“I know I have to go to the power cell” he said “how do I find another power source?”
Cordelia thought about this for a while. “I can reroute the power from the backup generators into the power cell”
“Great, you do that while I go to the power cell” he said while he walked to the back of the cockpit and past some nervous crew members. One at the back of the cockpit, he grabbed a toolbox and a device shaped like a disc.
“Wish me luck” he said
“Good luck” Cordelia said back.
The only way to get to the power cell was from outside. So, Lionel went to the back of the cockpit and climbed down into the airlock where he put the disk shaped device on his chest. It instantly rapped him up in a space suite. Then, he tethered himself onto a rig and pushed a button. He was instantly sucked out of the ship and into space. But because he tethered himself, he didn’t go far until the rope that tethered him ran out. All he needed to do was reel back in. This was the standard procedure for space walking and maintenance if you went through the airlock. After that, Lionel hung on to the craft and detached the tether. He then attached the tether to a portable rig which can move around the ship. That way, he can move around freely without having to worry about floating into the beyond. He went around the back of the ship and found a panel. He opened it, revealing a metal tube. It had a crack running through it. “Seems like an easy fix” Lionel thought to himself as he whipped out a laser powered blowtorch. He started to blowtorch the crack, sealing it slowly, but surely. Finally, after some 15 minutes, the crack was fully sealed. “Cordelia! How’s the power transfer going?” he said into his CommLink “It’s still in progress” she said “you better get back inside”
“Right” he said, then turned turned off the CommLink. Suddenly, an alarm sounded, and his disc shaped device flashed red. Lionel knew he was in trouble, he turned on his CommLink and shouted into it “CORDELIA! I’M RUNNING OUT OF OXYGEN”
“what!? I thought we restocked on the oxygen supplies”
“WELL NO WE DIDN’T AND I’M DYING OUT HERE”
“Ok, ok, calm down. Save your breath, and oxygen”
“Alright, alright” Lionel said, breathing heavily
“Just go back to the airlock”
“Okay, I’m on my way” he then pushed his way to the airlock. Once he arrived, he tried to open the door by pulling the lever. It didn’t budge. “Cordelia” he said in his CommLink “Cordelia, CORDELIA”
“I heard you the first time” She replied
“The door won’t open”
“I’ll open it from here” she said and pressed a button “there it should be opened”
“It’s not”
“What do you mean it’s not?”
“It just opened a bit and let the pressure out”
“It just opened a bit and let the pressure out”
“Oh damn, you can’t get in”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN DAMN? I’M LITERALLY RUNNING OUT OF OXYGEN”
“You’ll have to force the door open, I’ll send some crew members there to help you out”
“Alright, fine. Just saying, I might not come back from this”
He started to pull on the door, and pulled, and pulled. But nothing worked. He frantically pulled at full strength but he was not giving out any effort. The door was still unopened.
“I CAN’T DO THIS” he yelled. Then, a loud beeping was heard, and the disc shaped device went completely red. He was out of oxygen.
Lionel frantically tried to breath, but he can’t “Cordelia, I’m out” he said
“Out of what?” she asked
“OXYGEN”
“Whoa, calm down, save your air”
“Whoa, calm down, save your air”
Lionel started to choke, he had to get the door open, he HAD to. He tried to open the door again, still nothing. “Alright, one more try” he thought. He grasped the door tightly and pulled very hard, it gave a bit. He pulled harder it gave way bit by bit until it was completely opened. Lionel climbed in, and pressed a button which closed the door and pressurised the airlock. He climbed out of the airlock and was helped out by a few of the crew members. Then, he entered the cockpit where Cordelia was busy in his chair.
“Done with the energy transfer?” Lionel asked
“Almost, just wait for a bit”
“Good, we can be on our way back soon”
One of the crew members came running to Lionel “captain” he said frantically “captain, captain!”
“What is it?” Lionel asked
“We’re picking up something hostile on the radar”
“Let me take a look” he said, then walked to the radar
“Look captain” the crew member said
Lionel looked shocked, then quietly said “space pirates”.
To be continued…
