Asteroid Field

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. But they clearly haven't been on the Shanty Armour, flying through an asteroid field, with Lawrence Firestone as captain. Because that sure as hells feels like someone outside the ship would hear.

Proximity alerts were flashing, all across the bridge. Vellichor was on the comms system, frantically talking to the different departments. The engine room, who were having power troubles. The off-duty crew, wondering if they were needed. The med bay, asking if they should be prepping stretchers. The galley, informing us they weren't prepping anything, and lunch was going to be late.

Lobellum and his fellow navigators were pouring over a number of screens, but they just weren't fast enough. Or... the ship was going too fast.

Maryke, head of defences, was frantically trying to orchestrate her three subordinates, to reduce the damage we were taking. If we could destroy the asteroids before they hit us...

And through it all, Captain Lawrence Firestone wasn't even doing his one job. He should have been steering, but no. He had his first mate - someone barely two-thirds of his height, and hardly half his width - trying to steer at the helm set for his size.

'What the devils is goin' on?' Lawrence boomed, bursting into the bridge. 'Who's bloody steerin' this ship? And who's giving the damned navigations? Yer gonna get us killed!'

'You're supposed to be steering!' I screamed, back at him, my wing-webbed ears twitching. 'And navigations hardly has time to react to anything. Look at them!'

Lawrence blinked at me, a few times.

'The... the asteroids, or navigations?'

'Either one, Captain! Do your damned job!'

He stepped closer to the helm, and I ducked aside. We focused on the asteroid field, sprawled across the viewing monitor.

'Velocity of the ship, and density of the field, is making it impossible to avoid taking damages. Defences and navigations can hardly keep up, or formulate responses,' I said, standing at attention beside Lawrence.

'Oh, and the galley wants you to know lunch is going to be late,' Vellichor sang, leaning back from his station to look at us.

'Hells are they bloody talkin' about... who gives a star in space about the damned food right now?'

I felt Lawrence's voice through the floor of the ship. The kitchen probably knew how he felt about them taking up comms air.

'Vells, anythin' useful to report?'

'Off-duties are ready and able, if you want them allocated, Captain. Engine room is having troubles, but they're working on stopping that. Med bay needs to cut the sass, in my opinion - I really hope we don't need them any time, soon.' Vellichor took a moment to look over his station. 'I think that's all. Orders, Cap?'

'Um...' Lawrence looked at me. It was all I could do, not to scream at him.

'You're the damned captain. You tell us!'

Another asteroid hit us, dead on. The ship rocked violently, and more alarms blared.

'Defences dangerously low, Captain! Recommended actions to reduce speed, and find a planet to land on,' Maryke shouted, looking over her subordinates. 'Shields low, weaponry inactive. And Vellichor, I think we're gonna need that med bay.'

'Hang in there, kids,' Lawrence replied, pulling back on the helm. The ship pitched upwards, and for a second, the artificial gravity faltered.

Maryke grabbed her subordinates, and clung to her station. Vellichor had the forethought to engage his seating straps. Navigations gripped their seats, and Lawrence? Well, he hardly seemed to notice.

Little Ataraxia, standing on open floor? I let out a yelp as I tumbled into the back wall.

'Firestone! I'm quitting, and leaving your stupid crew at the next damned port we make!' I roared. He glanced over his shoulder at me.

'Sorry, Atta. You need the med bay?'

'I need a new captain, is what I damned need!'

'Captain! Dead ahead - three way collision,' Lobellum cried.

I scrambled back across the deck, to find some point of purchase before...

'Firestone!' I screamed, as the captain sent the ship into a tailspin. One of his ridiculously big arms caught me, and he set me on my feet.

'Atta, you should strap in,' he frowned. Repressing more outbursts, both physical and verbal, I rushed towards navigations. Lobellum was giving the same directions he'd been giving me, a few minutes before.

'Just scream at him. Scream at the captain; tell him where he should be going,' I growled, leaning over the shoulders of the navigation crew. 'Grab his face and yell instructions at him, if you have to. Because he's stupid, and he won't understand it any other way. And if you're not prepared to yell at him, give me the instructions. Hells knows I can yell at Captain Firestone.'

'We're more than aware,' one navigator muttered, earning a smack on the arm from Lobellum.

For the next twenty minutes, I held tight to the navigations desk, and yelled their instructions at Lawrence. He didn't listen to a thing I said, instead choosing to grin wildly and pilot us wildly through the asteroid field.

A part of me wondered if he thought, for a moment, he was in something smaller. Like a solo-pilot fighter.

Every asteroid we clipped made him swear, and laugh. I glanced over at Maryke, who was nowhere near as amused. Vellichor, bumping around in his secure seating, did not look well.

'Captain? Are you... giving any thought to the other crew members scattered over the ship?' he called, turning the slightest to look at Lawrence. 'Or the crew in the engine room, who are trying to stop us from losing engine power? Because they're telling me if we lose much more, we're all but dead!'

'What? Why didn't you tell them to secure themselves? Or give me a head's up on the engine?'

'I did head you up on the engine, Captain, and... well, we didn't exactly have warning for securing ourselves.'

'Well, get the damned hells onto it, Vellichor! Don't go waitin' fer me to give you permission! And send some backup to the engine room - I'm not gonna be the reason you idiots die!'

'Yes, Captain,' Vellichor sighed, leaning forwards.

'Maybe if you listened to navigations, you wouldn't be getting us in this mess!' I spat, standing up straight. We were struck by another asteroid, and if Lobellum hadn't grabbed me... I might have hit the viewing monitor, this time.

'Hells you mean? Navigation hasn't said jack shit! All I heard was the damned alarms, and you shoutin', and Vells!'

'I was shouting navigation's instructions, Firestone! Hells you think I'm damned well doing over here, and yelling about?'

Lawrence glanced over at me, then looked back at the monitor.

'You're no navigator. I'm not takin' navigation from you. For all I know, you'd make this worse!'

'Firestone, I will end you, and never look back,' I hissed. Lobellum patted my shoulder, then took over barking orders at Lawrence.

The overhead lights flickered off, and for a few seconds, the alarms stopped. For one breath, two... we were in terrifying, vacuum-of-space silence.

And then, we all gasped as the lights returned. The alarms took up with a renewed vigour. I think there were more of them.

'Shields dangerously low, Captain! We need to take her down and make repairs, yesterday,' Maryke barked, over all the blaring sirens.

'We're eight Klargons from the nearest viable planet,' Lobellum replied. 'And, under my directions, we should be able to get out of this asteroid field. We should have been out of it, already, but...'

'Yeah, yeah. Captain Firestone don't listen. Look, I don't see any of you bastards linin' up to take my place,' Lawrence growled.

The Shanty Armour gave a thunderous tremor, and I heard at least three different screams.

'Vells, send a shipwide command to secure anythin' loose, and hold the fuck on!' Lawrence roared. 'Lobes, directions - fast and short! Atta, give Maryke a hand with the others.'

'Aye aye, Captain!' we snapped back. I raced across the bridge, hoping we didn't list again. But Lawrence seemed to be flying much smoother, now.

Maryke and I strapped everyone down, then I raced back to navigations to help them get secure. Darted over to Vellichor, and took over everything but communication with the engine room.

I think there were a few crew members that would be a little upset with my shortness, when we were in port.

'Captain, entry in T-minus one hundred,' Lobellum warned. Maryke yelped.

'Shields are hells low, Captain, we're gonna have a real rough entry!'

'Vells, emergency comms - shut everythin' down if we don't need it. Secure crew and cargo. Engine room needs to get secure, and wait until we're steady to go back to it. And they need to know, fast.'

Vellichor grinned wickedly, his fingers dancing over his control panel. He raised a hand near his face.

'Attention, crew - anyone not in the engine room, you have T-minus eighty to secure everything and yourselves. Captain's orders. Shut down anything non-essential, get cargo and crew secure. I repeat - T-minus eighty. That's eight-zero, eighty.' Vellichor's voice was calm and cheery, like he was announcing what was being served for lunch. 'Engine room, orders for you is to get secure and wait until we're steady. Chop, chop, crew!'

I frowned at him. He winked, then flicked a final switch on his control panel.

‘Kidding. It’s not on, yet,’ Vellichor grinned, actually activating his headset, this time.

'T-minus eighty to planet entry - that's T-minus eight zero. Engine room, lock down and secure yourselves, and await further instructions. All other crew, lock down non-essentials, secure cargo, and strap in for planet entry. I repeat - T-minus eighty to planet entry.'

This time around, Vellichor's voice conveyed urgency. And, seeming as he actually broadcast that version, we got responses confirming the rest of the crew had heard and understood.

'Engine room to bridge? We can't exactly just stop and wait. If we lose engine power while entering atmo, we're... it's not gonna be good.'

Vellichor turned in his seat.

'Captain! Engine room can't lock down their processes and wait for us to be stable. Further instructions?'

'Hells! They can't just... we shouldn't have people in there! They're gonna get hurt!' Lawrence yelled back. I put a hand on Vellichor's arm.

'Safety first - tell them to reduce as many risks and personnel as they can, and only do what they need to, in order to keep us going. And warn them to be prepared for atmo entry, because it's gonna be hells rough,' I said. Vellichor looked past me, at Lawrence.

'Captain? Any comms?'

'Look, if what Atta said makes sense, damned well tell 'em that! And don't make me lose any of you!'

'Aye aye, Captain,' Vellichor said. His fingers danced across his panel, again. Flipping the switch, and pressing the button on his headset, he proceeded to give a more concise version of what I'd said to the engine room.

'Thanks, bridge. Engine room, out - here's hoping we'll have better news in a few minutes.'

'T-minus sixty, to entry, Captain,' Lobellum called out. Vellichor returned everything to the ship-wide comms, and updated all the crew.

'Maryke, anythin' you can do for the shields?' Lawrence roared. She gave him a death glare.

'Not without the appropriate size of a defence crew, and at least three people working on the outside of the damned ship! And someone who specialized in the atmo stabilizers - someone who you never bothered to hire, despite me telling you to!'

'I can fix the atmo-stabs,' Lawrence said. 'Just can't do that, and steer. And nobody has time to gear up and get out there before we enter atmo.'

The bridge fell silent, save for the continued alarms. Lawrence frowned, looking over us.

'What? Ain't I told you, I grew up an engineer and mechanic, and all that? I know the damned ship and it's systems. I can fix it.'

'And I am definitely not getting back on this ship, once we're in port. We'd be lucky if this heap of junk flies again, after you've tinkered with it,' I snapped. Vellichor reminded me we were entering atmo, soon.

'Nah, you'll be back, Atta! Who else are you gonna yell at, day in, and day out? You'd miss me,' Lawrence grinned.

'T-minus fifty to entry,' Lobellum said. Vellichor nodded.

I gave it a little longer, but Lawrence still had not strapped himself in, like he wanted everyone else to.

'Captain? You're not prepared for entry!' I yelled. Lawrence raised an eyebrow at me.

'I'm holding on to the helm?'

'Strap into the seat! You're the only one who can steer the ship, right now!'

Lawrence pouted, but activated his seat. Strapped himself in with one hand.

Satisfied, and with the announcement of T-minus twenty-five, I rushed back to his side and secured myself in the seat on his right.

From T-minus ten, onwards, Lobellum and Vellichor counted down. I closed my eyes at two, gripping the straps that were keeping me in place.

As soon as Vellichor and Lobellum said one, the ship shuddered violently. I held my breath, listening to the screams from every corner of the ship. Hoped, desperately, that the universe would grant us safety until we landed.

After what felt like a torturous, turbulent eternity, Lobellum and Maryke both confirmed the ship was safely in atmo, and was once again flying steady. I stayed where I was, listening to Vellichor pass the message on to the rest of the crew.

'Oi, Atta!' Lawrence shouted, laughing. 'You gonna take a nap, or you gonna start rallying everyone, ready for when we reach the damned port?'