Space Escape

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say, but it didn’t matter, Mica had watched the last body float from the loading dock. There would be no screams, no sound, they had all died instantly, all at the same time when the creature sucked the air from the tanks that held them in stasis. Mica prayed that they had not awakened, to be unable to breath is a horrible way to die. She tried not to think about how many times it had happened. She looked down and checked her time. She had three more minutes before a guard would come by and she needed to be inside the panel, they could not register her body heat when she was in the chamber and her suit would soon be too warm. She had avoided capture for several months, now she was alone, the others were found and killed.

Once inside the tubing Mica bolted the door in place and curled up in a small corner to cry. She had thought the others were hidden away from the invaders, but one ugly beast had been roaming and sensed the stasis tubes were full not empty like they were before. Now they would leave, and she was never going to find her way home. She would be killed if they found her, she knew that but without help she could not get off this ship.

The unlocking of the docking clamps jolted Mica awake, she had dozed off in her tiny corner, wondering now why she even tried anymore. Why survive, when she could not see or talk to another living soul? This sadness had been with her a very long time. When she had found this ship, she had hoped with all her heart that she would be able to figure out how everything worked and be able to awaken the crew. It was the first time in many time blocks that she had hope settle in her heart, hope that she was not the last human alive.

The engines hummed and Mica stayed put, she had seven tubes of food left here, the other seven were in the engine room. Waiting until they were far from the planet they had been circling, Mica finally pulled herself together. She was just over five feet tall. The tubes were a few inches shy of that and she had to move hunched over. Deciding now she wanted to explore the engine room Mica pulled her skull cap down hard, covering her tight blond curls. She put on her flak jacket and grabbed her supply belt. The trek took over an hour as she navigated the tubes as quietly as possible.

Reaching the engine room, she stopped by the intake grate; it stank of the rank odor of swamp swill. It was what she had decided these nasty creatures smelled like, the worst swamp she had ever been in wasn’t as foul smelling as these mud dwellers. The door slammed shut behind them as they left for their nightly meal. What they ate looked more like eels and Carpi worms than food. It made her sick to think about it.

Moving on to the output grate it only took a minute to unscrew the tabs that held it in place. She stepped lightly even though she knew those creatures napped after eating and it would be two hours before they returned, she left nothing to chance, she closed the grate but didn’t bolt it. Easing past the brightly lit power cylinders Mica wished she could simply reverse the polarity and blow the whole ship sky high. Oh, right they were higher than any sky, it might blow out or implode she wasn’t sure now. She gazed out the small port windows, everything was oval on this ship. The windows were almost teardrop shaped.

Moving farther than she had ever ventured before she noticed a small door at what seemed to be the very tail of the ship. There seemed to be two more almost indistinguishable doors on either side of this one. Deciding to try the one in the middle she touched the crystal plate. Her body heat opened a small, locked door and behind it the latch. It opened easily and Mica stepped in. She was not afraid this little room was much too small for the creatures to venture into. Now she looked for the power lamp that was in every compartment.

Touching a button on her wrist band, it lit up the room in a soft pink glow. There she saw the lamp and reached for it. Another hand stopped hers, and she froze. Suddenly Mica was staring into the greenest eyes she had ever seen. They were as wide and as frightened as her own. She stifled a scream and snatched her hand back. The two stared at each other unmoving, each afraid to be the first to break the stand-off.

Mica thought she might have wet herself; she trembled all over, and it took several minutes to realize the other person, or creature was just as frightened as she was. The hand withdrew and the eyes turned away. Now Mica was confused as well as frightened. She had someone else hiding on this ship with her and she had no idea who or what it was.