Chapter 3
Maddison’s unhappy marriage had taught her some painful lessons, but occasionally they included useful life skills.
With klaxons blaring and the ship in obvious distress, she was able to control her emotions and think clearly.
She’d slung her bag over her shoulder, taken a few centering breaths, and walked out into the corridor to wait for Loris.
It didn’t take the other woman long to retrieve her things and return. She flashed Maddison a tight smile despite the hard set of her jaw and the look of fierce determination in her eyes.
“We’re going to the bridge. I need to know what happened, and it’s the safest place I can think of.”
She grabbed Maddison’s arm and took off at a jog without waiting for a reply.
The passageway was empty, which made it slightly easier to navigate the distance.
The deck lurched and bucked beneath their feet, and the flickering lights were disorienting.
Occasionally, a command would crackle over the loudspeakers.
Some were unintelligible. Others requested that all crew make their way to the bridge, and one clearly instructed all passengers to head for the escape pods.
The passengers must be terrified. They didn’t have someone like Loris to take charge of things. Despite their own situation, Maddison hoped the last remaining passengers found their way to safety.
More alarms sounded as they reached the hatchway to the bridge.
“Get us inside,” Loris said and pointed to the keypad.
As the owner, Maddison had the passcodes, but it took her several tries to get it entered correctly. She wanted to pretend it had been the motion of the ship, but in truth, her shaking hands had been the real problem.
Loris pushed her through the moment the door opened, and they staggered onto the bridge.
As the door closed behind them, the alerts and alarms faded away. With her ears still ringing, she squared her shoulders and looked to the captain. “What’s happening?”
Captain Perez was an older woman with a kindly face and a no-nonsense approach to life. She gave Maddison a grim look and pointed to an empty chair. “Sit down, strap in, and shut up. I’ll explain if we live through the next few minutes.”
It was a sensible suggestion. Maddison took a seat and strapped in while Loris took up a position behind her.
She was still working on the last clasp when the ship shuddered and emitted a low-pitched sound like an agonized moan. The lights flickered and died, leaving them in darkness for a long, terrifying moment before the emergency lights activated.
The bridge was bathed in a reddish glow that made everything seem so much worse than before.
All around her, the crew were hard at work—eyes down, fingers flying over the various controls. Maddison kept thinking about the passengers and other crewmembers. Were they alright? Why wasn’t anyone else coming to the bridge?
She got a partial answer a few minutes later when the captain asked about the escape pods.
“Six deployed. But those bastards have shot down three of them,” an ashen-faced crewman replied.
Maddison flinched when the woman slammed her fists down on her console. “We’re sitting ducks out here! We’re going to die.”
Captain Perez looked annoyed but calm. “Keep it together, Hooper. We’re not dead yet.”
Maddison watched in silence. She noted the darkness behind the crewman’s eyes and the way her expression flattened when she looked at the captain. That one was going to be a problem. Maddison made a note of the name and attitude. If they survived, she’d have to review Hooper’s employment contract.
The pilot spoke into the silence. “Ma’am, we have another problem. We’re falling into the gravity well of a planet, and we only have partial power to our normal engines.”
“Fuck!” the captain swore. A moment later, she refocused and turned toward another member of the crew. “Joy, get me everything you can about that planet. Atmosphere, survivability. Can we breathe the air if we go down?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Maddison recognized the woman immediately. She wasn’t part of the bridge crew, but she had more poise than that Hooper woman.
The atmosphere on the bridge changed to one of resignation as the captain bowed her head. With grim finality, she activated the ship-wide comms and ordered everyone to abandon ship.
Her words sat heavily in the air as she switched off the channel and turned to face Maddison.
“That includes the two of you.”
Leave? The idea didn’t sit right. How could she do that when it meant leaving everyone else to face an uncertain fate?
“I should stay,” Maddison argued.
Loris hissed, but the captain spoke first. “No, ma’am. You need to board the command shuttle. Once we’re inside the atmosphere, the autopilot can handle the descent and landing on its own.”
Loris gripped Maddison’s shoulder and squeezed hard enough to make her meaning clear. If there was a way off this ship, she’d make sure Maddison took it. “Where do we go?”
Captain Perez pointed to a small hatch in one wall and then called to Joy. “Bashir, you go with them and see to their safety. I’m counting on you.”
That made her feel a little better. At least one of the crew would have the same chance she did.
Joy unfastened her safety harness, which prompted Maddison to do the same. While she was working on the unfamiliar clasps, things went from bad to worse.
Hooper protested the captain’s orders. There were shouts, and the captain barked at the crewman to sit down.
Maddison got to her feet and was immediately pulled toward the hatch by Loris. She glanced toward the ongoing argument, but Loris stood between her and whatever was happening.
They were almost to the hatch when Hooper made a wild, broken sound and threw herself across the bridge. At first, Maddison thought she was attacking the captain, but then she realized the first officer was going after Joy.
A cry of surprise was followed by a crash she heard and felt as the deck shook beneath her.
“You know what to do,” Loris hissed at her before dropping her bag and charging at Hooper.
Maddison followed her training and made for the hatch.
She didn’t have the access code for this door, but the captain would provide it once things were settled.
She didn’t need to watch what was happening.
She had no doubt that Loris would do what needed to be done.
This was one of those times that violence was necessary.
Maddison still hated it.
She heard the fight even though she couldn’t see it. The distinctive sound of flesh hitting flesh summoned old memories and curdled her stomach.
Someone, most likely Hooper, made a gurgling noise and crashed to the deck.
The captain’s next words confirmed her suspicions. “Take Bashir and get out of here!”
Loris answered, her voice rough and breathless. “On our way. Good luck, Captain.”
The door opened, and Maddison was already moving by the time Loris shouted at her to get inside.
She passed through the hatch, once again quelling her fear and forcing herself to remain calm.
The shuttle was nicer than she’d expected.
It was an older model but well-maintained.
She dropped her bag on the deck and made her way to the cockpit.
This was another thing Loris had drilled her on.
While she couldn’t pilot any kind of spacecraft, she was well-versed in the emergency start-up procedure for most standard shuttles.
She ran through the checklist Loris had encouraged her to memorize while her friend wrestled the unconscious Bashir into a seat and strapped her in.
She kept working through the steps until Loris made her way to the cockpit. Only then did Maddison let herself relax. She vacated the pilot’s chair and stepped aside so Loris could take over. If her friend saw the tears in her eyes, she didn’t comment.
“We’re almost ready to go. I waited for you to start the final sequence.”
Loris touched her shoulder as she moved past her to claim the empty seat. “Good job. Strap in and take a deep breath. We made it through the first challenge.”
Maddison mustered a small smile as she took a seat at the back and strapped herself into yet another chair. She tried but failed to keep her voice steady as she gave voice to her feelings.
“That challenge represents the loss of everything that son of a bitch gave me in the divorce. It’s all gone, Loris. The ship. The business…” Her voice cracked, and her next words came out as a broken sob. “The people. Oh, gods, Loris. Are they all going to die?”
It wasn’t really a question. She already knew the answer, but she needed to say it out loud, as if acknowledging the truth would somehow make it easier to accept.
Loris sighed. “Some of them will. But Captain Perez and her crew are good at their jobs. Trust them to take care of everyone still on board.” She tapped the console, and the engines roared to life. “Everyone but that bitch Hooper.”
Maddison rubbed her eyes as they broke away from the main ship. It felt like a betrayal, leaving the others behind, but it was also a relief.
That feeling didn’t last long. Less than a minute later they breached the atmosphere, but something wasn’t right. When Loris tried to maneuver, the shuttle didn’t respond.
“What the fuck?” Loris shouted in confusion.
She fought the controls for several more seconds before leaning back and raising her head. “Ship. Can you respond?”
“Yes.” The voice was flat, artificial, and indifferent. “What is your query?”
So, the shuttle had an onboard AI. That might be good.
“Why can’t I use the controls?” Loris demanded.
“No registered pilot is on board. All systems have reverted to automatic control.”
Automatic control meant they’d have no say in where they went next. Definitely not a good thing.
Loris cursed and demanded the system grant her an override. The AI refused. All the while, they continued to plummet toward the unknown planet.
Loris kept arguing, but all the AI would tell her was that the shuttle was descending to the planet below.
“At least tell me where we’re going?” Loris demanded while Maddison’s mind raced. How had everything gone so wrong so quickly?
“This shuttle will descend to the planet below. Name unknown.”
“And what system is this planet in?”
“Current location calculated. System name unknown.” It spewed a series of coordinates Maddison didn’t recognize.
“Whose territory are we in?” Loris asked before Maddison could.
“This shuttle is two hundred light-years from its expected course. All territory in this sector is claimed by the verexi.”
Oh shit.
Maddison’s throat closed up with fear but not before she made a small, terrified sound. The verexi? That shouldn’t be possible. The Bountiful Harvest shouldn’t have been anywhere near the territory of that vile and xenophobic species.
Maddison gripped her hands tightly in her lap and fought against her tears. This wasn’t the first time her life had gone to hell. She’d survived too much to give up now. Whatever happened, she’d find a way to make it through.
She glanced at her friend and then back at the still unconscious woman strapped in behind her. They would survive this. Together.