|
|
|
Setting The Scene - Chapter Five |
| Written by Dan Greathead | |
| Tuesday, 25 September 2007 | |
One week after leaving their home planet behind, Trixi, Pete and K found themselves at a loss as to where to go. They were constantly monitoring their radar, and were yet to detect anyone following them. They were drifting around the Middle Ring, searching for somewhere to hide.
"They're going to come after us," Trixi and Pete were in the galley, sat at a small table. Pete nodded. "I think we're going to need some help, I mean, those guys meant business. If I hadn't been as aware as I was, I wouldn't be here right now, and I don't want to not be here. I like being here." Trixi had a tear in her eye as she was talking. Pete smiled.
"I know, I've been thinking the same thing." It was true, Pete wasn't stupid and he realised the necessity for help, or for more crew members. "The only problem we have is who to trust. I mean, it's not like we know who they were working for, and we have no idea how deep this **** goes."
"Where are we, what planets are we near? We must have friends here somewhere!" Her tears gone, Trixi had a look of eagerness about her.
"Let me make a few calls, and we'll go from there." With that, Pete left the galley and headed towards the bridge. Trixi stood up, went to the fridge and poured herself a glass of water. There hadn't been much in the way of supplies on board when they had taken the ship, just enough to last the three of them a fortnight, maybe three weeks. There was, however, a huge supply of cigarettes, which led to the assumption that they were aboard a smuggling ship. Trixi took a carton of cigarettes out of her pocket, and lit one. She hadn't smoked before, but this was turning to be a very stressful time, and she found that the myth was true. Cigarettes really do calm you down. She pressed the button on the intercom.
"How we doing down there K,? she released the button and awaited a reply.
"OK," the reply came a few seconds later. "There's a few parts that are gonna' need replacing when we get a chance, but she should hold together."
"Good to know," Trixi chuckled. "Shout out if you need anything." Trixi then went up to the bridge to join Pete.
Trixi found Pete on the bridge, entering coordinates into the ships navigation computer. "We've got a heading," Pete said without looking up. "Should only take six hours or so."
"Where?" Trixi asked.
"A planet called Prima, just on the Middle Outer border. There's a couple of flight school buddies of mine set up there."
"They OK? Can we trust them?" Understandably, Trixi was worried.
"Yeah, well more than we can trust anyone else." Pete pressed the intercom. "K, we have a heading. Give us what you got."
Six hours later, the intercom buzzed into life. "Identify,"
"J.D., how are you buddy?" Pete spoke into the intercom. "It's Pete, we OK to come on down?"
"Feel free my man, you got the all clear." Once J.D.'s transmission had ended, Pete carried on. "We're good to land K. You all good down there?"
"Ready and waiting Pete," The reply came back. Pete guided the vessel planetwards, and within moments landed just outside a small compound. He met K and Trixi in the cargo bay, and opened the doors. They were greeted by a brilliant sunshine, and it took a few seconds for their eyes to adjust. Vision restored, they stepped off the ship to find two men and a woman waiting.
"Dan, J.D., guys it's good to see you," said Pete, nodding his head towards their female companion. "Who's this?"
"We call her Lemmy," Dan ventured. "She doesn't say a word. Her ship crashed a couple of miles from here six days ago, no other survivors."
"Seems to be harmless enough though," said J.D.
"Fair enough," Pete seemed satisfied. "This is K, and Trixi." Dan and J.D. both nodded. Trixi then went on to explain their situation in detail, from beginning to end.
"So let me get this straight," said Dan. "Trixi here, won some contest on some backwater moon. Now it seems you got a group of religious nuts trying to kill you all."
"That's pretty much the size of it, yeah," Pete smiled hopelessly. J.D. looked at Dan, and then winked at Pete.
"Sounds like a party!"
The Planetary Parliament Ship Joshua was in close orbit around the planet Prima. The ship was basically a bus, an interplanetary bus. On this particular day, they had very few passengers. Not many people wanted to go to the Outer Ring.
They were orbiting Prima, ready to dock with the PPS Helsingborg to take on medical supplies.
There was an explosion in the engine room, the PPS Joshua plummeted towards Prima, mostly burning up before impact.
There was one survivor.
One girl.
Copyright 2007 Dan Greathead {moscomment} |
|
| Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 September 2007 ) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
via Email
