Page 42 of The Arrival
“We can fix this. The tube is only another eight quintigrades away. And I didn’t say anything.” My candor suggests innocence, but I’m guilty as sin. I screwed this up big time.
There’s an odd pause that makes me swallow and glance over at Pax. Their haunting golden eyes are narrowed at my face.
“Then what did youdo?”
“I didn’t—Well, I mean…”
“Jude!”
“That’s not important right now, is it? We need to address the situation we’re in—”
Another showering of green laser beams flies past the racer and I divert the ship into a linear plunge, dodging the attack. We cannot afford another hit. “What if we push the engine to maximum—burn up the last twenty percent to reach the hyper-tube and then coast through and back to the flagship? The tube isn’t that long, right?”
More lasers chase us, and my body presses into the seat as I maneuver the racer back up—keeping us safe but making sure we don’t veer off course from the tube.
“If you push the engine, the composite might blow altogether, and then we’redead.”
“But at this pace, I can’t keep outmaneuvering their lasers with the racer half-functioning.”
“Right.” Pax nods. “Either way, we’re dead.”
I sit up straight and glance over at my friend and colleague. Annoyed. “You know what your problem is Paxy? A severe lack of optimism.”
“I think my problem is that I’m riding in this death trap with a repressed and stubborn idealist that’s clearly offended the honor of the Queen of Benei.Ah,pëshnal kåp benkjwi shi—”
“Hey hey hey. Manners, please. Don’t be rude. We got this. What’s the reading now?” Our bodies pull forward against the safety straps as I dodge another attack. Pax’s fingers are moving with lightning speed across the console.
“Fifteen percent, and the hyper-tube is five quintigrades away… I’ve lost communication with the flagship. Pëshnal kai—”
“Stop it. I’m pushing it. Hold on tight.”
Pax’s hands fly off the dashboard to clutch the armrests. I propel our vessel forward and into hyperdrive. The force of it draws our bodies tightly into our seats, gravity pulling at the skin of my face and the weight of my head, but I push the racer even harder. Laidra cautions us like a dark lullaby under the flickering crimson lights of the cockpit.
“Warning, engine failure imminent. Critical internal damage to the left composite. Currently operating at five percent and falling.”
The lights of the console are blinking in staccato rhythm with the red cabin lights, threatening failure as well. Damn. Now I’m really nervous. If we’re floating out in the Weyland galaxy or stuck in a hyper-tube in a dead ship, there’s no way we can survive for very long.
“We’re so close!” Pax’s eyes widen as the spectral white light of the tube radiates just ahead of us.
“Warning, composite fire detected. Operating at two—”
“Shut up, we know!” I push the racer even harder, feeling her rumble and protest against my demands as smoke swirls and slinks within the cabin.Dammit.
“Jude—when we get inside the hyper-tube, eject both composites at top speed. Maybe the force of it will propel us further so we can ride out the length of the tube.”
I grin. “Ah, there’s my Paxy. I was waiting for you to show up.”
“I would just… not like to die today. If possible.”
“I’ll do what I can.”
Darkness and light blur around us, but the radiance of the tube shines before us like a spotlight. Like heaven, welcoming us with open arms. Well, hopefully not like heaven. We’re not going to die, I promise. Not today, anyway.
“Warning, engine failure imminent…”
The second the racer enters the edge of the tube and I feel that unmistakable shift in the atmosphere dragging the ship, I hit several flickering buttons on the con and pull the red latch we were taught in flight school to never pull, and the racer jerks violently once more.
It’s silent. The ship slows, floats, and I’m weightless. We’re surrounded by ethereal light, dreamlike and soft as it whirls in an expansive tube all around. The console flickers and goes dark. Nothing.
