“Power down your shields and give her to me,” he said patiently. “And I give you my word I will let you live.”
The M’rora’s demands were clear and simple.
And completely unacceptable.
“Perhaps we can come to some sort of arrangement,” I said.
“Those are my terms. Take them or leave them.”
My ship hummed with energy and I could feel it riding up my arms and legs now.
No doubt Computer was trying to maintain the power levels but there were only so many places it could go.
I needed to punch into warp speed and I needed to do it now.
“I’m afraid I can’t accept your demands,” I said. “So, here are mine… Eat my dust!”
I flipped the controls over and slammed my fist on the holo button.
The ship’s engines whirred and in a fraction of a second, the M’rora’s ship disappeared and we zipped through space so fast the stars passed like streetlamps.
We raced toward the Rift and the Shadow Realm beyond…
At least, that was what should have happened.
Instead, something unexpected occurred.
The ship groaned loudly and the engines whined.
Computer would later tell me that the instant I hit warp speed, the storm issued a bolt of yellow lightning that struck the ship, overloading the power generator and forming a bubble of energy so intense that it tore the very fabric of space.
We should have exploded, or got sucked into a tiny blackhole of our own creation, or been torn into a thousand strips of cosmic lint, but instead, it affected us in a very different way…
The storm warped and in the blink of an eye, we fell from the storm cloud and careened not into space and to freedom, but into the atmosphere of the hostile planet below.
We were going to crash and we would be lucky to survive the impact.
I struggled to maintain control of the ship as we hurtled toward the planet.
Up became down and down became up, and soon even those concepts became unidentifiable.
Ava screamed and I feared it would be the last thing I ever heard.
I wanted to tell her everything was going to be fine but I didn’t want to lie to her again.
The forces were powerful and thrust me into my chair.
I stretched toward the controls with my hands but couldn’t reach them.
My eyes rolled into the back of my head and for a split second, everything turned dark.
No! I berated myself. You can’t pass out! You have to stay conscious!
Computer’s emergency systems should have kicked in and fought to control the ship’s descent but hadn’t.
“Computer!” I yelled, but it came out as nothing more than a faint mumble.
Computer didn’t respond.
“Computer!”
Again, my call was met with silence.
He was offline.
I glanced at the control display and realized the power was off.
That was why we were falling, why we were spinning uncontrollably.
I peered out the corner of my eye at Ava, whose body had gone completely lax.
She must have passed out already.
At least she wouldn’t see her end coming, I thought.
That was one silver lining in this whole shitshow.
I extended my hand toward the controls.
With the powerful forces acting on it, my finger couldn’t stretch more than a couple of inches.
The front monitor flashed past in blurred greens and blues and blacks as the heavens and Earth rolled end over end.
I ground my teeth and stretched my arm out once again.
My finger shook more violently as I forced it against the spinning ship.
Come on…
Come on!
We can’t die like this!
My finger felt like it might snap in half but I kept at it.
A broken finger was better than a dead body.
I bellowed in rage as I hit the holo button and the entire ship came online.
The lights in the main bridge flashed and the alarm blared.
“Systems incorrectly shut down,” Computer said. “Running diagnostics now.”
“No! Computer! Right… the ship…”
“Unable to process request. Please state your desired order again.”
I thought carefully and focused on forming each word.
“Stop… ship… spinning.”
“Order confirmed.”
I felt the effect of Computer’s efforts immediately.
The forces grinding me into my seat eased and I could breathe more freely.
I reached over to release my restraints.
“I suggest you remain in your seat until the ship is more secure, sir,” Computer said.
I ignored him and pressed the button.
I slid from my seat and slammed into the floor.
I held on firmly to the seat and crawled toward Ava.
Her chin lay on her chest and she might have been asleep.
I scaled up the steep incline toward her, gripped her chair, and pushed myself up onto my feet.
By now, the ship had slowed its spin but the ground still rose larger in the main monitor.
It was up to Computer now.
Computer, and fate.
If we were going to die, then so be it.
But I wanted to be with Ava in my final moments if that was going to happen.
I wanted to be touching her when Death tapped me on the shoulder and called time.
I didn’t want to wake her, though I was desperate to peer into her deep eyes as darkness took me.
It was better she was asleep, I told myself.
I held her close and felt her warmth beneath me.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m sorry for everything.”
It meant little, I knew, but I still felt the need to say it.
Even letting the M’rora take her was better than her dying.
I had failed her and it was no one’s fault but my own.
I could have wept but I was determined to enjoy these final few moments with her.
My fated mate.
The ship screeched and threatened to tear itself apart.
It made me cling to Ava even harder.
Over my shoulder, I glimpsed the rolling greens and browns of the planet below.
I shut my eyes, preparing for the final collision.
Whoomph!
The engines kicked in, firing all cylinders.
A powerful force hit me and I barely managed to keep my grip on Ava’s seat, my legs rising out behind me, floating.
Then I crashed back to the floor as we came to a sudden dead stop.
Boom!
Something exploded beneath the pressure and the ship jolted off-balance, leaning over to one side.
“Uncontrolled descent overcome,” Computer
