21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Nikolai

I’m not going to panic. I’m not going to panic. I’m not—Fuck! I am so fucking panicking right now.

I don’t know what’s going on, I only know it’s bad. Like really, really bad. I can live without gravity, even though my stomach protests but, without light? Engines?

We’re on a spaceship. In space. There’s nothing around us for…I don’t even know for how far. Light years? I don’t know how much a light year is in normal units but I know it’s a whole fucking lot. And if we don’t have engines, we’re stuck. In the middle of nowhere. How am I supposed to not panic?!

The only thing holding me back from crying like a baby is Z’Ree. She’s trembling but otherwise seems composed. I’m not about to start freaking out when my tiny, heavily traumatized mate is holding it together.

And yes, I said it. Mate. It’s not really a human word, but then again, Z’Ree isn’t human. Just thinking the word has my mind agreeing that it fits perfectly. What else would I say? Girlfriend? Partner? Lover? None of those even comes close to describing our relationship. Mate is perfect. It means that she is mine and I am hers and that’s all that matters.

A tiny hysterical voice in the back of my mind keeps wreaking havoc and screaming, “We’re all going to die, we’re all going to die, WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!” but I do my best to ignore it. If we are going to die, I want to die fucking Z’Ree, not running around like a headless chicken.

Just as I’m about to slide my cock inside Z’Ree to make sure that we’re together when the dark void of space swallows us whole, the emergency lights come back online. The ship-wide intercom crackles, then D’Aakh’s voice spills out from the speakers. “I hope this fucking works. I’m about to restore the gravity. Hold on to something.”

Tightening my grip on Z’Ree, I grab the bed railing with my free hand, expecting to fall down at once when the gravity engages, but D’Aakh dials it up gradually. Inch by inch, we’re lowered down to the floor, everything else landing just as smoothly.

“Everyone, come to the bridge,” D’Aakh says. “The door controls are offline and I won’t be able to fix them any time soon, but each door has a manual override. There’s a small hatch on one side, marked with two orange dots. Underneath, you’ll find a lever. When you pull it upwards, the door should open an inch so that you can manually slide it open the rest of the way.”

I’m grateful for the dumbed down explanation, knowing that it’s mainly aimed at Astra and me. The rest of the crew must know how to open the doors. Even Nala probably knows how to do it since she’s been living amongst aliens for the past five years.

“Get to the bridge. Fast,” D’Aakh urges before cutting the transmission off.

“Well, I guess we’d better get to the bridge,” I say, my attempt at sounding lighthearted failing.

Z’Ree nods, her eyes bulging with the same terror I’m feeling. “I’ll find us some clothes.”

Right, because we’re both very much naked and covered in cum. As I move to the door, I see Z’Ree wiping herself down using a bed sheet before grabbing her shirt. My pants are hanging over the diagnostic machine but her pants are nowhere to be found. The shirt is long enough to cover her butt though, so she decides to go without pants for now. It’s not like we’re about to strut down a catwalk runway.

Using D’Aakh’s instructions I open the door, letting us leave the small patient room and enter the infirmary. It’s a mess. For the second time in a short period, everything that wasn’t attached to the floor or walls went flying. I step over a pile of bandages, my heart weeping over a shattered scanner. I knew how to use that one.

While Z’Ree continues to the door, I locate a bag filled with emergency medical supplies and hoist it over my shoulder, hoping against hope that I won’t need it but it’s better to be prepared.

The ship’s corridors are eerily quiet. My ears never registered the constant, soft hum of the engines before but now that the ship has gone utterly silent, it’s obvious that it’s missing. The emergency lights give off a tiny glow here and there, which leaves a lot of dark corners and casts a lot of shadows. Not at all creepy. If a facehugger from the Alien movie jumped out at us right now, I wouldn’t be surprised at all.

Distracted by the many ways Hollywood has portrayed this scene unfurling in film, I barely smother my terrified squeal when something rumbles at the other end of the corridor. Thank god it turns out to just be Faelin, Nala, and little Ellen. The little girl is curled up in Faelin’s arms, clutching her pet to her chest and searching around wide eyed.

Faelin nods at me with relief. “You guys good?”

“Well, we’re still alive,” I reply, “so I guess we’re good. Any idea what’s going on?”

“The engines are dead, which means we’ve dropped out of hyperspace. We could be anywhere. The gravity and life support is back online, though, so whatever it is, I’m sure D’Aakh will have it fixed in no time.”

I don’t share Faelin’s optimism. I don’t think he even shares his own optimism. He’s probably just trying to keep Nala and Ellen calm.

Most of the crew are already on the bridge when we arrive with Lyriana and Omni joining us to complete the head count shortly after. We’ve been confined to a smaller section of the ship over the past few hours, so thankfully nobody is stranded anywhere.

Zarkan rests against the table and glances at D’Aakh. “Status?”

“We’re f—” D’Aakh pauses, looks at the girl in Faelin arms, then corrects himself. “We’re in big trouble. The reactor is offline. The automated systems shut everything down before it became unstable. The converters are dead too and the capacitor wiring is mostly gone. The rest couldn’t hold the strain of the overload and fried. We’re flying blind with no way to change our trajectory.

“I’ve been able to patch the emergency generators, but that just ensures we won’t suffocate or freeze to death. It doesn’t solve anything. And,” he sighs, his antennae twitching, “none of this is our biggest problem.”

Astra gawks at him in disbelief. “What could possibly be worse than being stranded in space without functioning engines?!”

D’Aakh hangs his head. “Cai? Tell them our location.”

“We’re currently flying through a system designated as K4OR64.” Even the AI sounds worried as she says the words. “The nearest star went supernova a millennia ago and has now collapsed into a neutron star. In approximately four hours, we will enter its magnetosphere.”

“What happens then?” Nala asks. She’s holding Ellen now, clutching the girl so close to her chest I’m surprised Ellen isn’t complaining. She’s probably just as frightened as her mother.

“Neutron stars are among the most dangerous objects in the universe,” Zarkan explains. “Everyone knows to avoid them. They’re a source of massive radiation and unpredictable magnetic and gravitational forces. Nothing survives being near them.”

Oh. Great. “So, we need to not be flying past it then. Is there a way to turn the ship even just a little? I’m clearly no expert but I saw a movie where they used a fire extinguisher to propel themselves in space. Can’t we like…blow some air out of one side of the ship to make us turn away from this neutral star?”

“Neutron star,” D’Aakh corrects me, sighing. “It’s a good idea. One I’ve already put in motion. That’s why we have four hours and not thirty-seven minutes. Unfortunately, venting more air or water would destabilize life support. We’d be flying away from the neutron star, but we’d suffocate.”

Nala puts her hand over Ellen’s ear and scowls at D’Aakh. “So what can we do, then? Are we just going to sit here and wait for the radiation to fry us?”

“No, we’re not!” D’Aakh snaps at her. “Cai and I have spent every second trying to come up with a solution while the rest of you rested. Or fucked,” he adds, scowling between Z’Ree and me. “We have a solution but you might not like it.”

“We appreciate your efforts, D’Aakh,” Zarkan says calmly. “Yours too, Cai. Will you familiarize us with your plan?”

D’Aakh deflates. “It’s not a good plan. It’s a terrible fucking plan because it means someone has to die. But I can’t fucking come up with anything else. I tried! I fucking tried, but nothing else will work.”

“D’Aakh, breathe.” Zarkan squeezes D’Aakh’s shoulder. “Tell us what needs to be done.”

“Fine.” D’Aakh sucks in a shaky breath. “I can rewire the engines. The capacitors are the problem but I have a workaround for that. The inner part of the ship is shielded and I can reroute the power to the corridors so that they’ll work as temporary conduits.”

Tareq frowns. “Wait, won’t that kill us all?”

“We’ll hide in the ready room here on the bridge. The room is designed to withstand almost anything. The electricity coursing through the corridors won’t penetrate the shielding. All of this will let us keep the engines operational for one short jump. We should be able to reach the nearest station and get proper repairs then.”

“You said someone would die,” Faelin reminds D’Aakh solemnly.

D’Aakh nods, despair etched into his features. “Someone will have to go outside of the ship and manually rewire the controls there.”

“So? We go outside all of the time. What’s the big problem?”

“The fucking neutron star is the problem,” D’Aakh replies. “The radiation outside is already excessively strong. It will cause irreversible damage to whoever leaves the protective shell of the ship. They might not die right away, but—”

“I’ll go,” Zarkan interrupts. “Get everything ready, D’Aakh. That’s an order.”

The others stare at him in disbelief. “Like hell you will!” Lyriana exclaims. “You’re not sacrificing yourself for us!”

“Yes, I am. I’m the oldest here. The rest of you have your whole lives before you. I’ve already lived through most of mine.”

“Bullshit,” Faelin spits out. “You could easily live decades longer. I’m not letting you do this.”

Zarkan smiles warmly. “You have a family now, Faelin. You’re not eligible to volunteer for a suicide mission.”

“Well, I don’t have a fucking family and I’m volunteering,” Lyriana says. “You don’t get to just choose yourself!”

“Yes, I do. You wanted me to be the captain, so I’m the one making the decisions around here.”

“Like hell you are!”

A strangled voice interrupts their argument. “I’ll do it.”

Startled, I turn to face Z’Ree, seeing that she’s moved into the center of the room. The crew stares at her like they’ve completely forgotten her existence. My mate squares her shoulders and looks Zarkan straight in the eyes. “I’ll do it,” she repeats. “I’ll go outside.”