I grunted, wiping the grease from my face.
Whatever idiot assigned only one engineer to my ship is a dead irken!
"Alright, status report people!" I shouted into my communicator.
"I finally got steering back online."
"We successfully patched the hull."
"Navigation systems are still a bit fuzzy."
"..."
"Zark!" I snapped into the communicator
"..."
"..."
"Ugh!"
"Zark, status report!"
"The left engine is pretty much toast, and I don't have enough supplies to make a permanent fix here."
"Well than, PATCH IT! I want a functional ship, three hours ago!"
I shook my head in disgust, heading up the steps to my ships airlock. I glanced at a silver scar running along the side of her hull. It truly was a pity, The Veil was gorgeous when I was first given her.
"Well, I broke your only rule," I chuckled, remembering when I was first named captain.
"Now, I worked hard on her, so don't you dare scratch the paint."
"Fez, have you met me? I'm only the best pilot in the irken army."
"So you keep reminding me. Be careful kid."
I was jolted from my flashback by an annoying buzzing sound.
Snatching up my communicator, I snapped a short, "What!"
"I've finished up the patch, sir." Zark replied, timidly.
"Well, it's about time! Clear out and report to your quarters."
"Give me three minutes, I want to check something out."
"You only have three minutes, otherwise we're flying off without you."
"Understood."
I entered my ship and was almost bowled over by a small flying ball.
"Stupid repair drone." I grunted.
The thing was completely useless, and it never fixed anything. In fact, it was the whole reason The Veil had stopped at this station. The crazy thing had crashed into the power core and caused a temporary loss of power. It was just long enough for the Gluginns to locate us and attack. We survived but just barely.
As I stepped forward onto the walk I heard a soft clanging sound. The sound of someone running. I quickly dodged to the side as an irken, a little bit shorter than me, barreled past.
"I got it!" The irken yelled, attempting to jump onto the repair drone.
As he landed on it, it whizzed to the side, smashing into the wall, and sending him sprawling.
"Need a hand?"
"Captain!" The irken jumped up and attempted to stand at attention.
I bit my knuckle, resisting the urge to laugh. Standing at attention in front of me was an irken in civilian clothing, wearing a pair of enormous goggles which were currently lopsided from his recent crash to the ground. It wasn't often you saw a defect on an Armada ship, but this particular defect was incredibly useful. A defect was an irken the control brains didn't place into a job. They had no P. and were generally considered useless. This defect however was the only non-factory irken who knew how to program, at least that I knew of.
"Let me help you with that," I stepped forward and re-adjusted his goggles, so they sat firmly on his big, purple, eyes.
"Sorry about the drone, I was uploading the kill code, but I accidentally uploaded one of my music files instead," The irken looked sheepishly at his feet.
"Don't worry about it."
"Really?"
"Really."
I stepped forward, when suddenly a stream of sparks appeared farther down the hall.
"I should probably catch it before it destroys the ship," The irken said, turning and running down the hall.
"Hey Trak!"
"Yeah, Xythe?"
"Good luck."
"Thanks captain"
I couldn't be sure but I thought he winked at me. Turning around I began my brisk walk towards the bridge. It was launch time. I listened to the familiar whoosh as the doors opened.
"Captain on the bridge!"
"Thank you, Ada, for that thrilling introduction."
"I don't like sarcasm captain."
"I know Ada, I know."
The bridge consisted of ten stations. The four in the back were maintenance stations. The pair on the right for the right engine, and the one on the left for the left engine. The station to the front right was navigation's, and the one on the left was weapons and communications. Finally, in the center was mine. The captains throne was where the thrust, power use, and steering was controlled. The ship could also be auto piloted to a specific set of coordinates via the navigation panel.
"Alright, Ada, initiate de-docking procedures," I ordered, sinking into the captains chair.
"Yes, sir!"
"Alright people. We finally got the ship up and running again, so give yourself a great big pat on the back." I glanced around at my deck crew, glad to finally be back in the chair.
"All crew accounted for captain!" Ada shouted from her station.
"Nav, activate launching sequence."
"Yessir!"
With a gentle rumble the ship lifted a foot off the ground, and the bracing clamps disconnected. Grabbing the throttle, I gently eased it up, giving us just enough speed to clear the station.
"Tonn."
"Yes sir?"
"I wish to speak to the maintenance crew."
"Activating speakers now. Sir, your live."
"Hello everyone, and welcome to day one hundred and twenty five on the Veils two year mission to scout out new planets to conquer. We are spending a lot of time outside of irken boarders. If you get homesick at any time... Our ship therapist will help you. If you haven't met her already... Nav, a few words."
"Yes captain! Hello everybody, I'm Nav, Navigations expert and ship therapist. We will be going through some hard times these next few years, so please feel free to meet me in my quarters any time you would like to talk."
"Thank you, Nav, for offering your serv..."
"Sir, asteroid field ahead, and we're coming up on it fast." Nav interrupted me.
I grab the controls as I had grabbed them in the same situation, millions of times before. I deftly twist the joystick to neatly dodge the first large asteroid. The ship tilts and then continues.
"Ada, Craz, what's going on!"
"I'm fine on my side, sir," Ada replies.
"Craz!"
"There appears to be something caught in the right engine, sir," Craz glanced up at me, worry in his eyes, "Sir, I am so sorry, it didn't show up on my reading before."
"It's fine Craz, I'm sure Zark's faulty patch just came loose. Tonn, give me a direct link to Zark's quarters."
"Linking now."
"Zark, please head to the airlock to do some emergency repair on the right engine before we collide with an asteroid."
"tzzzzzt."
"Zar-" I'm cut of as we smash into the first asteroid, and the ship violently lurches into another.
I sprawl out of my chair and crash into Tonn, who was desperately trying to right himself. All the lights turned red as we hit another asteroid.
"Sir, the ship can't take much more of this!" Ada exclaimed as we hit another asteroid.
The ship stopped shaking.
"Are we through it?" Tonn asked timidly.
"Negative, we just happened on a pocket," Nav replied, examining the navigations computer.
"Status report!" I snap out.
"Sir, Craz is shaking something nasty, and there's blood all over the floor. I can't figure out what's bleeding!" Ada replied.
"Tonn, get the medical kit and treat Craz. Nav, Ada, search the ship for anyone else who's injured." I stood up and started walking towards the door.
"What about you sir?" Nav asked.
"I'm going out there to remove what ever is stuck in the engine."
Nav glanced down at her feet. We both knew it was a suicide mission. When the doors closed I knew they were all mourning my death.
"Crackle...All non-crucial personal report to the bridge for a head count," Tonn's voice rattled over the loud speaker.
"Xythe!"
I ignored the voice.
"Xythe!" Trak yelled running down the hallway towards me.
"Trak, thank Nob your ok!"
" I was just about to say the same thing to you."
"You should head to the bridge, they're doing a head count."
"Yeah, I was on my way right now. You?"
"I'm going to try to fix this mess."
"How?"
"There's something stuck in the engine..."
Trak's face paled, "You can't, even if you manage to get to the engine alive, the chances of you surviving the trip back is nil."
"If I don't try we will all die."
"For luck?" Trak stood up on his toes.
I placed my hand on his lips, "Let's deal with that after I get back."
I brushed past him before he could object. Walking down the hall, I began to regret stopping him. This was probably the last time I would ever see him. I pushed all doubt from my mind as I reached the airlock.
"2-6-4-8-3," A hidden closet slid open, revealing three space suits. I grabbed the closest one and quickly pulled it over my irken uniform.
I stepped into the airlock, when suddenly the ship jolted again. I slipped and hit my head on one of the pipes. Reaching up I felt warm blood squeezing through my fingers. I dropped the helmet over my head, hearing a familiar hiss as the suit pressurized.
This is it. Time to save lives.
With that last thought, I stepped over the threshold and felt a small tug as zero gravity took over. I extended my P.A.K's and gripped the side of The Veil tightly.
Remember, P.A.K failure means death. Step, step, step, step, step, DUCK!
I pulled myself closer to the hull, narrowly dodging an asteroid. I arrived at the right engine without another incident, and pulled open the maintenance hatch.
"Well, that was easy."
I dropped in, and turned on the maintenance lights. Frowning, I flicked the switch again. Nothing.
"That's fine, I don't need lights, I'll recognize the faulty patch from miles away."
I pulled myself closer to the engine, squinting in the dark. After what seemed like hours I located the patch.
"That's weird, it seems to be in perfect position?"
I turned around, and floated straight into a face dangling from above.
"Aaaaugh. A-a-a-a-ahhh!"
Dangling in front of me was half of Zark's body, horribly charred, and near un-recognizable. His skin glistened wherever a patch of muscle had not been burnt. I bit back a gag. Carefully I removed his body from the gears, coating my suit in his charred flesh. A shadow blocked out the little light I had. I whirled around to see Ada standing at the maintenance hatch.
"Ada, you scared me! Why are you here?"
"It's a pity really, I had everything set up nicely. The engines would explode, causing the power core to overheat. The ship, and it's crew would be destroyed in the explosion. But Zark here," She gestured at the body I held in my hands, "Located one of the charges I had placed, so I killed him. Now it's your turn."
With that she turned around, placing a P.A.K leg on the hatch. I lunged forward, and the hatch closed.
