"JASON, NOBODY'S DRIVING THE SHIP."
Jason rolled over, still half-asleep, and groped for his vox to turn it off. After fumbling around for it, his fingers closed around it and he put it to his mouth, mumbling, "Oh shut up Alex. I'm trying to sleep." Collapsing back onto his pillow, he closed his eyes.
It was, in fact, the ship's communicator speakers, not Jason's vox, and actually Alex's voice projected all over the ship. Though, particularly, it seemed right in his ear to Jason.
"Laredo's not even on the deck and we're hurtling through the outer reaches of space to God knows where!" Alex was nearly shouting. The audio was so loud his voice was static and crackly.
With wild slaps at the wall, seeking the speaker to turn it off, Jason wasn't even listening. He only wanted to stop Alex's incessant complaining so he could go back to sleep. When his hand found the button, he pressed it hard and interrupted Alex, who was saying something about the possibility of another minefield.
"I'm not listening Alex. Go away!"
A couple doors down, Gwen stood in the doorway of her own bedroom, looking puzzled at what she was hearing. She crossed the hallway to the closest speaker and flipped the talk button.
"Alex, calm down. What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" he repeated emphatically. "The fact that no one is piloting the bloody ship is what's wrong!"
"Why don't you ask the Thermians to do something about it. Tommy can't be driving the whole time, he's probably asleep –"
"Gwen, WILL YOU JUST GET HIM UP HERE?"
Gwen put her hands on her hips huffily, cocked her head to one side, and said to the air, "Computer, is the ship on autopilot?"
"Negative. The automatic server's electromagnetic wiring has been severed."
"Gwe-en." Alex stretched out the word in a dangerously low tone.
Rolling her eyes at the characteristically controlled bad luck of The Protector, she ordered, "Computer, put Fred on." To no one in particular, she added, "Why does this seem so darn familiar?"
"It's all because of that stupid show," Alex said unhelpfully, glowering.
A screen fizzed on in front of her and a scene appeared of Fred sitting with his elbows on the table and his chin sinking into one palm, fast asleep.
"Fred, wake up. It's Gwen."
"Whah - what is it?" he inquired, blinking sleepily.
"The ship's autopilot isn't working. The automatic wiring has been severed."
Fred gave her a blank look. "You lost me." He got up and moved off screen. "- Hang on, I'll go ask that little guy…"
Up on the command deck, Alex smacked the computer counter and switched off the speaker, looking extremely vexed. He trudged over to his chair beside the commander's, and sat down to wait. He cupped his cheek in one hand and twiddled his fingers, nervously eyeing the dark blot that had appeared in space on the main screen. It was what had him so worried. Out here in space, it could be anything. With the benefit of hindsight, Alex knew how cheesy the exaggerated perils featured in the show had been, but in this reality, anything could be dangerous.
"Hey Gwen," Fred's voice came on behind him. "It's bad news."
"What is it, Fred?"
"All the Thermians seem to be in some kind of hibernating state. I can't wake them up."
Alex jumped up and ran over to the speaker. "Might I remind you all that we're still flying without a pilot? Who cares whether the autopilot is working, just get Laredo up here!"
With all the noise, it was inevitable that Jason would eventually wake up and get out of bed. Still in his nightshirt and scruffy-haired from sleep, he swung his legs over the side of the bed, sighing resignedly, and took his turn with the speaker.
"Ok, what's going on. Can't a man get some sleep on this ship?"
Alex made a sound of disbelief. "No one ever listens to me!"
"Yeah, what's happening?" the voice of Guy came on, to everyone's surprise. "I couldn't find the talking thingy," he explained.
"Jason, I think we'd better get to the command deck," Gwen said slowly.
"Alright alright," Jason gave in, going off to find his clothes.
"Guy, do you know which room Tommy's in?" Gwen asked, heading to the nearest elevator.
"No, sorry. The aliens put me in a room all by myself. There are like a hundred bunks in here. They give me a bad feeling…"
"Are you coming up or not?" Alex asked impatiently.
Jason came out of his bedroom to join Gwen, pulling on a black t-shirt. "Yes, Alex, we're coming." With a completely lost expression, he mouthed to Gwen, "What is going on?"
Gwen just rolled her eyes again and stepped inside the elevator.
A minute later, the entire crew of the NSEA Protector II (except Tommy) assembled on the command deck of the ship.
Alex swiveled his chair around to face them, looking like a judging angel with his arms tightly crossed. "There you are." And, to cut off the tide of questions they were all going to ask him, he added, "Just look out there. Something's coming toward us."
"Actually, I think we're going towards it," Jason corrected.
"Is it Sarris again?" Gwen asked, taking a couple steps forward to see better.
"It looks like a planet," Guy said.
Jason took his place in the commander's chair and squinted at the image, trying to figure out what it was.
The doors behind them suddenly opened and a sheepish-looking Tommy rushed in. "Sorry, sorry, I overslept…" he apologized, thinking they had all been up way before him.
"Trust you," Alex muttered, shooting him a dark look.
"Hey, I left it on autopilot you know. I'm not that stupid," Tommy countered, seeing the anxious looks on all their faces.
Alex stood up. "The thing is, I came up here to find a decent place to sleep –"
"What's wrong with your room?" Jason asked.
"My bed was a mat of spikes on the show, if you remember Jason," Alex replied dryly.
Jason had the grace to look humbled. "Oh. Go on."
"As I was saying –"
"You could've slept in one of our rooms, Alex," Gwen suggested.
All the men looked at her.
She revised hurriedly, "I mean, Guy had a hundred bunks to himself." She swept out her hand, motioning at Guy.
Alex threw up his arms in mock despair. "I'm grateful for the pity party, but are we really going to talk about this further?"
"Well, yeah," Tommy mumbled, "You're no fun when you're overtired."
Alex clenched his jaw, and turned to leave abruptly.
Jason put up his hand to stop everything. "Ok ok, let's just figure out what's going on. Gwen, can you put Fred on please?"
"Computer, can you put Fred on, please?"
The space image switched to the engine room. Fred's face came up close on screen.
"Fred, I hear our alien friends are hibernating," Jason began.
"Yeah, I can't wake them up."
"Computer," Gwen asked, "Why can't we wake up the Thermians?"
"The ship has drifted into the Abyrian Sector. The galactic temperature of the surrounding planets in the Sector is calescent. The physiology of the Thermian species is forced to shut down during such excessive conditions."
Everyone looked at Gwen for an explanation.
"Whatever," Jason said quickly. "They're sleeping it off."
"What about the planet thingy?" Guy demanded.
The screen flipped once again to the image of open space and the mysterious blot.
In the engine room, Fred only saw the five faces of them all screaming in unison.
"What the…heck?" he murmured.
There was a giant noise and the entire room shook, throwing Fred off his feet. The lights flickered irregularly and screen blurred out. There was an ensuing alarm howling all over the ship. Then, the Protector went dark.