This is a fan translation of Line of Dreams (Линия грёз) by the Russian science fiction and fantasy author Sergei Lukyanenko. The novel can be considered a fan fiction of the original Master of Orion game.
Chapter 12
He was sleeping, or rather, continuing sleeping peacefully. Seven deaths had provided him plenty of experience. Besides, Kay was certain that Curtis van Curtis would not allow them to die in such a trivial manner.
Arthur didn't seem to understand that.
"Dad, get up…"
Cursing everything and everyone, Kay opened his eyes. There was nothing more wearisome than an interrupted sleep, especially when one was expecting death. But, like all children, Arthur was in a hurry to live. And his concept of life included death quite naturally.
"You're waking me up for nothing again," he muttered. "What happened?"
The cargo hauler's habitation module was tiny. Two pilot seats in the horseshoe of the control panel and fold-out cots at the side walls. The front wall had been designed to look like a screen, which Kay thought was a stupid idea. It was foolish to look at the stars through the "window", and trying to land the ship using it was suicide.
"Something's wrong with the engines," Arthur replied guiltily.
Kay rose, catching himself moving with genuine haste. He had started believing in the "flight" of the "ship", which remained on the ground. It was good.
There was indeed something "wrong" with the engines. The small control screen of the interphased drive the ship was supposedly equipped with showed the numbers representing the power level of the focusing field jumping around chaotically. The alert indicator of the autopilot kept switching between red and green. Kay tapped a finger on the screen several times, and, strangely enough, the numbers froze obediently at the normal mark.
"This is ridiculous," Kay said indignantly.
"Should we disengage the drive?" Arthur asked from behind him.
"And lose a day recalculating the coordinates? Then we might as well just call for service and patrol!" Kay exclaimed sarcastically.
The power level of the field changed again, becoming critically high. The ship shuddered slightly. Arthur smiled plaintively.
Is he afraid?
"So… Either the generator is defective, or the control unit is lying." Kay turned. A technical equipment cabinet… detectors… spare circuit boards… "Arthur, swap out the CPU in the drive's control unit. I'll keep monitoring here."
Arthur didn't move.
He's afraid.
"What's wrong with you, son?!" Kay yelled.
"Yes, Dad." Arthur grabbed the plastic box with the CPU from Kay's hands and dashed towards the hatch.
"And stop quivering, we have aTan!" Kay shouted after him.
Was that the accident promised by Curtis? It was humane. An instantaneous explosion, but was a malfunctioning interphaser really capable of blowing up the entire ship?
What are you up to, Curtis van Curtis?
Arthur ran through the hatch and opened the door to the engine compartment.
The power level indicators on the console dropped down to zero. A siren blared at the same instant as the quiet thunderclap of an explosion.
Kay was thrown face first at the console. There was a discordant slapping sound, and the air started whistling, escaping rapidly into the void.
Bastard, Kay thought without malice, raising his face. He was bleeding from a wound in his forehead. His liver started aching – the Bulrathi's gift. His ears popped.
Then he saw Arthur, or what was left of him. Bloody pieces of clothing and something else. Kay didn't want to look closer. Curtis Sr. had chosen a quick death for his son.
He, on the other hand, would get a more realistic one.
I'm a pilot, I don't believe in aTan, I have to fight…
Kay started moving towards the hatch on bent legs. Gravity was still present. He had to make an attempt, even if a futile one, to get into his spacesuit…
Kay hadn't expected that from Curtis. The hatch had been ripped in half, with space breathing through the gaping hole. The blackness, pocked with stars, and the streamlined hulk of the cargo compartment, slowly moving away. Blue lights were dancing on the engine console.
Bastard, bastard, bastard… Kay thought helplessly, feeling pressure build up in his eyes. Then a bloody veil hid the world from him.