Star Thoughts I can hear the tortured creaking of the ship around me. Even the emergency lights have begun to flicker. I can feel ice crusting around my eyes. And all this seems so far away, so distant, something that is happening to someone else. But it is happening to me. To us. Twitch is getting heavier. But I can't think about that, because if I think about that, we'll die, and I can't let us die. --- My vision is coming and going, but I can feel the ship opening up around us. At first, I feel as if I'm drifting, and I wonder if this is it, if this is what space feels like. But the floor shudders and I realize that we're still here. I don't even remember how we got here, but we made it. We made it to the docking bay. --- Memories of dozens of flights take over as I drag us onto my shuttle. I go through the motions, though my body shivers and I can't feel my fingers. Switches to flip, lights that blind, a whirr of a cold engine. I feel as if I am swimming my way to the captain's chair, but when I sit in it, it has a reassuring solidness. Life support has kicked in and my fingers have begun to tingle. --- I don't know how I did it, but we're clear of the ship and coherent thought is returning. I can hear Twitch groaning where I left him. We made it. He made it. I... --- Navigation systems are struggling and threatening to fail. All programed coordinates are inaccessible. StarNet signals are weak. My brain can't seem to process it all. I should be worried, but all I can feel is intense relief. From out of the windows I can see the vast expanse of space. Out there, the ship is collapsing on itself, and the thing has taken on some of its features. We're adrift... but we're alive. --- Distress Call 0216-A: This is an automated and repeating distress call from the FTL-capable vehicle Jewel Zeta-E27. Our saved coordinates and smart map systems are down. Adrift in space with few supplies. Seeking safe environment in which to dock or land. Repeat: Seeking safe environment in which to dock or land. This is an automated and repeating distress call from the FTL-capable vehicle Jewel Zeta-E27. automated and repeating distress call from the FTL-capable vehicle distress call *zzzzzt*
