Rude Awakening

Ca-clunk. The cabin lights lit red like the Forth of July. “Warning. Warning. External Atmospheric Temperature undergoing rapid change. Free floating debris detected 10 meters below hu-Clunk- …0 meters below hull. Evasive action advised.” A hairy head sprung out of the sheets in the back of the cabin. “Huh?..? We’re under attack?” He groggily rolled out of the bed and fell to the carpet on the floor. “External debris detected as rock-like in nature, continuing optical scans.” the intercom chirped. Tof, the man who had rolled out of the cabin and, indeed, the only one here to talk about, shuffled up to the control board and saw a rock-like object lodged above the windshield viewport (which is much like any windshield you might experience on a man-made car). Tof squinted, and sure enough the rock-like object was just a rock. “Ah-ha! Great deduction, Phillip. You found a rock. What did you wake me up for again?"

“New readings suggest multiple rock-like objects on collision course with PillShip Mk3. Evasive action strongly recommended."

Tof sighed “I can't imagine that there’s anything significant out here…” He was about to head back to bed when his eyes glanced over the 1km blip on the radar display. His heart skipped a beat. “Phil. Tell me you misread the size and velocity of that big green thing on the radar."

“I misread the size and velocity of the big green thing on the radar.”

“Dammit Phil!” Tof screamed as he jumped into the control chair. Although they were supposed to be passing through empty airspace, rock-like objects had appeared and according to the display they were soon to become inescapable. The pressing vacuum of the huge rock hurtling up through the air was drawing the ship against it’s will down, closer and closer to complete annihilation. Tof grabbed the accelerator shift-stick and threw it to full-throtle. The main engine lit with a ring of bright blue flaming plasma, and the ship roared forward. Like a bright green metal bug against a flying ball of dirt, the PillShip rocketed down and across the surface of the astronomical asteroid. Despite Tof’s comprehensive flying skills, the pressure of the rock ripping through the atmosphere was crushing the PillShip ever nearer to the surface.

In a calm voice, the AI asked “Permission to activate Overdrive proto-"

“DO IT ! DO IT ! DO IT ! ”

The cabin lights shut off as power was rerouted to the engine systems. All essential systems remained online but the muffling barrier was not one of them, so one could barely hear Phil begin the countdown as the cabin become a cacophony of crashing sounds. Tof was about to ask Phil if he had started the countdown when Phil finished it, and the ship blasted past the asteroid and across many miles of airspace in seconds.

The overdrive only lasted for those few seconds. As soon as they were out of range (which was almost instantaneously) the engines shut down and the wind resistance slowed the battered, green space van to a halt. Tof was no longer in the control chair, instead he was plastered on the wall right above his bed at the back of the cabin. A few more moments passed and the lights came back on. Activation sounds ringed throughout the cabin including Phil.

“All systems reestablished. Debris successfully avoided. Main tank at 15% charge.”

“Thank you Phil.” Tof moaned as gravity took over and he fell to the floor for the second time that morning.

“Now distributing 45 cubic centimeters of tissue-repairing smart gas into cabin. Please remain still.”

“You know, I think you need to reconsider what kind of information demands such clarity."

“Commented noted. Thank you. Please remain still.”

“If the smart gas can’t heal a moving target, it doesn’t deserve such a nice name.” Tof scoffed as he stood up and made his way over to the windshield viewport. He glanced through all of the scratches and minor fractures and looked down at the origin of the runaway rocks. Below them, a floating island had shattered into thousands of fragments. For Tof, the island was nothing new. He had been raised on hovering worlds similar to this one. What perturbed him was the scale of ruination that had visited this place.

"Jeez... What happened here? ...Detect any movement, Phil?"

"Movement of rock-like objects detected. No other movement or thermal signatures identified."

"That's a good thing I guess, I wouldn't want anybody stuck down there... ...except maybe us." Tof grinned "Think there's treasure down there? Oooh man I betchya there's something down there worth snatching."

Tof jumped into the control seat. He began flipping switches and toggles that prepared the ship for landing.

Phil chirped "Should we not continue our course to Port Relith? The Task Directive states we have li-"

"Little time, I know. This won't take long."

Phil sighed "Activating decent protocols."

The ship began to lower through the hovering canyon of massive debris. The light from the outside world began to dim as the atmosphere of the floating world got thicker and thicker, and soon the duo were lodged in a fog of dust. Tof flipped the lights on, but they didn't do much good.

Tof hummed as he glanced around. Then he jumped over to the other control chair to the left of him and opened an array of buttons.

"Phil, we have enough energy for the repulse field?"

"Affirmative to a degree. To achieve a satisfactory output, the cabin electricity must be shut off for the time being."

"Can you leave the microwave on? My popseeds are almost done I think... If they haven't been smashed to bits." Tof went and checked on his his popseeds.

"Negatory. I will need to shut off the microwave. Microwave sensors suggest smashed popseeds"

"Sure enough..." Tof hung his head. "Man those had been cooking for two days... Imma eat them. Go ahead and shut off the electricity, Phil."

Tof happily shuffled through the dark cabin, munching on smashed seeds as a crackling sound started up outside the ship.

The repulse field sprang forth with a flash, and suddenly they had a pocket of air inside the dusty fog that had plagued them before. Around them were chunks of rock suspended in air; being torn from the land had also torn them from the law of gravity. With the dust clearing a bit, the land below was becoming a bit more visible. They were about 10 meters above an outcropping from the ground, and the outcropping looked about 10 meters in height from what looked like solid ground.

"Now I know we're running low on juice, but can you take us down to that outcropping right there? I'm a bit busy." Tof munched

"The repulse field has extinguished the remaining electrical charge stored in the main tank. Without radar functionality, autopilot is ill advised. Manual decent strongly recommend."

"Alright alright, no need to get your knickers in a twist."

"Negative. Knickers asset not detected. They can not be in a state of twist."

Tof sighed, and jumped into the control seat. "Don't worry about it, ya big hunk of metal. Taking manual control for descent."

Slowly, the ship descended to the rock below. The repulse field had deactivated shortly after its activation (due to its genourous energy consumption) so a cloud of dust began to settle around the ankles of the ship when it finally shuttered to a stop on the alien world.

"Okidokes." Tof collected suit, respirator, and weapon and headed for the exit door. "I'm going out there to see if I can find anything valuable. Keep com up and lemme know if anything attacks you?"

"New assessment made. This is a bad idea."

"Ah quit yer whinin', you'll be fine." As he approached the exit door, a cyan bubble field sprang from the door and encompassed Tof. When the door opened and the dust flooded in, the field caught the dust and expelled it along with the daring explorer.