Gods and Writers
Kohl stopped typing, “Where does Matthew want to go?”
Kohl looked over to a portrait of Mars that hung on his wall. The softly glowing red orb seemed to cry out to him. He smiled and went back to typing.
The spacecraft hung in the dark expanse. The large solar sail reflected the bright red of the planet Mars. Matthew Andrews, newly appointed Captain of the UN Star Frigate Artemis gazed out the window at the planet.
Part of the patrol that made sure that Pirates did not attack robotically piloted space transports on their runs from the asteroid belt to the Earth, he marveled at the planet above him. Already you could see the dim glow of the settlements on Mars. He was amazed at the long term plans of turning the Red Planet blue.
He smiled to himself, “So it worked.”
He turned around and looked over at his navigator.
“Status report Mr. Davies.”
Davies looked at him and shook his head, ‘All systems are working normally just as they did when you asked ten minutes ago. You have watched Star Trek one too many times in the holo-tube.”
Matthew grinned and floated over to the command station.
No sooner than he had strapped himself in, several alarms started chiming. He smiled sarcastically at first, “I doubt I won an award for being the 100th person to sit in this chair.”
“We have a proximity buoy going off by asteroid 645-26!”
Matthew looked perplexed for a minute, searching his mind for what that could possibly mean. In a panic, he decided to wing it. “Could it be an anomaly? Or maybe a malfunctioning buoy?”
Davies looked at his instruments. “Checking.”
Seconds ticked by as the computers ran diagnostics while the alarms continued their steady rhythm. Matthew grew fidgety and sweat started to appear on his brow.
“Negative Captain! Sensors from three other buoys signal the same readings. All systems check out within working parameters.”
Damn, Matthew thought, I picked the wrong day to have my dreams come true. Well, let’s make a go of it.
“Best speed for the disturbance!”
“Yes, sir!.” Davies called out.
The woman sitting at the station in the very aft of the compartment chimed in, “Solar sails deployed. Firing propulsion laser now.”
Matthew felt his insides knot up as the craft began to accelerate.
“Time to intercept?”
“Twelve minutes.”
Matthew closed his eyes, certain that this was not going to end well.
“Very Well.” He gulped.
The minutes passed and all Matthew could take any comfort from was the slow steady hum of the sensors and the computers around him. Since the alerts had gone active, the windows had been covered by thick armor plates except for two smaller ones directly to the helmsman’s front making the room dark except for a haunting red glow of the instruments.
The command area had become humid and was now starting to become chilly sense the ship automatically switched ‘non-essential’ systems off to preserve as much battery life for activation of weapons and other defensive equipment.
“Sir,” Davies called out, “we are approaching the designated area.”
Matthew narrowed his eyes trying to peer out the windows, hoping to see whatever had brought them here without having to move in close enough to become a target.
No luck at that, he huffed to himself. Maybe a quick burst of speed then a quick turnaround is in order?
Copyright 2014-2021 Kohl Media Solutions. All Rights Reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.