Drake awoke to the harsh sound of the screeching engines piercing his eardrums. His eyelids opened to the entire engine room glowing red from the warning lights. The explosion left him with a pounding headache while Noxious smoke burned his lungs. Still dazed and feeling nauseous, he forced himself up to his hands and knees. He started crawling at first but managed to stagger to his feet. Whether he would make it out of the engine room alive, he didn’t know. He stopped every few paces to cough, but he still couldn’t get the rancid air out of his lungs.
Not knowing which direction to go, Drake stumbled to the nearest door. Ignoring the yellow caution sign painted on it, he turned the latch and was relieved to find it unlocked. When he leaned on the door it moved slightly, but then stopped. Pushing with all his strength, he managed to force the stubborn door open. When he closed it behind him, the noise of the whining engines still rang in his ears. The walls of the compartment were lined with enormous electrical panels. Bundles of thick cables were strung in all directions. As he searched for a way out, the only exit he found was a ladder leading to a hatch above. He climbed the ladder and grunted as he lifted the thick metal hatch. When it finally flipped open Drake scrambled through. Pausing to catch his breath he found himself in a dimly lit passageway.
He had no idea where he was, so he randomly chose to go to his left. He had to walk hunched over to keep from hitting his head on the pipes and cables above. The meager lights of the passageway grew further apart. Pressing forward he found himself in utter darkness. It took all he had to fight off the panic that gripped him like some kind of invisible force. As he continued down the passageway Drake had to feel his way forward. Just when his situation could not get any worse, he came upon a junction where another black tunnel led off to this right. He fought back tears knowing he was hopelessly lost. If only he could find his way back to the spaceship’s familiar living quarters. Somehow, he found the courage to keep from breaking down.
“I’m going to get myself out of this mess,” he spat out through clenched teeth.
Drake pressed on until the passageway came to an end. There his hands felt for a way out. He found a door latch and prayed it would be unlocked. I was. When he pulled the door open, a bright light poured into the passage. Stretching out in front of him was a narrow catwalk. He stepped onto the metal grating of the catwalk and gripped the handrails to keep his balance. Below his feet were the now familiar shipping containers that filled the cargo hold. Finally, he knew he was headed in the right direction.
Arriving at the opposite end of the cargo hold the catwalk came to an end, but there was a ladder leading down to the deck. Drake climbed down and raced to the door he had come through earlier. Relieved to be back in the ship’s living quarters, he ran to his friend’s cabin and pounded on the door, “Junia, Junia!”
There was no answer. He opened the door and found the cabin empty. Next, he ran to the spaceship’s bridge, to find the captain or one of the ship’s crew. But he was shocked to find it deserted. His heart sank when he read the large letters flashing on several of the ship’s control monitors, “ABANDON SHIP!”
Drake searched everywhere he could think of to find someone.
“Where did everyone go?” he asked himself. “Am I the only one left onboard?”
He remembered the instructions he was given before the ship launched into space. In an emergency report to the escape pod. The pod was a small spaceship that the passengers and crew used to escape a life-threatening emergency. It was like a lifeboat on an ocean-going ship. When he reached the escape dock, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The pod was gone. Dazed, and in shock, Drake wandered back to the bridge. Ignoring dozens of red, flashing alarms, he slumped into the captain’s chair and stared out the window into space. Normally he would watch the twinkling star cluster with great fascination. Now he felt alone and afraid. He barely noticed the red glow of the planet Dridish as the cargo ship drifted past.
During the six weeks he had been aboard the spacecraft he and Junia had slipped onto the bridge many times. As long as they didn’t distract anyone, they were allowed to watch the crew operate the ship’s controls. Most of the time Drake would lose interest. Once the ship was on its course, there was little for the crew to do. They spent most of their time watching the monitors for any problems. The one crew member that was most active was the communications, or comms, officer. She operated the ship’s radios, and often spoke with the crews of passing spacecraft.
Drake sat at the comms station. He tried to make sense of the confusing displays, switches, and radio dials. Putting on the headset, Drake listened for any human voices, but there was only silence. He spoke into the microphone hoping to reach anyone who might be listening.
“Hello, is anyone there?”
Drake waited for a response.
“Help! Anyone!” Drake shouted louder as if raising his voice would make the radio waves stronger.
“Drake is that you?” the voice of Chief Mate Robins crackled in the headset.
“Mr. Robins, help. I’m alone on the ship. I’m sorry I wandered into the engine room. I know I wasn’t supposed to. There were warning lights…”
“Calm down. Where is captain Buff?”
“I don’t know. I’m the only one here.”
“Listen Drake. Captain Buff ordered everyone into the escape pod. We had to leave right away, so we could make it to Dridish. The ship is traveling extremely fast, so there was little time. Anyway, Captain Buff stayed behind to look for you.”
Drake was stunned. He knew that sneaking into the engine room could be dangerous, but he never expected to put anyone else in danger.
“Drake, are you there?” Robins called.
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Stay where you are and wait for… captain… back.”
“What did you say? You’re breaking up.”
“Stay… out of range…”
“Hello, Mr. Robins, Hello,” Drake listened for a response but that was the last he heard. The radio went silent.