We entered through an airlock. I had never seen the bridge of the ship before. Nicole ushered me inside before I had time to really take it all in. It was incredibly busy, full of flashing lights and constant beeps. Dozens of people, some floating, others strapped in. So so so many screens. But what was truly breathtaking was the large front-facing window.

  I couldn’t even begin to explain the view. The shimmering iridescent colours of hyperspace. The empty void beyond. The massive cylindrical drill that was supposed to be burrowing through dark matter itself, now hauntingly dark and silent.

  “Elizabeth,” Tobias sighed with relief, spinning around in his rotating chair. He nodded to Nicole, who untied my wrist and patted me on the shoulder. I couldn’t take my eyes off what was beyond the glass barrier.

  “Are you alright?” Tobias asked me.

  “Um… yes, I think so,” I smiled awkwardly, reaching out a hand to him.

  “Good,” he nodded, motioning to someone. “Get her secured somewhere.”

  The officer floated over with a polite smile and motioned for me to follow him. Glancing back, I looked for Nicole, but she was already gone. I was alone once again. Not having any other option, I awkwardly followed the officer, who began to buckle me in when I finally managed to grab my seat and pull myself into it.

  “Still not getting a response from engineering," someone shouted.

  “How many are we missing here?” Tobias asked.

  “Seven,” someone else called.

  Tobias shook his head. “No more waiting. Captain, blow the engines and announce an evacuation. And if we somehow have the fortune to make it to N7, you can consider yourself relieved of your duties, indefinitely.”

  “Uh… y-yes, sir,” the captain nodded uncertainly. With a sigh, he said something to a few men sitting near him and picked up a microphone, doing as he was told.

  I fiddled with my hands, lost as to what to do or how to prepare for what came next. Tobias was busy as always, so I still searched for Nicole. Lost as to how to prepare for what came next.

  Another explosion, much louder and intense, turned the nebula in front of us into a blur of colour as we rocketed through space. For a brief moment, I thought I was dying. I had never felt so much force inflicted upon my body. More and more, like a fist in my head, battering me.

  Everything suddenly went dark. Not a sound could be heard, not a voice, not a breath. What was going on? I tried to move, but nothing felt right…

  Just me, alone with my thoughts. All I could feel was… I didn’t understand what. I reached out blindly, trying to burrow my way back to some orientation.

  Had I passed out? That made some degree of sense. Tobias and I had watched a movie where someone had been knocked out at one point. It had been described as “bam and then nothing.”

  This felt like bam and then nothing.

  I reached out, desperately trying to grasp… something. I didn’t even know if it was my doing, but finally… everything lit back up. I opened my eyes to find a very concerned Tobias shaking me.

  “Elizabeth?” He frowned. “What’s wrong? Is it the baby?”

  He was standing. In fact, my whole body felt heavy, my limbs like lead. There was gravity again.

  “I’m fine,” I replied, realizing I was the centre of attention. I flushed with embarrassment. “Really, I’m fine.” It was the truth. I felt a little woozy but otherwise normal. “The movement just made me… what’s the word? Faint?”

  Tobias nodded, releasing me. “Okay. Nicole, check her over. Make sure the baby is alright.” With that, he marched off. “Captain, what did I tell you? Announce an evacuation and detach the bridge before we start hemorrhaging oxygen.”

  “What about the machinery? The livestock. We have cargo we need,” someone asked.

  “Yes, but do you know what we need more?” Tobias snapped back. “Oxygen. Do your fucking job, Captain.”

  I shrank myself down, staring out through the window. All the colours were gone now; it was so dark out there. Just nothing. No colourful dancing lights, just an empty void. It was far more unsettling.

  “Hey,” Nicole said softly, crouching beside me as she undid the buckles. “How are you feeling? She asked, taking my hand in hers as she pressed two fingers to my wrist.”

  “Okay,” I offered. “I little… bleh.”

  Nicole nodded, pressing a hand to my chest. “Breathe in deeply.”

  I tried, but it turned into a stutter. It was only now that I was really starting to feel myself again. The cold. The lightheadedness.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “You’re just in shock,” Nicole smiled. “Nothing to worry about.”

  “Oh… good,” I nodded.

  “Can you tell me what happened?” Nicole asked, slipping into a tone I had never heard from her before.

  “Well.. I didn’t throw up,” I replied, maybe a little too proud of that fact. “But it was just like… too much pushing in my head. Then bam, and then nothing. Couldn't move or anything. But I knew I had fainted, so I didn’t panic too much. Tobias and I watched a movie where the guy got knocked out,” I explained.

  “What do you mean you couldn’t move?” Nicole asked, her eyes narrowing.

  “When I fainted, I couldn’t see or hear anything, and I couldn’t move,” I repeated. “It was scary, but I knew it was temporary, so I didn’t worry.”

  Nicole said nothing for a few moments. “Good. I’m glad you were not scared.”

  I smiled.

  There was a mechanical sound, and the bridge began to rumble. There was a final thunk as the bridge detached, and we began to rise from the rest of the Euphorion. I only knew we were rising as the very top of the drill vanished below us. Now there was truly nothing but a void outside.

  “Set a timer until the Euphorion is totally depressurized,” Tobias ordered. “Whatever escape shuttles launch will join our caravan. Oh, and someone calculate our coordinates. Find out if we even have any hope of reaching N7.”

  Everyone was deathly quiet, and a timer was put up on the screen, ticking down second by second.

  “My mother is still on the Euphorion,” one man said, his voice trembling.

  “Oh god, my daughter,” another said.

  Now that all was calm, the horror began to settle in.

  Tobias stood strong, despite the angry twitching of his jaw. “Nicole, find out exactly what went wrong.”

  Nicole stood and gave me an apologetic smile before she turned and walked over to the console. Everyone’s focus was on the timer as seconds turned into a minute, and then two minutes.

  “Got one!” someone called, hitting a few buttons.

  A voice crackled through the bridge. “Attention Euphorion Bridge, this is shuttle three, do you copy?”

  “We hear you loud and clear, shuttle three,” the officer breathed, holding up something to his ear. “How many people do you have on board?”

  A collective sigh of relief was breathed as one by one, all except shuttle five, made contact with the bridge. None were filled to capacity from what I could overhear. This was a catastrophic loss of life, but there were survivors.

  I grew increasingly agitated, so much was being shouted out that I didn’t understand. It wasn’t fair. I wanted to learn, I wanted to be just as smart as Nicole. No one bothered to explain anything to me.

  “How many have we lost?” Tobias asked, looking up at the large display screen.

  For a moment, no one answered him. “We’ve lost… j-just over two-thirds of passengers and crew,” the captain finally announced.

  Tobias bowed his head with a sigh. “Nicole? What have you found?”

  “Uncertain,” Nicole replied, tapping on a screen. “Without the Euphorion databanks for comparison, I cannot give you a clear answer. You are better off asking the flight crew… or the captain of the vessel.”

  “Okay,” Tobias ground his teeth. “Captain… What happened? Who is responsible for the death of two-thirds of our passengers?”

  “I… I honestly don’t know what exactly… w-went wrong,” the captain stuttered to explain. “But the bridge automatically copies all logs and system messages upon detachment. Once we have time, I am certain the black box will uh… provide us with answers.”

  Tobias stared the captain down for a moment longer before turning away. “Has anyone figured out where the hell we are yet?”

  I looked around, hoping there would be somewhere to lie down. I was exhausted. The adrenaline was wearing off. That was also something I had learned from one of Tobias’ movies.

  God, that was pathetic, wasn’t it? Tears stung at my eyes, yet I couldn’t even point to exactly why. I just wanted to find somewhere to curl up and hide.

  “Lord Barrick,” Nicole said, approaching to whisper something in his ear.

  “Yes, fine,” he scowled, waving her off without a second glance. “Captain, have the shuttles take stock of what supplies they have. And where are we on our coordinates?! Come on, people, we’re burning fuel here!”

  I looked up with blurry eyes to see Nicole walking quickly towards me. “Come on, we both need to recharge.”

  I eagerly took the hand she offered and followed as she led me out of the bridge itself. She hit a button on the wall, which slid open the door of a cluttered maintenance closet. Flicking on the light, she looked around for a moment before pulling out a first aid kit and procuring a reflective crinkly blanket from inside it. She offered it to me.

  “Um, thanks,” I smiled, taking it from her and wrapping it around my shoulders. The emergency blanket wasn’t exactly cozy… but it was better than nothing.

  “Let us try to get you comfortable,” Nicole suggested, pulling out the second blanket and unfolding it. She laid it down on the ground.

  “I’m not sure that will be comfortable,” I managed a faint laugh.

  Nicole gave me a half-hearted glare. “You tell me what would work for you then.”

  “Scrunch it up, I’ll kinda lie half of it on it against the wall,” I suggested.

  She did so before helping me to semi-lie down. I sighed, letting my head fall back against the wall. Nicole closed the door behind us to give us some privacy.

  “You need to rest,” she told me.

  “How can I rest?” I snorted. “I can’t exactly relax right now, and Tobias is going to steal you away to do something any moment, and I’ll be in this stupid closet all by myself.” I laughed, but all at once the emotions hit me full force. I rubbed at my eyes to try to stop the tears before they came. People had just lost their families, and here I was crying at the prospect of being left alone in a closet for the time being.

  “He will not. You being stressed means the baby is stressed. As your doctor, it is my job to make sure you and the baby are as healthy as can be,” Nicole replied, sliding down to sit across from me. “And Tabias is nothing if not a delegator. Why comfort you himself when he can have me do it?”

  I nodded, feeling a little better.

  “You can thank me for this. This is my doing, not his,” Nicole smiled slightly.

  I snorted. “Thank you.”

  Nicole nodded, satisfied.