She grabbed Maddison’s arm and took off at a jog without waiting for a reply.
The passageway was empty, which made it slightly easier to navigate the distance. The deck lurched andbucked beneath their feet, and the flickering lights were disorienting. Occasionally, a command would crackle over the loudspeakers. Some were unintelligible. Others requested that all crew make their way to the bridge, and one clearly instructed all passengers to head for the escape pods.
The passengers must be terrified. They didn’t have someone like Loris to take charge of things. Despite their own situation, Maddison hoped the last remaining passengers found their way to safety.
More alarms sounded as they reached the hatchway to the bridge.
“Get us inside,” Loris said and pointed to the keypad.
As the owner, Maddison had the passcodes, but it took her several tries to get it entered correctly. She wanted to pretend it had been the motion of the ship, but in truth, her shaking hands had been the real problem.
Loris pushed her through the moment the door opened, and they staggered onto the bridge.
As the door closed behind them, the alerts and alarms faded away. With her ears still ringing, she squared her shoulders and looked to the captain. “What’s happening?”
Captain Perez was an older woman with a kindly face and a no-nonsense approach to life. She gave Maddison a grim look and pointed to an empty chair. “Sit down, strap in, and shut up. I’ll explain if we live through the next few minutes.”
It was a sensible suggestion. Maddison took a seat and strapped in while Loris took up a position behind her.
She was still working on the last clasp when the ship shuddered and emitted a low-pitched sound like an agonized moan. The lights flickered and died, leaving them in darkness for a long, terrifying moment before the emergency lights activated.
The bridge was bathed in a reddish glow that made everything seem so much worse than before.
All around her, the crew were hard at work—eyes down, fingers flying over the various controls. Maddison kept thinking about the passengers and other crewmembers. Were they alright? Why wasn’t anyone else coming to the bridge?
She got a partial answer a few minutes later when the captain asked about the escape pods.
“Six deployed. But those bastards have shot down three of them,” an ashen-faced crewman replied.
Maddison flinched when the woman slammed her fists down on her console. “We’re sitting ducks out here! We’re going to die.”
Captain Perez looked annoyed but calm. “Keep it together, Hooper. We’re not dead yet.”
Maddison watched in silence. She noted the darkness behind the crewman’s eyes and the way her expression flattened when she looked at the captain. That one was going to be a problem. Maddison made a note ofthe name and attitude. If they survived, she’d have to review Hooper’s employment contract.
The pilot spoke into the silence. “Ma’am, we have another problem. We’re falling into the gravity well of a planet, and we only have partial power to our normal engines.”
“Fuck!” the captain swore. A moment later, she refocused and turned toward another member of the crew. “Joy, get me everything you can about that planet. Atmosphere, survivability. Can we breathe the air if we go down?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Maddison recognized the woman immediately. She wasn’t part of the bridge crew, but she had more poise than that Hooper woman.
The atmosphere on the bridge changed to one of resignation as the captain bowed her head. With grim finality, she activated the ship-wide comms and ordered everyone to abandon ship.
Her words sat heavily in the air as she switched off the channel and turned to face Maddison.
“That includes the two of you.”
Leave? The idea didn’t sit right. How could she do that when it meant leaving everyone else to face an uncertain fate?
“I should stay,” Maddison argued.
Loris hissed, but the captain spoke first. “No, ma’am. You need to board the command shuttle. Oncewe’re inside the atmosphere, the autopilot can handle the descent and landing on its own.”
Loris gripped Maddison’s shoulder and squeezed hard enough to make her meaning clear. If there was a way off this ship, she’d make sure Maddison took it. “Where do we go?”
Captain Perez pointed to a small hatch in one wall and then called to Joy. “Bashir, you go with them and see to their safety. I’m counting on you.”
