...But just in case it did, I swiped the map closer to our coordinates. My heart flipped when I saw a nearby planet, one we could reach within minutes if needed. We were flying right over it and I hadn’t even noticed. How was that possible?
I furrowed my brow at this odd new planet. There shouldn’t have been a planet here at all, not according to my maps, positioning systems, and general knowledge. It was like the planet only appeared to the naked eye after the ship’s automated systems failed... Did it have some kind of masking presence to avoid detection?
“That’s not our destination,” Jaeyoung said behind me.
My jaw tightened. Unlike Paz, he didn't miss anything. My pride wanted to tell him to stop backseat piloting, even though I secretly wanted his help.
"We might need to stop here and refuel," I said, hoping my lie wasn't paper-thin.
But if my lie was paper, Jaeyoung was a pair of scissors. "We have more than enough fuel for the entire round trip. What's going on, Levi?"
My gut twisted. I wasn't even annoyed that he didn't call me "captain"—I certainly didn't feel like one right now. Not a good one, anyway.
Just as I debated whether to keep lying or fess up, the whole cockpit was bathed in red.
My heart dropped like a stone. Now the whole ship screamed, 'hey, asshole, something's broken!'
Paz glanced at me, looking nervous. “That's not mood lighting, is it?”
“No,” I admitted.
Upon hearing the note of dread in my voice, Jaeyoung charged closer to the console, gripping my shoulder hard as he leaned in to see it.
“Shit, Levi,” he muttered. “Why didn't you tell me sooner?”
My ears flushed hot with shame. He was right, but admitting it felt like walking on coals.
“Wait, what?” Paz asked, his voice going up an octave.
Unfortunately, I could no longer reassure him. I was just as baffled as he was.
Jaeyoung scowled at me, his face menacing in the red glow of the cockpit. He had to raise his voice over the alarm's increased volume. “Tell me what's happening. Are we going down?” he demanded.
I grimaced. “I don't know.”
Jaeyoung didn't waste time scolding me. His fingers flew over the screen, but all he did was cycle through the same useless menus that I did.
“Are we seriously gonna crash?” Paz cried. “Oh my god, I knew it, I knew I hated space! I don't know why I ever agreed to do this interplanetary diplomacy crap!”
The ship jolted, knocking us sideways. Paz shrieked as my shoulder jarred into him. Jaeyoung cursed under his breath, grabbing the console so he didn't fall.
This was bad. I needed to rein in the situationnow.
“We won't crash,” I stated. I righted myself and grasped the manual controls. “We're going to make an emergency landing.”
“Oh, like there's a difference,” Paz snarked.
“There is. We might lose the ship, but we'll survive.”
“And where exactly is our landing strip? In a black hole?”
“No.” I rerouted the map so my crewmates could see the planet below us—the one we were rapidly approaching. “This one.”
Jaeyoung frowned. “I don't recognize that planet.”
Paz groaned, sinking back in his seat. “Oh, great. Not even the smart guy knows where we are.”
The ship sputtered, violently shaking the interior. I gripped the controls harder and forced them steady. The ship shuddered and stalled, then I felt the explosion of energy against its hull when we entered the planet's airspace. Paz was thrown out of his seat. He yelped as he tumbled across the floor. Jaeyoung grunted with effort as he gripped a bolted-down chair for dear life.
