Into The Void (29 page)

              The Space Shuttle Endeavor was just fine and had no major problems in well over 1,550 years it was in use. The shuttle was checked bolt for bolt from head to toe over 20 times before the mission. The ship was meant to survive out near Nemesis and orbit around the gas giant Tyche as it was close to Nemesis at the time. The shuttle had enough equipment to remain self sustaining for close to 150 years. It was mankind's greatest endeavor. It was everything everyone in the past had wanted to see and everything everyone now wanted to see. That is why the Space Shuttle Endeavor was chosen instead of the Space Shuttles Atlantis or Discovery or any of the more recently created ones.

              Everything was fine when things launched but when it hit the upper edge of the atmosphere the fuel tank exploded due to a temperature problem. Debris was scattered out into the solar system because of how high up in orbit the Space Shuttle was and the speed it was going.

              The Space Shuttle Endeavor was a peace of history, a tragic peace of history.

              “Jamie?” Captain Steele asked.

              Captain Steele waited several minutes.

              “Jamie?” Captain Steele asked again.

              Captain Steele waited for several seconds before calling again.

              “Jamie. I need to know your alright.”

              Still nothing.

              Captain Steele looked around and couldn't see where his ship, and Jamie, was. He looked back at the organism and tried to find where they moved to by seeing if there was a ships moving away from the path the organism took. There was so much debris that he just couldn't see too far.

              “Jamie? What's your location?”

              “Need... help...”

              “Jamie!? I'm on my way. Where are you? What's going on?”

              Captain Steele waited for a reply, for a location. He didn't get one. He looked around to try and find his ship. He jumped upward careful not to push the Space Shuttle Endeavor too far away. He glided across the dimensional rift moving around pieces of debris looking for his ship.

              “Jamie status check.”

              Still nothing.

              “I need you to give me a location Jamie.”

              Captain Steele floated upward for about two miles, the Endeavor far below him. He looked around but failed to see his ship.

              “John... Help.... please...”

              “I'm on my way Jamie but I need to know where you are.”

              Captain Steele continued to float upward before grabbing onto a ship. He decided he was going to go to his right. He floated for about two miles looking all around him for any sign of his ship but found nothing. After two miles he decided to turn back around and travel back the two miles. He got to his original point that was above the Endeavor and turned to his right 45 degrees and headed out two miles.

              “Hold on Jamie. I'm going to find you and help you.”

              Captain Steele floated for another two miles without seeing anything. The debris was just too thick. He headed back to his advantage point, and turned another 45 degrees to his right and headed two miles. He failed to see anything that closely resembled his ship.

              “Jamie I really need a location. A ping, something, anything.”

              Captain Steele waited and heard nothing. He made it back to his advantage point and turned right 45 degrees and headed out two miles without seeing anything before heading back. He decided to do the exact same pattern two miles below the Endeavor. His still didn't see anything. He knew he had to head further out. He had failed to see how big the dimensional rift was before heading out from his ship. It could almost be infinite in size.

              Captain Steele decided he would make a navigation marker on the Endeavor in his DSSM's navigation system and head out 25 miles and circle around it at five miles below the Endeavor.

              “John... at... ing.”

              “Repeat Jamie, you were broken... Please.”

              “I'm... at...”

              Captain Steele didn't like what he heard. Jamie's voice was elevated and that led him to believe she in danger. He picked up his speed.

              Captain Steele heard nothing. He dropped below the Endeavor 5 miles and started going out 20 miles. He activated his DSSM's thrusters and headed outward looking for his ship. He came across a long piece of debris floating horizontally. He grabbed it then pulled himself over it before pushing off it, making sure to shove it down and backwards away from the Endeavor causing him to increase his speed. There was a large ship in his direction and he rotated himself onto his right side and turned right skimming the ship's exterior by inches. He then turned with the curve of the ship staying inches from it. He came near the end of the ship, grabbed it and pulled himself forward then pushed off it increasing his speed even more.

              Captain Steele increased his speed and was now flying at close to 250 miles per hour. He came to another piece of debris and flew right under it, rotated his body 45 degrees then flew downward to avoid another space ship, skimming the surface until he found a hole in it. He spun into the ship and flew the around the ship's narrow corridors before finding the bridge and smashing through the windows. He then corrected his course back to going out towards the 25 mile point.

              Another large ship was in front of Captain Steele that was very tall. It had a single hole one mile below him. He dived and rotated his body 180 degrees so that his stomach was only several inches from the exterior of the ship and increased his speed. As he entered the hole he rotated his body another 180 degrees and curved his decent into the ship. He entered the ship and pulled straight up, spinning and dodging the catwalks and cables of what appeared to be a decaying alien carrier ship. He found another hole and left right through it and corrected his course.

              Captain Steele flew around several more object before reaching 25 miles out at which point he rotated 45 degrees and headed to his right. He flew over, under, and around ships and debris making sure to look around for his ship and maintaining a 25 miles radius from the Endeavor.

              “Hold on Jamie. I'm on my way.”

              Captain Steele flew around another object when a large ship on fire suddenly appeared before him and broke up into several hundred foot long pieces. He flew under one piece, over another, then around one more. He so close to them that his suit went through the fire. Just on the other side of the last piece was another piece that was about 400 feet long and 40 feet wide and was rotating side over side. He flew right up next to it rotating his body so that his stomach was only inches away from it and he stayed that way, dodging the catwalks and metal pieces still stuck to this piece. He came near the end of that piece when another piece collided with that piece causing both pieces to explode. He flew right through the explosion dodging any large pieces of burning shrapnel.

              Captain Steele looked around him looking for his ship and didn't see it. He looked up when another ship suddenly appeared before him exploding into several hundred large pieces. He continued dodging the pieces as things exploded all around him sending major chunks of ship in every direction. An explosion went off right in front of him and he braced himself with his hands and shoved debris aside as he went through.

              Captain Steele had metal beams falling in front of him. He went under one, rotated to pass another then flew around in a corkscrew manner to bypass the other. As he went over a piece a very large chunk of a ship's outer wall stood between him and his route. He looked up and saw that another large ship had just entered the dimensional rift and was on a collision course for the outer wall. He calculated a point of impact that might break through the outer wall of the ship in front of him. He watched this large piece fall and timed his approach. The two pieces struck each other as he was 45 feet out causing a cloud of smoke from the fires to engulf him as he approached the point of impact.

              Captain Steele was outside the ship's outer wall when he activated night vision and saw a small gap that led to the hole in the ship's outer wall, about three feet tall and two feet wide that he could enter into. He lined up his approach and entered the object. He traveled this narrow gap for about 15 feet before coming out the other side, smoking pouring out after him through the small hole.

              Captain Steele corrected his course, accelerated his DSSM's thrusters to 250% output and continued to fly. Another large ship laid ahead of him. It twisted up around in a large loop before dropping straight down. The ship was too wide to go around. He rotated his body so that his stomach was inches from the surface of the ship and followed the twist up and around before dropping 90 degrees downward. He followed it for about one mile dodging what remained of the exterior of the ship before seeing a hole. He quickly flew away from the exterior of the ship and rotated around and turned into the hole. He flew around the inside of the ship when the ship shook and started to move.

              Captain Steele was flying at speeds that were over the speed of sound though a destroyed ship that was moving downward at a 15 degree angle while also moving to his right 5 degrees. He flew through the hallways that were only about 10 feet tall and 10 feet wide dodging the debris that littered the hallways. He saw an end to the hall and rotated his body so that it was skimming on the side of the wall. He timed his approach as he was flying down the side of the wall and then turned upward so he could turn smoothly into the next hallway. He continued to maneuver this way for several hallways when the hallway broke in half, causing him to dodge another ship that had just collided into the ship he was in.

              The hallway Captain Steele was in broke into several pieces. He directed himself into the remains of the hallway that had just broke off that was now moving upward at 65 degree angle and 20 degrees to his left while also rotating end over end. He followed this piece before coming out of it and entering into the ship that collided with the hallway he was in. He was in a large room engulfed in flames. He could see way at the end of the room there was a small hallway. He flew towards the small hallway spinning around debris and catwalks that littered the whole ship. The ship was becoming increasingly engulfed in flames, rushing up the sides of the ship. He looked back and saw an explosion grow from inside the ship about to engulf him. He flew faster and entered the hallway. The hallway was cluttered with debris causing him to spin around so that he could dodge them.

              Captain Steele dodged objects as the hallway became engulfed in flames with the large explosion being inches behind his feet. The hallway shook and started to rotated side over side and slowly upward causing all the debris to ricochet off of the walls and causing cross beams that were fixed to the walls of the hallway to rotate as well. He flew around all these object before finding a gap at the end of the hallway. The explosion was growing, now engulfing his chest with the flames just ahead of him. He could barely see out of his visor. He came closer and closer to the hole as the explosion enveloped his head. He was close to the hole and the explosion was all he could see.

              Captain Steele pushed on, continuing to dodge all the objects in the hallway. He looked and saw the exit closed off because of several pieces of debris. He pushed his DSSM's thrusters to overload. He was so close to the hole. He dodged beams and objects before coming to the hole. As he approached he threw his arms in front of him. When he came within elbows length of the hole he swept his arms out in front and around to his sides with enough force that the metal covering the hole shattered into pieces and he flew out as the explosion tore apart the ship below him.

              Captain Steele continued to dodge debris while looking for his ship.

              “Jamie. Where are you?” Captain Steele asked.

              Captain Steele waited for a response but failed to hear one. He looked off to his right and saw his ship. He turned towards it flying over, under, and around debris. He was about 500 feet from it when he got a good look at it. He quickly analyzed the situation as he approached his ship at just over the speed of sound. He couldn't see a single thing wrong from the outside and quickly made his way to the airlock. He burst through the sealed airlock, making a two point landing while couched, and raised his rifle up the the high ready and went straight to securing his ship. He moved through the halls at a brisk pace, scanning each room pointing his rifle as he looked. He entered each room, saw it was empty, then moved onto the next. He made his way to the bridge when he saw something trying to get into the AI core that housed the console that contained Jamie's core.

              “No one hurts Jamie!” Captain Steele yelled as he shot the thing.

              It immediately disappeared but more shots came from the bridge. Captain Steele quickly took cover behind the wall of the room as the bullets hit his DSSM. His suit took the force with little damage to him. The one he had killed was humanoid, gold in color, about 6 feet tall, and scaly with hair on his arms. He wasn't sure where it came from or where the other shots came from. He didn't see anyone else in the room. He turned on his heat vision and failed to see anything else in that room that was warm. What he did see was a significant drop in temperature in the outline of some creatures hiding behind his captain's seat. He knew they must have been cold temperature creatures with temperature well below normal.