"We've hit some kind of gravity well generator. The engines can't compensate!"
Thaeophyan Longlan's voice was shrill. The wormhole was so close but we were not going to make it. I turned to Luna, "How long?"
"A minute at the most far-cousin." she hissed through gritted teeth.
As we spoke a shadow descended over the bridge. Something big was between us and Daaze Primary.
"Contact! Right on top of us. Signature reads as a Doomstar. Five Viral Glands coming in hot." The fear was evident in Holdorn's voice. He was barely eighteen cycles. Barely been out of upper-Sirion orbit before I picked him up.
"Do we have maneuvering thrusters Thaeophyan?" I asked cautiously.
"Yes clutch-brother." he replied.
"Bring our guns to bear."
The Keldana's shields withstood the first pass. The Ebidium held until the fourth pass. A shot lanced through the bridge exposing us to vacuum. From the command chair I could see Thaeophyan gripping his control station. His hands gave way and the sound of his voice was inaudible against the howl of mother-galaxy. With a hiss the containment fields snapped into place. The sounds of combat became audible again. The shadow decended upon us one last time.
An explosion.
And here I was. Half-blind, half-deaf and bleeding to death internally. My one good eye found Holdorn slumped over his station. He had shrapnel injuries all over his back. I dragged myself across the deck to him. He was dead. Massive trauma to the head and torso. I sighed and looked up toward the ceiling. To my suprise all I saw was stars. Most of the bridge was gone. There must have been a containment field running on the emergency power systems. I pulled myself up to Holdorn's station. From his screen I could see that the Keldana was adrift.
A countless number of miles from anywhere. The matter anti-matter containment field was at critical.
My eye found the deck, and the green pulsing light that glowed through the smoke, leading me to the Keldana's escape pod. I began to drag myself there. Maybe Luna was already there. I didn't see her anywhere. I got to the escape hatch and I found her. Curled into a ball with her tail hiding her face. There was a centimeter of blood on the deck of the escape pod. I crawled to her and touched her head. She coughed and spoke softly so I could barely hear her.
"Dex? Dex. I'm sorry. I should have seen it on the sensors. I've failed you."
"Stop it Luna. You've done well for me these past months. Not just me. You might have saved our entire species."
"Dex... your face..."
"It's not important. We need to get you stable so we can launch this escape pod."
"Don't worry about me Dex..."
She was gone. I pushed up off the deck from her side. My claws were slick with her blood. I crawled out of the escape pod and sealed it shut behind me. I pounded the launch button with a closed fist. She was gone. I forced myself to my feet and walked to my command chair. As I sat down I keyed a few commands into the data center. I sighed at the pain of the interface lancing into the port at the base of my skull.
Backup complete. Transmitting....
The interface let go. I began to wonder what was taking the anti-matter so long to breach.
The Rashkiri medical technician in the Cloning Facility on Phao looked at me quizically and I got dressed and prepared to leave in my new self. He looked back down at his clip board and spoke, "Our records indicate that your ship was equipped with an escape pod. Escape pod technology is nearly 100% successful."
I looked at him through two good eyes. Then I looked away. "Is my new ship ready?"
And I was gone.
