IV || [MxM, Sci Fi]

The Machine | 4

A blinding flash of azure engulfed Theseus for a fleeting moment, sending all screens and comms rippling and flickering before the radiation shields secured the hull, and the lab plunged into darkness. 

 Chaos took over the bridge and the decks, the crew desperate to restore the controls and power supply to the engines. The few remaining scanners were registering an abnormal gravitational pull dragging the ship down from the orbit towards the giant asteroid they were mining; intercoms and distress channels refused to work, and the still intact EMTs weren't pulling enough power to distance or prevent the ship from losing the altitude.

Another alarm blared and cut off; active safety protocols were supposed to open exits in all facilities, however, the door remained shut. 

Ray watched the lights on the server racks across the room go down one by one as Theseus' emergency generators were failing. His mind was screaming at him to run, try to force open the door, do something, but he stood petrified, heart pounding and eyes widened, unable to squeeze out a sound. A cold shiver ran down his spine when the image of Damian gasping for air in his last moments flashed before his eyes - this is what awaits them all once the life support shuts down. 

As another violent jolt rocked Theseus, he felt blood racing away from his face, and arms wrapping around him. 

And then, the Universe sunk into the white noise.

Ray came back to his senses on the floor, pressed against the same server locker he was watching from the other side of the room moments ago. Dull pain was spreading across his body, and he was clenching onto Iv's shoulder, slowly realizing it was the only thing between him and the wall that prevented his head from splitting open at the impact.

"Iv," he whispered, " Iv, are you ok?"

The pocket door suddenly opened with an explosive huff, sirens wailed, and all hell broke loose as intercoms went off simultaneously, the loudest being Rachel's voice ordering to secure the positions.

"Iv, can you hear me?"

Another round of overload sent his head spinning; his fingers clung tighter to Iv's jacket, black dots in his eyes turning into vortexes and black holes as Theseus' thrusters roared to life and the ship veered off, escaping the gravity trap.

"...is Ganymede-3. Leave the area...ordinates sent...tor 9...Avoid sectors...," a distorted female voice emerged from one of the control stations, several more pilots rushing to it to override the channel in manual mode. 

"Send SOS and head to Sector 9!" Guillaume screamed across the bridge. "Ulysses, what's with Ulysses?"

"No reply from them or Copernicus."

"Shut down the non-essentials, full power on PLTs," Rachel's face remained a stone, but her hands were trembling. Johanna's call cut into the screens again, reporting the approximate damage to the ship alongside Trent's evaluation of the life support systems.

"Sir, incoming..."

"Theseus, this is Ganymede-4. Report your status."

"We're down by 55%, moving towards Sector 9 on three out of six engines."

"The rescue team is on their way. You will receive the route in a few moments. Move according to the trajectory provided, and avoid areas I3 and I6."

"What happened?"

"We don't know. Our stations registered a surge in particles around your area, and then Sectors 2 and 3 went offline. We're trying to reach the others at the moment. Ganymede-3 is on this."

Ray woke up in the hallway when a paramedic was checking his pulse, and without a word, bolted up and dashed back into his lab. He paid no heed to someone yelling at him in June's voice, ignored the blood rolling down from his nose and the pain stabbing his chest too; he grabbed Iv and rushed towards the workstation. 

 His face blanched as he found out it was offline, like most of the ship's equipment.

"Ray,.." a faint pat landed on his hand as he was struggling to launch the backup generator. He recognized that warm touch.

"Alive," he exhaled with relief.

The crew gathered at the bridge; Ray noticed Max in the crowd, a huge bruise running across his face. Both commanders and a few other people were absent. 

His heart was racing at the same wild speed as his thoughts. He needed to get back to his lab. Iv went unresponsive shortly after, and didn't wake up despite all efforts.

The central screen flickered, rendering the image of a bulky man in the uniform with the insignia of an orbital station; then more channels went online, along with Theseus' command room. Guillaume was lying head on the desk, face buried in his arms; even Rachel looked lost and spaced out. 

The last person to join the call was a senior man in a dark grey business suit, his appearance so bleak and stiff that no droid could compete. Dr Paavo Yamaguchi, the Deputy Administrator of the SRA, - Ray remembered him from yet another embassy event Collin dragged him into. Without greetings or introductions, Yamaguchi went to read the list from his tablet's screen, pin-drop silence hanging in the rest of the calls and the bridge.

One ship lost.

Forty-seven injured.

Eighty-nine dead.

Five missing.

Ray's mind refused to register the rest already, only jumping back and forth from "Amy Blair, missing" to the white room, to Iv, back to the white room... A heavy palm landed on his shoulder; Trent was telling him something, and Ray was listening to him but didn't hear a word.

The rescuers called it a miracle the cargo ship left Ulysses narrowly before the catastrophe. Trent didn't go into details, just said Amy didn't recognize anyone upon regaining consciousness, and they took her to the hospital at the orbital station. Most of the crew were taken off the ship too, until further orders from the SRA headquarters and the investigation committee, and now Theseus looked more like the space version of Marie Celeste.

"Uhm, I volunteered...kinda," Max rubbed the blue spot on his forehead through his perpetual tie-dye bandana. "At first the team claimed to stay, but they bailed out after Johanna announced she'll be working from the station...so there's just me, I guess."

Ray sighed. He already had enough pain from the broken ribs; adding Max to his plate didn't make it easier. He returned to the reports from Unit V - the med bay assistant was in an even worse state than Iv after the ship crash, yet they were trying their best to retrieve anything for the committee.

"What again are we looking for?"

"Everything from UHF to EHF, I believe," Ray mumbled, going through the same page for the fiftieth time. He tried to keep his composure, but those reports horrified him. There was nothing left intact; even the unit's OS was wiped out. 

The last hope he desperately held out was that Iv recognized him back then. 

Lately, he wondered if Damian was hoping for this exact outcome, for him finding Iv.

But how could Damian plan this? He didn't. He desperately bet everything on this and hoped it worked. Now all his efforts were in vain.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, anguish and guilt engulfing his entire being. Chasing all the wrong things, he missed everything that mattered about Iv, his brother, even himself, and failed Damian's last wish, too.

His fingertips gently brushed Iv's cheek; his thoughts were tangling, reality spinning and slipping away from him when his sight started fading.

Hey little brother, it will be alright.

You know, you look just like Dad with your hair down.

He was so happy he got to see you, always talked about all the fun things we could do together if he got better.

Remember that photo album I made for him, with our trips and games? I still keep it...