No Shelter Among the Stars

Chapter 6- Black Mary's

The Harlequin twisted violently, announcing its sudden departure from Hyperspace. Normal reentry in normal vessels was accompanied by a series of alarms and procedures announcing the, often jarring, event. The Brain gave no such signal other than the new date and time suddenly scrolling across the data screens; it had been just over a standard week.

Lights flickered violently throughout the corridors. Sander watched it happen from his seat in the cockpit. He had returned to it some hours before, anticipating reentry. The data screens flashed red and then blue, casting the colored lights across his face and making odd shadows move across the console.

The vid screens suddenly shimmered alive in front of him revealing a whole universe of spinning stars. He watched blurred pricks of light shoot past him over and over again as the ship continued a high-speed spiral. The ship was moving with such momentum that the artificial gravity was starting to shift, jumping from the designated floor to the ceiling. Sander's enhanced physiology let him take the initial loss of equilibrium with minimal discomfort, but as the ship's gravitational systems began shifting, he suddenly felt his stomach twisting against his guts.

The stale taste of synthesized protein and nutrient supplements jumped into his mouth, and a dull bitterness coated the back of his tongue. He watched the galaxy blur past and tried to remember, through his growing nausea, the last time he had actually vomited. He closed his eyes as reworked and modified parts of his inner ear and internal systems struggled to adapt to his constantly shifting condition. He had no fixed point or frame of stability. He punched at the control console and grabbed the main steering rods. Wrenching them up, he attempted to bring the ship out of its mad spin, but nothing happened. None of the controls seemed to function properly.

With an effort he reached out and pressed a com button on the console. His hand slid forward and almost mashed the three buttons above it.

"Spiro," he said through gritted teeth. His teeth sounded more like metal than bone when he ground them together.

"Sander," replied Spiro, accompanied by the relentless beat of his music. This time it sounded like blowtorches on metal accompanied by digital feedback.

"Make the Brain stabilize the ship...please," grunted Sander. He tasted a sudden burn of stomach acid on his tongue. He swallowed, choking the trickle of vomit back down.

"Stop the scragging ship!" shouted Tasla, blasting through the link.

"Already working on a solution," said Spiro. He sounded calm. "What's left of your brain will make it another few minutes, Tasla. Though, of course, all the extra chemicals rushing through your system are only making it worse."

The comm made a crackling sound as if Tasla's mouth was suddenly right up to the speaker. "Fix the ship, chat, or I'll axe your feka face with a bonesaw! bloody self righteous a—!"

"—how much longer?" interrupted Ilias. His voice was strained, but still deep and resonant.

Suddenly the ship's spinning slowed. The artificial gravity recalibrated and Sander felt the strain of g-force slowly lift from his insides. A handful of revolutions later, the ship stabilized itself and began drifting lazily through the stars. Sander watched the vid screens and savored a few seconds of actually seeing something outside the ship. His body had already recovered from the tremendous forces it had endured. He swallowed again, feeling a bitter, sour taste slip down the back of his throat.

"That was rougher than usual," he said, wiping some sweat from his forehead.

"We are all still alive," said Spiro. "This is the best case scenario."